After
White Jenna
Jane Yolen1989
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Other Wind
Ursula K. Le Guin2001
A sorcerer whose dreams bridge the world of the living and the dead seeks help from the former Archmage Ged to save Earthsea.
Same elegiac register, still high fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Innkeeper's Song
Peter S. Beagle1993
Three women with magical powers arrive at an inn, followed by a man seeking his resurrected lover. The story is told through multiple perspectives.
Same elegiac register, still high fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Fellowship of the Ring
J.R.R. Tolkien1954
A hobbit inherits a ring of immense power and must journey across a continent to destroy it. The prose is dense with history and geography.
Same elegiac register, still high fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Mother of Kings
Poul Anderson2001
A fictionalized biography of Gunnhild Mother of Kings. It follows her from childhood training in sorcery to her rise in Viking-era politics.
Same elegiac register, still mythic fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The One-Armed Queen
Jane Yolen1998
An adopted princess prepares to inherit a matriarchal throne while a rival kingdom attempts to incite her brother to civil war.
Same elegiac register, still mythic fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
Denser prose
- 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.
elegiac → dreamlike, still mythic fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak0
Soldier of Sidon
Gene Wolfe2006
A mercenary in ancient Egypt loses his memory every time he sleeps. He records his days in a scroll while interacting with gods and spirits.
elegiac → meditative, still mythic fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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.
Same elegiac register, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Vellum
Hal Duncan2005
Humans transformed into angels and demons fight across a multiverse for a book that controls reality. The narrative jumps through time and myth.
elegiac → dreamlike, still mythic fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak0
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges1945
A collection of short stories exploring philosophical paradoxes, infinite libraries, and imaginary encyclopedias.
elegiac → meditative
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Pawn of Prophecy
David Eddings1982
A farm boy travels with a storyteller and a sorceress to recover a stolen magical orb. It is a traditional quest through various kingdoms.
elegiac → earnest, still high fantasy
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-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.
elegiac → earnest, still mythic fiction
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
A Girl's Guide to Vampires
Katie MacAlister2003
An American woman travels to a Goth festival in the Czech Republic and meets a man she believes is a vampire. A mystery involving a killer unfolds.
elegiac → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Warrior Rising
P.C. Cast2008
Goddesses transport a modern woman to ancient Troy to seduce and distract Achilles. It is a lighthearted fish-out-of-water romance.
elegiac → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Master of the Five Magics
Lyndon Hardy1980
A man attempts to master five distinct disciplines of magic by following their strict logical laws to save a kingdom.
elegiac → earnest, still high fantasy
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+2prose-1bleak0
A Memory of Light
Robert Jordan2013
The final volume of a long-running series where various nations and magical users unite for a final battle against an ancient evil.
elegiac → earnest, still high fantasy
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0
- 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.
elegiac → sardonic
pace+2·prose-2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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.
elegiac → playful
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak0
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.
elegiac → 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.
elegiac → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak0
Slower
- 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.
Same elegiac register, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- 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.
elegiac → dreamlike, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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.
elegiac → meditative, still high fantasy
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- 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.
elegiac → meditative
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
elegiac → dreamlike, still mythic fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
Heavier
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
- pace0prose-1bleak+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.
Same elegiac register, still mythic fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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.
elegiac → bleak
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
- 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.
elegiac → 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.
elegiac → bleak
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
