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After

Cloven Hooves

Robin Hobb1991

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Bloodwind

    Charles L. Grant1982

    An ancient evil returns to a small Connecticut town, manifesting as a lethal wind. Residents must uncover the town's history to survive.

    Same tense register, still dark fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

tense → meditative

3 more ↓

  • Ink

    Hal Duncan2007

    Gods and mortals clash in a shifting city where reality is written on skin. The story follows a cycle of mythic archetypes across time.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

  • In the Night Garden

    Catherynne M. Valente2006

    A girl with tattooed eyelids tells a prince interlocking stories of monsters and folklore. The narrative is a series of nested myths.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+2·bleak-1

  • At Swim-Two-Birds

    Flann O'Brien1939

    A student writes a story about a man whose own characters rebel and plot against him. It incorporates Irish myth and multiple layers of fiction.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose+2·bleak-2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Untamed

    Glennon Doyle2020

    A woman recounts leaving her marriage and rebuilding her life after falling in love with another woman. It is a series of personal manifestos.

    tense → earnest

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Searching for Beautiful

    Jennifer Probst2015

    After fleeing her wedding through a window, a surgeon hides out in a cabin with her long-time male best friend.

    tense → warm

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Vampires Are Forever

    Lynsay Sands2008

    A woman suspects her business partner is a vampire after he attempts to bite her. He tries to convince her they are fated mates.

    tense → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Mind's Eye

    Douglas E. Richards2014

    A man discovers he has the ability to access the internet and process data directly with his mind. He is hunted by a secret organization.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Atlantis Gene

    A.G. Riddle2013

    A geneticist and a counter-terrorism agent uncover a global conspiracy involving human evolution and an ancient Antarctic discovery.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Monster Hunter International

    Larry Correia2007

    An accountant kills his boss, who has become a werewolf, and is recruited by a private company that hunts monsters for government bounties.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • The Habitation of the Blessed

    Catherynne M. Valente2010

    A priest finds the lost kingdom of Prester John. The story is told through three nested layers of journals, myths, and historical accounts.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

    A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Tam Lin

    Pamela Dean1991

    A college student in the 1970s joins a group of classics majors and discovers their theater troupe is tied to a faerie blood sacrifice.

    tense → meditative, still contemporary fantasy

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

tense → bleak, still dark fantasy

3 more ↓

  • The Damnation Game

    Clive Barker1985

    An ex-con becomes a bodyguard for a billionaire who made a deal with a supernatural gambler. The debt comes due through gore and resurrection.

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Black Company

    Glen Cook1984

    An elite mercenary unit serves an immortal sorceress. The story is told through the cynical journals of the company's doctor and historian.

    tense → grim, still dark fantasy

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Snow, Glass, Apples

    Neil Gaiman2019

    A retelling of Snow White from the stepmother's perspective. The princess is a vampiric creature and the queen struggles to protect the kingdom.

    tense → cold, still dark fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1