Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth

Nightwise

R. S. Belcher2015

An amoral occultist travels across the United States to settle a debt involving a supernatural conspiracy. It uses noir tropes and urban grit.

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Ficciones

Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

sardonic → meditative

pace-1·prose+2·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.

sardonic → playful

pace-1·prose+2·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.

sardonic → meditative

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

About a Dragon

G.A. Aiken2008

A sardonic fantasy romance where a dragon shifter and a human woman are forced together. It features heavy banter and fated mate tropes.

Same sardonic register

pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Night Play

Sherrilyn Kenyon2004

A woman meets a man who is secretly a werewolf being hunted by his own kind. He must protect her while they navigate a fated connection.

sardonic → playful, still urban fantasy

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

The Lady is a Vamp

Lynsay Sands2012

A mortal man kidnaps a female vampire to help him with a family emergency. They develop a romantic connection while avoiding vampire authorities.

sardonic → playful, still urban fantasy

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Fool Moon

Jim Butcher2001

A wizard for hire helps the Chicago police investigate a series of brutal murders involving different types of werewolves.

pace+1·prose0·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.

sardonic → propulsive, still urban fantasy

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

Touch the dark

Karen Chance2006

A clairvoyant woman is forced to work for a vampire senator to escape a mob boss. She navigates a supernatural underworld with high-speed action.

sardonic → propulsive, still urban fantasy

pace+1·prose0·bleak0

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.

sardonic → dreamlike

pace-2·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.

sardonic → meditative

pace-2·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.

sardonic → dreamlike

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

The Alchemy of Stone

Ekaterina Sedia2008

An alchemist automaton is caught in a political struggle between gargoyles and her creators. She must find a way to wind her own heart key.

sardonic → elegiac, still urban fantasy

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

Last Days

Brian Evenson2009

A detective is kidnapped by a cult that practices ritual amputation and forced to investigate a murder within their ranks.

sardonic → clinical, still noir

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

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.

Same sardonic register, still noir

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2