More like Soldiers Live

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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
World of Ice and FireUniverse
universe19 books1980
About political intrigue.
“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
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
Start with The Blade Itself →
includes The First Law Trilogy, The Age of Madness
The Poppy WarSeries
series4 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
Start with The Poppy War →
The Second ApocalypseSeries
series11 books2003
Challenging in tone, about faith and religion and political intrigue.
Start with The Darkness That Comes Before →
The Broken EmpireUniverse
universe27 books2011
Grimdark, dark in tone, set in secondary world.
“What looks like sword-and-castle medievalism is the ash of our own age, and the magic is only physics that learned to listen.”
from the catalogue
Start with Prince of Fools →
includes The Red Queen's War