The Serpent & the Wings of Night

Five Broken Blades

Mai Corland2024

Five criminals are hired to assassinate a god-king. The story follows their uneasy alliance and individual secrets as they plan the heist.

Same propulsive register, still romantasy

pace0·prose0·bleak0

Ficciones

Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

propulsive → meditative

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

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.

propulsive → playful

pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

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.

propulsive → meditative

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Electric Idol

Katee Robert2022

In a modern-day Olympus, Eros is ordered to kill Psyche but chooses to enter a fake marriage with her to protect her from his mother.

propulsive → playful, still enemies to lovers

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Lauren's Barbarian

Ruby Dixon2017

A woman is abducted by aliens and abandoned on an ice planet, where she is found by a blue-skinned hunter who believes she is his mate.

propulsive → playful

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Taming the Highland Bride

Lynsay Sands2010

A Scottish woman hopes to escape her rowdy brothers through an arranged marriage, only to find her new husband is equally boisterous.

propulsive → playful

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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.

Same propulsive register

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

Same propulsive register

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

Same propulsive register

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

propulsive → dreamlike

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Unfinished Tales

J.R.R. Tolkien1980

A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.

propulsive → 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.

propulsive → dreamlike

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

The Black Company

Glen Cook1984

An elite mercenary unit serves an immortal sorceress. The story is told through the cynical journals of the company's doctor and historian.

propulsive → grim, still dark fantasy

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

Snow, Glass, Apples

Neil Gaiman2019

A retelling of Snow White from the stepmother's perspective. The princess is a vampiric creature and the queen struggles to protect the kingdom.

propulsive → cold, still dark fantasy

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2