After
King of Morning, Queen of Day
Ian McDonald1991
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
Same dreamlike register
- pace0prose0bleak0
Radiance
Catherynne M. Valente2015
A documentary filmmaker disappears on Venus in an alternate 1980s solar system. The story is told through scripts, interviews, and letters.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
City of Saints and Madmen
Jeff Vandermeer2001
A collection of stories, histories, and pamphlets about the city of Ambergris. It uses found documents to build a surreal urban history.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Rakesfall
Vajra Chandrasekera2024
Two souls reincarnate across centuries of Sri Lankan history and a distant future. The narrative shifts through different bodies and realities.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Empty Space
M. John Harrison2012
Three interlocking timelines follow a widow in London, a detective in a neon city, and a pilot in deep space. The prose is dense and surreal.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Moonheart
Charles de Lint1984
An Ottawa heritage house becomes a portal to a world of Celtic and First Nations myth. Characters move between modern reality and a magical forest.
Same dreamlike register, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → earnest, still urban fantasy
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → playful, still urban fantasy
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → playful, still urban fantasy
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → playful, still urban fantasy
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Gentlemen Prefer Succubi
Jill Myles2009
After encounters with a vampire and a fallen angel, a woman gains supernatural powers and a high libido. She is caught in a war between factions.
dreamlike → playful, still urban fantasy
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
Faster
dreamlike → propulsive, still urban fantasy
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
Skin Game
Jim Butcher2014
Wizard Harry Dresden joins a team of villains to rob a vault in the Underworld. It is a fast-paced heist set in a modern fantasy Chicago.
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
dreamlike → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
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.
dreamlike → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
All Systems Red
Martha Wells2017
A self-aware security android hacks its own governor module to watch soap operas while protecting a team of scientists on a distant planet.
dreamlike → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delany1975
An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.
Same dreamlike register
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Invisible Cities
Italo Calvino1972
Marco Polo describes fifty-five imaginary cities to Kublai Khan. The book is a series of short, prose-poem meditations on urban existence.
dreamlike → meditative
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Beelzebub's tales to his grandson
Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff1950
An extraterrestrial being explains the history and strange behaviors of humanity to his grandson during a long space voyage.
dreamlike → meditative
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak0
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.
dreamlike → elegiac, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak-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.
Same dreamlike register, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Perdido Street Station
China Miéville2000
A scientist in a sprawling, industrial city agrees to help a winged refugee fly again. His research accidentally unleashes a psychic predator.
dreamlike → bleak, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood1985
In a totalitarian state with a plummeting birth rate, a woman is enslaved as a reproductive vessel. She records her daily life and memories.
dreamlike → cold
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak+1
Doomsday Book
Connie Willis1992
A student travels to 14th-century England while a virus spreads in the present. She arrives during the Black Death due to a technical error.
dreamlike → bleak
pace0·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
The Sparrow
Mary Doria Russell1996
A Jesuit priest joins a mission to a newly discovered planet. The story is told in flashbacks after he returns as the sole, traumatized survivor.
dreamlike → elegiac
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Watchmen
Alan Moore1986
Retired masked vigilantes investigate the murder of a former teammate. The story takes place in an alternate 1985 on the brink of nuclear war.
dreamlike → bleak
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
