What genre of book is this?

February 6, 2023 8:29 AM

Two novels that I have stayed up late to finish in 3 nights each this year have me looking for similar books. The Measure, and The Cartographers, are both sci-fi/fantasy-ish books set in the modern world we all live in, with one specific change to the world that drives the story. 1. Is this a genre with a name I can use to find similar books? 2. What similar books have you read that you would recommend?
posted by COD to Media & Arts (18 answers total)

Would The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub fit, do you think? One could argue that most of the Cthulhu Mythos falls into the category of "one step removed from the modern world." That, indeed, is its strength: it pulls back the mask of normality to expose the strangeness underneath.
posted by SPrintF at 8:37 AM on February 6, 2023

I'm not familiar with either book, but from skimming the synopsis of The Cartographers, it sounds like it might be a secret history - those are fantasy books set in the real (not necessarily modern) world with the premise that there is magic that is hidden from most people but the protagonist finds out about/is involved in it. "Secret History" is probably be a search term that'd get you stuff.

The Measure doesn't sound like there's a subgenre or marketing category that I can think of that would cover it, but "suddenly there is a fantastic change to the status quo" is not uncommon. The first comparison I thought of was Naomi Alderman's The Power, with a similar setup in that women suddenly develop an ability to shock people, electric-eel-like. I want to have a fistfight with it but I liked it quite a bit.
posted by restless_nomad at 8:41 AM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

I've heard this sort of thing described as speculative fiction. The ones that come to mind for me are more driven by alternative history - if X event in the past happened this way instead, today might look like Y.

Depending on your definition of modern, Jonathan Strange & Mister Norrell might work. What if everything was normal in England, except that magic was real?
posted by jquinby at 8:44 AM on February 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

A few literary genres that are very similar to this idea and might get you started in a search include: slipstream, magical realism, and the New Weird.
posted by KatlaDragon at 8:46 AM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Mundane sf/fantasy?
posted by Phanx at 8:54 AM on February 6, 2023

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:56 AM on February 6, 2023 [4 favorites]

Curio fiction sounds like what you’re looking for.
posted by bookmammal at 9:09 AM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Tim Powers writes a lot in this space. Last Call and Declare are two of my favorites of his.
posted by Darkivel at 9:30 AM on February 6, 2023 [6 favorites]

Thinking about it, His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman is in this space, due to Will being from "our world."
posted by SPrintF at 9:51 AM on February 6, 2023 [4 favorites]

Speculative fiction can be used but it's quite broad. Slipstream would be another but it's specific. Low fantasy is another term that describes fantasy or magic, but in our world.

I loved this book, We Could Not See The Stars. Takes place in a very ordinary world in South East Asia at first, before veering sci-fi/ fantasy. The blurb says: A literary speculative novel of remote villages, memory loss, migration, and an journey across seas and deserts. To discover the truth about his mother, Han must leave his village and venture to a group of islands which hold the answer to a long-held secret.

Other recommendations would be The Midnight Library, Lonely Castle in the Mirror (more like portal fantasy but so good).
posted by moiraine at 10:11 AM on February 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

I thought The Cartographers was good, but I thought Peng Shepherd's other novel, The Book of M, was much better.
posted by dr. boludo at 10:46 AM on February 6, 2023

Seconding pretty much all of Tim Powers' writing. I think you would also like The Eight by Katherine Neville.
posted by PussKillian at 11:23 AM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

I like sci-fi/spec-fi that is smoothly connected to present-day reality (or slightly in the future).

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
Axiom's End
The Peripheral
Leave the World Behind
The Flight of the Silvers
Sleeping Giants
Greenwood
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Bellevue Square
posted by pjenks at 12:03 PM on February 6, 2023

The Absolute Book might be right up your alley. I will also second Tim Powers and I will keep on thinking, because this sort of thing is absolutely my jam and I read a lot of it.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:18 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh and if you haven't read Kelly Link, she primarily writes short stories that are very much in this genre.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:19 PM on February 6, 2023

You should probably look at this recent AskMe that was very similar to your question
posted by polecat at 3:36 PM on February 6, 2023

A Master of Djinn is 20th century Egypt but what if genies were real

Book of Night is modern-day North America but what if shadow magic was real

I really enjoyed An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and it’s follow up A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor.
posted by jeoc at 7:50 PM on February 6, 2023

I feel like you would enjoy The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber. I'm not sure what the genre would be called, either.
posted by kiwi-epitome at 6:27 AM on February 7, 2023