After
Skin
Kathe Koja1993
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Sorrowland
Rivers Solomon2021
A pregnant teen escapes a religious cult and hides in the woods, where her body begins to transform. She eventually uncovers a government plot.
Same tense register, still body horror
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The Scar
China Miéville2002
A linguist is press-ganged onto Armada, a massive city made of thousands of lashed-together ships. The leaders hunt a massive sea creature.
Same tense register
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Koko
Peter Straub1988
Four Vietnam veterans reunite to track down a member of their old unit who they believe is committing a series of murders in Southeast Asia.
Same tense register
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak-1
City of Blades
Robert Jackson Bennett2016
A retired general investigates a murder in a ruined city once ruled by a god of war. She discovers supernatural threats in the harbor.
Same tense register
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+1bleak-3
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.
tense → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-3
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Tours of the Black Clock
Steve Erickson1989
A ghostwriter for Hitler's private pornography lives in a surreal version of the 20th century where history and memory blur.
tense → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
Endless Things
John Crowley2007
A scholar travels to Europe to find a secret history of magic hidden within real-world myths. This is the conclusion of a four-book cycle.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose+1bleak-2
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
To recover
tense → propulsive
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown2009
Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
Walking Disaster
Jamie McGuire2013
This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
This Man
Jodi Ellen Malpas2013
An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.
Same tense register
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline2008
A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
Real Murders
Charlaine Harris1990
A librarian in a small Georgia town belongs to a club that studies famous crimes. A real murder occurs that mimics a historical case.
tense → wry
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
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.
tense → sardonic
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
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.
tense → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
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.
tense → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
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.
tense → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
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.
tense → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
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.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
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.
tense → elegiac
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
Unfinished Tales
J.R.R. Tolkien1980
A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
