LitQueuelitqueue

After

His Majesty's Dragon

Naomi Novik2006

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Hood (King Raven #1)

    Stephen R. Lawhead2006

    A Welsh prince flees into the forest after Norman invaders kill his father. He adopts the identity of Robin Hood to lead a resistance.

    Same earnest register, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Denser prose

earnest → meditative, still historical fantasy

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.

    earnest → 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.

    earnest → 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.

    earnest → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

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.

    earnest → playful

    pace+1·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.

    earnest → 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.

    earnest → propulsive

    pace+1·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.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

  • 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.

    earnest → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

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

    earnest → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Deadhouse Gates (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 2)

    Steven Erikson2000

    As a holy rebellion erupts across a desert continent, a small Malazan army attempts to escort 30,000 refugees to safety.

    earnest → elegiac, still military fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3

  • The sad tale of the brothers Grossbart

    Jesse Bullington2009

    Two murderous brothers travel across 14th-century Europe to rob Egyptian tombs. They encounter monsters and religious zealots along the way.

    earnest → sardonic, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3

  • 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.

    earnest → bleak

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3