Someplace to Be Flying

The Uncertain Places

Lisa Goldstein2011

A man marries into a family that has a secret pact with the fae. The story spans decades as he discovers the price of their luck.

pace0·prose0·bleak0

Soldier of Sidon

Gene Wolfe2006

A mercenary in ancient Egypt loses his memory every time he sleeps. He records his days in a scroll while interacting with gods and spirits.

dreamlike → meditative, still mythic fiction

pace0·prose+2·bleak0

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.

dreamlike → elegiac, still mythic fiction

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

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.

dreamlike → playful

pace0·prose+2·bleak-1

The Little Country

Charles de Lint1991

A musician discovers a hidden manuscript that contains a parallel world, causing the two realities to begin bleeding into each other.

dreamlike → warm, still urban fantasy

pace0·prose0·bleak-1

It Starts with Us

Colleen Hoover2022

A single mother navigates a new relationship with her first love while managing a jealous ex-husband. The story alternates perspectives.

dreamlike → earnest

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Dark Lover

J. R. Ward2005

A vampire king seeks revenge against the slayers who killed his parents while protecting a woman discovering her own supernatural heritage.

dreamlike → propulsive, still urban fantasy

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Battle Ground

Jim Butcher2020

A wizard leads the supernatural defense of Chicago against an invading army led by a Titan. The book is a single, continuous battle.

pace+2·prose0·bleak+1

Blood Engines

Tim Pratt2007

A sorceress who uses blood magic to power her spells defends her city from a rival. She makes ruthless choices to maintain her power.

dreamlike → sardonic, still urban fantasy

pace+2·prose0·bleak+1

Sandman Slim

Richard Kadrey2009

A magician crawls out of Hell to hunt the people who murdered his girlfriend in Los Angeles. He uses black magic and a stolen shotgun.

dreamlike → sardonic, still urban fantasy

pace+2·prose0·bleak0

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.

dreamlike → meditative

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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.

Same dreamlike register, still mythic fiction

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

The Centaur

Algernon Blackwood1911

A traveler on a ship becomes obsessed with a man and his son who seem to be remnants of an older, non-human world.

Same dreamlike register, still mythic fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu

Andrus Kivirähk2015

A boy in medieval Estonia learns the ancient language of snakes to command animals as his forest culture is erased by Christian invaders.

dreamlike → elegiac, still mythic fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak+2

A Matter of Blood

Sarah Pinborough2010

A detective investigates a serial killer in a London plagued by a failing economy and a supernatural virus. The tone is consistently grim.

dreamlike → bleak, still urban fantasy

pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

The Fifth Season

N. K. Jemisin2015

A mother searches for her daughter across a continent undergoing a tectonic apocalypse. Some chapters address the reader in the second person.

dreamlike → bleak

pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2