After
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing
Jasper Fforde2011
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Lost in a Good Book
Jasper Fforde2002
Thursday Next enters the world of literature to rescue her husband from erasure. She trains as a book-world detective under Miss Havisham.
Same playful register, still comic fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Colour of Magic
Terry Pratchett1983
A failed wizard and a naive tourist travel across a flat world carried by a turtle. The story parodies fantasy tropes and clichés.
Same playful register, still comic fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn
Piers Anthony1984
A ghost tells the story of his life and his quest to find the woman he loved. The world is built entirely on puns and wordplay.
Same playful register, still comic fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
One for the Morning Glory
John Barnes1996
A prince drinks a potion that makes half of him disappear. He goes on a quest with companions to find the rest of himself.
Same playful register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
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Bloodsucking Fiends
Christopher Moore1995
A woman is turned into a vampire in San Francisco and recruits a night-shift worker to help her survive. It is a comedy about urban nightlife.
Same playful register, still comic fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
Same playful register, still comic fantasy
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
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Ink
Hal Duncan2007
Gods and mortals clash in a shifting city where reality is written on skin. The story follows a cycle of mythic archetypes across time.
playful → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
playful → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Soldier of Sidon
Gene Wolfe2006
A mercenary in ancient Egypt loses his memory every time he sleeps. He records his days in a scroll while interacting with gods and spirits.
playful → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
Faster
- pace+1prose-2bleak+1
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman2020
Earth is converted into an 18-level televised death game. A man and a cat must navigate traps and monsters to survive.
playful → sardonic
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
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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.
Same playful register
pace+1·prose-2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
playful → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-2bleak+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.
playful → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-2bleak+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.
playful → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
Slower
- pace-2prose+1bleak+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.
playful → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+1bleak+2
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.
playful → elegiac
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-2prose-1bleak+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.
playful → tender
pace-2·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace-2prose0bleak+1
Tehanu
Ursula K. Le Guin1990
A widow cares for an aging mage who has lost his magic. The story focuses on domestic life and the aftermath of past adventures.
playful → meditative
pace-2·prose0·bleak+1
Heavier
playful → sardonic, still alternate history
- pace0prose0bleak+3
Jack Faust
Michael Swanwick1997
A scholar receives modern scientific knowledge from a demon in the 16th century. He uses it to force an industrial revolution on the world.
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
- pace0prose0bleak+3
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.
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
playful → bleak
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
- pace0prose-1bleak+3
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.
playful → tense
pace0·prose-1·bleak+3
- pace0prose-1bleak+3
The Poppy War
R.F. Kuang2018
A war orphan enters a military academy and discovers shamanic powers. She leads a unit into a total war inspired by 20th-century Chinese history.
playful → bleak
pace0·prose-1·bleak+3
