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After

Prince Lestat, The Vampire Chronicles

Anne Rice2014

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same elegiac register, still gothic

1 more ↓

  • Strange brew

    Patricia Briggs2009

    An anthology of short stories centered on witches and magic, featuring various protagonists in contemporary and historical settings.

    Same elegiac register, still paranormal

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

elegiac → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    elegiac → meditative

    pace0·prose+1·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.

    elegiac → playful

    pace0·prose+1·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·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Ice Planet Barbarians

    Ruby Dixon2021

    A group of human women are stranded on a frozen world and rescued by blue, horned aliens. The story focuses on survival and biological attraction.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Secondhand Spirits

    Juliet Blackwell2009

    A vintage shop owner who can feel the history of clothes uses her magic to solve a murder. She must find a killer while hiding her identity.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • A Spell for Chameleon

    Piers Anthony1977

    In a land where everyone has a unique magical talent, a man with no apparent power goes on a quest to avoid exile.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·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.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·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.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·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.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·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.

    elegiac → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

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

    elegiac → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Titus Groan

    Mervyn Peake1973

    The birth of an heir triggers power struggles in a decaying, ritual-bound castle. The prose is dense and focuses on the grotesque architecture.

    elegiac → sardonic, still gothic

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Nuestra parte de noche

    Mariana Enríquez2019

    A father and son travel across Argentina during the military junta. They are fleeing a secret society that uses mediums for horrific rituals.

    elegiac → bleak, still gothic

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    elegiac → bleak

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    elegiac → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2