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After

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta2016

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Mythago Wood

    Robert Holdstock1984

    A man enters an ancient woodland where human subconsciousness creates physical versions of myths. He searches for his obsessed brother.

    Same dreamlike register

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

dreamlike → meditative

3 more ↓

  • Ink

    Hal Duncan2007

    Gods and mortals clash in a shifting city where reality is written on skin. The story follows a cycle of mythic archetypes across time.

    Same dreamlike register

    pace0·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.

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    dreamlike → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

dreamlike → playful

3 more ↓

  • Mile High

    Liz Tomforde2023

    A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Behind the Net

    Stephanie Archer2024

    A former musician becomes the live-in assistant for a professional hockey goalie she knew in high school.

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • She Went All the Way

    Meg Cabot2002

    A screenwriter and an actor survive a helicopter crash in the Alaskan wilderness and must hike to safety while being pursued by a killer.

    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.

    dreamlike → 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.

    dreamlike → 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.

    dreamlike → 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.

    Same dreamlike register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Tehanu

    Ursula K. Le Guin1990

    A widow cares for an aging mage who has lost his magic. The story focuses on domestic life and the aftermath of past adventures.

    dreamlike → meditative, still fantasy

    pace-1·prose0·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.

    dreamlike → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Doctor Rat

    William Kotzwinkle1976

    A laboratory rat loyal to his human captors defends the practice of vivisection while animals worldwide begin a bloody revolt.

    dreamlike → sardonic, still dystopian

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • The Gradual

    Christopher Priest2016

    A composer travels between islands where time passes at different rates. He observes how these temporal shifts isolate him from his family.

    dreamlike → melancholy, still dystopian

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • The Memory Police

    Yoko Ogawa1994

    Objects vanish from an island and from the residents' memories. A novelist hides her editor from the police who enforce the disappearances.

    dreamlike → elegiac, still dystopian

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1