Creatures of Charm and Hunger

Ninth House

Leigh Bardugo2019

A freshman who can see ghosts monitors the occult rituals of Yale's secret societies. She investigates a murder on campus.

Same tense register, still dark fantasy

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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, still historical fantasy

pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Ficciones

Jorge Luis Borges1945

A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.

tense → meditative

pace-1·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

pace-1·prose+2·bleak-2

All Systems Red

Martha Wells2017

A self-aware security android hacks its own governor module to watch soap operas while protecting a team of scientists on a distant planet.

tense → wry

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Legends & Lattes

Travis Baldree2022

An orc barbarian retires from adventuring to open a coffee shop in a city that has never heard of the drink.

tense → warm

pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

On a Pale Horse

Piers Anthony1983

After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.

pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

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+1·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+1·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+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Boneland

Alan Garner2012

An adult Colin searches for his lost sister while an ancient shaman performs rituals in the same landscape. The two timelines mirror one another.

tense → elegiac

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter's Tales

Greer Gilman2009

A triptych of stories set in a mythic Yorkshire, told in dense, archaic dialect. It follows the intersections of folk magic and celestial myth.

tense → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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-2·prose+2·bleak-1

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.

pace0·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

pace0·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

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1