← Grimdark Fantasy

The Grimdark Top 100 — Best Grimdark Fantasy Books

The best grimdark fantasy novels — morally grey characters, brutal worlds, and stories where good doesn't always triumph.

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The Blade Itself
1
The Blade Itself
Joe Abercrombie
2006
A Game of Thrones
2
A Game of Thrones
George R.R. Martin
1996
Gardens of the Moon
3
Gardens of the Moon
Steven Erikson
1999
Prince of Thorns
4
Prince of Thorns
Mark Lawrence
2011
The Black Company
5
The Black Company
Glen Cook
1984
The Name of the Wind
6
The Name of the Wind
Patrick Rothfuss
2007
The Lies of Locke Lamora
7
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Scott Lynch
2006
The Way of Shadows
8
The Way of Shadows
Brent Weeks
2008
The Darkness That Comes Before
9
The Darkness That Comes Before
R. Scott Bakker
2003
The Poppy War
10
The Poppy War
R.F. Kuang
2018
Best Served Cold
11
Best Served Cold
Joe Abercrombie
2009
Before They Are Hanged
12
Before They Are Hanged
Joe Abercrombie
2007
Last Argument of Kings
13
Last Argument of Kings
Joe Abercrombie
2008
A Storm of Swords
14
A Storm of Swords
George R.R. Martin
2000
King of Thorns
15
King of Thorns
Mark Lawrence
2012
Emperor of Thorns
16
Emperor of Thorns
Mark Lawrence
2013
The Heroes
17
The Heroes
Joe Abercrombie
2011
Red Sister
18
Red Sister
Mark Lawrence
2017
A Little Hatred
19
A Little Hatred
Joe Abercrombie
2019
The Trouble with Peace
20
The Trouble with Peace
Joe Abercrombie
2020
The Wisdom of Crowds
21
The Wisdom of Crowds
Joe Abercrombie
2021
Beyond Redemption
22
Beyond Redemption
Michael R. Fletcher
2015
The Painted Man
23
The Painted Man
Peter V. Brett
2008
The Steel Remains
24
The Steel Remains
Richard K. Morgan
2008
Nevernight
25
Nevernight
Jay Kristoff
2016
Blood Song
26
Blood Song
Anthony Ryan
2011
The Dragon's Path
27
The Dragon's Path
Daniel Abraham
2011
Prince of Fools
28
Prince of Fools
Mark Lawrence
2014
The Gunslinger
29
The Gunslinger
Stephen King
1982
The Winter Road
30
The Winter Road
Adrian Selby
2018
Malice
31
Malice
John Gwynne
2012
Half a King
32
Half a King
Joe Abercrombie
2014
The Grim Company
33
The Grim Company
Luke Scull
2013
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai
34
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai
Bradley P. Beaulieu
2015
The Shadow of the Torturer
35
The Shadow of the Torturer
Gene Wolfe
1980
Lord Foul's Bane
36
Lord Foul's Bane
Stephen R. Donaldson
1977
City of Lies
37
City of Lies
Sam Hawke
2018
Among Thieves
38
Among Thieves
Douglas Hulick
2011
Low Town
39
Low Town
Daniel Polansky
2011
The Vagrant
40
The Vagrant
Peter Newman
2015
Senlin Ascends
41
Senlin Ascends
Josiah Bancroft
2013
Promise of Blood
42
Promise of Blood
Brian McClellan
2013
The Witcher: The Last Wish
43
The Witcher: The Last Wish
Andrzej Sapkowski
1993
Tigana
44
Tigana
Guy Gavriel Kay
1990
Deadhouse Gates
45
Deadhouse Gates
Steven Erikson
2000
The Thousand Names
46
The Thousand Names
Django Wexler
2013
The Court of Broken Knives
47
The Court of Broken Knives
Anna Smith Spark
2017
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
48
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Seth Dickinson
2015
Kings of the Wyld
49
Kings of the Wyld
Nicholas Eames
2017
The Mirror Empire
50
The Mirror Empire
Kameron Hurley
2014
God's War
51
God's War
Kameron Hurley
2011
The Tainted Cup
52
The Tainted Cup
Robert Jackson Bennett
2024
The Dragon Republic
53
The Dragon Republic
R.F. Kuang
2019
Babel
54
Babel
R.F. Kuang
2022
The Burning White
55
The Burning White
Brent Weeks
2019
The Way of Kings
56
The Way of Kings
Brandon Sanderson
2010
The Final Empire
57
The Final Empire
Brandon Sanderson
2006
The Ruin of Kings
58
The Ruin of Kings
Jenn Lyons
2019
Empire in Black and Gold
59
Empire in Black and Gold
Adrian Tchaikovsky
2008
Where Loyalties Lie
60
Where Loyalties Lie
Rob J. Hayes
2017
The Copper Promise
61
The Copper Promise
Jen Williams
2014
Black Leopard Red Wolf
62
Black Leopard Red Wolf
Marlon James
2019
The Shadow of What Was Lost
63
The Shadow of What Was Lost
James Islington
2014
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City
64
Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City
K.J. Parker
2019
Scourge of the Betrayer
65
Scourge of the Betrayer
Jeff Salyards
2012
The Bone Ships
66
The Bone Ships
R.J. Barker
2019
Red Country
67
Red Country
Joe Abercrombie
2012
Age of Myth
68
Age of Myth
Michael J. Sullivan
2016
Memories of Ice
69
Memories of Ice
Steven Erikson
2001
Retribution Falls
70
Retribution Falls
Chris Wooding
2009
The Long Price Quartet
71
The Long Price Quartet
Daniel Abraham
2006
Sharp Ends
72
Sharp Ends
Joe Abercrombie
2016
The Unholy Consult
73
The Unholy Consult
R. Scott Bakker
2017
A Dance with Dragons
74
A Dance with Dragons
George R.R. Martin
2011
Son of the Morning
75
Son of the Morning
Mark Lawrence
2023
Pawn's Gambit
76
Pawn's Gambit
Rob J. Hayes
2021
Wrath
77
Wrath
John Gwynne
2016
The Stormcaller
78
The Stormcaller
Tom Lloyd
2006
The Iron Wolves
79
The Iron Wolves
Andy Remic
2014
An Echo of Things to Come
80
An Echo of Things to Come
James Islington
2017
Half the World
81
Half the World
Joe Abercrombie
2015
The Crimson Campaign
82
The Crimson Campaign
Brian McClellan
2014
With Blood Upon the Sand
83
With Blood Upon the Sand
Bradley P. Beaulieu
2017
Some Desperate Glory
84
Some Desperate Glory
Emily Tesh
2023
The Axe and the Throne
85
The Axe and the Throne
M.D. Ireman
2015
Among the Fallen
86
Among the Fallen
N.S. Dolkart
2017
The Ill-Made Knight
87
The Ill-Made Knight
Christian Cameron
2014
Ravage
88
Ravage
Thomas Olde Heuvelt
2022
A Feast for Crows
89
A Feast for Crows
George R.R. Martin
2005
The Eye of the World
90
The Eye of the World
Robert Jordan
1990
Broken Blade
91
Broken Blade
Kelly McCullough
2011
The Way into Chaos
92
The Way into Chaos
Harry Connolly
2014
The Broken Eye
93
The Broken Eye
Brent Weeks
2014
Shadows of Self
94
Shadows of Self
Brandon Sanderson
2015
The Winnowing Flame
95
The Winnowing Flame
Jen Williams
2017
Priest of Bones
96
Priest of Bones
Peter McLean
2018
The Coward
97
The Coward
Stephen Aryan
2021
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians
98
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians
H.G. Parry
2020
The Once and Future Witches
99
The Once and Future Witches
Alix E. Harrow
2020
The Winter King
100
The Winter King
Bernard Cornwell
1995
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