
After
Dæmonomania
John Crowley2000
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
- pace-1prose0bleak0
The Solitudes
John Crowley1987
An out-of-work teacher moves to the country and begins to suspect that the laws of the world change over time. The focus is on ideas and atmosphere.
Same meditative register, still literary fantasy
pace-1·prose0·bleak0

- pace0prose0bleak0
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
Same meditative register, still magical realism
pace0·prose0·bleak0

- pace0prose0bleak0
Two years eight months and twenty-eight nights
Salman Rushdie2015
The seal between the human world and the land of the jinn breaks. Descendants of a jinn princess discover their powers during a war of whimsy.
meditative → playful, still magical realism
pace0·prose0·bleak0

- pace0prose0bleak0
A Stranger in Olondria
Sofia Samatar2013
A merchant's son travels to a land of books and becomes haunted by a ghost. He is caught in a religious conflict between two powerful cults.
meditative → elegiac, still literary fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0

1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Strange Devices of the Sun and Moon
Lisa Goldstein1993
In Elizabethan London, a bookseller discovers her son is a changeling while Christopher Marlowe becomes entangled in faerie politics.
Same meditative register, still secret history
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
The time keeper
Mitch Albom2011
The inventor of the first clock is released from a cave to help two people in the modern world. He teaches them the value of their remaining time.
meditative → earnest, still magical realism
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1

- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1

3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-3bleak-1
Love Comes Softly
Janette Oke1979
A widow on the 19th-century frontier enters a marriage of convenience with a widower to survive the winter and care for his daughter.
meditative → tender
pace0·prose-3·bleak-1

- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
The perfect Christmas
Debbie Macomber2009
A woman hires a grumpy matchmaker to find a husband. He assigns her three tasks to complete before he will introduce her to his chosen candidate.
meditative → warm
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1

- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
Danger in the Shadows
Dee Henderson2002
A woman in witness protection hides from a kidnapper while a FBI agent works to keep her safe. The story incorporates elements of Christian faith.
meditative → earnest
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1

Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak0
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman2020
Earth is converted into an 18-level televised death game. A man and a cat must navigate traps and monsters to survive.
meditative → sardonic
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0

- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison1961
A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.
meditative → playful
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1

3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak0
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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0

- pace+2prose-3bleak0
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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0

- pace+2prose-3bleak0
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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0

Slower
- pace-1prose-2bleak0
Among Others
Jo Walton2011
A teenage girl at a 1970s boarding school copes with her twin's death through books and subtle magic. It is written as a series of diary entries.
meditative → tender, still magical realism
pace-1·prose-2·bleak0

- pace-1prose0bleak0
Little, Big
John Crowley1981
A man marries into a family living in a massive house where the borders of the natural world blur. It follows several generations over a century.
meditative → dreamlike, still magical realism
pace-1·prose0·bleak0

3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose-1bleak0
Tehanu
Ursula K. Le Guin1990
A widow cares for an aging mage who has lost his magic. The story focuses on domestic life and the aftermath of past adventures.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose-1·bleak0

- pace-1prose0bleak0
Unfinished Tales
J.R.R. Tolkien1980
A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
A Slow Regard of Silent Things
Patrick Rothfuss2013
A young woman lives alone in the tunnels beneath a university, finding meaning in discarded objects and daily rituals.
meditative → tender
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

Heavier
- pace0prose-1bleak+2
Was
Geoff Ryman1992
Three timelines connect a Kansas girl in the 1880s, Judy Garland on set, and a dying man in the 1980s. It examines the reality behind the Oz myth.
meditative → elegiac, still magical realism
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2

- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
The Fifth Season
N. K. Jemisin2015
A mother searches for her daughter across a continent undergoing a tectonic apocalypse. Some chapters address the reader in the second person.
meditative → bleak
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2

3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak+2
Pet Sematary
Stephen King1983
A family moves to Maine and discovers a burial ground that can return the dead to life. They use it, and the consequences are absolute.
meditative → tense
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+2

- pace+1prose-2bleak+2
The Poppy War
R.F. Kuang2018
A war orphan enters a military academy and discovers shamanic powers. She leads a unit into a total war inspired by 20th-century Chinese history.
meditative → bleak
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+2

- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Seth Dickinson2015
An accountant infiltrates the empire that conquered her home to destroy it from within. She uses economics and politics as her primary weapons.
meditative → cold
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
