Books like 'Grimdark Magazine Issue #2'
Readers who enjoyed Grimdark Magazine Issue #2 by Adrian Collins, R. Scott Bakker & Layla Cummins also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
fantasy grimdark hard-sci-fi horror dark-fantasy dystopia dark
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The God is Not Willing by Steven Erikson
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsMany years have passed since three Teblor warriors brought carnage and chaos to the small lakeside settlement of Silver Lake. While the town has recovered, the legacy of that past horror remains, even if the Teblor tribes of the north no longer venture into the southlands. One of those three, Karsa Orlong, is now deemed to be a god, albeit an indifferent one... -
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... -
Midnight's Mask by Paul S. Kemp
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe shadows deepen in every corner of the Realms.The sun no longer shines on a man who has embraced the darkness within him.The day's opposite finds Erevis Cale so far along the path away from his own humanity, he may never again walk as a man.In the end, to be Chosen by a god like Mask is more curse than blessing.. -
Wagga by Alex Kozlowski
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn the apocalypse, the first weapon he’ll have to upgrade is himself.The end of the world as we know it couldn’t come at a worse time for Adrian.One minute, he’s an operations manager who’s overseeing a construction job in the wilderness. The next, an unknown energy force changes the very nature of life itself, from the smallest organism to the top of the food chain... -
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Inflection Point by John G. Hartness
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHis uncle has been kidnapped. A shadowy government agency is torturing cryptids in his city. His Sanctuary has been revoked from the one place he could drink safely. There's a medusa at the mall. A fairy princess might have just summoned an Old One in a public park. Quincy Harker really wishes he'd just stayed in Memphis. But he didn't... -
Queen of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHer life burned to ashes. Her city under siege. She will sacrifice everything she has for bloody vengeance.Ilanna has lost everything: her friends, her home, her family, her dreams of freedom. All that remains is a burning desire to find the bastards who burned down her city and tried to kill her.But a traitor hides among the ranks of the Night Guild, poisoning her friends and allies with lies... -
Herald by Rob J. Hayes
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA thousand years ago, humanity's greatest heroes killed God. Across the land of Helesia, the iron grasp of the Godless Kings is failing. Demons stalk the deep forests, monsters break free of their prisons beneath the World Vein, and terrors of the old world rise again... -
Priest of Lies by Peter McLean
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsTomas Piety has been many things: soldier, priest, gangster...and spy. As Tomas's power grows, the nobility better watch their backs, in this dark and gritty epic fantasy series.People are weak, and the poorer and more oppressed they are, the weaker they become--until they can't take it anymore. And when they rise up...may the gods help their oppressors... -
Legion by Robert J. Crane
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMidian, Tennessee is under siege. Demons prowl the streets and the underworld is rising, bent on consuming every living thing in the town. The only thing that keeps them back is the Watch; a group of citizens that are dedicated to holding the line against the darkness. They've faced every kind of physical threat imaginable and come out victorious... -
Priest of Gallows by Peter McLean
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGangster, soldier, priest. Queen's Man. Governor.Tomas Piety has everything he ever wanted. In public he's a wealthy, highly respected businessman, happily married to a beautiful woman and Governor of his home city of Ellinburg. In private, he's no longer a gang lord but one of the Queen's Men, invisible and officially non-existent, working in secret to protect his country... -
The Free Bastards by Jonathan French
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe long-awaited war has come in the sweeping conclusion to the Lot Lands trilogy--another irresistibly swashbuckling, swaggering, foul-mouthed fantasy.The long-awaited war has come in the sweeping conclusion to the Lot Lands trilogy--another irresistibly swashbuckling, swaggering, foul-mouthed fantasy... -
God of Broken Things by Cameron Johnston
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn outcast magician must risk his body and mind to save the world from horrifying demons, in the heart-pounding epic fantasy sequel to The Traitor God.Tyrant magus Edrin Walker destroyed the monster sent by the Skallgrim, but not before it laid waste to Setharis, and infested their magical elite with mind-controlling parasites... -
Idols Fall by Mike Shel
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings“AT LONG LAST, EVEN GODS WILL KNOW REGRET…”Agnes Manteo now bears her father’s sentient Djao sword, along with a terrible revelation—the gods are charlatans, ancient sorcerers who draw their strength from the suffering of humanity. She and her Syraeic companions have but one duty: to track down those pretenders and end their reign of cruelty and lies, no matter the cost... -
To Blackfyre Keep by Anthony Ryan
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGUYIME—DEMON CURSED WIELDER OF THE NAMELESS BLADE—FOLLOWS THE TRAIL OF THE FABLED SEVEN SWORDS INTO THE TROUBLED NORTHLANDS, A REALM WHERE HE WAS ONCE CALLED KING…AND RAVAGER.Magically guided to enlist in the retinue of a lovesick knight, Guyime and his companions journey to the haunted ruin of Blackfyre Keep, a castle legend tells cannot be held. But a far deadlier threat than mere ghosts awaits... -
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Road Brothers by Mark Lawrence
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings10 short stories from the lives of Jorg and his Road Brothers. Contains spoilers for the Broken Empire trilogy. 5 of the stories have previously been published in anthologies, Contains the short story 'Sleeping Beauty' that is also sold separately. A total of 43.000 words or just over half the length of Prince of Thorns.Cover by Pen Astridge... -
A Dance of Chaos by David Dalglish
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFEAR COMES IN THE HANDS OF PROPHETS... The final installment of the Shadowdance series finds Haern the Watcher returning to his beloved city of Veldaren, only to find it has collapsed into chaos. The Sun Guild has conquered the former thief guilds, destroying the peace Haern fought so hard to obtain... -
Ravencry by Ed McDonald
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsFour years have passed since Nall’s Engine drove the Deep Kings back across the Misery, but as they hurl fire from the sky, darker forces plots against the republic.A new power is rising: a ghost in the light known only as the Bright Lady manifests in visions across the city, and the cult that worship her grasp for power even as the city burns around them... -
Crowfall by Ed McDonald
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsCrowfall is a gritty epic fantasy for fans of Mark Lawrence, Scott Lynch and Daniel Polansky.'Dark, twisty and excellent . . . Grimdark with heart' Mark LawrenceA sorceress cataclysm has hit the Range, the final defensive line between the Republic and the immortal Deep Kings... -
Thief of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe impossible becomes inevitable with the fate of her loved ones hanging in the balance…A cunning thief of unrivaled ingenuity, Ilanna is determined to secure her freedom at any cost. No price is too high to break the shackles of the Night Guild's callous cruelty.With her future on the line, nothing will stand in her way, not even the most powerful man in Praamis, Duke Phonnis... -
Legacy of Light by Matthew Ward
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWarfare, myth and magic collide in Legacy of Light, the spectacular conclusion to Matthew Ward's acclaimed Legacy trilogy.For the first time in many years, the Tressian Republic and the Hadari Empire are at peace. But war never sleeps.In Tregard, Empress Melanna Saranal struggles to protect a throne won at great cost... -
Legacy of Ghosts by Alicia Wanstall-Burke
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFour years have passed since Lidan’s world was ripped apart, and time is running out to change her father’s mind about the succession before the bargain with her mother expires... -
Vigor Mortis: Volume 1 by Natalie Maher
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCasting necromancy without ever learning how isn't supposed to be possible. A starving orphan girl named Vita is somehow managing it anyway, and she's not sure if this is going to be the solution to her life's problems or a horrifying, spiraling mess into problems she can't even conceive... -
One Man: A City of Fallen Gods Novel by Harry Connolly
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOne Cursed City. Two Dead Gods. Ten Thousand Murderers and Thieves. One Orphaned Girl.As a child, Kyrioc was groomed to be the head of one of the most powerful noble families in Koh-Salash, a city built inside the skeletons of two murdered gods. Kyrioc himself dreamed of becoming head of the High Watch, the highest political position in the land.Those dreams have turned to dust... -
The Fifth Empire of Man by Rob J. Hayes
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Pirate Isles are united under Drake Morrass’ flag, but the war has only just begun. There’s still a long way to go before he’s able to call himself King. The Five Kingdoms and Sarth have assembled a fleet of ships unlike any the world has ever seen, and they intend to purge the Pirate Isles once and for all... -
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She Dreams in Blood by Michael R. Fletcher
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDrawn by the shards of his obsidian heart, Khraen follows the path south. The islands, largely ignored by the Wizard’s Guild, have become a refuge for the unwanted of the world. Necromancers and sorcerers rule warring tribes haunted by the ghosts of savage and primal gods.With each fragment Khraen discovers more of the man he was.There was an Empire.There was a god.And she dreamed in blood... -
Child of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThey killed her family. They ripped apart her home. But to repay her debts, she'll have to sacrifice her innocence. Robbed of everything she loves, Viola mourns the sudden loss of her mother. Now burdened with an impossible debt to the Night Guild, she’s forced to train as a cunning thief... -
The Blackest Heart by Brian Lee Durfee
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsGladiator. Assassin. Thief. Princess. And the Slave. The Five Warrior Angels have been revealed, one by one the mystical weapons they once wielded are being found, and an ancient prophecy is finally being fulfilled. Or is it? For when it comes to recorded history, much is intended to manipulate and deceive... -
A Drink Before We Die by Daniel Polansky
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA thrilling introduction to the world of the widely acclaimed Low Town trilogy.Rigus is the greatest city in the Thirteen Lands, a glittering metropolis of towering citadels and sumptuous manors, where bored nobles settle affairs of honor with cold steel, and sorcerers craft enchantments of wonder and majesty... -
Desolation by Megg Jensen
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTressa's army won the battle, but at a terrible cost. So many lives lost. So many lovers torn asunder. And that was just the beginning. An ancient beast rumbles beneath the Dragonlands, thirsting for blood. Dragon blood. Setting aside her heartbreak, Tressa ventures beyond the Dragonlands to the mysterious realm of Desolation, searching for allies and answers... -
The Great Change by Joe Abercrombie
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Great Change (and Other Lies) is a novella-length collection that gathers four short stories related to Joe Abercrombie's The Age of Madness, featuring old friends and new: from smugglers to kings, from diamond-cutters to dress-makers, from the most apparently insignificant of slaves to the most feared man in the Union, Old Sticks himself... -
The True Bastards by Jonathan French
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe sequel to The Grey Bastards--another irresistibly swashbuckling, swaggering, foul-mouthed adventure fantasy.Fetching was once the only female rider in the Lot Lands. Now she is the leader of her own hoof, a band of loyal half-orcs sworn to her command. But in the year since she took power, the True Bastards have struggled to survive... -
The Girl and the Mountain by Mark Lawrence
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe second novel in the thrilling and epic new fantasy series from the international bestselling author of Red Sister and Prince of Thorns.On the planet Abeth there is only the ice. And the Black Rock.For generations the priests of the Black Rock have reached out from their mountain to steer the fate of the ice tribes... -
Road Brothers by Mark Lawrence
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA volume of short stories by the bestselling author of THE BROKEN EMPIRE series, Mark Lawrence.An extended version of the earlier collection of the same title - 50% longer.This is a collection of fourteen stories of murder, mayhem, pathos, and philosophy, all set in the world of the Broken Empire... -
Aching God by Mike Shel
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 24 ratings“Closer, mortal. You are here, finally, to feed the Aching God…” The days of adventure are passed for Auric Manteo. Retired to the countryside and isolated with his scars and riches, he no longer delves into forbidden ruins seeking dark wisdom and treasure. But just as old nightmares begin plaguing his sleep, he receives an urgent summons back to that old life... -
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Sin Eater by Mike Shel
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 20 ratings"I SHALL BAPTIZE YOU, SIR, AND MY BAPTISM WILL BURN YOUR FOLLY AND FLESH AWAY!"A year has passed since Auric Manteo descended into the haunted depths of a Djao ruin to return a lethal artifact, only to face down a bloodthirsty, imprisoned god. Now his daughter Agnes comes to bring him back to the capital with promises of hidden secrets finally revealed... -
Midnight Sun: The Complete Stories of Kane by Karl Edward Wagner
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMidnight Sun is the companion volume to Gods in Darkness, and collects all of the Kane short stories and poetry. The Complete Stories of Kane... -
Gods in Darkness: The Complete Novels of Kane by Karl Edward Wagner
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsKane An immortal, cursed to wander the Earth until he is destroyed by the violence that he himself has created. A warrior and statesman: As comfortable in the shadowy halls of courtly intrigue as he is on the bloody battlefields where those intrigue's inevitably play themselves out... -
Night Winds by Karl Edward Wagner
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsKANE - The Mystic Swordsman ranges Earth and Time to confront the demons of darknessWhere once the mighty Kane has passed, no one who lives forgets. Now, down the trail of past battles, Kane travels again. To the ruins of a devastated city peopled only with half-men and the waif they call their queen... -
The Mirror’s Truth by Michael R. Fletcher
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis is the Advance Reader Copy edition. The final published edition can be found hereBedeckt defined himself by the list of crimes he was unwilling to commit. It was such a short list. How could straying from it have gone so wrong?Bedeckt must undo the damage caused by wandering from his precious list... -
Steel, Blood & Fire by Allan Batchelder
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTARMUN VYKERS His awestruck opponents call him The Reaper, an iron-willed man with no memory of his past, a ruthless champion who has risen to the level of death incarnate. But The Reaper has collected a legion of enemies as he cut a bloody swath through the greatest of heroes and villains. And these dogs have finally had their day, exacting a revenge both cruel and creative... -
Corruption by Mitchell Hogan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA corrupted power stirs from beyond the grave.The Necromancer Queen will rise again.An immersive and ambitious new series from the Aurealis Award-winning author of A Crucible of Souls.In the wake of the rebel Niyandrians’ abduction attempt, Anskar DeVantte, now a knight-inferior of the Order of Eternal Vigilance, has set sail with the Grand Master, bound for the mother house in Sansor... -
City of Kings by Rob J. Hayes
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWar makes monsters and corpses of us all. For generations the blooded have ruled the Wilds, cultivating a lawless frontier and bleeding the good folk dry. The Black Thorn, once the most wanted outlaw the world has ever seen, is set on stopping them, and bringing an end to the great game that oppresses them all... -
Norylska Groans by Michael R. Fletcher, Clayton W. Snyder
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNorylska Groans...with the weight of her crimes. In a city where winter reigns amid the fires of industry and war, soot and snow conspire to conceal centuries of death and deception.Norylska Groans...and the weight of a leaden sky threatens to crush her people. Katyusha Leonova, desperate to restore her family name, takes a job with Norylska's brutal police force... -
The Legend of Sigmar. Graham McNeill by Graham McNeill
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSigmar is the greatest leader of men the world has ever known. By saving the high king of the dwarfs, he earned the eternal friendship of the mountain folk. When a mighty horde of orcs threatened his lands, he united the tribes of men to stand against them at Black Fire Pass. He broke the siege of Middenheim and pushed back the forces of Chaos... -
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Underling Revenge by Craig Halloran
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAs Venir struggles to survive the wrath of the underlings, Fogle Boon the wizard and Mood the Blood Ranger continue the search for their missing comrade. But how will they find a man that completely disappeared from Bish without a trace? Back in the City of Bone, Melegal the thief is pushed to the limits under the thumb of the powerful Royal Lord Almen... -
The Warrior King by Michael Wallace
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMarching at the head of a vast army, the young ruler of the Free Kingdoms lays siege to the Dark Citadel, hoping to throw down the Dark Wizard before he can recover from the crushing defeat of the previous summer.But the Dark Wizard's weakness was only a feint, and he emerges from his citadel at the head of an unstoppable force of undead knights... -
Many Are the Dead by Anthony Ryan
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“The Faith requires all we have.” New York Times bestselling author Anthony Ryan returns to the Raven’s Shadow world in this prequel novella set ten years before the events in Blood Song. For decades the brothers of the Sixth Order have fought a savage war against the Lonak clans amidst the frozen peaks of their Dominion... -
Where the Waters Turn Black by Benedict Patrick
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen gods and monsters battle, her music will not protect her…What lurks beneath the waves?The Crescent Atoll is a remote string of tropical islands, connected by long canoe journeys and a love of stories.When Kaimana, a young ocarina player, discovers the lair of a taniwha – a legendary monster – she finds herself inspired... -
Reaper of Souls by Dan Abnett, Mike Lee
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the world of Warhammer, dark elves reign supreme for their sophisticated savagery, and no member of this race is more infamous than Malus Darkblade. Possessed by a daemon, Malus has but a year to find five magical artefacts before his soul becomes forfeit... -
Unholy by Richard Lee Byers, Kevin Kraft
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJoin heroes fighting the undead hordes!A powerful undead sorcerer reigns in Thay over a frightened people and hordes of undead. The mageocracy in exile, masters of no more than their beaten army, watch from distant shores as the new King of Thay prepares a great magical ritual--a ritual they cannot allow him to bring to completion...
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