After
Song of Kali
Dan Simmons1985
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Floating Dragon
Peter Straub1983
A chemical leak and an ancient evil coincide in a small town. The narrative shifts between many perspectives as the population hallucinates.
bleak → tense, still horror
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Damnation Game
Clive Barker1985
An ex-con becomes a bodyguard for a billionaire who made a deal with a supernatural gambler. The debt comes due through gore and resurrection.
Same bleak register, still horror
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Nuestra parte de noche
Mariana Enríquez2019
A father and son travel across Argentina during the military junta. They are fleeing a secret society that uses mediums for horrific rituals.
Same bleak register, still horror
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Last Days
Brian Evenson2009
A detective is kidnapped by a cult that practices ritual amputation and forced to investigate a murder within their ranks.
bleak → clinical, still horror
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
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.
Same bleak register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
bleak → dreamlike
- 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.
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.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak-2
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
bleak → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
- 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.
bleak → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-3
- 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.
bleak → meditative
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
To recover
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
The Sentinel
Lee Child2020
A drifter helps an IT manager targeted by criminals after a cyberattack. He uses physical force to protect the man and uncover a conspiracy.
bleak → propulsive
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
The Rooster Bar
John Grisham2017
Three law students realize their school is a scam and drop out to pose as lawyers. They steal identities to survive and pay off their debts.
bleak → sardonic
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
Thraxas
Martin Millar
An overweight, beer-drinking private investigator with minor magical abilities solves crimes in a corrupt fantasy city.
bleak → wry
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
Grunge
Larry Correia2016
A Marine killed in a bombing is resurrected to hunt supernatural creatures. He joins a private company that kills monsters for government bounties.
bleak → sardonic, still horror
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
bleak → playful
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
The Mist
Stephen King1980
A group of townspeople is trapped in a grocery store by a thick mist containing lethal monsters while social order collapses inside.
bleak → tense, still cosmic horror
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- 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.
bleak → sardonic
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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.
bleak → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- 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.
bleak → 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.
bleak → 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.
bleak → 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.
bleak → 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.
bleak → 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.
bleak → 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.
bleak → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
