After
Two years eight months and twenty-eight nights
Salman Rushdie2015
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Nights at the Circus
Angela Carter1984
A journalist follows a traveling circus to interview a winged aerialist. The story moves from London to Siberia through a series of vignettes.
Same playful register, still magical realism
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Godmother Night
Rachel Pollack1996
Two women fall in love and are protected by the personification of Death, who acts as a godmother to their family over many years.
playful → tender, still magical realism
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Dæmonomania
John Crowley2000
In the third book of the Aegypt cycle, characters in the 1970s and the Renaissance navigate secret histories and alchemy. It is a slow study.
playful → meditative, still magical realism
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Crandolin
Anna Tambour2012
A wandering immortal travels through time and space, encountering historical figures and mythical creatures in a series of whimsical vignettes.
Same playful register, still magical realism
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book
J.R.R. Tolkien1962
A collection of sixteen poems and rhymes centered on Middle-earth folklore, featuring characters like Tom Bombadil and the Badger-folk.
Same playful register, still mythic fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
The time keeper
Mitch Albom2011
The inventor of the first clock is released from a cave to help two people in the modern world. He teaches them the value of their remaining time.
playful → earnest, still magical realism
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
Being a Green Mother
Piers Anthony1987
Orb, the daughter of Fate, assumes the role of Nature. She uses her magical songs to manage the world's ecology and confront a demonic threat.
playful → earnest, still mythic fiction
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
Neon Gods
Katee Robert2021
In a modern city-state, Persephone flees an arranged marriage to Zeus by entering the underworld. She strikes a deal with Hades to stay there.
playful → tense, still mythic fiction
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
Same playful register
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
playful → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak0
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.
playful → sardonic
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0
- pace+2prose-3bleak-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.
Same playful register
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak0
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.
playful → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0
- pace+2prose-3bleak0
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.
playful → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0
- pace+2prose-3bleak0
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.
playful → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0
Slower
- pace-1prose0bleak0
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.
playful → meditative, still magical realism
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak+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.
playful → elegiac, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak0
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.
playful → dreamlike, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose-2bleak0
Among Others
Jo Walton2011
A teenage girl at a 1970s boarding school copes with her twin's death through books and subtle magic. It is written as a series of diary entries.
playful → tender, still magical realism
pace-1·prose-2·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
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.
playful → dreamlike, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
Heavier
- pace0prose-1bleak+2
Was
Geoff Ryman1992
Three timelines connect a Kansas girl in the 1880s, Judy Garland on set, and a dying man in the 1980s. It examines the reality behind the Oz myth.
playful → elegiac, still magical realism
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace0prose-2bleak+2
Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu
Andrus Kivirähk2015
A boy in medieval Estonia learns the ancient language of snakes to command animals as his forest culture is erased by Christian invaders.
playful → elegiac, still mythic fiction
pace0·prose-2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak+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.
playful → bleak
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-2bleak+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.
playful → tense
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-2bleak+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.
playful → bleak
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+2
