After
The Witness for the Dead
Sarah Monette2021
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace+1prose0bleak0
City of Stairs
Robert Jackson Bennett2014
A spy investigates a murder in a city where the local gods were recently killed. She must navigate magical remnants and political tension.
meditative → tense, still fantasy
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Grief of Stones
Sarah Monette2022
A priest who can speak to the dead investigates a series of murders involving foundlings. He navigates high society and his own trauma.
meditative → elegiac, still fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Giant Bones
Peter S. Beagle1997
Six novellas set in the world of The Last Unicorn. These stories explore the folklore and history of a land where magic is fading.
Same meditative register, still fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Dubious Hills
Pamela Dean1994
In a world where everyone knows exactly what others are feeling, a young girl begins to experience physical pain.
Same meditative register, still fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
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Flesh and Spirit
Carol Berg2007
An injured man with the power to see magical ley lines hides in a monastery. He uses a stolen book of maps to investigate a series of murders.
Same meditative register, still mystery
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
The Claw of the Conciliator
Gene Wolfe1981
An exiled torturer travels with a gem that can heal the dead. The narrative uses archaic vocabulary and an unreliable perspective.
meditative → dreamlike
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
meditative → elegiac
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak0
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.
meditative → dreamlike
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak0
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
Same meditative register
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak-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.
meditative → playful
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
To recover
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
While It Lasts
Abbi Glines2013
A college baseball player works on a farm over the summer to avoid jail after a DUI. He falls for a woman who is grieving her late fiancé.
meditative → warm
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
On a Pale Horse
Piers Anthony1983
After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.
meditative → playful, still fantasy
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak-1
The Will
Kristen Ashley
A woman inherits a house and a family legacy in a small town. She enters a relationship with the man appointed as her protector in the will.
meditative → warm
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
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.
meditative → wry, still mystery
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace0prose-2bleak-1
This Girl
Colleen Hoover2013
A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.
meditative → earnest
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+2prose-2bleak0
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman2020
Earth is converted into an 18-level televised death game. A man and a cat must navigate traps and monsters to survive.
meditative → sardonic
pace+2·prose-2·bleak0
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison1961
A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.
meditative → playful
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak0
- pace+2prose-2bleak0
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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak0
- pace+2prose-2bleak0
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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak0
Slower
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
meditative → elegiac
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
meditative → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
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.
Same meditative register, still fantasy
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Unfinished Tales
J.R.R. Tolkien1980
A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.
Same meditative register
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
Heavier
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
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.
meditative → bleak
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
Pet Sematary
Stephen King1983
A family moves to Maine and discovers a burial ground that can return the dead to life. They use it, and the consequences are absolute.
meditative → tense
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
The Poppy War
R.F. Kuang2018
A war orphan enters a military academy and discovers shamanic powers. She leads a unit into a total war inspired by 20th-century Chinese history.
meditative → bleak
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
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.
meditative → cold
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
