After
Zoo City
Lauren Beukes2010
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
When Gravity Fails
George Alec Effinger1987
A private investigator in a futuristic Middle Eastern city hunts a serial killer who uses high-tech personality-altering implants.
Same sardonic register, still noir
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Just another judgement day
Simon R. Green2009
A private investigator in a magical underworld must stop an unstoppable entity known as The Walking Man from purging every sinner in the city.
Same sardonic register, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Devil You Know
Mike Carey2006
A freelance exorcist in London takes a job at a museum to pay his bills. He becomes the target of various demons and ghosts.
Same sardonic register, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Already Dead
Charlie Huston2005
A vampire private eye in Manhattan hunts a person infected with a brain-eating virus. He navigates the politics of rival supernatural factions.
Same sardonic register, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
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The Perdition Score
Richard Kadrey2016
James Stark investigates the distribution of a black market drug that allows the living to see the dead. He navigates LA's magical underworld.
Same sardonic register, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
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Shadow & Claw
Gene Wolfe1983
A torturer travels across a far-future Earth where technology is indistinguishable from magic. He recounts his exile in dense, archaic prose.
sardonic → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delany1975
An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.
sardonic → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Too Like the Lightning
Ada Palmer2016
In a 25th-century utopia, a convict narrates the discovery of a boy who can perform miracles. The prose uses 18th-century styles and gender terms.
Same sardonic register
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Valis
Philip K. Dick1981
A man experiences a beam of pink light that imparts vast information. The narrative explores his mental breakdown and search for God in California.
sardonic → meditative
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Radiance
Catherynne M. Valente2015
A documentary filmmaker disappears on Venus in an alternate 1980s solar system. The story is told through scripts, interviews, and letters.
sardonic → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
To recover
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Night Pleasures
Sherrilyn Kenyon2002
An immortal warrior and a skeptical accountant are handcuffed together while being hunted by supernatural predators.
sardonic → playful, still urban fantasy
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Thoughtful
S.C. Stephens2015
Kellan Kyle falls for his best friend's girlfriend, Anna. The story retells the events of Thoughtless from Kellan's perspective.
sardonic → earnest
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
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Walking Disaster
Jamie McGuire2013
This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.
sardonic → propulsive
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
And One Last Thing...
Molly Harper2010
After a public divorce, a woman moves to a small town to start over and finds herself pursued by a local deputy.
sardonic → wry
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
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
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
Faster
sardonic → propulsive, still urban fantasy
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Skin Game
Jim Butcher2014
Wizard Harry Dresden joins a team of villains to rob a vault in the Underworld. It is a fast-paced heist set in a modern fantasy Chicago.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Warbound
Larry Correia2013
In an alternate 1930s, people with magical abilities fight a war against a trans-dimensional threat. It is the final book in a trilogy.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak-1
Sandman Slim
Richard Kadrey2009
A magician crawls out of Hell to hunt the people who murdered his girlfriend in Los Angeles. He uses black magic and a stolen shotgun.
Same sardonic register, still urban fantasy
pace+1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
sardonic → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline2008
A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.
sardonic → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delany1975
An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.
sardonic → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
Invisible Cities
Italo Calvino1972
Marco Polo describes fifty-five imaginary cities to Kublai Khan. The book is a series of short, prose-poem meditations on urban existence.
sardonic → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
Beelzebub's tales to his grandson
Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff1950
An extraterrestrial being explains the history and strange behaviors of humanity to his grandson during a long space voyage.
sardonic → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak-2
Gödel, Escher, Bach
Douglas R. Hofstadter1979
An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.
sardonic → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
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.
sardonic → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
A Scanner Darkly
Philip K. Dick1977
An undercover narcotics agent in a near-future California becomes addicted to the drug he is investigating and begins to spy on himself.
sardonic → bleak, still noir
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Watchmen
Dave Gibbons1986
Retired costumed vigilantes investigate a conspiracy after one of their own is murdered. The story uses a comic-within-a-comic and backmatter.
sardonic → cold, still noir
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Perdido Street Station
China Miéville2000
A scientist in a sprawling, industrial city agrees to help a winged refugee fly again. His research accidentally unleashes a psychic predator.
sardonic → bleak, still urban fantasy
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Noir
K. W. Jeter1998
An investigator navigates a corporate-owned city where people trade in simulated experiences and legal technicalities.
Same sardonic register, still noir
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
The Gone World
Tom Sweterlitsch2018
An investigator travels to possible futures to solve a murder and stop an approaching apocalypse. The timeline changes based on her observations.
sardonic → bleak, still noir
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
