Universe

Books like Malazan: 9 series to read next

Malazan is epic fantasy and dark fantasy, about gods, set in secondary world, dark in register. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Malazan is 36 books across 6 series, 1999–2026.

“Pity the historian who tries to map this world; pity more the god who thinks he rules it.”
from the catalogue description

The Malazan page →Narrow this list →

World of Ice and Fire
The Circle of the World
The Second Apocalypse
The Poppy War
Grishaverse
Fallen Gods / Godkiller
The Acacia Trilogy
Between Earth and Sky
The City (Gemmell)

World of Ice and FireUniverse

universe19 books1980

Epic fantasy and fantasy, dark in tone, about political intrigue and war, set in secondary world.

“Winter is coming, and the men who forget it die first.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

The Circle of the WorldUniverse

universe29 books2006

Grimdark and fantasy, set in secondary world.

“What sets it apart is the honesty of its cynicism — close, sardonic points of view, gallows humour, and a flat refusal to let anyone stay clean.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Blade Itself →

The Second ApocalypseSeries

seriesR. Scott Bakker11 books2003

About faith and religion.

Start with The Knife of Many Hands →

The Poppy WarSeries

seriesR. F. Kuang4 books2018

Epic fantasy and grimdark, dark and tense in tone, about war, set in secondary world.

“The Poppy War follows Rin, a war orphan who tests into an elite military academy and discovers a talent for shamanic power tied to a pantheon of vengeful gods.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Poppy War →

GrishaverseUniverse

universe19 books2012

“Saints are canonized here the way soldiers are buried elsewhere — quietly, and too often.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Fallen Gods / GodkillerSeries

seriesHannah Kaner3 books2023

Epic fantasy, dark and tense in tone, about gods and war, set in secondary world.

“Hannah Kaner's Godkiller follows Kissen, who lost her family to zealots of a fire god and now kills gods for a living, until she meets Skedi, a small god of white lies bound against his will to a young noble and hunted by assassins.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Godkiller →

The Acacia TrilogySeries

seriesDavid Anthony Durham3 books2007

Epic fantasy and fantasy, dark in tone, about political intrigue and war, set in secondary world.

“David Anthony Durham's trilogy, continuing through The Other Lands and The Sacred Band, follows the siblings as each confronts a different piece of the empire's hidden machinery.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Acacia: The War with the Mein →

Between Earth and SkySeries

seriesRebecca Roanhorse3 books2020

About prophecy.

“The winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.”
from the catalogue description of Black Sun
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Black Sun →

The City (Gemmell)Series

seriesStella Gemmell2 books2013

Epic fantasy and fantasy, dark and tense in tone, about war and political intrigue, set in secondary world.

“Built up over the millennia, layer upon layer, the City is ancient and vast.”
from the catalogue description of The City

Start with The City →

Why these

No sales rank, no star ratings, no readers also bought.

Shared terms are not a promise that a book feels the same. Two series can be far-future political intrigue and read nothing alike — what the ranking can say is what they are about, and each card says which parts it shares.

Questions readers ask

What should I read after Malazan?: World of Ice and Fire — the closest match to Malazan on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Malazan?: Malazan Book of the Fallen. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Malazan, which is a whole world rather than one run.
How big is Malazan?: Malazan is 36 books across 6 series, 1999–2026.

Books like Malazan: 9 series to read next

Read next in Malazan

Why these

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