Grimdark

2008 · Joe Abercrombie · 639 pages · Fantasy

The finale of The First Law trilogy delivers on every promise and subverts every expectation. Abercrombie brings all his threads together for a conclusion that is equal parts thrilling and devastating, rewarding readers who expected heroic resolutions with something far more interesting: the truth about power, change, and the stories people tell themselves. The battle sequences are extraordinary, Glokta reaches his final form, and the last hundred pages contain some of the most shocking revelations in modern fantasy. Not everyone loves where the characters end up, but that's precisely the point. This is grimdark at its best and most uncompromising.

2007 · Joe Abercrombie · 543 pages · Fantasy

The second First Law novel is where Abercrombie's trilogy finds its stride. Three storylines run in parallel: Glokta defends a besieged city with nothing but his wits, a quest party journeys to the edge of the world, and a war unfolds in the North. Every thread delivers. The character development deepens across the board, the humor gets darker and sharper, and Abercrombie proves he can write action set pieces that rival anyone in the genre. The ending subverts expectations in a way that infuriates some readers and delights others, but either way, it makes a point about the kind of fantasy story Abercrombie is telling. The middle book syndrome that plagues most trilogies doesn't apply here.

2006 · Joe Abercrombie · 515 pages · Fantasy

Joe Abercrombie's debut tears up every heroic fantasy template and rebuilds the pieces into something meaner, funnier, and more honest about what violence actually costs. Logen Ninefingers is a barbarian who's tired of killing, Sand dan Glokta is a crippled torturer who's too clever for his own good, and Jezal dan Luthar is a vain nobleman who hasn't suffered enough yet. The character work is phenomenal, the dark humor lands consistently, and Abercrombie writes violence with a specificity that makes you feel every blow. The plot is mostly setup for the trilogy, which makes this book feel incomplete on its own. But the characters are so magnetic that the destination matters less than the company.

2011 · Mark Lawrence · 338 pages · Fantasy

Mark Lawrence's debut gives you a fourteen-year-old warlord leading a band of murderers and thieves across a world that is recognizably our own, centuries after a nuclear apocalypse forgot to kill the magic. Jorg Ancrath is one of the most controversial protagonists in modern fantasy: brilliant, brutal, and utterly remorseless. The prose is sharp and surprisingly beautiful in places, the world-building revelation about the setting is genuinely clever, and the book moves at a pace that its slim page count demands. The violence is extreme and deliberately uncomfortable, Jorg's ability to succeed against all odds sometimes strains credibility, and readers who need a protagonist with redeeming qualities will find none on offer. This is grimdark at its most polarizing.