More like Beyond the Shadows

anchored on:dark fantasyassassinssecondary worldrevengeredemptionpolitical intrigue+3 more

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World of Ice and FireUniverse
universe19 books1980
Fantasy and epic 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
Start with A Game of Thrones →
includes A Song of Ice and Fire, Targaryen History
MalazanUniverse
universe36 books1999
“Pity the historian who tries to map this world; pity more the god who thinks he rules it.”
from the catalogue
Start with Gardens of the Moon →
includes Malazan Book of the Fallen, The Kharkanas Trilogy, Night of Knives, Path to Ascendancy, Witness Trilogy
Night AngelUniverse
universe6 books2008
Dark fantasy and fantasy, dark and tense in tone, about assassins, set in secondary world.
“There are killers, and then there are wetboys — and the difference is that a wetboy never misses, because the magic in his blood will not let him.”
from the catalogue
Start with The Way of Shadows →
includes The Kylar Chronicles
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
Start with The Blade Itself →
includes The First Law Trilogy, The Age of Madness
GrishaverseUniverse
universe19 books2012
“Saints are canonized here the way soldiers are buried elsewhere — quietly, and too often.”
from the catalogue
Start with Six of Crows →
includes The Nikolai Duology, Six of Crows, The Grisha
The Poppy WarSeries
series4 books2018
Grimdark.
“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
Start with The Poppy War →