After
The Rook
Daniel O'Malley2012
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Bone Dance
Emma Bull1991
In a post-apocalyptic city, a video dealer gets caught between warring telepaths. The protagonist discovers their own body is not what it seems.
Same wry register, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Green Man's Foe
Juliet E. McKenna2019
A man who can see supernatural beings is hired to investigate a series of disappearances in the English countryside.
wry → earnest, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Stiletto
Daniel O'Malley2016
A supernatural agent manages a tense merger between a British magical agency and a group of European body-modifying scientists.
Same wry register, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Every which way but dead
Kim Harrison2005
Witch and bounty hunter Rachel Morgan navigates a vampire underworld war in Cincinnati. She deals with a demon deal and a new vampire suitor.
Same wry register, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
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Shattered
Kevin Hearne2014
A 2,000-year-old Druid trains his apprentice while navigating conflicts with various mythological gods in the modern world.
Same wry register, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
wry → dreamlike, still amnesia
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Too Like the Lightning
Ada Palmer2016
In a 25th-century utopia, a convict narrates the discovery of a boy who can perform miracles. The prose uses 18th-century styles and gender terms.
wry → sardonic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
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Shadow & Claw
Gene Wolfe1983
A torturer travels across a far-future Earth where technology is indistinguishable from magic. He recounts his exile in dense, archaic prose.
wry → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
King of Morning, Queen of Day
Ian McDonald1991
Three generations of Irish women encounter the fae across the 20th century. The prose shifts styles to match the 1913, 1937, and 1980s settings.
wry → dreamlike, still urban fantasy
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Naked Lunch: The Restored Text
William S. Burroughs
A series of nonlinear vignettes follow a drug addict's hallucinations and travels. The prose is fragmented and satirical.
wry → sardonic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
To recover
wry → playful, still urban fantasy
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Playing with Fire
Gena Showalter2006
A barista gains elemental superpowers after being poisoned and must flee from a government agent. They eventually work together to escape.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Samson's Lovely Mortal
Tina Folsom
A bachelor vampire who has lost his lust for life meets a mortal woman he is driven to protect. He must keep her safe from his enemies.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
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Dragons Wild
Robert Asprin2008
A con artist discovers he is a dragon and moves to New Orleans to use his skills in the criminal underworld.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Baby, I'm Yours
Susan Andersen1998
A bounty hunter mistakes a schoolteacher for her twin sister and takes her into custody. They travel together while evading actual criminals.
wry → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Nerd in Shining Armor
Vicki Lewis Thompson2003
A woman and a computer programmer are stranded on a desert island after a plane crash. They must survive while evading her murderous boss.
wry → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
wry → propulsive, still urban fantasy
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
Skin Game
Jim Butcher2014
Wizard Harry Dresden joins a team of villains to rob a vault in the Underworld. It is a fast-paced heist set in a modern fantasy Chicago.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
Warbound
Larry Correia2013
In an alternate 1930s, people with magical abilities fight a war against a trans-dimensional threat. It is the final book in a trilogy.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Magic Bites
Ilona Andrews2007
In a future Atlanta where magic and technology fluctuate, mercenary Kate Daniels investigates her guardian's murder. It is an urban fantasy.
wry → sardonic, still urban fantasy
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Touch the dark
Karen Chance2006
A clairvoyant woman is forced to work for a vampire senator to escape a mob boss. She navigates a supernatural underworld with high-speed action.
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Hounded
Kevin Hearne2011
A two-thousand-year-old Druid lives in modern Arizona and runs an occult bookshop. He must fight a vengeful Irish god who wants his sword.
Same wry register, still urban fantasy
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
wry → dreamlike, still amnesia
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
Invisible Cities
Italo Calvino1972
Marco Polo describes fifty-five imaginary cities to Kublai Khan. The book is a series of short, prose-poem meditations on urban existence.
wry → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
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Beelzebub's tales to his grandson
Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff1950
An extraterrestrial being explains the history and strange behaviors of humanity to his grandson during a long space voyage.
wry → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
Dandelion Wine
Ray Bradbury1946
A twelve-year-old boy experiences a series of vignettes over one summer in 1928 Illinois. The chapters focus on small-town life and aging.
wry → elegiac
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose0bleak-1
For Us, the Living
Robert A. Heinlein2003
A 1930s pilot wakes up in the year 2086. The book consists of long dialogues explaining the social, economic, and sexual norms of the future.
wry → earnest
pace-2·prose0·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Perdido Street Station
China Miéville2000
A scientist in a sprawling, industrial city agrees to help a winged refugee fly again. His research accidentally unleashes a psychic predator.
wry → bleak, still urban fantasy
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood1985
In a totalitarian state with a plummeting birth rate, a woman is enslaved as a reproductive vessel. She records her daily life and memories.
wry → cold
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
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Doomsday Book
Connie Willis1992
A student travels to 14th-century England while a virus spreads in the present. She arrives during the Black Death due to a technical error.
wry → bleak
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
The Sparrow
Mary Doria Russell1996
A Jesuit priest joins a mission to a newly discovered planet. The story is told in flashbacks after he returns as the sole, traumatized survivor.
wry → elegiac
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
Watchmen
Alan Moore1986
Retired masked vigilantes investigate the murder of a former teammate. The story takes place in an alternate 1985 on the brink of nuclear war.
wry → bleak, still whodunit
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
