LitQueuelitqueue

After

Rex Regis

L.E. Modesitt Jr.2014

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Oracle

    Michelle West2016

    In a city of seers and assassins, a young woman with visions is drawn into the power struggles of the ruling houses.

    Same meditative register, still epic fantasy

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • The Light and the Dark

    Mikhail Shishkin2013

    Two lovers exchange letters that transcend time and space. One writes from a domestic life while the other writes from the front lines of a war.

    meditative → elegiac

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    meditative → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

  • The Claw of the Conciliator

    Gene Wolfe1981

    An exiled torturer travels with a gem that can heal the dead. The narrative uses archaic vocabulary and an unreliable perspective.

    meditative → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Warrior Rising

    P.C. Cast2008

    Goddesses transport a modern woman to ancient Troy to seduce and distract Achilles. It is a lighthearted fish-out-of-water romance.

    meditative → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Royally Screwed

    Emma Chase2016

    A crown prince visiting Manhattan pursues a bakery worker who threw a pie at him. The story follows their class-clash courtship.

    meditative → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • The Princess

    Lori Wick2006

    In the fictional land of Pendaran, a prince enters an arranged marriage with a commoner who must learn the ways of the royal court.

    meditative → warm

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Promise of Blood

    Brian McClellan2013

    A Field Marshal stages a bloody coup against his king and must defend the new government using soldiers who gain magic powers from gunpowder.

    meditative → propulsive, still epic fantasy

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+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.

    meditative → sardonic

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

  • 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.

    meditative → playful

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

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.

    meditative → 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.

    Same meditative register

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    meditative → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Last Argument of Kings

    Joe Abercrombie2008

    The Union faces internal revolt and external invasion as a dying king leaves a power vacuum. Multiple POV characters navigate a cynical war.

    meditative → bleak, still epic fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    meditative → grim, still epic fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Dragon Republic

    R. F. Kuang2019

    A shaman soldier joins a rebellion to overthrow the Empress while struggling with opium addiction and a vengeful god. It mirrors Chinese history.

    meditative → tense, still epic fantasy

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2