Looking for some self-contained grimdark books to read. Most of the genre seems to be the form of trilogies or even longer series, but I’m not looking to start a long project right now. Just a single story within one book, and then move on to other stuff (unless I get hooked…)
The internet didn’t come up completely short on this topic. This article contains some recommendations already.
You can try some of Joe Abercrombies standalones. My first book by him was The Heroes and I enjoyed it, although it does contain references to characters from the trilogy.
I know it’s a trilogy, which is not what you’re looking for, but since there is not much here I thought I’d throw it in anyway. Prince of Thorns is great grimdark. Sadly I think a lot of fantasy fiction is trilogies, so might be hard to find. Somehow a different Mark Lawrence book is on that article you linked, but not this one? That’s insanity. Lawrence is one of my favorite authors.
Thanks for the recommendation.
Reading suggestions from all over the place, it seems like Lawrence is a staple of the genre.
Christopher Buehlman has some, though idk if they’re grimdark or just horror. I’ve read Those Across The River and Between Two Fires, both standalone stories with no connection between them. Between Two Fires is the better of the two, with just some of the latter half feeling a bit too long (even if the story is still interesting).
Between Two Fires has such an interesting premise!
Yeah! I was looking for something horror or horror adjacent and I was not expecting religious horror to pop up. It’s easy to read too, though it does get a bit, uh, what’s the word, crude at times. Not in the writing, but what’s being portrayed.
I opted for Under the Pendulum Sun from the link I posted. It’s available as a DRM free ebook from the publishers page: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/under-the-pendulum-sun/
Let’s see how it turns out… No reason to stop recommending things though!
That is a fantastic cover!
