After
Thud!
Terry Pratchett2005
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Feet of Clay
Terry Pratchett1996
The city police investigate a series of murders and the poisoning of their ruler. The suspects are golems who may be gaining consciousness.
Same wry register, still comic fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Dragon Precinct
Keith R. A. DeCandido2004
A human detective and an elf partner investigate the murder of a famous hero in a high-fantasy city. It is a police procedural with magic.
Same wry register, still police procedural
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Sharps
Tom Holt2012
Two fencers from warring nations are sent on a diplomatic mission. They navigate bureaucratic absurdity and political maneuvering with dry humor.
Same wry register, still comic fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Foxglove Summer
Ben Aaronovitch2014
A London wizard cop investigates the disappearance of two girls in a rural village. He navigates local police culture and hidden magical threats.
Same wry register, still police procedural
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Lock In
John Scalzi2014
An FBI agent uses a robotic body to investigate a murder. He is one of many people whose minds are 'locked in' their bodies by a global virus.
Same wry register, still police procedural
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
wry → playful, still comic fantasy
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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.
wry → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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.
wry → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
wry → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
wry → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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.
wry → sardonic
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
wry → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
Fifty Fifty
James Patterson2017
A detective is exiled to a remote town where she discovers a diary detailing a plan to massacre the entire population.
wry → propulsive, still police procedural
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Golden Prey
John Sandford2017
A U.S. Marshal tracks a pair of thieves who robbed a drug cartel and killed a small child during their escape.
wry → propulsive, still police procedural
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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.
wry → propulsive, still conspiracy
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
wry → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
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.
wry → elegiac
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
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.
wry → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
Unfinished Tales
J.R.R. Tolkien1980
A collection of incomplete narratives and essays that expand the history, geography, and lore of Middle-earth.
wry → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
wry → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
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.
wry → bleak
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace0prose0bleak+3
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.
wry → tense
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+3
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.
wry → bleak
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
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.
wry → cold
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
Song of Kali
Dan Simmons1985
An American poet travels to Calcutta to find a manuscript by a dead writer. He encounters a cult that worships the goddess of destruction.
wry → bleak
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
