After
Job: A Comedy of Justice
Robert A. Heinlein1984
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Revolution Business
Charles Stross2009
A family of world-walkers uses their ability to move between parallel earths to run a multi-world drug trade and influence politics.
Same sardonic register, still alternate history
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Hammer
Tom Holt2011
A young man from a family of feuding Icelandic settlers tries to avoid his violent heritage. He finds that fate and family duty are inescapable.
Same sardonic register, still satirical fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak0
Small Gods
Terry Pratchett1992
A powerful god is trapped in the body of a tortoise and must rely on a simple novice to regain his power. They travel across a desert empire.
Same sardonic register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The surprising adventures of Baron Munchausen
Rudolph Erich Raspe2006
An 18th-century nobleman recounts a series of impossible tall tales, including traveling to the moon and riding a cannonball.
sardonic → playful, still satirical fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Highfire
Eoin Colfer2020
The last dragon on Earth lives in a Louisiana swamp and forms an alliance with a local teenager to hide from a corrupt police officer.
Same sardonic register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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.
sardonic → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Tours of the Black Clock
Steve Erickson1989
A ghostwriter for Hitler's private pornography lives in a surreal version of the 20th century where history and memory blur.
sardonic → dreamlike, still alternate history
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
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.
sardonic → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Dæmonomania
John Crowley2000
In the third book of the Aegypt cycle, characters in the 1970s and the Renaissance navigate secret histories and alchemy. It is a slow study.
sardonic → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
The Light and the Dark
Mikhail Shishkin2013
Two lovers exchange letters that transcend time and space. One writes from a domestic life while the other writes from the front lines of a war.
sardonic → elegiac
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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.
Same sardonic register
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
sardonic → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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.
sardonic → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+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.
sardonic → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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.
sardonic → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
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.
sardonic → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
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.
sardonic → elegiac
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
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.
sardonic → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
Unfinished Tales
J.R.R. Tolkien1980
A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.
sardonic → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+1bleak+1
Changing Planes
Ursula K. Le Guin2003
A traveler visits various dimensions during airport layovers. Each chapter describes the unique biology and customs of a different world.
sardonic → wry, still satirical fantasy
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
Heavier
Same sardonic register, still alternate history
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
Jack Faust
Michael Swanwick1997
A scholar receives modern scientific knowledge from a demon in the 16th century. He uses it to force an industrial revolution on the world.
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
A Man Lies Dreaming
Lavie Tidhar2014
A Jewish writer in a concentration camp imagines a world where Hitler is a disgraced private eye in London. The two narratives intertwine.
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+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.
sardonic → bleak
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace0prose0bleak+3
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.
sardonic → tense
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
sardonic → bleak
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
