Working for the Devil (Dante Valentine, Book 1)

Feverborn

Karen Marie Moning2016

In a world where the wall between humans and Fae has collapsed, rivals search for a magical song to save Earth. It is the sixth book in a series.

sardonic → tense, still urban fantasy

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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.

pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

Ficciones

Jorge Luis Borges1945

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

sardonic → meditative

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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.

sardonic → playful

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Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Kresley Cole2010

A Lykae prince follows a Valkyrie through the Amazon to protect her. He intends to claim her as his mate while she hunts for a mystical object.

sardonic → propulsive, still urban fantasy

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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.

sardonic → propulsive, still urban fantasy

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How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire

Kerrelyn Sparks2005

A vampire who broke a fang kidnaps a dentist who is afraid of blood. She is hiding from the mafia while he needs his smile repaired.

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Burn for Me

Ilona Andrews2014

A private investigator with the ability to tell truth from lies is hired to find a fire-user. She is forced to work with a dangerous billionaire.

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Ill Wind

Rachel Caine2003

A weather warden on the run from the law uses her ability to control storms to protect people from rogue elemental forces.

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Battle Ground

Jim Butcher2020

A wizard leads the supernatural defense of Chicago against an invading army led by a Titan. The book is a single, continuous battle.

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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.

sardonic → dreamlike

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Unfinished Tales

J.R.R. Tolkien1980

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

sardonic → meditative

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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.

sardonic → dreamlike

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A Matter of Blood

Sarah Pinborough2010

A detective investigates a serial killer in a London plagued by a failing economy and a supernatural virus. The tone is consistently grim.

sardonic → bleak, still urban fantasy

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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.

sardonic → bleak

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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.

sardonic → tense

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