Books like 'Pawn's Gambit'
Readers who enjoyed Pawn's Gambit by Rob J. Hayes also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy high fantasy action / adventure grimdark military, war & conflict dark fantasy epic war magic
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The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie
Rated: 4.59 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsConspiracy. Betrayal. Rebellion.Peace is just another kind of battlefield...Savine dan Glokta, once Adua’s most powerful investor, finds her judgement, fortune and reputation in tatters. But she still has all her ambitions, and no scruple will be permitted to stand in her way... -
![The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie]()
The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 37 ratings“Chaos. Fury. Destruction.The Great Change is upon us . . .Some say that to change the world you must first burn it down. Now that belief will be tested in the crucible of revolution: the Breakers and Burners have seized the levers of power, the smoke of riots has replaced the smog of industry, and all must submit to the wisdom of crowds... -
![Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson]()
Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 47 ratingsThe ravaged continent of Genabackis is a terrifying new empire, the Pannion Domin, that devours all. An uneasy allliance resists: Onearm's army, Whiskeyjack's Bridgeburners and former enemies - forces of Warlord Caladan Brood, Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii mages, and the Rhivi people of the plains. And the Crippled God intends revenge... -
![The Crippled God by Steven Erikson]()
The Crippled God by Steven Erikson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsThe Bonehunters march for Kolanse, led by Adjunct Tavore. This woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, will challenge the gods - if her own mutinous troops don't kill her first.Her enemy, the Forkrul Assail, seek to cleanse the world, to annihilate everything... -
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![The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson]()
The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsThe Seven Cities Rebellion has been crushed. Sha'ik is dead. One last rebel force remains, holed up in the city of Y'Ghatan and under the fanatical command of Leoman of the Flails. The prospect of laying siege to this ancient fortress makes the battle-weary Malaz 14th Army uneasy. For it was here that the Empire's greatest champion Dassem Ultor was slain and a tide of Malazan blood spilled... -
![Blood Song by Anthony Ryan]()
Blood Song by Anthony Ryan
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 58 ratingsThe Sixth Order wields the sword of justice and smites the enemies of the Faith and the Realm.” Vaelin Al Sorna was only a child of ten when his father left him at the iron gate of the Sixth Order. The Brothers of the Sixth Order are devoted to battle, and Vaelin will be trained and hardened to the austere, celibate, and dangerous life of a Warrior of the Faith... -
![Wrath by John Gwynne]()
Wrath by John Gwynne
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsEvents are coming to a climax in the Banished Lands, as the war reaches new heights. King Nathair has taken control of the fortress at Drassil and three of the Seven Treasures are in his possession. And together with Calidus and his ally Queen Rhin, Nathair will do anything to obtain the remaining Treasures. With all seven under his command, he can open a portal to the Otherworld... -
![The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks]()
The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 63 ratingsGavin Guile is dying.He’d thought he had five years left—now he has less than one. With fifty thousand refugees, a bastard son, and an ex-fiancée who may have learned his darkest secret, Gavin has problems on every side. All magic in the world is running wild and threatens to destroy the Seven Satrapies.Worst of all, the old gods are being reborn, and their army of color wights is unstoppable... -
![The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang]()
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsA mother struggling to repress her violent past,A son struggling to grasp his violent future,A father blind to the danger that threatens them all... -
![Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie]()
Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 69 ratingsSuperior Glokta has a problem. How do you defend a city surrounded by enemies and riddled with traitors, when your allies can by no means be trusted, and your predecessor vanished without a trace? It’s enough to make a torturer want to run – if he could even walk without a stick.Northmen have spilled over the border of Angland and are spreading fire and death across the frozen country... -
![Ruin by John Gwynne]()
Ruin by John Gwynne
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThe Banished Lands are engulfed in war and chaos. The cunning Queen Rhin has conquered the west and High King Nathair has the cauldron, most powerful of the seven treasures. At his back stands the scheming Calidus and a warband of the Kadoshim, dread demons of the Otherworld. They plan to bring Asroth and his host of the Fallen into the world of flesh, but to do so they need the seven treasures... -
![Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson]()
Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsAfter decades of warfare, the five tribes of the Tiste Edur are united under the implacable rule of the Warlock King of the Hiroth. But the price of peace is a pact with a hidden power whose motives may be deadly. To the south, the expansionist kingdom of Lether has devoured all lesser neighbors - except the Tiste Edur... -
![The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks]()
The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 51 ratingsAs the old gods awaken, the Chromeria is in a race to find its lost Prism, the only man who may be able to stop catastrophe, Gavin Guile. But Gavin's enslaved on a galley, and when he finally escapes, he finds himself in less than friendly hands. Without the ability to draft which has defined him . . -
![Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson]()
Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsAll is not well in the Letherii Empire. Rhulad Sengar, the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths, spirals into madness, surrounded by sycophants and agents of his Machiavellian chancellor, while the Letherii secret police conduct a campaign of terror against its own people. The Errant, once a farseeing god, is suddenly blind to the future... -
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![Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan]()
Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThe country is in turmoil. With the capital city occupied, half a million refugees are on the march, looking for safety on the frontier, accompanied by Lady Flint's soldiers. But escaping war is never easy, and soon the battle may find them, whether they are prepared or not.Back in the capital, Michel Bravis smuggles even more refugees out of the city. But internal forces are working against him... -
![The Light of All That Falls by James Islington]()
The Light of All That Falls by James Islington
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThe Light of All That Falls concludes the epic adventure that began in The Shadow of What Was Lost, the acclaimed fantasy blockbuster from James Islington.The Boundary is whole once again, but it may be too late.Banes now stalk Andarra, while in Ilin Illan, the political machinations of a generation come to a head as Wirr's newfound ability forces his family's old enemies into action... -
![Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski]()
Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsGeralt is a witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent.This is a collection of short stories, following the adventures of the hit collection THE LAST WISH... -
![Valor by John Gwynne]()
Valor by John Gwynne
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThe Banished Lands is torn by war as High King Nathair sweeps the land challenging all who oppose him in his holy crusade. Allied with the manipulative Queen Rhin of Cambren, there are few who can stand against them. But Rhin is playing her own games and has her eyes on a far greater prize.. -
![House of Chains by Steven Erikson]()
House of Chains by Steven Erikson
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 47 ratingsAn alternate cover edition can be found here.In Northern Genabackis, a raiding party of savage tribal warriors descends from the mountains into the southern flatlands. Their intention is to wreak havoc amongst the despised lowlanders, but for the one named Karsa Orlong it marks the beginning of what will prove to be an extraordinary destiny... -
![Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson]()
Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsIn Darujhistan, the city of blue fire, it is said that love and death shall arrive dancing. It is summer and the heat is oppressive, but for the small round man in the faded red waistcoat, discomfiture is not just because of the sun. All is not well. Dire portents plague his nights and haunt the city streets like fiends of shadow... -
![Deadhouse Landing by Ian C. Esslemont]()
Deadhouse Landing by Ian C. Esslemont
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsAfter the disappointments of Li Heng, Dancer and Kellanved wash up on a small insignificant island named Malaz. Immediately, of course, Kellanved plans to take it over. To do so they join forces with a small band of Napans who have fled a civil war on their own home island... -
![A Time of Courage by John Gwynne]()
A Time of Courage by John Gwynne
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsBattle the darkReclaim the worldThe Demon-King of the Otherworld is finally free. And armed with mighty new starstone weapons, Asroth prepares to lead his demonic war-host south. With the help of his dark bride Fritha, he plans to crush the warrior-angels and their allies.In the shadows of Forn Forest, Riv and the surviving Ben-Elim hold a war council... -
![The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks]()
The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 47 ratingsStripped of both magical and political power, the people he once ruled told he's dead, and now imprisoned in his own magical dungeon, former Emperor Gavin Guile has no prospect of escape. But the world faces a calamity greater than the Seven Satrapies has ever seen... and only he can save it... -
![The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan]()
The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsThe capital has fallen...Field Marshal Tamas returns to his beloved country to find that for the first time in history, the capital city of Adro lies in the hands of a foreign invader. His son is missing, his allies are indistinguishable from his foes, and reinforcements are several weeks away.An army divided.. -
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![A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie]()
A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsThe chimneys of industry rise over Adua and the world seethes with new opportunities. But old scores run deep as ever.On the blood-soaked borders of Angland, Leo dan Brock struggles to win fame on the battlefield, and defeat the marauding armies of Stour Nightfall. He hopes for help from the crown. But King Jezal's son, the feckless Prince Orso, is a man who specializes in disappointments... -
![The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter]()
The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsIn order to reclaim her throne and save her people, an ousted queen must join forces with a young warrior in the second book of this "relentlessly gripping, brilliant" epic fantasy series from a breakout author (James Islington).Tau and his Queen, desperate to delay the impending attack on the capital by the indigenous people of Xidda, craft a dangerous plan... -
![Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski]()
Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 62 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times... -
![The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend by David Gemmell]()
The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend by David Gemmell
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsHe was known as Druss. The Deathwalker. Though the blood of merciless butchers coursed through his veins, he had found a fragile peace through his love for beautiful, mystical Rowena. Then came the day when Druss returned to their village and found everyone dead--massacred by slavers who had stolen the women to sell for gold. Rowena was among the missing... -
![A Practical Guide to Evil III by ErraticErrata]()
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![Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson]()
Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsIn war everyone loses. This brutal truth can be seen in the eyes of every soldier in every world…In Letherii, the exiled Malazan army commanded by Adjunct Tavore begins its march into the eastern Wastelands, to fight for an unknown cause against an enemy it has never seen.And in these same Wastelands, others gather to confront their destinies... -
![The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie]()
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsThey say Black Dow's killed more men than winter, and clawed his way to the throne of the North up a hill of skulls. The King of the Union, ever a jealous neighbor, is not about to stand smiling by while he claws his way any higher. The orders have been given and the armies are toiling through the northern mud... -
![Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks]()
Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 69 ratingsA new queen has usurped the throne and is leading Cenaria into disaster. The country has become a broken realm with a threadbare army, little food and no hope. So Kylar Stern plans to reinstate his closest friend Logan as King, but can he really get away with murder?In the north, the Godking's death has thrown Khalidor into civil war... -
![Dancer's Lament by Ian C. Esslemont]()
Dancer's Lament by Ian C. Esslemont
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsTaking Malazan fans back to that troubled continent's turbulent early history. The opening chapter in Ian C. Esslemont's epic new fantasy sequence, the Path to Ascendancy trilogy.For ages warfare has crippled the continent as minor city states, baronies, and principalities fought in an endless round of hostilities... -
![The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized by ErraticErrata]()
The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized by ErraticErrata
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe southern half of Callow is in open rebellion against the Empire.As she had a hand in starting that fire, it’s only fitting that Catherine’s own legion is being sent into the fray. The Lone Swordsman and his posse of heroes are out for her head on a pike but her most dangerous enemy might just be on the same side: the Heiress has escalated their rivalry to a new level of deadliness... -
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![The Tower of the Swallow by Andrzej Sapkowski]()
The Tower of the Swallow by Andrzej Sapkowski
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 54 ratingsThe world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life. But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies determined to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down... -
![The Swords of Night and Day by David Gemmell]()
The Swords of Night and Day by David Gemmell
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsEven in death, Skilgannon the Damned's name lives on. Now, as an ancient evil threatens to flood the Drenai heartlands in a tide of blood, he returns...A thousand years after they fell in battle, two heroes - Druss and Skilgannon - are revered throughout the war-torn lands of the Dernai, where men and women live in abject fear of the dark sorceress known as the Eternal.. -
![Red Country by Joe Abercrombie]()
Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsThey burned her home.They stole her brother and sister.But vengeance is following.Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she'll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she's not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old step father Lamb for company... -
![The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron]()
The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsSOME ARE BORN TO POWERSOME SEIZE ITAND SOME HAVE THE WISDOM NEVER TO WIELD ITThe Red Knight has stood against soldiers, against armies and against the might of an empire without flinching. He's fought on real and on magical battlefields alike, and now he's facing one of the greatest challenges yet.A tournament... -
![A Time of Blood by John Gwynne]()
A Time of Blood by John Gwynne
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsDefy the darkness. Defend the light.Drem and his friends are haunted by the horrors they witnessed at the battle at Starstone Lake: the screams of men being warped into beasts and the sight of a demon rising from the dead. But worse than any memory is Fritha, the demons' deadly high priestess. And she is hunting them... -
![Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski]()
Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsGeralt is a witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent.This is a collection of short stories, following the adventures of the hit collection THE LAST WISH... -
![The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett]()
The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsAs darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way... -
![The Burning White by Brent Weeks]()
The Burning White by Brent Weeks
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsIn this stunning conclusion to the epic New York Times bestselling Lightbringer series, kingdoms clash as Kip struggles to escape his family's shadow in order to protect the land and people he loves.Gavin Guile, once the most powerful man the world had ever seen, has been laid low. He's lost his magic, and now he is on a suicide mission. Failure will condemn the woman he loves... -
![Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan]()
Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsAn epic new fantasy series from Brian McClellan, set in the world of his wildly popular Powder Mage trilogy. A world on the cusp of a new age... The young nation of Fatrasta is a turbulent place -- a frontier destination for criminals, fortune-hunters, brave settlers, and sorcerers seeking relics of the past... -
![Blood of Empire by Brian McClellan]()
Blood of Empire by Brian McClellan
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsAs the final battle approaches a sellsword, a spy, and a general must find unlikely and dangerous allies in order to turn the tides of war in this epic fantasy tale of magic and gunpowder by acclaimed author Brian McClellan... -
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![The Empire's Ruin by Brian Staveley]()
The Empire's Ruin by Brian Staveley
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsOne soldier will bear the hopes of an empireThe Kettral were the glory and despair of the Annurian Empire – elite soldiers who rode war hawks into battle. Now the Kettral’s numbers have dwindled and the great empire is dying. Its grip is further weakened by the failure of the kenta gates, which granted instantaneous access to its vast lands... -
![The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie]()
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 75 ratingsLogen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies... -
![Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks]()
Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 69 ratingsThe second novel in the Night Angel trilogy, the breakneck epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Brent Weeks.Kylar Stern has rejected the assassin's life. The Godking's successful coup has left Kylar's master, Durzo, and his best friend, Logan, dead. He is starting over: new city, new friends, and new profession... -
![The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett]()
The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 61 ratingsThe sun is setting on humanity. The night now belongs to voracious demons that prey upon a dwindling population forced to cower behind half-forgotten symbols of power. Legends tell of a Deliverer: a general who once bound all mankind into a single force that defeated the demons. But is the return of the Deliverer just another myth? Perhaps not... -
![Waylander by David Gemmell]()
Waylander by David Gemmell
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsAll of Waylander's instincts had screamed at him to spurn the contract from Kaem the cruel, the killer of nations. But he had ignored them. He had made his kill. And even as he went to collect his gold, he knew that he had been betrayed... -
![Sword in the Storm by David Gemmell]()
Sword in the Storm by David Gemmell
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsFierce and proud, the Rigante dwell deep in the green mountain lands, worshiping the gods of air and water, and the spirits of the earth. Among them lives a warrior who bears the mark of fate. Born of the storm that slew his father, he is Connavar, and tales of his courage spread like wildfire...
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