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After

The True Bastards

Jonathan French2019

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Heroes die

    Matthew Woodring Stover1998

    An actor travels to a parallel fantasy world to commit murders for a live-streamed audience on Earth. He must rescue his estranged wife.

    Same sardonic register, still grimdark

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

sardonic → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Hot mahogany

    Stuart Woods2008

    A lawyer guards a former spy with amnesia who restores antique furniture. They uncover a conspiracy linked to the man's service in Vietnam.

    sardonic → wry

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Assistant to the Villain

    Hannah Nicole Maehrer2023

    A woman takes a job as an administrative assistant to a local villain to support her family. She manages his office while ignoring his evil deeds.

    sardonic → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Kaiju Preservation Society

    John Scalzi2022

    A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.

    sardonic → playful, still found family

    pace+1·prose-1·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+1·prose-1·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+1·prose-1·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+1·prose-1·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-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

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

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Traitor Baru Cormorant

    Seth Dickinson2015

    An accountant infiltrates the empire that conquered her home to destroy it from within. She uses economics and politics as her primary weapons.

    sardonic → cold, still grimdark

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Darkness That Comes Before

    R. Scott Bakker2003

    A monk, a barbarian, and a sorcerer navigate a holy war. The narrative focuses on philosophical manipulation and a cold, strategic view of power.

    sardonic → cold, still grimdark

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Empire of the Damned

    Jay Kristoff2024

    A vampire hunter protects the Holy Grail while navigating a war between rival vampire bloodlines. The world is trapped in a permanent night.

    sardonic → bleak, still grimdark

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1