LitQueuelitqueue

After

Newton's Cannon

Gregory Keyes1998

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Stardust Thief

    Chelsea Abdullah2022

    A merchant of illegal magic and her jinn bodyguard are forced by a sultan to find a legendary lamp. They trek across a desert filled with ghouls.

    Same propulsive register, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

propulsive → 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike, still alternate history

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Beautiful Bastard

    Christina Lauren2013

    An MBA intern and her demanding media executive boss engage in a series of sexual encounters while competing at work. It is an erotic romance.

    propulsive → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Lost Symbol

    Dan Brown2009

    Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Hating Game

    Sally Thorne2016

    Two executive assistants at a publishing house compete for a single promotion through a series of psychological games and mutual sabotage.

    propulsive → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike, still historical fantasy

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

    A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → sardonic, still alternate history

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu

    Andrus Kivirähk2015

    A boy in medieval Estonia learns the ancient language of snakes to command animals as his forest culture is erased by Christian invaders.

    propulsive → elegiac, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    propulsive → sardonic, still historical fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2