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Grimdark Books
Showing 1-50 of 5,818
The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)
by (shelved 677 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.22 — 332,835 ratings — published 2006
Before They Are Hanged (The First Law, #2)
by (shelved 455 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.36 — 231,685 ratings — published 2007
Last Argument of Kings (The First Law, #3)
by (shelved 446 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.37 — 213,681 ratings — published 2008
Prince of Thorns (Broken Empire, #1)
by (shelved 380 times as grimdark)
avg rating 3.82 — 126,165 ratings — published 2011
Best Served Cold (Hardcover)
by (shelved 317 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.25 — 117,838 ratings — published 2009
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)
by (shelved 257 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.45 — 2,803,414 ratings — published 1996
A Little Hatred (The Age of Madness, #1)
by (shelved 255 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.45 — 65,464 ratings — published 2019
The Heroes (ebook)
by (shelved 239 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.35 — 81,055 ratings — published 2011
The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)
by (shelved 231 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.15 — 541,176 ratings — published 2018
The Black Company (The Chronicles of the Black Company, #1)
by (shelved 228 times as grimdark)
avg rating 3.93 — 56,334 ratings — published 1984
Red Country (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 218 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.32 — 69,562 ratings — published 2012
King of Thorns (Broken Empire, #2)
by (shelved 214 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.17 — 71,829 ratings — published 2012
Emperor of Thorns (Broken Empire, #3)
by (shelved 199 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.22 — 58,729 ratings — published 2013
A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2)
by (shelved 177 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.42 — 1,046,583 ratings — published 1998
The Trouble with Peace (The Age of Madness, #2)
by (shelved 171 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.60 — 49,418 ratings — published 2020
The Darkness That Comes Before (The Prince of Nothing, #1)
by (shelved 160 times as grimdark)
avg rating 3.85 — 24,509 ratings — published 2003
The Wisdom of Crowds (The Age of Madness, #3)
by (shelved 153 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.60 — 44,131 ratings — published 2021
The Devils (The Devils, #1)
by (shelved 149 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.20 — 81,552 ratings — published 2025
Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1)
by (shelved 148 times as grimdark)
avg rating 3.94 — 143,544 ratings — published 1999
A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3)
by (shelved 148 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.55 — 867,565 ratings — published 2000
Beyond Redemption (Manifest Delusions, #1)
by (shelved 148 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.01 — 4,155 ratings — published 2015
A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)
by (shelved 147 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.17 — 809,689 ratings — published 2005
The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1)
by (shelved 143 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.30 — 357,093 ratings — published 2006
Sharp Ends (Hardcover)
by (shelved 138 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.10 — 29,148 ratings — published 2016
Prince of Fools (The Red Queen's War, #1)
by (shelved 132 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.05 — 35,880 ratings — published 2014
A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5)
by (shelved 125 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.34 — 753,306 ratings — published 2011
The Court of Broken Knives (Empires of Dust, #1)
by (shelved 115 times as grimdark)
avg rating 3.46 — 3,406 ratings — published 2017
Blackwing (Raven's Mark, #1)
by (shelved 112 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.08 — 8,710 ratings — published 2017
Half a King (Shattered Sea, #1)
by (shelved 110 times as grimdark)
avg rating 3.97 — 76,999 ratings — published 2014
Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1)
by (shelved 108 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.16 — 64,311 ratings — published 2017
The Steel Remains (A Land Fit for Heroes, #1)
by (shelved 107 times as grimdark)
avg rating 3.74 — 18,659 ratings — published 2008
The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War, #2)
by (shelved 100 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.33 — 247,314 ratings — published 2019
Empire of the Vampire (Empire of the Vampire, #1)
by (shelved 99 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.34 — 92,142 ratings — published 2021
The Burning God (The Poppy War, #3)
by (shelved 91 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.26 — 192,191 ratings — published 2020
Priest of Bones (War for the Rose Throne, #1)
by (shelved 86 times as grimdark)
avg rating 3.94 — 6,975 ratings — published 2018
The Blacktongue Thief (Blacktongue, #1)
by (shelved 83 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.19 — 52,299 ratings — published 2021
The Grim Company (The Grim Company, #1)
by (shelved 82 times as grimdark)
avg rating 3.74 — 7,634 ratings — published 2013
Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle, #1)
by (shelved 81 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.22 — 119,848 ratings — published 2016
Blood Song (Raven's Shadow, #1)
by (shelved 77 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.41 — 93,691 ratings — published 2011
Half the World (Shattered Sea, #2)
by (shelved 74 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.19 — 47,182 ratings — published 2015
Shadows Linger (The Chronicles of the Black Company, #2)
by (shelved 74 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.18 — 22,206 ratings — published 1984
Godblind (Godblind, #1)
by (shelved 72 times as grimdark)
avg rating 3.61 — 2,546 ratings — published
The Liar's Key (The Red Queen's War, #2)
by (shelved 72 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.23 — 22,159 ratings — published 2015
Heroes Die (The Acts of Caine, #1)
by (shelved 71 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.09 — 13,172 ratings — published 1998
Deadhouse Gates (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2)
by (shelved 70 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.28 — 87,590 ratings — published 2000
Between Two Fires (Hardcover)
by (shelved 70 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.18 — 94,737 ratings — published 2012
The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5)
by (shelved 70 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.14 — 433,069 ratings — published 1993
The Grey Bastards (The Lot Lands, #1)
by (shelved 68 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.05 — 9,180 ratings — published 2015
The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1)
by (shelved 67 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.15 — 178,838 ratings — published 2008
The Shadow of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Saga, #1)
by (shelved 66 times as grimdark)
avg rating 4.18 — 114,108 ratings — published 2021
“There is no 'right side of history', there is only their side, and yours”
― Darker Skies Ahead
― Darker Skies Ahead
“One general signature of hopepunk is that its stories counter tales of emotional darkness or rottenness, not just grimdark with its characteristically violent, amoral, and often dystopian/apocalyptic trappings, but also stories whose settings may be less recognizably grimdark but whose plots and character choices either advance zero-sum narratives where achievement requires causing someone else's fall, or portraits of human nature in which, in the end, people will always be selfish, backstab, let you down, or look out for number one, and in which systems will always be corrupt and unsalvageable.”
― Trace Elements: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy
― Trace Elements: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy
