The Horse Goddess

The Forest House

Marion Zimmer Bradley1994

In Roman-occupied Britain, a Druid's daughter becomes a High Priestess while hiding her love for a Roman soldier.

earnest → elegiac, still historical fantasy

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert1856

A doctor's wife in provincial France seeks escape from her mundane life through expensive tastes and extramarital affairs.

earnest → tense

pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1

Paradise Logic

Sophie Kemp2025

A young woman follows advice from a magazine to become a perfect partner. Her quest involves surreal jobs and messages from the beyond.

earnest → epic

pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1

Mad Mabel

Sally Hepworth2025

An eighty-one-year-old woman with a history of killing people tries to hide her past when a curious young girl moves into the neighborhood.

earnest → dark

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon

Kimberly Lemming2021

A spice trader saves a demon while intoxicated and joins his quest to kill a witch. The story features frequent sexual content and humor.

earnest → playful

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

earnest → playful

pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Heretical Fishing

Haylock Jobson2025

A man is transported to a fantasy world with a power system but chooses to ignore quests in favor of fishing. He focuses on his hobby and pets.

earnest → playful

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Savage Prince

Meghan March2018

A powerful man in the New Orleans underworld becomes obsessed with a woman and pursues her despite the danger of his lifestyle.

pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

The Professional: Part 2 (The Game Maker, #1b)

Kresley Cole

A Russian enforcer continues his pursuit of a graduate student across Europe. The focus is on their sexual power dynamic and his mafia duties.

earnest → tense

pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Victory at Prescott High

C.M. Stunich

A high school girl seeks revenge against the boys who bullied her while navigating a complex relationship with all of them at once.

pace+2·prose-1·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.

earnest → meditative, still historical fantasy

pace-1·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.

earnest → elegiac, still mythic fiction

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

Dhalgren

Samuel R. Delany1975

An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.

earnest → dreamlike

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

A Farewell to Arms

Ernest Hemingway1929

An American ambulance driver and a British nurse conduct a love affair during the Italian campaign of World War I.

earnest → elegiac

pace0·prose0·bleak+2

Tess of the D’Urbervilles

Thomas Hardy

A country girl is sent to claim kinship with wealthy relatives. Her life is derailed by a sequence of social betrayals and rigid moral standards.

earnest → elegiac

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

Brokeback Mountain

Annie Proulx1997

Two ranch hands begin a secret sexual and emotional relationship in 1963 Wyoming. The story follows their occasional meetings over twenty years.

earnest → elegiac

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2