Books like 'The Lessons Never Learned'

Readers who enjoyed The Lessons Never Learned by Rob J. Hayes also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

fantasy  dark fantasy  high fantasy  grimdark  horror  magic  dark  epic  lgbtq  female-mc 

  • The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie

    The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie

    Rated: 4.59 of 5 stars
    · 42 ratings
    Conspiracy. 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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  lgbtq  magic  action-adventure  adult  audiobook  book
  • 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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  drama  epic  lgbtq  magic  action-adventure  adult  audiobook
  • Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

    Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 56 ratings
    Mia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church hierarchy think she's far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she's no closer to ending the men who destroyed her familia; in fact, she's told directly that Consul Scaeva is off limits...
  • The Crippled God by Steven Erikson

    The Crippled God by Steven Erikson

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 39 ratings
    The 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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  magic  paranormal  action-adventure  adult  audiobook  book
  • Wrath by John Gwynne

    Wrath by John Gwynne

    Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars
    · 36 ratings
    Events 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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  magic  paranormal  action-adventure  adult  audiobook  book
  • Ruin by John Gwynne

    Ruin by John Gwynne

    Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    The 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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  magic  paranormal  action-adventure  adult  audiobook  book
  • Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson

    Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 40 ratings
    All 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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  magic  paranormal  action-adventure  adult  audiobook  book
  • Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson

    Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 39 ratings
    In 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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  magic  paranormal  action-adventure  adult  audiobook  book
  • Deadhouse Landing by Ian C. Esslemont

    Deadhouse Landing by Ian C. Esslemont

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    After 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...
  • Overworld by Rohan M. Vider

    Overworld by Rohan M. Vider

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    A magic apocalypse. Refugees from Earth. A new world. Elves, orcs, and dragons!Portals from Overworld have appeared on Earth, and beings intent on conscripting humanity into the mysterious Trials have invaded.Earth is doomed. Humanity has been exiled...
  • A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie

    A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie

    Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars
    · 40 ratings
    The 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...
  • Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski

    Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 62 ratings
    The 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...
  • Dancer's Lament by Ian C. Esslemont

    Dancer's Lament by Ian C. Esslemont

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    Taking 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...
  • Red Country by Joe Abercrombie

    Red Country by Joe Abercrombie

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · 46 ratings
    They 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...
  • Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

    Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 69 ratings
    In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life...
  • The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett

    The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 61 ratings
    The 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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  drama  epic  magic  paranormal  action-adventure  audiobook  book
  • The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

    The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 78 ratings
    When Rin aced the Keju — the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies — it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was...
  • Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff

    Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 47 ratings
    The epic conclusion to the internationally bestselling Nevernight Chronicle from New York Times bestselling author Jay Kristoff.The greatest games in Godsgrave’s history have ended with the most audacious murders in the history of the Itreyan Republic.Mia Corvere, gladiatii, escaped slave and infamous assassin, is on the run...
  • The Warring Son by Bryce O'Connor

    The Warring Son by Bryce O'Connor

    Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    **Book 2 in the Top 10 Bestselling Epic Fantasy series on Amazon** Raz i'Syul Arro is a hunted man. To the south, the Mahsadën of Miropa are gone. The šef lay dead, slain at Raz's own hands, their cruel will ripped from the shadows of the city...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  magic  paranormal  action-adventure  adult  audiobook  book
  • Queen of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin

    Queen of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Her 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...
  • The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski

    The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski

    Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars
    · 68 ratings
    The New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher Geralt is a witcher: guardian of the innocent; protector of those in need; a defender, in dark times, against some of the most frightening creatures of myth and legend. His task, now, is to protect Ciri...
  • Dawn of the Exile by Mitchell Hogan

    Dawn of the Exile by Mitchell Hogan

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    For the damned, redemption may be just a mad dream…Years have passed since the demon Tarrik and his master, the sorcerer Ren, destroyed the servants of Samal and suppressed the very essence of the vile lord. The cost was greater than even a demon could have imagined. But in the realms of demons and humans, no evil can be fully controlled, and no one’s true fate can be foretold. Including Tarrik’s...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  female-mc  magic  action-adventure  adult  audiobook  book
  • The Dragon in Winter by Jonathan Maberry

    The Dragon in Winter by Jonathan Maberry

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    The Dragon in Winter brings New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry's epic Kagen the Damned Trilogy to a wild conclusion!War is coming! War is here! The Witch-king of Hakkia, aided by terrifying dark forces, sits uneasy on his stolen throne. His enemies, led by Kagen the Damned and the Bloody Bastards have found the secrets of ancient magic they hope will defeat him...
    Categorized as:
    magic  dark  epic  paranormal  fantasy  fiction  audiobook  dragons
  • The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

    The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · 79 ratings
    Geralt the Witcher—revered and hated—is 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. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good..
  • God of Broken Things by Cameron Johnston

    God of Broken Things by Cameron Johnston

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    An 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...
  • To Blackfyre Keep by Anthony Ryan

    To Blackfyre Keep by Anthony Ryan

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    GUYIME—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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  drama  fantasy  dark-fantasy  fiction  horror  high-fantasy
  • Soldiers Live by Glen Cook

    Soldiers Live by Glen Cook

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    When sorcerers and demigods go to war, those wars are fought by mercenaries, "dog soldiers," grunts in the trenches. And the stories of those soldiers are the stories of Glen Cook's hugely popular "Black Company" novels. If the Joseph Heller of Catch-22 were to tell the story of The Lord of the Rings, it might read like the Black Company books. There is nothing else in fantasy like them...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  magic  paranormal  action-adventure  adult  audiobook  book
  • The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

    The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · 70 ratings
    Geralt the Witcher—revered and hated—is 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. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good..
  • Gotrek & Felix: The First Omnibus by William King

    Gotrek & Felix: The First Omnibus by William King

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Gotrek the dwarf trollslayer and his companion Felix are Black Library's most popular fantasy duo. This omnibus edition gives readers a unique opportunity to enjoy their first three adventures through the haunted forests, mountains and castles of the grim Warhammer world...
  • The Infernal Battalion by Django Wexler

    The Infernal Battalion by Django Wexler

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Military might and arcane power clash in Django Wexler’s thrilling new Shadow Campaigns novel. The Beast, the ancient demon imprisoned beneath the fortress-city of Elysium for a thousand years, has been loosed on the world. It absorbs mind after mind, spreading like a plague through the north...
  • The Black Song by Anthony Ryan

    The Black Song by Anthony Ryan

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    A matchless warrior is pitted against a near-God in the second epic installment of the Raven's Blade series. It has long been our lot in life, brother, to do what others can't.Vaelin Al Sorna was known across the realm as the greatest of warriors, but he thought battles were behind him. He was wrong...
  • The Core by Peter V. Brett

    The Core by Peter V. Brett

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 39 ratings
    For time out of mind, bloodthirsty demons have stalked the night, culling the human race to scattered remnants dependent on half-forgotten magics to protect them. Then two heroes arose—men as close as brothers, yet divided by bitter betrayal...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  magic  paranormal  action-adventure  adult  audiobook  book
  • Crowfall by Ed McDonald

    Crowfall by Ed McDonald

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Crowfall 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...
  • Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski

    Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 74 ratings
    The New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher.For over a century, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over, and now the races are fighting once again. The only good elf, it seems, is a dead elf...
  • Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski

    Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · 48 ratings
    The Witcher returns in this action-packed sequel to The Tower of Swallows, in the New York Times bestselling series that inspired The Witcher video games. After walking through the portal in the Tower of Swallows while narrowly escaping death, Ciri finds herself in a completely different world... an Elven world. She is trapped with no way out...
  • Thief of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin

    Thief of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    The 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

    Legacy of Light by Matthew Ward

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Warfare, 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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  magic  action-adventure  adult  book  dark-fantasy  fiction
  • Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords by Benedict Patrick

    Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords by Benedict Patrick

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Don't draw your blade in the City of Swords, unless you're willing to kill… or ready to die.Young and filled with idealistic fervor, Arturo packs his blade and travels to the fabled City of Swords in the hopes of joining the dashing Bravadori. Yet upon arriving he discovers these masked vigilantes have more in common with brutal thugs than noble monster slayers...
  • Legacy of Ghosts by Alicia Wanstall-Burke

    Legacy of Ghosts by Alicia Wanstall-Burke

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Four 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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  female-mc  magic  adult  book  coming-of-age  dark-fantasy
  • Vigor Mortis: Volume 1 by Natalie Maher

    Vigor Mortis: Volume 1 by Natalie Maher

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Casting 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...
    Categorized as:
    magic  epic  female-mc  dark  fantasy  audiobook  high-fantasy  fiction
  • Ally by K. Eason

    Ally by K. Eason

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    The city of Illharek teeters on the edge of war. Rival godsworn battle in both the Suburban streets and the Senate chambers. And in the fields and forests, a Taliri army plots its attack.When a rebel faction of Taliri offers to help defeat Tal’Shik, Dekklis sends Snow and her partner, Veiko, north to Cardik’s ruins...
    Categorized as:
    magic  epic  female-mc  dark  paranormal  fantasy  fiction  grim-dark
  • Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau

    Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    If your mind is the enemy, where do you run?Years after a harrowing war experience, ex-mercenary Jespar Dal'Varek has taken to drifting. It's a lonely existence, but, barring the occasional bout of melancholia, he has found the closest thing to peace a man like him deserves. Life is "all right."Or so he believes...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  lgbtq  action-adventure  adult  book  dark-fantasy  fiction
  • The Broken God by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan

    The Broken God by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Dark gods and dangerous magic clash in this third book of Gareth Hanrahan's acclaimed epic fantasy series, The Black Iron Legacy. Enter a city of dragons and darkness... The Godswar has come to Guerdon, dividing the city between three occupying powers. A fragile armistice holds back the gods, but other dangerous forces seek to exert their influence...
  • The Blind Dragon: A Tale from the Canon of Tarn by Peter Fane

    The Blind Dragon: A Tale from the Canon of Tarn by Peter Fane

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    "There we are," Anna whispered. The dragon foal went still at her voice. Then it snorted and swiveled its snout towards her. Its eyes were still shut. Its tail quivered and its nostrils flared. A menacing growl rose from its chest. "Easy there," Anna said gently. "Easy." She placed her palm on its forehead, applying calm pressure between its eyes...
  • The Blackest Heart by Brian Lee Durfee

    The Blackest Heart by Brian Lee Durfee

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Gladiator. 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...
    Categorized as:
    dark  epic  female-mc  adult  audiobook  book  dark-fantasy  fiction
  • Brunner the Bounty Hunter by C.L. Werner

    Brunner the Bounty Hunter by C.L. Werner

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Omnibus edition collecting all three novels in the Brunner the Bounty Hunter series. Dark and savage tales set in the world of Warhammer, by author C.L. Werner...
  • Vigor Mortis: Book 2 by Natalie Maher

    Vigor Mortis: Book 2 by Natalie Maher

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    As Vita's humanity slowly drips away, monsters fallen from an island above spread throughout her home. While she fights fellow horrors outside the city's walls, her family suffers threats from within them. Yet surely, there's no problem enough power can't solve... and if there's one thing eating souls is good for, it's power...
    Categorized as:
    magic  dark  female-mc  lgbtq  paranormal  fantasy  audiobook  fiction
  • Crown of Shadows by C.S. Friedman

    Crown of Shadows by C.S. Friedman

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    More than a millennium after the human race forges an uneasy stalemate against the demonic human-psyche feeders known as the fae, a pain-hungry demon called Calesta declares war on all living beings. Reprint...
  • Desolation by Megg Jensen

    Desolation by Megg Jensen

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Tressa'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

    The Great Change by Joe Abercrombie

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    The 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...
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