LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Land Across

Gene Wolfe2013

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Penelopiad

    Margaret Atwood2005

    Penelope and her twelve executed maids recount the events of the Odyssey from the underworld, challenging the traditional hero's narrative.

    Same sardonic register, still unreliable narrator

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → playful, still satire

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-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.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

    A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.

    sardonic → meditative, still unreliable narrator

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Year zero

    Reid, Robert2012

    Aliens discover that Earth's music is the best in the galaxy and they owe humanity trillions in copyright fines.

    sardonic → playful, still satire

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Fifty Shades of Grey

    E.L. James2000

    A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.

    sardonic → earnest

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Neon Gods

    Katee Robert2021

    In a modern city-state, Persephone flees an arranged marriage to Zeus by entering the underworld. She strikes a deal with Hades to stay there.

    sardonic → tense

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    sardonic → dreamlike, still weird fiction

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

  • Among Others

    Jo Walton2011

    A teenage girl at a 1970s boarding school copes with her twin's death through books and subtle magic. It is written as a series of diary entries.

    sardonic → tender

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

Heavier

Same sardonic register, still satire

3 more ↓

  • The Sub: A Study in Witchcraft

    Thomas M. Disch1999

    A substitute teacher discovers she has the power of witchcraft. She uses her abilities to manipulate her small town as her sanity deteriorates.

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • Last Days

    Brian Evenson2009

    A detective is kidnapped by a cult that practices ritual amputation and forced to investigate a murder within their ranks.

    sardonic → clinical, still weird fiction

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • 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.

    sardonic → bleak

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1