Merlin's Wood

Ariadne

Jennifer Saint2021

The Princess of Crete aids Theseus in slaying the Minotaur, leading to her exile and a life shaped by the whims of Dionysus.

Same elegiac register, still mythic fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak0

Vellum

Hal Duncan2005

Humans transformed into angels and demons fight across a multiverse for a book that controls reality. The narrative jumps through time and myth.

elegiac → dreamlike, still mythic fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

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.

elegiac → dreamlike, still mythic fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

Mortal Suns

Tanith Lee2003

A rejected princess in a mythic world seeks her place amidst prophecies and royal power struggles. The prose is dense and stylized.

elegiac → dreamlike, still mythic fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To Sir Phillip, With Love

Julia Quinn2003

Eloise Bridgerton travels to meet a widowed baronet she has only known through letters. They consider a marriage of convenience.

elegiac → warm

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

All Rhodes Lead Here

Mariana Zapata2021

A woman moves back to her Colorado hometown after a breakup and rents a garage apartment from a grumpy single father.

elegiac → warm

pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

Hannah's List

Debbie Macomber2010

A widower receives a letter from his late wife suggesting three women he should date. He begins to interact with each woman over the following year.

elegiac → warm

pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

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.

elegiac → propulsive

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-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.

elegiac → propulsive

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-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.

elegiac → propulsive

pace+2·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.

elegiac → meditative

pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

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.

elegiac → dreamlike, still mythic fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

The Centaur

Algernon Blackwood1911

A traveler on a ship becomes obsessed with a man and his son who seem to be remnants of an older, non-human world.

elegiac → dreamlike, still mythic fiction

pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

The Damnation Game

Clive Barker1985

An ex-con becomes a bodyguard for a billionaire who made a deal with a supernatural gambler. The debt comes due through gore and resurrection.

pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

The Black Company

Glen Cook1984

An elite mercenary unit serves an immortal sorceress. The story is told through the cynical journals of the company's doctor and historian.

elegiac → grim, still dark fantasy

pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

Snow, Glass, Apples

Neil Gaiman2019

A retelling of Snow White from the stepmother's perspective. The princess is a vampiric creature and the queen struggles to protect the kingdom.

elegiac → cold, still dark fantasy

pace0·prose0·bleak+1