LitQueuelitqueue

After

Tinker

Wen Spencer2004

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Compulsory

    Martha Wells

    A security android hacks its own governor module to gain free will. It hides its sentience while continuing to protect its human clients.

    tense → sardonic, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

tense → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Ficciones

    Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

    tense → meditative

    pace0·prose+3·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.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose+3·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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The moon metal

    Garrett Putman Serviss1900

    A scientist discovers a way to extract a new metal from moonlight after the world's gold supply is destroyed by a mysterious ray.

    tense → earnest, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Pegasus in Space

    Anne McCaffrey2000

    A telepathic teenager protects a space station project from sabotage. He uses his powers to coordinate the construction of a deep-space colony.

    tense → earnest, still science fiction

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Looking Backward from 2000 to 1887

    Edward Bellamy1945

    A man falls into a hypnotic sleep in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000 to find America transformed into a socialist utopia.

    tense → earnest, still science fiction

    pace0·prose+2·bleak-1

Faster

tense → playful, still science fiction

3 more ↓

  • The Mist

    Stephen King1980

    A group of townspeople is trapped in a grocery store by a thick mist containing lethal monsters while social order collapses inside.

    Same tense register

    pace+2·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Changes

    Jim Butcher2010

    A wizard discovers he has a daughter who has been kidnapped by vampires. He must race against time and sacrifice his principles to save her.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+2·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Promise of Blood

    Brian McClellan2013

    A Field Marshal stages a bloody coup against his king and must defend the new government using soldiers who gain magic powers from gunpowder.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+2·prose+1·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+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.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

  • Unfinished Tales

    J.R.R. Tolkien1980

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

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → bleak

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak+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.

    Same tense register

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+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.

    tense → bleak

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2