After
White Fang
Jack London1905
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose+1bleak0
Great Circle
Maggie Shipstead2021
The life of a female aviator attempting a pole-to-pole flight in 1950 is paired with a modern actress playing her in a biopic.
Same earnest register, still adventure
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak0
The Moor's Account
Laila Lalami2014
A Moroccan slave recounts the failed 1527 Narváez expedition to Florida. He narrates the journey's descent into disease, starvation, and capture.
Same earnest register, still adventure
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Women
Kristin Hannah2024
A young nurse joins the Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War. The story follows her service in the field and her difficult return home.
Same earnest register, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Invention of Wings
Sue Monk Kidd2014
The story follows an enslaved girl and the daughter of her owners in 19th-century Charleston. It tracks their lives over thirty-five years.
Same earnest register, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Lost Roses
Martha Hall Kelly2019
Three women's lives intersect during WWI and the Russian Revolution. An American socialite tries to help her Russian friend escape the Bolsheviks.
Same earnest register, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace0prose+2bleak+2
A Brief History of Seven Killings
Marlon James2014
A large cast of characters recounts the 1976 attempt on Bob Marley's life. The narrative spans decades and moves from Jamaica to New York.
earnest → propulsive, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Gravity's Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon1973
During the end of WWII, an American lieutenant's sexual encounters seem to predict where German V-2 rockets will fall. The narrative is fragmented.
earnest → sardonic, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
earnest → bleak
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
Ulysses
James Joyce1914
Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.
earnest → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Odessa Sea
Clive Cussler2016
Dirk Pitt investigates a ghost ship in the Black Sea and discovers a conspiracy involving a lost Romanov secret. It is a high-speed adventure.
earnest → propulsive, still adventure
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Star Nomad
Lindsay Buroker2016
A fighter pilot and a small crew of strangers attempt to escape a system-wide war in a freighter. It is a character-driven space adventure.
earnest → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Dark Lover
J. R. Ward2005
A vampire king seeks revenge against the slayers who killed his parents while protecting a woman discovering her own supernatural heritage.
earnest → propulsive
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-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.
earnest → wry
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Assistant to the Villain
Hannah Nicole Maehrer2023
A woman takes a job as an administrative assistant to a local villain to support her family. She manages his office while ignoring his evil deeds.
earnest → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Dial A for Aunties
Jesse Q. Sutanto2021
A photographer accidentally kills her blind date. Her mother and aunties help hide the body during a massive luxury wedding.
earnest → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Medusa
Clive Cussler2009
The NUMA team investigates a missing undersea lab and a bathysphere attack. They uncover a corporate plot involving a deadly virus and jellyfish.
earnest → propulsive, still adventure
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
earnest → tense
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Candide
Voltaire
A naive young man travels the world while his tutor insists that everything is for the best. He encounters a series of global catastrophes.
earnest → sardonic
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
The Jester
James Patterson2003
A man returns from the Crusades to find his village destroyed and his wife abducted. He assumes a new identity to hunt the killers.
earnest → propulsive, still adventure
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
Slower
earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+1bleak+1
The English Patient
Michael Ondaatje1992
Four people shelter in a ruined Italian villa at the end of WWII. They care for a burned, anonymous man who recounts his past in the desert.
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
Moby Dick
Herman Melville1851
A sailor joins a whaling voyage led by a captain seeking revenge on a specific whale. Large sections digress into the mechanics of 1850s whaling.
earnest → meditative, still adventure
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
Ulysses
James Joyce1914
Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.
earnest → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
Umbrella
Will Self2013
A psychiatrist in 1971 treats a woman who has been catatonic for decades. The prose shifts between eras and consciousnesses without paragraph breaks.
earnest → clinical
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
Heavier
earnest → bleak, still historical fiction
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
A Fine Balance
Rohinton Mistry1995
Four people from different castes share a small apartment during the 1975 Indian Emergency. Their lives are upended by state-sanctioned violence.
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
The Confessions of Nat Turner
William Styron1967
A fictionalized confession of the leader of an 1831 slave revolt while he awaits execution in a Virginia jail cell.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
The Known World
Edward P. Jones2003
A black man who was once a slave becomes a slave owner in antebellum Virginia. The story follows the fallout on the plantation after his death.
earnest → meditative, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
A Long Long Way
Sebastian Barry2005
A young Irishman joins the British Army to fight in the trenches of World War I while his home country moves toward rebellion.
earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
Brotherless Night
V. V. Ganeshananthan2023
A young woman in Sri Lanka tries to study medicine while her brothers join militant groups during the civil war. It covers a decade of conflict.
earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
