LitQueuelitqueue

After

Enchanted, Inc.

Shanna Swendson2005

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Who's Afraid of Beowulf?

    Tom Holt1988

    A graduate student awakens a group of Viking warriors from a long slumber in modern-day Britain. They attempt to fight a corporate sorcerer.

    Same playful register, still urban fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

playful → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Gormenghast

    Mervyn Peake1950

    A young heir and a social climber navigate the rigid rituals of a decaying, labyrinthine castle. The prose is dense and descriptive.

    playful → dark

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3

  • The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

    James Hogg1824

    A religious fanatic becomes convinced he is predestined for salvation and commits crimes at the behest of a mysterious stranger.

    playful → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3

  • Ghost Stories

    Henry James2001

    A collection of Victorian tales where the existence of ghosts is often left to the reader's interpretation.

    playful → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Patient Zero

    Jonathan Maberry2009

    A detective joins a secret government task force to stop a terrorist group using a bio-weapon that reanimates the dead. It is an action thriller.

    playful → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

  • The Rising

    Brian Keene2003

    A father travels across an apocalypse where the dead are possessed by malevolent, intelligent demons. The world is ending permanently.

    playful → bleak

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+3

  • Shattered

    Dean Koontz1973

    A man and his future stepson drive across America while being stalked by the woman's vengeful ex-husband.

    playful → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    Same playful register

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    playful → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+3

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    playful → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Flowers in the Attic

    V.C. Andrews1979

    Four children are hidden in an attic for years by their mother and grandmother to secure an inheritance. They face gradual poisoning and abuse.

    playful → elegiac

    pace0·prose0·bleak+3

  • Hamlet

    William Shakespeare

    A prince of Denmark is told by a ghost that his uncle killed his father. He feigns madness while deciding whether to take revenge.

    playful → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3

  • The Terror

    Dan Simmons2007

    Two British ships searching for the Northwest Passage in 1845 become trapped in ice and are hunted by a creature.

    playful → bleak

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3