More like The Fighting Pit

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MalazanUniverse
universe36 books1999
Epic fantasy, 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, The Kharkanas Trilogy, Night of Knives, Path to Ascendancy, Witness Trilogy
World of Ice and FireUniverse
universe19 books1980
Epic fantasy, 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
An Ember in the AshesSeries
series4 books2015
Epic fantasy.
“Sabaa Tahir's quartet, continuing through A Torch Against the Night, A Reaper at the Gates, and A Sky Beyond the Storm, follows the two toward a reckoning with the empire that trained one of them to enforce it.”
from the catalogue
Start with An Ember in the Ashes →
Witches Steeped in GoldSeries
series2 books2021
About witches and enemies to lovers.
Start with Witches Steeped in Gold →
The ScholomanceSeries
series3 books2020
About magic schools and survival.
Start with A Deadly Education →
Red QueenSeries
series14 books2015
Dystopia, about class conflict.
“Victoria Aveyard's debut novel opens a four-book main sequence - Red Queen, Glass Sword, King's Cage, War Storm - plus the interstitial novella Cruel Crown and the epilogue novella Broken Throne.”
from the catalogue
Start with Queen Song →