After
Jack of Kinrowan
Charles de Lint1995
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Drink Down the Moon
Charles de Lint1990
Fiddler Jilly Coppercorn and her friends encounter faerie folk hidden within the streets and shadows of a modern city.
earnest → dreamlike, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
War for the Oaks
Emma Bull1987
A musician in Minneapolis is drafted by a phouka to serve as the mortal witness in a war between faerie courts. It blends rock music with folklore.
Same earnest register, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Living with the Dead
Kelley Armstrong2008
A PR consultant is framed for murder and caught between warring supernatural factions. She must navigate a world of werewolves and ghosts to survive.
earnest → propulsive, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon
Wole Talabi2023
A nightmare god and a succubus team up to steal an ancient artifact from the British Museum to pay off a debt to a corporate deity.
earnest → propulsive, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Changer
Jane Lindskold1998
The last of the shapeshifters must protect her daughter from various mythological beings in the modern world. It features many figures from folklore.
earnest → warm, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
In the Night Garden
Catherynne M. Valente2006
A girl with tattooed eyelids tells a prince interlocking stories of monsters and folklore. The narrative is a series of nested myths.
earnest → dreamlike, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Soldier of Sidon
Gene Wolfe2006
A mercenary in ancient Egypt loses his memory every time he sleeps. He records his days in a scroll while interacting with gods and spirits.
earnest → meditative, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Ink
Hal Duncan2007
Gods and mortals clash in a shifting city where reality is written on skin. The story follows a cycle of mythic archetypes across time.
earnest → dreamlike, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
earnest → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
earnest → elegiac, still mythic fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
The Little Country
Charles de Lint1991
A musician discovers a hidden manuscript that contains a parallel world, causing the two realities to begin bleeding into each other.
earnest → warm, still urban fantasy
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Being a Green Mother
Piers Anthony1987
Orb, the daughter of Fate, assumes the role of Nature. She uses her magical songs to manage the world's ecology and confront a demonic threat.
Same earnest register, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire
Kerrelyn Sparks2005
A vampire who broke a fang kidnaps a dentist who is afraid of blood. She is hiding from the mafia while he needs his smile repaired.
earnest → playful, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Undead and Unwed
MaryJanice Davidson2004
After dying in a car crash, a fashion-obsessed woman wakes up as a vampire. She resists the local undead community's claim that she is their queen.
earnest → playful, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Bitten & Smitten
Michelle Rowen2006
Sarah is accidentally turned into a vampire and must rely on a grumpy, centuries-old vampire to teach her how to survive.
earnest → playful, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
earnest → propulsive, still urban fantasy
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Touch the dark
Karen Chance2006
A clairvoyant woman is forced to work for a vampire senator to escape a mob boss. She navigates a supernatural underworld with high-speed action.
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Battle Ground
Jim Butcher2020
A wizard leads the supernatural defense of Chicago against an invading army led by a Titan. The book is a single, continuous battle.
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Blood Engines
Tim Pratt2007
A sorceress who uses blood magic to power her spells defends her city from a rival. She makes ruthless choices to maintain her power.
earnest → sardonic, still urban fantasy
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Sandman Slim
Richard Kadrey2009
A magician crawls out of Hell to hunt the people who murdered his girlfriend in Los Angeles. He uses black magic and a stolen shotgun.
earnest → sardonic, still urban fantasy
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
earnest → elegiac, still mythic fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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 mythic fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
Love & Sleep
John Crowley1994
Pierce Moffett researches the history of magic while living in a small town. The narrative shifts between his life and the Renaissance.
earnest → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
earnest → dreamlike, still mythic fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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·bleak0
Heavier
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
A Dirty Job
Christopher Moore2006
A beta-male widower is forced to become a Soul Merchant. He collects glowing objects from the dying while avoiding ancient monsters.
earnest → dark, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
The Alchemy of Stone
Ekaterina Sedia2008
An alchemist automaton is caught in a political struggle between gargoyles and her creators. She must find a way to wind her own heart key.
earnest → elegiac, still urban fantasy
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu
Andrus Kivirähk2015
A boy in medieval Estonia learns the ancient language of snakes to command animals as his forest culture is erased by Christian invaders.
earnest → elegiac, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace0prose0bleak+2
A Matter of Blood
Sarah Pinborough2010
A detective investigates a serial killer in a London plagued by a failing economy and a supernatural virus. The tone is consistently grim.
earnest → bleak, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
- pace0prose+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.
earnest → bleak
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
