10 best grimdark fantasy books, ranked
These fantasy novels are horny for one thing: war.
Tired of lovey-dovey fantasy tales? The only romance in these books is the marriage of flesh to the pointy end of a sword. In a grimdark world, everyone is horny for only one thing: war. If you’ve got a penchant for pandemonium, I’ve taken the liberty of collecting the darkest, cruelest, and nastiest fantasy novels ever penned for your reading pleasure. Here they are, the 10 best grimdark fantasy books, ranked.
10. The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Inspired by the bloody and brutal history of 20th-century China, R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War saga centers around a peasant girl from a backwater village who is accepted into the most prestigious war college in all the land. Unlucky for her, the hardships are just beginning, as her fellow students who come from noble backgrounds are determined to use lethal means to ensure that this young upstart fatally fails. To survive this academic hellscape, Fang Runin turns to every college kid’s solace: drugs. Through the use of hallucinogenics, she awakens shamanistic abilities locked away in her bloodline that will allow her to get the edge on her competition, and then stick that edge between their shoulder blades.
9. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
17th-century thinker Thomas Hobbes used three choice words to describe life: “nasty, brutish and short.” This accurately describes the state of living in Christopher Buehlman’s Between Two Fires. Taking place in plague-ridden and war-torn medieval France, the life of former knight Thomas is further complicated by the literal apocalypse. A war between angels and demons is tearing the world asunder, and the land has fallen into the clutches of Satan’s forces. The only salvation comes in the form of a little girl named Delphine, who may hold the divine power necessary to turn the tide in Heaven’s favor. The pair must make a The Last of Us surrogate father/daughter trek across the wastelands of Europe to reach the safety of Avignon, a city under the control of the pope, and inform the clergy of the divine miracle close at hand.
8. The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin
Set in a climate-blasted supercontinent known as The Stillness, N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth trilogy is a masterpiece of worldbuilding, although it’s a world that no one in their right mind would want to live in. Beginning with The Fifth Season, the novel tells the tale of a society divided by a strict caste system, one where the elementally attuned orogenes sit at the very bottom. Orogenes have the rare ability to manipulate energy, and as a result, are feared and shunned by the rest of the populace; they are considered to be walking natural disasters. After a particularly powerful orogen realizes the world’s worst fears by summoning a climate catastrophe known as The Fifth Season, the novel centers around three orogen women struggling to survive across the broken continent.
7. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
It’s Dune with death magic! Gideon the Ninth tells the story of a faraway star system ruled by nine Houses, each with a unique type of necromantic power. The Houses work in service of The Emperor, offering their most talented warriors to join the exalted ranks of the imperial guard. Gideon, a talented indentured servant from the Ninth House, is given as tribute to the Emperor, and forced to undergo a series of brutal trials for a chance to serve at his majesty’s hand. Her life is further complicated by her fraught relationship with the Ninth House heiress Harrowhark “Harrow” Nonagesimus, who accompanies her to the decaying mansion where the trials are set to commence. It’s grimdark sapphic gothic fantasy horror in space, what more could you possibly need?
6. The Acts of Caine series by Matthew Woodring Stover
Beginning with the appropriately titled grimdark novel Heroes Die, The Acts of Caine series is essentially a nightmare version of The Truman Show. Caine is a brutally competent swordsman, known throughout the world of Ankhana as the Blade of Tyshalle, a notorious assassin. At home on Earth, he’s a famous star named Hari Michaelson, whose bloody exploits on Ankhana have earned him the attention of the world’s bloodsport-loving populace. Doomed to entertain through wanton murder, Caine eventually decides that enough is enough when his wife is kidnapped and vows to break free of the shackles that the higher powers of the world have forced upon him.
5. The Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson
Steven Erikson’s The Malazan Book of the Fallen reads like the great grimdark video game Dark Souls plays. It’s set in a brutally dark fantasy world where the finer details of the plot are barely explained, making for a mysterious and enigmatic narrative that feels more like an archeological dig than a traditional novel. Beginning with The Gardens of the Moon, the story centers around an elite group of soldiers tasked with waging the endless wars of their nation, and the princes and gods to whom they owe their allegiance. While some readers are put off by the series’ focus on tone over plot, careful adherents to the lore will be rewarded with the knowledge of one of the most richly crafted worlds ever described on paper.
4. A Cavern of Black Ice by J.V. Jones
Set in an Arctic tundra devoid of love and light, J.V. Jones’ A Cavern of Black Ice sees its protagonist’s life begin in the most grimdark way possible: abandoned as a baby at the foot of a frozen mountain. Newborn Ash Marc had the good fortune of being found and adopted by the mighty ruler of the city Spire Vanis—and that’s when her luck ran out. Her warlord surrogate father guards her jealously throughout her childhood, leading her to make a daring escape as a young woman as her magical powers begin to manifest. Meanwhile, a young warrior named Raif discovers that he has budding magical abilities of his own, and after fate crosses their paths, the pair learn to depend on each other to survive this violent and icy world.
3. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
Essentially the grimdark version of The Lord of the Rings, George R.R. Martin used Tolkien’s work as a jumping-off point to weave A Song of Ice and Fire. Martin sought to subvert Tolkien’s trope that good men make good rulers, and turned that philosophy on its ear with the first novel, A Game of Thrones. After their noble-hearted lord father is executed by a corrupt regime for adhering to his ideals, his children are scattered across a grimdark medieval world and struggle to survive. While the HBO adaptation is famously violent, the books are far, far worse, featuring scenes so disturbing that they couldn’t possibly be shown on TV. It’s the true grimdark litmus test, and these novels pass with flying colors—all shades of bloody red.
2. Horus Rising by Dan Abnett
(And literally every other Warhammer 40k book)
When it comes to grimdark, Warhammer 40,000 invented the term. The word stems from the original tabletop game’s tagline: “In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.” Inspired by Frank Herbert’s Dune, Warhammer 40,000 revolves around the galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man, fallen to ruin after the death of humanity’s messiah king, The Emperor of Mankind. The end of the Imperium’s Golden Age is told in Dan Abnett’s Horus Rising, which details the Emperor’s betrayal by his loyal progeny, The Warmaster Horus. The world of Warhammer 40,000 is almost entirely devoid of love and comfort, as countless billions of humans are ground up in a galaxy-wide war machine, the only thing protecting them from alien and daemonic horrors that lurk in the darkness between the stars.
1. Berserk by Kentaro Miura
Kentaro Miura’s Berserk is perhaps the most influential work of grimdark fantasy ever made, inspiring numerous manga and literary works as well as the Dark Souls video game series. Set in a medieval world plagued by endless war, the manga follows a wandering warrior known as Guts who joins up with a charismatic mercenary leader named Griffith, who dreams of ultimate greatness. After Griffith ultimately betrays his companions in his quest for power, Guts must wander a demon-haunted world to seek revenge against his former friend, who has inherited the powers of a dark god. While the story is darker than a demon’s nether regions, it is ultimately a tale of love and the dark emotions that arise in the human heart when love is neglected and spurned.
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