LitQueuelitqueue

After

Foundation (Valdemar

Mercedes Lackey2008

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Season of sacrifice

    Mindy L. Klasky2002

    A woman chosen by a sentient tree must use her new powers to rescue kidnapped children. She leads a small group across a dangerous landscape.

    warm → earnest, still high fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • The Claw of the Conciliator

    Gene Wolfe1981

    An exiled torturer travels with a gem that can heal the dead. The narrative uses archaic vocabulary and an unreliable perspective.

    warm → dreamlike, still chosen one

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • The Silmarillion

    J. R. R. Tolkien1977

    A history of the First Age of Middle-earth, from the creation of the world to the fall of the Elven kingdoms. It is written as a mythic chronicle.

    warm → elegiac, still high fantasy

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    warm → meditative

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    warm → playful

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    warm → 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.

    warm → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    warm → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • 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.

    warm → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Moonwise

    Greer Gilman1991

    Two women are pulled into a world created by their own folk-tales. The narrative uses dense, archaic language to describe a shifting landscape.

    warm → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    warm → tense

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+3

  • 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.

    warm → bleak, still magic school

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+3

  • 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.

    warm → cold

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+3