LitQueuelitqueue

After

Just another judgement day

Simon R. Green2009

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same sardonic register, still urban fantasy

1 more ↓

  • Nightwise

    R. S. Belcher2015

    An amoral occultist travels across the United States to settle a debt involving a supernatural conspiracy. It uses noir tropes and urban grit.

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Denser prose

sardonic → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-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·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Rooster Bar

    John Grisham2017

    Three law students realize their school is a scam and drop out to pose as lawyers. They steal identities to survive and pay off their debts.

    Same sardonic register

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra

    Vaseem Khan2015

    A retired police inspector in Mumbai investigates a boy's death while caring for a baby elephant inherited from his uncle.

    sardonic → warm

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

  • Ghost Ship

    Clive Cussler2014

    Kurt Austin survives a yacht sinking but suffers from conflicting memories. He investigates a global cybercrime conspiracy to find the truth.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

Same sardonic register, still urban fantasy

3 more ↓

  • Fool Moon

    Jim Butcher2001

    A wizard for hire helps the Chicago police investigate a series of brutal murders involving different types of werewolves.

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • 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, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → propulsive, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

Slower

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.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → elegiac, still urban fantasy

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Last Days

    Brian Evenson2009

    A detective is kidnapped by a cult that practices ritual amputation and forced to investigate a murder within their ranks.

    sardonic → clinical, still noir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • 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.

    Same sardonic register, still noir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2