Grimdark fantasy sounds like a pretty niche genre until you take a little look behind its musty curtain to see all the books and incredibly dark worlds lurking there. While many of the places in this genre feel impossibly bleak, the stories you’ll read are often far from it.
I always thought grimdark fantasy was restricted to the Warhammer 40K universe, but there’s so much more to it than the Black Library. High fantasy and low fantasy settings can each easily slot into the genre, and you’d be surprised by what you’ve already read that’s considered part of it. If the world is harsh and the people in it have very little joy or things to look forward to, you’re reading grimdark fantasy, but the stories can give you hope and help you see there’s always a silver lining if you fight on.
The best grimdark fantasy books to check out this year
Below, I’ve listed the best grimdark fantasy books you should read this year. It feels like the genre is gaining more of a presence as new TV shows adapt books from it or certain franchises grow in popularity across social media platforms. If you want to get into grimdark fantasy this year, these are the books I recommend you dive into.
15. A Game of Thrones: George R. R. Martin
A Game of Thrones is the first book in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire epic. It introduces you to a bleak continent upon which everyone has experienced years of prosperous summer, but winter is coming. It follows several major and minor characters as a family is split up after an ominous sign leads to betrayal and the revelation that while dark forces are working in the world to bring it to its knees, even among the people, darkness is attempting to pull the kingdom down.
This book is a fantastic opener to a series that spans a world with a grimdark history and sets up the epic stories that follow. From the princess of a dying house being sold as a bride to a lord being forced to question everything he knows about his best friend as he enters the royal court and finds that everyone is out for themselves, it’s worth reading for the scene about bending the knee at the very least, and that’s all I’ll leave you with.
14. Gardens of the Moon: Steven Erikson
Gardens of the Moon is a great grimdark fantasy novel with a wide scope that follows multiple characters in a world that’s constantly at war. The story opens years into a series of wars that see an empire attempting to conquer an entire continent.
The main plot is gripping and explores just how dark this empire can be, even for those who are loyal to it. Even its subplot, which looks at this world’s gods and how they meddle with the world, is fascinating. It feels like a nice mix of folk tales from around the world and fantasy tropes, creating something unique and intriguing.
13. Sharp Ends: Joe Abercrombie
Sharp Ends is a collection of short stories set in Joe Abercrombie’s world of First Law. While the main trilogy itself is a brilliant set of grimdark fantasy books to delve into, these short stories are easily digestible in small chunks, perfect for commutes or reading one per night if you want to experience self-contained grimdark stories. If you enjoy these stories, there’s so much more to explore. They’re a wonderful entry point to a world of despair.
12. Where Loyalties Lie: Rob J. Hayes
Where Loyalties Lie is a grimdark fantasy pirate novel that does things a little differently. It’s told from the point of a ship’s perspective in a world where all the darkest parts of pirate tales are completely normal, making most characters fairly evil on a base level. However, as you get to know them and follow the two main characters on their journey to fight a common threat, goodness emerges, and the characters develop into something more than when you first met them.
It’s a story that should be familiar. The empire of this world is raising it to the ground in the name of unity and wants to eradicate piracy in the most brutal way possible. Pirates, of course, hate this idea. So they band together to fight against something that’s managed to be somehow even worse than they are.
11. The Fifth Season: N.K. Jemisin
The Fifth Season has a gripping premise for a grimdark fantasy book. A young woman’s family is murdered, as is most of the population of the empire, which spans the entire planet. As if that weren’t enough, someone has torn a giant red scar into the Earth, spewing out fire and gases, blotting out the sun.
Essun, the protagonist, now needs to navigate this grimdark world alone and scared. I think it’s a great way to present a high fantasy world that’s just been torn apart, treating an active grimdark fantasy world that might get better but is likely only to get worse. It’s rare to see fantasy explore post-apocalyptic themes like this, making it a nice crossover if you’ve been reading a lot of sci-fi.
10. The Grim Company: Luke Scull
The Grim Company is a brilliant tale told in one of the darkest settings out there. The city of Dorminia is ruled over with an iron fist by its leader, and Mindhawks patrol the sky to seek out any heretical thoughts before they become something more. As you can imagine, rebellion is quite challenging. enter the plucky crew consisting of a barbarian, an assassin, and a young sorceress, all who want to free the city.
While the story is quite self-contained here, the world in which it’s set serves to only make things feel even more grimdark. Magic power in this world is finite, and every nation is battling for control over it. I love the setting and think it’s a great juxtaposition for the tiny amount of hope our heroes seek to bring.
9. Song: Jesse Teller
Song is a brutally grimdark fantasy book that acts as your entry to the Manhunters series. Some of the darkest minds in Perilisc attacked a prison called Manding Keep and unleashed its occupants on the world. Rayph puts together a band of Manhunters to track them down, but someone’s also out for his blood from the shadows. Who knows if they’ll be able to prevent a terrorist attack or murder attempt on the king? This world is about as dark as it gets and will explore humanity’s sheer brutality. It’s so much more than the blood and gore of war.
8. Among Thieves: A Tale of the Kin: Douglas Hulick
Among Thieves: A Tale of the Kin follows Drothe, a ‘Nose’ for the Kin and relic hunter on the side. Life is pretty bleak in a city ruled by an empire helmed by a near-immortal emperor. That is, until Drothe stumbles upon a special relic, a book with secrets that could topple the empire. Suddenly, life just got a lot more interesting.
I really enjoy grimdark stories that are set in impossible situations like these. The empire stamps down on anyone who might even think about opposing it, yet here we have a relic that could overthrow it with ease. the only trouble is going to be using it and staying alive long enough to do so. Thankfully, such a regime breeds a colossal underground network of thieves.
7. The Mad Trinkets: Cameron Scott Kirk
The Mad Trinkets sees a renowned warrior and biographer follow a young girl as she seeks vengeance for the death of her trinket-bearing father. However, with so many occult artifacts flying around, one eventually resurrects a madman on a warpath to kill everyone on the land. Now, the group must tackle this madman and save the king. Then, and only then, can they kill the occult-obsessed king who mercilessly murdered the young girl’s father.
I don’t know if there’s anything more classically grimdark than occult relics. After all, magic is common enough in most fantasy books, so it would make sense that dark magic is just as common. Even if we don’t see it. Experiencing the problems that come with playing with these dark relics isn’t something we get to explore all too often, and the way the story remains dark regardless of the outcome makes it feel somehow hopeless regardless of who wins.
6. Pieces of Hate: Tim Lebbon
Pieces of Hate is the first and second part of the Assassin series. If you couldn’t tell by the name, it’s another grimdark fantasy pirate book, and wow, it has some amazing concepts and ideas. Protagonist Gabriel’s family was killed by a thing named Temple, after which he was charged with hunting the entity down. Now, 1,000 years later, he’s still hunting.
Gabriel enters the Caribbean Sea amid the usual deeds pirates commit, stealing, murdering, and plundering every port they can. He’s only interested in one thing and will find it no matter how many pirates stand in his way. I can’t help it. I love pirates and grimdark fantasy. This book has everything I want and more, and there’s a series to delve into once you’re through it if you enjoy it enough.
5. The Black Company: Glen Cook
In The Black Company, the entity The Lady embodies death and evil while protecting humanity from the darkest powers in the universe. The titular group takes coin and spreads death accordingly, but when an ancient prophecy is fulfilled, and The White Rose rises to embody good in the world, they need to seek out the one they serve if they want to continue their way of life. This is a super grim fantasy world where hope has all but died, and the mere rumor of it is fear-inducing.
4. Faithless: Graham Austin-King
Faithless is set in an incredibly grimdark world where the only god that ever protected the lands has fallen silent, and all its followers are gone. People are sold into slavery to work mines deep below the surface, and this is where we meet Wynn, who has been sold into such a fate and will die unless they meet their quota. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a failed ritual has stirred up a darkness that must now be fought with a light that was extinguished so long ago that no one can remember what it even felt like.
I adore explorations of humanity without faith in these dire situations. Industry has taken over and become a way of life, though not in the futuristic sci-fi way where corporations and businesses are family life. Instead, life is work, or you die.
3. The Gunslinger: Stephen King
The Gunslinger is the first entry in Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series. Its world has always been a post-apocalyptic version of a fantastical sci-fi future to me. Here, science is magic, and protagonist Roland is just a gunslinger hunting down the man who ruined his entire life. It’s a simple story of revenge that sets up a saga you’ll want to see all the way through.
If you love cowboys, pistols at dawn, but also zombies and a world that’s so far gone it’s basically dust, then this is a great book to explore. It’s also fairly short and easy to read, unlike a lot of other grimdark fantasy books, so it’s a good one to start with if you’re hoping to get into the genre.
2. Prince of Thorns: Mark Lawrence
Prince of Thorns features one of the most grimdark plots I can think of in fantasy. As a young boy, Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath witnessed his mother and brother’s brutal murders. He survived them, went on to become the leader of a gang of bloody thieves, and now he wants to take his rightful place as king. This is a character who has nothing left to lose and everything to gain, making him extremely dangerous and unpredictable. His story is one of legend you’ll want to follow to the end, no matter how dark it gets.
1. The Last Wish: Andrzej Sapkowski, translated by Danusia Stok
I also couldn’t put together this list without adding an entry from my favorite grimdark fantasy universe, The Witcher. The Last Wish is your introduction to this universe and Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher and monster hunter, through a series of short stories. They’re all based on European folklore and twist fairytales in unexpected ways that ensure each tale is engaging regardless of how much you think you know about it.
This is a world full of imagination where fairytales have seemingly come to life and are trying to kill everyone instead of spreading happiness. The lore you’ll uncover is fascinating, but it’s also a great way to expose yourself to the greater narrative that will eventually unfold and see even stranger things occur in the name of progress, greed, and oppression.
