The first 500 people to use my link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/capturedinwords02241 I should clarify that non of these recommendations are in any specific order (other than First Law being #1). Also I was meaning to mention Warhammer 40k and completely forgot to record that voice over last night when editing. What are some of your favorite grimdark books??
ASOIAF is so grim dark, that the story abruptly ends after book 5. The reader is not only left with the darkness of the story, but the existential darkness of having that story's continuation be forever lost in a series of bleak conventions, morally ambiguous interviews, and twisted book signings ;).
I aint gonna lie, your edits are a blast. It is so gripping and easy to watch. Also, with your narrative, drive and passion, you are the best booktuber on the platform! Keep it comin'
No problem, it's well deserved! I'm currently reading The Book That Wouldn't Burn and really enjoying learning about the Athenaeum. Will likely have a video review up for it in March 👍
It's really cool how you engage with your fans. I've seen you all over the place from TH-cam to Reddit. And thanks for the Broken Empire. I find most fantasy books boring and predictable so I was pleasantly surprised by your original take on main characters.
ASOIAF and The Princeof Nothing are two of my absolute favorite series :) Excellent list! Some of the ones you mentioned are already on my TBR but I can't wait to check out all of the others I hadn't even heard of :)
Great video! You covered so many great series. I was happy (but unsurprised) to see you started it off with _The Black Company_ and even happier (and _very_ surprised) to see _Coldfire_ in the list. Seriously, _Coldfire_ (and CS Friedman's work in general) should get more love. And finally, you've convinced me to move _Broken Empire_ up my list.
I think Prince of Thorns (and the subsequent books) was the first Grim Dark book for me. I really liked the display of violence and ruthlessness, but also how well fleshed out the character of Jorg is. I've always wanted to get into Book of the Ancestor. In Prince of Nothing, there was one of the all-time best scenes in Fantasy I've ever read. The one chapter where Achamian lashes out after his imprisonment and just demolishes his captors is one of the most amazing displays of magic ever. I'd so love to see more of this done in books. I get the impression that it's on vogue for authors to tone the use of magic down to make it more elusive, but I'd love to read more epic use of magic :)
Good list. Bakker is the Emperor of everything dark in the genre. Most others feel pretty light in comparison. But it is much more than that. You have to try it some day
You know, I've never really gotten into that genre, and I wasn't even sure what it is. So this video was very informative! I've read ASoIAF and didn't even know that was grimdark. I just read the first 2 books of Gentlemen Bastards this last week and absolutely loved them. You're right about the great dialog in GB, but you forgot to mention the absolutely brilliant insults that get thrown around. And I'm about 1/4 into book 2 of the Dresden files. I've really been missing out on this genre.
Haha you're right, the insults in GB definitely deserve to be mentioned! Really glad to hear you enjoyed those books!! I'm actually planning on rereading Locke Lamora soon since it's been a while. Hope you enjoy Dresden too!
@CapturedInWords my buddy who has read them all told me if I like them so far that I'll really like them starting on book 4. Supposedly, according to him, the first 3 are his weakest writings. But I'm thoroughly enjoying them.
I recommend the Nightlords trilogy. It's a 40k book so heavy sci-fi and maybe a bit confusing for newcomers at some times but aside from that a great grimdark sci-fi fantasy series.
I'd HEAVILY recommend getting more into the lore of 40k (thank you Bricky's videos) before getting into it, as the author uses purple prose to describe things the average 40k fan would be able to understand the meaning of. Other than that, it is PRIME GRIMDARK. I can't gush about it enough.
Love these recommendations videos of yours! The artwork, the editing, the way you sell these books to me is just S tier! Funnily enough I've read most of these books on here already, and I agree with all but one! Prince of Thorns is one of the worst books I've ever read 😂 in contrast to that The First Law is my all time favourite fantasy series, with ASOIAF and Faithful and the Fallen not far behind! Tbh, you can't go wrong with most of these picks!
Please do a video on The Cold Fire Trilogy. One of my favorite trilogies of all time. Read it before Grimdark was a thing. So underrated and never talked about. It some MAJOR love.
Great list with some recommendations for me! You heard of/read the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series? Pretty old school and pretty bleak and ahead of its time. Lord Foul’s Bane is a beast of a first book and Donaldson kills it. Talk about an anti-hero…
@@CapturedInWords If I heard correctly it’s supposed to be a 7 book series but idk if it’ll ever be finished. I’ve read that the author is struggling with mental health issues.
I love Berserk (started because of my love for Dark Souls & FromSoftware) and ASoIaF. Just read The Blade Itself as my first Abercrombie & loved it, so looking forward to more of Joe's books. I've got Scott Lynch on my shelf (not literally lol, bit of a squish for him! XD) so will get to his books soon. I'd be interested in all of these, maybe except the Poppy War, because I think that's a bit more YA, but the rest sound incredible!
I love the First Law series! Joes writing reminds a lot of Game of Thrones in ita hay day, where dialogue and character is king. Ive started the Poppy War series because of a family book club and your guess is correct, very YA. Maybe it gets better but so far its not my favorite
Yes! I want a full video about The Coldfire trilogy, I am very excited. It seems to be based on a similar idea as the Manifest Delusions trilogy. I've just finished the book #2 from it and I loved it! Book #1, Beyond Redemption, is rated as the top grimdark book by Mark Lawrence based on the grimdark content. So I highly recommend this series. I'm glad The First Law is on top, Joe Abercrombie is my favorite author. One of the books I liked a lot was The Heroes. How does it compare with The Black Company? I am very interested of it as well.
YES PLEASE do a video on the Coldfire Trilogy!!! One of my favorite series growing up and by one of my favorite authors but nobody ever talks about it or her. The children NEED to know.
Very well done. I would also include The Book of the New Sun series by Gene Wolfe. The series centers around a character who works and as a _torturer_ as well as an executioner. He is even a member of a torturer's guild.
Thanks for this video - the Black Company is classic. Locke Lamora and the Broken Empire also are great stories. You are spot on that the 428th Emperor of Melnibone is the original "grimdark" antihero - Moorcock's work is so great that might transcend the genre he created?
Fantastic list, some really great sounding books there that i'd never heard of before, can't wait to get to them. I'd add the Empire of the Wolf trilogy (The Justice of Kings) by Richard Swan to the list, really fascinating series that's just concluded earlier this month.
I hope Malazan book of the fallen is on the list, it's criminally under read and everyone I've seen who has read the series absolutely loves it. It does suffer from having a weaker first book, but it is so very worth sticking with. I love it so much, Erikson is a fantastic writer, and his anthropology background really allowed him to create an amazing universe. edit: lol, it is, and you said some of the same things about it haha :)
I just finished the Mirror’s Truth, the second volume of the Manifest Delusions by Michael R. Fletcher and it was absolutely insane. It seems though that so few people know about this and I’m so glad I randomly stumble upon this hidden gem. I would highly recommend this series to any fan of the genre, this is imo grimdark at its finest!
Thank you for this video. ASOIAF is my favorite book series, but I never delved deeper into this subgenre for whatever reason. Will definitely be reading the Joel Abercrombie series now. The characters sound awesome.
So glad someone at least mentioned the prince of nothing. I am from Spain and we had this huge event where a famous publisher company dropped iconic fantasy sagas and this one was one of them. I really enjoyed the trilogy as it contains deep philosophical theories (I think the author had something to do with philosophy) and the characters were really well built. I don't know why it is not more famous.
I read The Faithful and the Fallen one after the other and I dont do that normally, when I was dont with it I jumped right into Of Blood and Bone. Sooooo good
I’ve been watching you for years and idk why I never noticed ur subscriber count but I always assumed you had at least a million subs. Keep up the good work
I really hope you do read The Prince of Nothing series eventually, the books are heavy hitters with complex morality, good prose and a philosophical angle to them that I really appreciate.
I love that you’re videos don’t critique these books/series too much. Really it’s more important to inspire and peak people’s interest and have people make their own minds up. A lot of people are very critical and it can stop people even picking up a book in the first place
Excellent video - added a bunch to my tbr. For anyone reading Malazan, don’t skip out on Ian Esselmont’s books, they add a lot to the series - especially the Paths to Ascendancy books.
@alexandermendez4653 lol that's where I am. I read up to 100 pages of the 7th book, put it down for a year and had to start back over again since I lost track of too mang characters. This time around it's audible at 1.1x speed and I just got back to where I left off last time. The plot makes a lot more sense this time around 😂
I just ordered Darkness That Comes Before, I've heard mixed reviews on it because of subject matter, but i like grimdark so I'm looking forward to it. Prince of Thorns was awesome and is prbly my favorite grimdark novel.
I highly recommend vigor mortis by thundamoo , it’s closer to a litrpg but still has that grim dark feel, especially in the second and third book, as well as some of the best body horror I’ve read
Nice Video! Not sure I would categorize Faithful & The Fallen as Grimdark although it does have grim moments. One Grimdark Masterpiece which no one talks about is Ricardo Pinto's Stone Dance of The Chameleon series. There is nothing else like it and it keeps getting darker with each book. Highly recommended.
So I've read a few of these and just want to give my two cents on some of them. Black Company can be hard to get into because of the writing style. It's told more like a journal entry and doesn't go into the nitty gritty detail for specific fights which can make visualizing things difficult (at least it was for me). But if you keep up with it and the the series as a whole, you'll see some genuinely unique ideas from the setting. The first book can just be a bit difficult due to that writing style. Prince of Thorns...isn't for everyone. The main character can come off as a try-hard edgelord at times, but it definitely hammers home the grim-dark nature of the world. I believe it was the author's first book so it has some growing pains in that regard. But like Black Company, it has some interesting ideas once you start to piece everything together. I haven't read the third book yet, so can't comment on how the series ends. Berserk is my favourite manga of all time but it's also not for everyone given the intense subject matter and the fact it doesn't hold back from showing awful things happen to the characters. There are times where I think it borders into tasteless (and even Muira before his passing admitted he took some things too far in his younger days), but beneath it all is some of the greatest and most heartbreaking character development and story arcs you'll find in fiction. The First Law series. No notes, highly recommend. If you want morally gray characters, you'll find some of the best in this series. If I can make my own characters as interesting as Ninefingers, Jezal, Glokta, and Ferro, then I'll be content as a writer for the rest of my life.
Originally called Sword & Sorcery. Like the great anti-heroes like Conan, Elric, Kane and Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. Low magic, bleak world and more of a personal story. Not necessarily on an epic world changing scope. Read the founders to understand where the modern authors got their inspiration from.
Think this is the first Fafhrd comment I've seen since youtube was invented. Definitely find inspiration in those missing from Earthsea, Conan, Elric, etc. I also thought Dying Earth by Jack Vance and some of those stories pretty unique.
Wait are you saying grim dark is a spin off of sword and sorcery? I have only read Conan which I love and hope to read more. So I wonder if I should really take a hard look into grim dark to see if I can fine more fantasy I will like.
@@stephennootens916 Modern Grimdark you could consider: Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy, Mark Lawrence Prince of Thorns, R. Scott Bakker’s books and definitely the modern fathers of Grimdark, George RR Martin’s A song of ice and fire series and Glenn Cook’s The Black Company books.
I know there are so many authors who wrote a book about this, but not mentioning anything Warhammer 40k is a small crime. Might be tricky to pick a couple though.
Yeah I was planning on mentioning 40K but just didn't get the time last night when I was finishing up voice over and editing. But soon I'd like to start some of those books (not sure where to start but maybe Horus Heresy) and make some videos on them
@@CapturedInWords Good luck. I started reading WH40k like 6 months ago with some small collection of stories like Heroes of the Space marines. Great for getting your feet wet. I'm kinda afraid to go full Heresy of some other series yet.
R Scott Bakker- 2nd apocalypse. The G.O.A.T Anyone who skips this series because of people moaning about how dark it is; when they are themselves looking for a dark series to read, you don’t know what your missing. Watching a manipulator manipulate an entire cast of characters while also manipulating the reader 🤯 Masterpiece
The prince of nothing series was one of the hardest reads of all time. Shit was rough and complex and brutal and upsetting. Very nihilistic and amoral...but so worth it my god.
If you intend to read the compiled four-volume Elric Saga, do keep in mind that the individual stories appear in the order that they were originally published, not in chronological order. Though you can find the lore-accurate chronology easily enough online. The difference between these two orderings is so extreme that you'll likely find yourself carrying around more than one volume at a time, because you'll be jumping back and forth. I wrote the chronological order on the back of my bookmark, which lives in my set of four volumes. While that might sound like a hassle, this series is well worth the effort! It is easily one of the finest bodies of fictional literature that I've ever read, and I've read quite a few. It breaks all the rules of conventional story-telling.
Highly recommend Empire of the Vampire (and its’ soon to be released sequel, Empire of the Damned) by Jay Kristoff. I haven’t seen really any booktubers besides Mike’s Book Reviews discuss it, but it’s an incredible grimdark book about vampires, with a very similar storytelling structure to Name of the Wind. I’m in the middle of it right now and it’s so hard to put down.
Don't sleep on Abercrombie's YA series "The Shattered Sea". The grimdark is toned down a bit but still definitely there, and his distinctive writing style and character building absolutely shines through.
I think this is a solid list with series that all grim dark fans should read at least once. Since Berserk made the list, I would also add a comic called Monstress. It heavily inspired by Asian culture and some berserk, on this list it would be similar to the poppy war trilogy.
I recommend Andy Peloquin's Darkblade series. He has other interconnected series as well, Queen of Thieves, Heirs of Destiny, and Silent Champions. But his original series had me hooked from the first chapter.
I've just read the first book in the Red Queen's War series and quite liked it. Prince Jalen is a wastrel, playboy and self-declared coward who is forced to join the Northman Snorri on a trip to the North. The world is dark and violent, but the main characters do have a sense of humour.
You cannot make a Grim Dark list without the Manifest Delusions Trilogy by Michael R. Fletcher. You arguably don't even know how grim and dark fantasy books can get without having read Beyond Redemption, The Mirror's Truth, and A War to End All. There is also a standalone in the same world called Swarm and Steel, which is great as well.
I've always loved the souls-like series and came to the conclusion recently that grimdark, dark fantasy, medieval horror, etc, might be my favorite genre in media overall. I decided to start reading, not manga or theories or youtube videos, but like actual books. I just started Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, have anyone read it? Thoughts on it? I'm like 100 pages in and enjoying it so far.
Elric? Try The Night Lands by William Hope Hodgson. It's H. P. Lovecraft approved and predates Jack Vance. Grimdark arguably starts with Beowulf or Gilgamesh.
The most grimmest series I've read/reading is called "Shadow Slave". It's actually a web novel. It's as bleak as you can get. The MC "Sunless" goes through the same psychological damage Guts does in "Beserk", but the cycle doesn't stop. EVERYONE suffers. The entire thing is about survival. Whole continents die...
Do you ever get into web serials or LitRPGs? I’ve gotten into these in the past few years to supplement my lack of finished traditional series. (Yeah.. we’re talking about you Rothfuss!! WE WANT BOOK THREE!) These have been such a fun listen on audio platforms that I’ve now found I like them better then some traditional series. Thoughts?
This is interesting, because I tried reading First Law and I put it down because I just couldn't care for anything happening. I know it's not a grim dark aversion in general, I love ASoIaF and while I felt there was some boomeranging with Rin's character growth (we can you see if you agree as you continue the series) I also loved Poppy War. Maybe I should give First Law a second shot. I didn't get very far (just checked my Kindle and I'm 22% through book 1 at the chapter An Offer and a Gift), and I didn't hate it. I wouldn't be forcing myself to finish it. I just was at the point where I felt I'd rather spend my time reading other things.
You should definitely continue. The Blade Itself took a while to grab my attention as well. Even now it comes off as amateurish in spots when I reread it. But Abercrombie has shown steady improvement in his writing since then, has always had a gift for characterization, and (unlike many of my favorite authors) actually publishes books on a regular basis. If you finish and enjoy The Blade Itself, there are about ten more books of equal or superior quality waiting for you.
Glokta in The Blade Itself is easily the best character I've had the pleasure of reading (my list of books I've read is short). The book is great all around but Glokta is the star of the show. I couldnt wait to read more of his story and I was disappointed when his story moved on. Recently finished Lock Lamora book 1 and so far it's been my favorite book overall. I was a little annoyed with going into the past but after a bit I enjoyed it just as much as the present. The story was written so well and there was hardly anything that I saw coming. Just when I thought the story was going to continue on in a certain direction, it took a hard turn in the best way. Can't recommend this book enough. Hesitant to read the next two as I've heard they're a little disappointing compared to book 1 but it doesn't take away from how good Book 1 is.
Would The Dark Tower count as grimdark? If so then that's my recommendation. Love Berserk and ASOIAF, been thinking about starting up First Law after I finally finish WoT (currently on book 10).
Glen Cook and Steven Erikson are at the top of my dark fantasy author list. Still havent found a better ending than Soldiers Live by Glen Cook. So perfect
More people should read The Book of the new Sun by Gene Wolfe. Its kind of science fantasy and can be difficult to follow ( he just leaves little bread crumbs for you to figure out and fill in the blanks) but its absolutely fantastic!
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman is a great read if you want to read something very similar to Berserk but don’t want to get into manga. It’s my go to recommendation for people wanting to get into grimdark without telling them to read from the Warhammer Black Library line lol
The first 500 people to use my link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/capturedinwords02241
I should clarify that non of these recommendations are in any specific order (other than First Law being #1). Also I was meaning to mention Warhammer 40k and completely forgot to record that voice over last night when editing.
What are some of your favorite grimdark books??
ASOIAF is so grim dark, that the story abruptly ends after book 5. The reader is not only left with the darkness of the story, but the existential darkness of having that story's continuation be forever lost in a series of bleak conventions, morally ambiguous interviews, and twisted book signings ;).
Basically stopped reading the book after realizing he’s never going to finish the books because of him getting more involved with tv
@@DavidHilton80same here
I read all books. But my hopes of a follow up were shattered after GoT season 3.
5 books? The series ended on A storm of swords. The terribly paced/written Feast of Crows and even worse Dance of dragons are fan fictions.
True cosmic horror!
I aint gonna lie, your edits are a blast. It is so gripping and easy to watch. Also, with your narrative, drive and passion, you are the best booktuber on the platform! Keep it comin'
I appreciate that!! Glad you enjoy the videos! 😁
I just want to read everything immediately because the art he uses and his descriptions just suck me in.
Many thanks for the shout out, much appreciated.
No problem, it's well deserved! I'm currently reading The Book That Wouldn't Burn and really enjoying learning about the Athenaeum. Will likely have a video review up for it in March 👍
It's really cool how you engage with your fans. I've seen you all over the place from TH-cam to Reddit. And thanks for the Broken Empire. I find most fantasy books boring and predictable so I was pleasantly surprised by your original take on main characters.
ASOIAF and The Princeof Nothing are two of my absolute favorite series :) Excellent list! Some of the ones you mentioned are already on my TBR but I can't wait to check out all of the others I hadn't even heard of :)
Listen to First Law. It's better than everything on this list. And I don't say that lighting against ASoIaF.
Great video! You covered so many great series. I was happy (but unsurprised) to see you started it off with _The Black Company_ and even happier (and _very_ surprised) to see _Coldfire_ in the list. Seriously, _Coldfire_ (and CS Friedman's work in general) should get more love. And finally, you've convinced me to move _Broken Empire_ up my list.
I think Prince of Thorns (and the subsequent books) was the first Grim Dark book for me. I really liked the display of violence and ruthlessness, but also how well fleshed out the character of Jorg is. I've always wanted to get into Book of the Ancestor.
In Prince of Nothing, there was one of the all-time best scenes in Fantasy I've ever read. The one chapter where Achamian lashes out after his imprisonment and just demolishes his captors is one of the most amazing displays of magic ever. I'd so love to see more of this done in books. I get the impression that it's on vogue for authors to tone the use of magic down to make it more elusive, but I'd love to read more epic use of magic :)
Prince of Thorn is hella dope
Also really liked the scene. Had been waiting for it since day one and it totally delivered. His fight with conphas mage was also lit
Man, your production is top notch. Great quality videos.
Thanks! Glad you enjoy them, I put a lot of work into it
Good list. Bakker is the Emperor of everything dark in the genre. Most others feel pretty light in comparison.
But it is much more than that. You have to try it some day
You know, I've never really gotten into that genre, and I wasn't even sure what it is. So this video was very informative! I've read ASoIAF and didn't even know that was grimdark. I just read the first 2 books of Gentlemen Bastards this last week and absolutely loved them. You're right about the great dialog in GB, but you forgot to mention the absolutely brilliant insults that get thrown around. And I'm about 1/4 into book 2 of the Dresden files. I've really been missing out on this genre.
Haha you're right, the insults in GB definitely deserve to be mentioned! Really glad to hear you enjoyed those books!! I'm actually planning on rereading Locke Lamora soon since it's been a while. Hope you enjoy Dresden too!
@CapturedInWords my buddy who has read them all told me if I like them so far that I'll really like them starting on book 4. Supposedly, according to him, the first 3 are his weakest writings. But I'm thoroughly enjoying them.
I recommend the Nightlords trilogy. It's a 40k book so heavy sci-fi and maybe a bit confusing for newcomers at some times but aside from that a great grimdark sci-fi fantasy series.
Agree!
Have read book one and will be reading book 2 soon.
I'd HEAVILY recommend getting more into the lore of 40k (thank you Bricky's videos) before getting into it, as the author uses purple prose to describe things the average 40k fan would be able to understand the meaning of. Other than that, it is PRIME GRIMDARK. I can't gush about it enough.
Jay you need to do a recommendations video for books with beautiful prose/writing styles! I would love to hear all your recommendations.
Elric & Black Company were my first intro into Grim Dark, back in the 80's.
Love these recommendations videos of yours! The artwork, the editing, the way you sell these books to me is just S tier!
Funnily enough I've read most of these books on here already, and I agree with all but one! Prince of Thorns is one of the worst books I've ever read 😂 in contrast to that The First Law is my all time favourite fantasy series, with ASOIAF and Faithful and the Fallen not far behind! Tbh, you can't go wrong with most of these picks!
Please do a video on The Cold Fire Trilogy. One of my favorite trilogies of all time. Read it before Grimdark was a thing. So underrated and never talked about. It some MAJOR love.
Thanks for the great book recommendations!!
You're welcome! And thank you for watching :)
Great list with some recommendations for me!
You heard of/read the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series? Pretty old school and pretty bleak and ahead of its time. Lord Foul’s Bane is a beast of a first book and Donaldson kills it. Talk about an anti-hero…
Great list! I’m really hoping we get book 4 of the Gentleman Bastards series: The Thorn of Emberlain sometime soon…
I hope so too!
@@CapturedInWords If I heard correctly it’s supposed to be a 7 book series but idk if it’ll ever be finished. I’ve read that the author is struggling with mental health issues.
I love Berserk (started because of my love for Dark Souls & FromSoftware) and ASoIaF. Just read The Blade Itself as my first Abercrombie & loved it, so looking forward to more of Joe's books.
I've got Scott Lynch on my shelf (not literally lol, bit of a squish for him! XD) so will get to his books soon.
I'd be interested in all of these, maybe except the Poppy War, because I think that's a bit more YA, but the rest sound incredible!
I love the First Law series! Joes writing reminds a lot of Game of Thrones in ita hay day, where dialogue and character is king. Ive started the Poppy War series because of a family book club and your guess is correct, very YA. Maybe it gets better but so far its not my favorite
22:35 Thank you for giving a shout out to my boy Dogman. Bro was my favorite character.
Yes! I want a full video about The Coldfire trilogy, I am very excited. It seems to be based on a similar idea as the Manifest Delusions trilogy. I've just finished the book #2 from it and I loved it! Book #1, Beyond Redemption, is rated as the top grimdark book by Mark Lawrence based on the grimdark content. So I highly recommend this series.
I'm glad The First Law is on top, Joe Abercrombie is my favorite author. One of the books I liked a lot was The Heroes. How does it compare with The Black Company? I am very interested of it as well.
YES PLEASE do a video on the Coldfire Trilogy!!! One of my favorite series growing up and by one of my favorite authors but nobody ever talks about it or her. The children NEED to know.
Highly recommend the Ravens Mark series by Ed McDonald as well. And Elric is an absolute must!
Hey, Philip Chase started the series on Top Ten fantasy based on the emotions you get out of that series. Don't have video idea then try that one.
Very well done. I would also include The Book of the New Sun series by Gene Wolfe. The series centers around a character who works and as a _torturer_ as well as an executioner. He is even a member of a torturer's guild.
Thanks for this video - the Black Company is classic. Locke Lamora and the Broken Empire also are great stories. You are spot on that the 428th Emperor of Melnibone is the original "grimdark" antihero - Moorcock's work is so great that might transcend the genre he created?
Nah It's Connan. The author offed himself to prove it.
It's not entirely grim dark, but the GreenBone Saga is another series that fans of these kinds of books will enjoy.
Agreed
Fantastic list, some really great sounding books there that i'd never heard of before, can't wait to get to them.
I'd add the Empire of the Wolf trilogy (The Justice of Kings) by Richard Swan to the list, really fascinating series that's just concluded earlier this month.
I hope Malazan book of the fallen is on the list, it's criminally under read and everyone I've seen who has read the series absolutely loves it. It does suffer from having a weaker first book, but it is so very worth sticking with. I love it so much, Erikson is a fantastic writer, and his anthropology background really allowed him to create an amazing universe.
edit: lol, it is, and you said some of the same things about it haha :)
Good list. Just thought I'd recommend Andrej Sapkowski's Witcher books, as no discussion of Grimdark fantasy is complete without them.
My favorite genre by my favorite booktube channel. You're great, man.
I just finished the Mirror’s Truth, the second volume of the Manifest Delusions by Michael R. Fletcher and it was absolutely insane. It seems though that so few people know about this and I’m so glad I randomly stumble upon this hidden gem. I would highly recommend this series to any fan of the genre, this is imo grimdark at its finest!
It's a really neat book, glad you liked it.
I've never heard of this series! Thanks for the recommendation, I'll need to check it out!
Thank you for this video. ASOIAF is my favorite book series, but I never delved deeper into this subgenre for whatever reason. Will definitely be reading the Joel Abercrombie series now. The characters sound awesome.
Definitely give it a shot! Joe Abercrombie's writing is a lot like Game of Thrones in its hay day, where writing and characters are king.
So glad someone at least mentioned the prince of nothing. I am from Spain and we had this huge event where a famous publisher company dropped iconic fantasy sagas and this one was one of them. I really enjoyed the trilogy as it contains deep philosophical theories (I think the author had something to do with philosophy) and the characters were really well built. I don't know why it is not more famous.
Great video man, read the Broken Empire trilogy after watching this and got into more Mark Lawrence books
Just got directed to the channel, sir! Great book picks, and I hope you enjoy Kings of Paradise when you get to it.
Great video. I’ll be putting some of those on my list
Awesome work on this video!
Thanks for watching!
Love all of the Abercrombie books. The Heroes is my personal favorite, with Curden Craw winning me over almost immediately.
Great video!!! Keep up the great work!!!
I read The Faithful and the Fallen one after the other and I dont do that normally, when I was dont with it I jumped right into Of Blood and Bone. Sooooo good
Very good reads for me to get into this genre this year
I’ve been watching you for years and idk why I never noticed ur subscriber count but I always assumed you had at least a million subs. Keep up the good work
Lots of really great choices in this video. I'm definitely going to check out a lot of these series. Thanks. ⚔️
Glad you like them! Cheers!
I really hope you do read The Prince of Nothing series eventually, the books are heavy hitters with complex morality, good prose and a philosophical angle to them that I really appreciate.
I love that you’re videos don’t critique these books/series too much. Really it’s more important to inspire and peak people’s interest and have people make their own minds up. A lot of people are very critical and it can stop people even picking up a book in the first place
agreed, sometimes I’ll see critical reviews on books I loved, and I feel like if I’d watched it before I read I’d have skipped and read another book
*pique
Do make a video on best medieval fantasy books
Excellent video - added a bunch to my tbr.
For anyone reading Malazan, don’t skip out on Ian Esselmont’s books, they add a lot to the series - especially the Paths to Ascendancy books.
Esslemonts style is different than eriksen and rakes time to acquire the taste of when you've been reading malazan philosophy for 10 books
Fabulous recommendations! Thank you for this video!
No problem, thanks for watching! :)
First comment! Thanks for the new drop, man! Awesome subject.
You bet! And thanks for watching :)
I would love to see a video on the Cold Fire trilogy. Not talked about enough on Booktube. Been one of my favorites for over 20 years.
The Broken Empire trilogy is amazing. Glad to see someone talking about it and bringing it to the forefront!
I just finished the second book of the first law series and I loved it! I need more grimdark 😈
Great video as usual. There are books here that I have to read. I am most excited about Elric, Aspect Emperor (PON), and Malazan.
Malazan is tough. I made it through book 7 and had to stop. Reading it is like work.
@alexandermendez4653 lol that's where I am. I read up to 100 pages of the 7th book, put it down for a year and had to start back over again since I lost track of too mang characters. This time around it's audible at 1.1x speed and I just got back to where I left off last time. The plot makes a lot more sense this time around 😂
@@alexandermendez4653book five, I love it and the sense of finishing one is amazing but it’s tough
@alexandermendez4653 I read 1-5 in less than 6 months then it took me like 4 months to get through 6 and 7 😂
@@nikolaichenqov6203 how did you get back in, stopped reading for a few months at 4 and honestly forgot just about everything
I just ordered Darkness That Comes Before, I've heard mixed reviews on it because of subject matter, but i like grimdark so I'm looking forward to it. Prince of Thorns was awesome and is prbly my favorite grimdark novel.
Wardstone chronicles series is underrated
What is it about ? Is it as good as R Scott Bakker the prince of nothing trilogy?
I highly recommend vigor mortis by thundamoo , it’s closer to a litrpg but still has that grim dark feel, especially in the second and third book, as well as some of the best body horror I’ve read
Nice Video! Not sure I would categorize Faithful & The Fallen as Grimdark although it does have grim moments. One Grimdark Masterpiece which no one talks about is Ricardo Pinto's Stone Dance of The Chameleon series. There is nothing else like it and it keeps getting darker with each book. Highly recommended.
Prince of nothing still haunts my dreams to this day
Oh snap 100k subs congrats bro!!!
So I've read a few of these and just want to give my two cents on some of them.
Black Company can be hard to get into because of the writing style. It's told more like a journal entry and doesn't go into the nitty gritty detail for specific fights which can make visualizing things difficult (at least it was for me). But if you keep up with it and the the series as a whole, you'll see some genuinely unique ideas from the setting. The first book can just be a bit difficult due to that writing style.
Prince of Thorns...isn't for everyone. The main character can come off as a try-hard edgelord at times, but it definitely hammers home the grim-dark nature of the world. I believe it was the author's first book so it has some growing pains in that regard. But like Black Company, it has some interesting ideas once you start to piece everything together. I haven't read the third book yet, so can't comment on how the series ends.
Berserk is my favourite manga of all time but it's also not for everyone given the intense subject matter and the fact it doesn't hold back from showing awful things happen to the characters. There are times where I think it borders into tasteless (and even Muira before his passing admitted he took some things too far in his younger days), but beneath it all is some of the greatest and most heartbreaking character development and story arcs you'll find in fiction.
The First Law series. No notes, highly recommend. If you want morally gray characters, you'll find some of the best in this series. If I can make my own characters as interesting as Ninefingers, Jezal, Glokta, and Ferro, then I'll be content as a writer for the rest of my life.
Sometimes I wish I never read the Second Apocalypse series, feels like everything I try to read after just doesn’t quite compare.
Originally called Sword & Sorcery. Like the great anti-heroes like Conan, Elric, Kane and Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. Low magic, bleak world and more of a personal story. Not necessarily on an epic world changing scope. Read the founders to understand where the modern authors got their inspiration from.
Think this is the first Fafhrd comment I've seen since youtube was invented. Definitely find inspiration in those missing from Earthsea, Conan, Elric, etc. I also thought Dying Earth by Jack Vance and some of those stories pretty unique.
Wait are you saying grim dark is a spin off of sword and sorcery? I have only read Conan which I love and hope to read more. So I wonder if I should really take a hard look into grim dark to see if I can fine more fantasy I will like.
Absolutely. Try Grimdark out.
@@AgnosticTruth than I shall make myself a small list and with the help of my trusty library hopefully I find something that hooks me.
@@stephennootens916
Modern Grimdark you could consider: Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy, Mark Lawrence Prince of Thorns, R. Scott Bakker’s books and definitely the modern fathers of Grimdark, George RR Martin’s A song of ice and fire series and Glenn Cook’s The Black Company books.
First law is the best for me too. Abercrombie is the best!
I know there are so many authors who wrote a book about this, but not mentioning anything Warhammer 40k is a small crime. Might be tricky to pick a couple though.
Yeah I was planning on mentioning 40K but just didn't get the time last night when I was finishing up voice over and editing. But soon I'd like to start some of those books (not sure where to start but maybe Horus Heresy) and make some videos on them
@@CapturedInWords Good luck. I started reading WH40k like 6 months ago with some small collection of stories like Heroes of the Space marines. Great for getting your feet wet. I'm kinda afraid to go full Heresy of some other series yet.
I just got done with the Eisenhorn books and wow, yeah those were great! They would have fit well on this list.
I Love how thats his "favorite" genre of all the time. But 90% of the books he recommends he just started recently ?.. or hasn't even started yet :D
12:04 The background of Acts of Caine sound a lot like Westworld but with a television broadcast instead of being an amusement park.
100k congratulations you deserved this a long time ago👍
Thank you so much 😀
R Scott Bakker- 2nd apocalypse.
The G.O.A.T
Anyone who skips this series because of people moaning about how dark it is; when they are themselves looking for a dark series to read, you don’t know what your missing.
Watching a manipulator manipulate an entire cast of characters while also manipulating the reader 🤯
Masterpiece
The first 200 pages of the unholy consult were WILD
The prince of nothing series was one of the hardest reads of all time. Shit was rough and complex and brutal and upsetting. Very nihilistic and amoral...but so worth it my god.
If you intend to read the compiled four-volume Elric Saga, do keep in mind that the individual stories appear in the order that they were originally published, not in chronological order. Though you can find the lore-accurate chronology easily enough online. The difference between these two orderings is so extreme that you'll likely find yourself carrying around more than one volume at a time, because you'll be jumping back and forth. I wrote the chronological order on the back of my bookmark, which lives in my set of four volumes. While that might sound like a hassle, this series is well worth the effort! It is easily one of the finest bodies of fictional literature that I've ever read, and I've read quite a few. It breaks all the rules of conventional story-telling.
Highly recommend Empire of the Vampire (and its’ soon to be released sequel, Empire of the Damned) by Jay Kristoff. I haven’t seen really any booktubers besides Mike’s Book Reviews discuss it, but it’s an incredible grimdark book about vampires, with a very similar storytelling structure to Name of the Wind. I’m in the middle of it right now and it’s so hard to put down.
I've been meaning to read that for a while, it sounds really awesome! Will definitely try to get to that one this year
Loved the first part of the book. Was a little disappointed in "the big reveal" and the later part of the story. Still want to read the second book.
Shoutout to Hardbread which happens to be my fave character name ever.
Don't sleep on Abercrombie's YA series "The Shattered Sea". The grimdark is toned down a bit but still definitely there, and his distinctive writing style and character building absolutely shines through.
Black company Is one of my favorite series!!!
I think this is a solid list with series that all grim dark fans should read at least once. Since Berserk made the list, I would also add a comic called Monstress. It heavily inspired by Asian culture and some berserk, on this list it would be similar to the poppy war trilogy.
I read some of these and they are amazing. Thanks for all the recommendations. A great indie grimdark book is Obsidian Awakening by Sienna Frost.
R Scott Bakkers Prince of Nothing is going to blow you away. Give it a go!
I recommend Andy Peloquin's Darkblade series. He has other interconnected series as well, Queen of Thieves, Heirs of Destiny, and Silent Champions. But his original series had me hooked from the first chapter.
The Black Company is essential and well worth the read. The first three books were the best for me.
When is the new bookshelf tour coming? 😢
I've just read the first book in the Red Queen's War series and quite liked it. Prince Jalen is a wastrel, playboy and self-declared coward who is forced to join the Northman Snorri on a trip to the North. The world is dark and violent, but the main characters do have a sense of humour.
You cannot make a Grim Dark list without the Manifest Delusions Trilogy by Michael R. Fletcher. You arguably don't even know how grim and dark fantasy books can get without having read Beyond Redemption, The Mirror's Truth, and A War to End All. There is also a standalone in the same world called Swarm and Steel, which is great as well.
I've always loved the souls-like series and came to the conclusion recently that grimdark, dark fantasy, medieval horror, etc, might be my favorite genre in media overall. I decided to start reading, not manga or theories or youtube videos, but like actual books. I just started Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, have anyone read it? Thoughts on it? I'm like 100 pages in and enjoying it so far.
Elric? Try The Night Lands by William Hope Hodgson. It's H. P. Lovecraft approved and predates Jack Vance. Grimdark arguably starts with Beowulf or Gilgamesh.
The most grimmest series I've read/reading is called "Shadow Slave". It's actually a web novel. It's as bleak as you can get. The MC "Sunless" goes through the same psychological damage Guts does in "Beserk", but the cycle doesn't stop. EVERYONE suffers. The entire thing is about survival. Whole continents die...
Do you ever get into web serials or LitRPGs? I’ve gotten into these in the past few years to supplement my lack of finished traditional series. (Yeah.. we’re talking about you Rothfuss!! WE WANT BOOK THREE!)
These have been such a fun listen on audio platforms that I’ve now found I like them better then some traditional series. Thoughts?
Give The Thomas Covenant Chronicles a try. Very dark adult fantasy.
gunmetal gods is great as an audiobook, the speaker is very special if you get into it after a while.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson.
This is interesting, because I tried reading First Law and I put it down because I just couldn't care for anything happening. I know it's not a grim dark aversion in general, I love ASoIaF and while I felt there was some boomeranging with Rin's character growth (we can you see if you agree as you continue the series) I also loved Poppy War. Maybe I should give First Law a second shot. I didn't get very far (just checked my Kindle and I'm 22% through book 1 at the chapter An Offer and a Gift), and I didn't hate it. I wouldn't be forcing myself to finish it. I just was at the point where I felt I'd rather spend my time reading other things.
You should definitely continue. The Blade Itself took a while to grab my attention as well. Even now it comes off as amateurish in spots when I reread it. But Abercrombie has shown steady improvement in his writing since then, has always had a gift for characterization, and (unlike many of my favorite authors) actually publishes books on a regular basis. If you finish and enjoy The Blade Itself, there are about ten more books of equal or superior quality waiting for you.
@@EricKoonitsky-bd3hl I actually did finish it and I'm on book 2 now. It's significantly better than the first was IMO.
Glokta in The Blade Itself is easily the best character I've had the pleasure of reading (my list of books I've read is short). The book is great all around but Glokta is the star of the show. I couldnt wait to read more of his story and I was disappointed when his story moved on. Recently finished Lock Lamora book 1 and so far it's been my favorite book overall. I was a little annoyed with going into the past but after a bit I enjoyed it just as much as the present. The story was written so well and there was hardly anything that I saw coming. Just when I thought the story was going to continue on in a certain direction, it took a hard turn in the best way. Can't recommend this book enough. Hesitant to read the next two as I've heard they're a little disappointing compared to book 1 but it doesn't take away from how good Book 1 is.
Anthony Ryan seems to be an overlooked author on TH-cam.
I really need to pick up Blood Song this year
Unhewn Throne - best series I've read in a long time.
Glen Cook is one of my favorite authors.. even his Sci-Fi stuff is interesting.
The Dragon Never Sleeps.
Would The Dark Tower count as grimdark? If so then that's my recommendation. Love Berserk and ASOIAF, been thinking about starting up First Law after I finally finish WoT (currently on book 10).
I think Dark Tower is listed as a Dark Fantasy because it is a horror fantasy science friction western. The Stand is listed the same way.
Glen Cook and Steven Erikson are at the top of my dark fantasy author list. Still havent found a better ending than Soldiers Live by Glen Cook. So perfect
More people should read The Book of the new Sun by Gene Wolfe. Its kind of science fantasy and can be difficult to follow ( he just leaves little bread crumbs for you to figure out and fill in the blanks) but its absolutely fantastic!
What grimdark/ dark fantasy books would you suggest to a beginner reader of fantasy?
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman is a great read if you want to read something very similar to Berserk but don’t want to get into manga. It’s my go to recommendation for people wanting to get into grimdark without telling them to read from the Warhammer Black Library line lol