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