This is the first of a two-part series on A.I. analyses of bestselling Fantasy novels. Also see: An AI assesses six Fantasy bestsellers.
From time to time, Authors A.I. takes a deep dive into a specific genre by running Marlowe analyses of bestsellers. For February 2024, we decided to take a foray into Fantasy.
The purpose of these explorations is twofold: To examine how bestsellers in one genre stack up against titles in another, and to give authors a wider range of “comps” by expanding our bestseller corpus. The critiques aren’t meant to show how the books could have done better but rather to spotlight best practices by talented authors across multiple subgenres — and how we can learn from them.
The tiles we selected have been selling well for months and they come from both traditionally published authors as well as indie authors. To see the full AI report on each novel (at no cost), click on the module below each book jacket.
1. Court of Winter
By Krista Street
Publisher: Midnight Press
Genre: Epic Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy
See purchase and reading options on BingeBooks
Claude AI book description
Ilara is a wingless and supposedly powerless fairy living in Mervalee Territory who is taken captive by the powerful and feared Prince Norivun. He believes she has the rare ability to create magical life-giving energy called orem that can save the fae from starvation as crops are failing across the continent. Though Ilara hates Norivun for killing her brother and parents, she discovers she does have astonishing magic. When her magic fully manifests at a royal ball, the king makes Ilara a lady of the Winter Court and enters her into a competition to become Norivun’s wife and the next Queen – much to her dismay. Ilara must find a way to escape her fate of marrying Norivun, fulfill her bargain with him to replenish the land’s orem, all while coming to terms with her immense power.
Marlowe Pro report takeaways
The first thing to note is that Court of Winter begins in a dark place (“Bad Fortune,” as Marlowe calls it) and steadily moves toward happier outcomes, roughly following the Emergence story archetype. Story beats come at regular intervals — at the 10%, 20%, 31% marks to start off, a sign that readers won’t drop off for lack of action. Pacing, as in many novels, shows a lull in the middle, but picks up as the characters drive the plot forward to the story’s climax. Characters’ personality traits are varied, showing the author adds complexity to primary and secondary characters. Dialogue clocks in at 30%, an ideal amount. Trust and joy are the two primary emotions detected, validating that this is not a story on the dark side of the Fantasy spectrum. Explicit language is on the tame side for this genre, with 10 f-bombs and an explicit content quotient of 3%.
The book’s complexity score is a very accessible 2.54, with a reading grade level of 5.93 as a yardstick of reader comprehension. The book contains 88.568 words with an average sentence length of 11.24 words, somewhat higher than the sweet spot.
Subject matter book comp is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah Maas.
Writing style book comp is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
2. Born in Fire
By K.F. Breene
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Paranormal Vampire Romance
See purchase and reading options on BingeBooks
GPT-4 book description
Born in Fire features Reagan Somerset, a bounty hunter with secret magical abilities navigating the complex and dangerous world of humans and supernaturals. Tasked with capturing a tricky mark, Reagan’s journey takes her through the vibrant and perilous streets of New Orleans, where she encounters a variety of magical beings, including shifters and vampires. Her mission becomes increasingly complicated as it intertwines with her personal quest to understand her own powers and heritage. As she delves deeper into the supernatural community, Reagan must balance her responsibilities, alliances, and the challenges of her own unique identity, all while facing threats that test her abilities and resolve to their limits.
Marlowe Pro report takeaways
Born in Fire uses a Quest story archetype and the overarching plotline suggests that things may not turn out happily in the end. Marlowe could detect only two major positive story beats and three negative beats, with a long gap between the 42% and 87% marks. Pacing is steady throughout, although once again there’s a lull between the 60% and 80% marks. Characters are a bit chattier than the norm, with dialogue coming in at 40% vs. 60% narrative. Joy, fear and trust are the predominant emotional components. Explicit language is on the tame side with eight f-bombs, for instance. Explicit content detected is less than 1%.
The book’s complexity score comes in at 2.48 (basically average) with a reading grade comprehension level of 4.75. Average sentence length in the 100,297-word novel comes in at a nice 9.56 words.
Subject matter book comp is A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.
Writing style book comp is Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.
3. Rise of the Dragons
By Morgan Rice
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Sword & Sorcery Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
See purchase and reading options on BingeBooks
GPT-4 book description
Rise of the Dragons follows Kyra, a 15-year-old girl with dreams beyond her father’s stronghold’s confines, where she trains alone to master archery. Despite societal expectations for her to focus on domestic affairs, Kyra’s spirit craves adventure and validation from her warrior father. Her story intertwines with that of Merk, a seasoned warrior seeking redemption and a new path as a Watcher, and Alec, a young man from a brewing rebellion. Their fates are set against a backdrop of ancient prophecies, mythical creatures, and a kingdom on the brink of war, making their journeys not just personal quests for identity and purpose but critical to the realm’s fate.
Marlowe Pro report takeaways
This 2014 title continues to sell well year after year. The novel follows the Quest archetype. Story beats are well spaced out, with positive beats at the 14%, 33% and 62% marks and conflict beats at the 25%, 47% and 85% mark. Pacing is consistent and picks up steam at the one-third mark. The characters’ personality traits in Rise of the Dragons seem to veer toward the cerebral rather than the physical, with “perceptive” as the chief trait found in Alec, Kyra and Merk. Dialogue is a paltry 10% vs. 90% narrative — a good indication that talented authors can break the rules when the story demands it. Fear and joy are found in equal measures as the primary emotions detected. Foul language is exceedingly rare, with only three hells and scums found and 0% explicit content.
The book’s complexity score clocked in at a higher-than-average 2.84 (on a range of 2 to 3) with an average reading grade comprehension level of 6.58. The 76,727-word novel has an astonishingly high average sentence length of 14.55 words, about 50% higher than the majority of bestsellers across popular-fiction genres.
Subject matter book comp is The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams.
Writing style book comp is The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice.
4. The Priory of the Orange Tree
By Samantha Shannon
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Genre: LGBTQ Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
See purchase and reading options on Amazon
GPT-4 book description
The Priory of the Orange Tree is an epic fantasy novel set in a world divided by fear of an ancient dragon and its dark legacy. It weaves together the stories of Ead Duryan, a lady-in-waiting and mage who secretly protects Queen Sabran the Ninth; Tane, a dragonrider in training who risks everything when she comes into contact with a stranger from across the sea; Niclays Roos, an alchemist exiled and yearning for redemption; and Loth, a nobleman and friend to the queen, sent on a dangerous mission. Their lives intersect as they battle to prevent the return of the draconic threat, uncover deep-seated conspiracies, and seek alliances across divided seas to preserve peace and prevent the world’s destruction.
Marlowe Pro report takeaways
Priory closely follows the Descent story archetype, with dark tidings coming with increasing intensity in the second half. Narrative beats are among the most well spaced out of this group of Fantasy titles, with positive beats at the 26%, 51%, 70% and 89% mark and conflict beats at the 13%, 43%, 59% and 82% mark. Pacing is nicely varied starting at around the 15% mark. The characters here are quite chatty, with dialogue taking up 40% of the novel vs. 60% for narrative. Joy and trust are the two primary emotions detected, followed by fear and sadness. Explicit language is on the tame side for this genre, with 24 damns, 18 instances of bloody and seven f-bombs. Fun fact: the book contains 109 exclamation points.
This is one long tale, with a word count of 263,419 and average sentence length of 10.1 words. The complexity score is a slightly above average 2.56, with a reading grade comprehension level of 5.31.
Subject matter book comp is The Curse of Chalion by Lois Bujold.
Writing style book comp is Dune by Frank Herbert.
5. Midnight Vow
By Becky Moynihan
Publisher: Broken Books
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal Suspense
See purchase and reading options on BingeBooks
GPT-4 book description
Midnight Vow is a paranormal romance that follows Nora Finch, a werewolf unable to shift, who embarks on a perilous journey to unlock her true nature. Desperate to belong and prove her worth to her pack, Nora seeks the help of a witch coven but finds herself in danger. Her path crosses with Kolton Rivers, a powerful alpha werewolf, leading to a series of events that challenge their perceptions of power, loyalty, and love. As they navigate their attraction and the dangers of their world, Nora must confront her past and decide her future in a society where the lines between friend and foe are blurred.
Marlowe Pro report takeaways
The plot and storyline in Midnight Vow map to the Emergence story archetype, or narrative arc. Here the narrative beats are steady and consistent, with positive beats at the 19%, 38%, 57%, 69% and 91% mark and negative story beats at the 9%, 28%, 48%, 65% and 80% mark. Pacing is excellent, with lots of high peaks and brief lulls. Personality traits are nicely varied, with the narrator scoring high on Perceptive and Confident and major characters scoring high on the Physical and Reactive scales. Joy and Fear come in as the top emotions detected. The book is light on obscenities, with zero f-bombs, 26 mentions of crap and 11 dickheads. Interestingly, Marlowe detected a higher-than-typical 6.2% level of explicit content in the story.
The novel has an easy-reading score of 2.44 on the complexity scale with a reading grade level score of 4.75. Average sentence length is a nice 9.37 words in the 81,081-word work.
Subject matter book comp is Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton.
Writing style book comp is Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.
6. Dark Stranger the Dream
By I.T. Lucas
Publisher: Evening Star Press
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
See purchase and reading options on BingeBooks
GPT-4 book description
Dark Stranger the Dream centers on Syssi, a young woman with premonitions, who begins working for Amanda, a researcher exploring extrasensory perception. Syssi fears her own untapped potential and dreams of a dark stranger who may hold the key to her future. As she navigates her new job, she comes into contact with a world beyond her understanding, where immortals and mortals intersect. The story delves into themes of destiny, power, and the search for belonging, as Syssi’s connection to the dark stranger deepens, revealing secrets that could change her life and the immortal world forever.
Marlowe Pro report takeaways
Dark Stranger the Dream generally follows the Voyage and Return narrative archetype. Narrative beats are a bit curious, with Marlowe not detecting any major negative beats until the 26% mark and no positive beats until the 39% mark. (Today’s impatient readers typically want a major inciting event earlier than that.) The pacing has a major lull at the 37% mark with steady peaks and dips beginning at the halfway mark. Dialogue came in a bit low at 20% vs. 80% narrative. Joy was the main emotion detected, followed by trust, fear and surprise. There’s a fair amount of explicit language throughout, with 25 f-bombs and 20 shits (only three craps and a single prick, though). Marlowe detected 3.5% of explicit content throughout.
The complexity score clocked in at 2.59, not far from the 2.5 mean, with a reading grade comprehension level of 6.84. That’s a bit higher than the other titles in this roundup, perhaps due to the longer-than-average sentence length of 12.17 words for this 87,130-word novel.
Subject matter book comp is Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead.
Writing style book comp is When I’m Gone by Emily Bleeker.
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