More like Convicts & Exiles

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World of Ice and FireUniverse
universe19 books1980
About political intrigue and war.
“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
About war.
“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, Night of Knives, The Kharkanas Trilogy, Path to Ascendancy, Witness Trilogy
The Prison HealerSeries
series3 books2021
About revenge.
“Lynette Noni's YA trilogy follows Kiva Meridan, a teenage healer imprisoned in the brutal death camp of Zalindov, who is forced to stand trial by combat in another prisoner's place when a mysterious rebel movement upends the prison's order.”
from the catalogue
Start with The Prison Healer →
The Poppy WarSeries
series4 books2018
Grimdark, about war.
“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 →
Thomas Covenant the UnbelieverSeries
series11 books1977
About quests.
Start with Lord Foul's Bane →
The DarknessSeries
series6 books1999
About war and political intrigue.
Start with Into the Darkness →