LitQueuelitqueue

After

Redoubt (Valdemar

Mercedes Lackey2012

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Sorcerer's Son

    Phyllis Eisenstein1979

    A young man leaves his mother's secluded castle to find his demon father and learn the art of sorcery.

    warm → earnest, still high fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

warm → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • The Silmarillion

    J. R. R. Tolkien1977

    A history of the First Age of Middle-earth, from the creation of the world to the fall of the Elven kingdoms. It is written as a mythic chronicle.

    warm → elegiac, still high fantasy

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    warm → meditative

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

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

    warm → meditative, still high fantasy

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Apprentice to the Villain

    Hannah Nicole Maehrer2024

    Evie Sage assists an evil overlord while a magical threat endangers their kingdom. The story follows their workplace dynamic and a looming siege.

    warm → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Castle of Wizardry

    David Eddings1984

    A young sorcerer and his companions travel across a continent to return a powerful artifact to its rightful throne.

    warm → playful, still high fantasy

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Hot mahogany

    Stuart Woods2008

    A lawyer guards a former spy with amnesia who restores antique furniture. They uncover a conspiracy linked to the man's service in Vietnam.

    warm → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    warm → playful

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    warm → propulsive

    pace+2·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.

    warm → propulsive

    pace+2·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.

    warm → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+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.

    warm → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    warm → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    warm → tense

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    warm → bleak

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Traitor Baru Cormorant

    Seth Dickinson2015

    An accountant infiltrates the empire that conquered her home to destroy it from within. She uses economics and politics as her primary weapons.

    warm → cold

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2