After
Snow, Glass, Apples
Neil Gaiman2019
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak-1
White as Snow
Tanith Lee2000
A retelling of Snow White focused on a cold queen and her neglected daughter. The prose is dense and the setting is a bleak, ancient landscape.
cold → elegiac, still dark fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Black sun rising
C. S. Friedman1991
On a planet where thoughts manifest as reality, four travelers journey into a dangerous territory to confront a psychic evil.
Same cold register, still dark fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
A Cavern of Black Ice
J.V. Jones2005
A young woman with destructive magical powers and a clan outcast travel through a frozen landscape to prevent an ancient evil from escaping.
Same cold register, still dark fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
In Great Waters
Kit Whitfield2009
In an alternate history, humans breed with sea-dwellers to secure naval power. The story follows the political fallout and the fate of hybrid heirs.
Same cold register, still dark fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak-1
The Child Thief
Gerald Brom2009
A gold-eyed boy recruits abused children to fight a bloody war in a magical realm. It is a violent reimagining of Peter Pan.
cold → bleak, still dark fantasy
pace+1·prose0·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace+1prose+1bleak-1
The Wizard Knight
Gene Wolfe2005
A teenager enters a magical realm and inhabits the body of a knight. He navigates feudal politics and Norse mythology across two volumes.
cold → elegiac, still dark fantasy
pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace0prose+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.
cold → dreamlike
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+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.
cold → dreamlike
pace0·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace0prose+1bleak-2
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
cold → meditative
pace0·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace0prose+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.
cold → playful
pace0·prose+1·bleak-3
To recover
cold → propulsive
- pace+2prose-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+2·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-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.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
cold → playful
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-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.
cold → tense
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
Smokin' Seventeen
Janet Evanovich2011
A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.
cold → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+2prose-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.
cold → sardonic
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-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.
cold → playful
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-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.
cold → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-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.
cold → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-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.
cold → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-1prose+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.
cold → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose+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.
cold → elegiac
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+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.
cold → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose+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.
cold → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose+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.
cold → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
