Series

Books like Swans' War: 9 series to read next

Swans' War is epic fantasy and fantasy, about political intrigue, 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.

Swans' War is 3 books, 2001–2004.

“The cataclysm began more than a century earlier, when the King of Ayr died before naming an heir to the throne, and damned his realm to chaos.”
from the catalogue description of The One Kingdom

The Swans' War page →Narrow this list →

World of Ice and Fire
Malazan
The Circle of the World
The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone
Tolkien's legendarium
The Acacia Trilogy
Grishaverse
Dragon Trilogies
Shattered Sea

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 →

MalazanUniverse

universe36 books1999

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

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

Reading order →

The Circle of the WorldUniverse

universe29 books2006

Grimdark.

“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 Kingdoms of Thorn and BoneSeries

seriesGreg Keyes4 books2003

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

“In doing so, she freed the race of humans - once taken from their distant homes and forced to wear the bitter yoke of slavery.”
from the catalogue description of The Briar King
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with The Briar King →

Tolkien's legendariumUniverse

universe163 books1923

Fantasy, set in secondary world.

“Before the seas were bent and the mountains raised, there was Music — and from that Music came Arda, and in the west of Middle-earth the long defeat and stubborn hope of those who dwell there.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

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 →

GrishaverseUniverse

universe19 books2012

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

Reading order →

Dragon TrilogiesSeries

seriesMelanie Rawn6 books1988

About dragons.

“The Dragon Prince trilogy focuses on Prince Rohan of the Desert and his Sunrunner wife, Sioned, while the Dragon Star trilogy focuses on their son, Pol.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Reading order →

Shattered SeaSeries

seriesJoe Abercrombie4 books2014

About coming of age.

“Yarvi, el hijo menor del rey, nació con una malformación en una mano que ha llevado a todo el mundo, incluso a su propio padre, a considerarlo «medio hombre».”
from the catalogue description of Half a King
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Half a King →

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 Swans' War?: World of Ice and Fire — the closest match to Swans' War on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Swans' War?: The One Kingdom. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Swans' War.
How big is Swans' War?: Swans' War is 3 books, 2001–2004.

Books like Swans' War: 9 series to read next

Read next in Swans' War

Why these

Questions readers ask

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