LitQueuelitqueue

After

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Susanna Clarke2004

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Lady of the Forest

    Jennifer Roberson1992

    A retelling of the Robin Hood legend focusing on Maid Marian and Robert of Locksley. It follows their meeting and the politics of Richard's England.

    wry → earnest, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

wry → 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.

    wry → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • The Tourmaline

    Paul Park2006

    A girl from our world navigates a magical, alternate-history Europe where Romania is a superpower. The narrative is dense and non-linear.

    wry → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Wandering Unicorn

    Manuel Mujica Lainez1965

    A shapeshifting fairy falls in love with a medieval knight and follows him through the Crusades. The prose is dense and formal.

    wry → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

wry → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

    An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.

    wry → tense

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Real Murders

    Charlaine Harris1990

    A librarian in a small Georgia town belongs to a club that studies famous crimes. A real murder occurs that mimics a historical case.

    Same wry register

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Ready Player One

    Ernest Cline2008

    A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.

    pace+2·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.

    wry → playful

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-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.

    wry → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

  • Warbound

    Larry Correia2013

    In an alternate 1930s, people with magical abilities fight a war against a trans-dimensional threat. It is the final book in a trilogy.

    wry → propulsive, still historical fantasy

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+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.

    wry → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Among Others

    Jo Walton2011

    A teenage girl at a 1970s boarding school copes with her twin's death through books and subtle magic. It is written as a series of diary entries.

    wry → tender

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → sardonic, still historical fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+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.

    wry → bleak

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    wry → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2