Dark fantasy is all the rage these days. The current trend toward this intriguing subgenre began with the massive success of HBO’s Game of Thrones and the resulting wave of interest in A Song of Ice and Fire. Though that show ended ignobly, that only made the hunt for its replacement all the fiercer, as novelists and television networks alike have plumbed the depths of Dark Fantasy for something new.
This has resulted in a glut of new stories that fall into the genres of various ways. For hardcore fans of dark fantasy, things have never been better, which is why we’re here to help sort through those depths and highlight the best dark fantasy novels currently available.
A Song of Ice and Fire
Life is not a song
Undeniably the source of the current swell of interest in dark fantasy, this excellent, epic fantasy saga is full of intrigue, surprise, moral ambiguity, and gripping tragedy.
It just wouldn’t be fair for us to pretend to talk about Dark Fantasy withoutacknowledging George R.R. Martin’s masterpiece, where the current popularity of the genre originated. Though Game of Thrones may not have ended on the best note, we’d be remiss to hold that against its source material, whose greatest flaw is that there isn’t more of it for us to enjoy.
Even that is a half-hearted complaint, given the already-epic scope of this series. Its rich characters, deep moral ambiguity, and legendary unpredictability still hold up, and it’s a worthwhile journey for any fan of fantasy in general, dark fantasy in particular.
The Witcher Boxed Set
Time to rev up your coin-tossing hand
This large and epic fantasy saga explores a compelling world of men and monsters, full of compelling characters who blur the line between those two categories. It’s some of the best fantasy ever written.
As covered in the intro, there have been many attempts to recapture the magic of Game of Thrones with adaptations of Dark Fantasy stories for the small screen. One of the best shows to come out of this is the Netflix adaptation of The Witcher, which is one of the best fantasy TV shows in recent memory.
The best illustration of the extraordinary quality of the Witcher novels is the fact that that amazing show is generally regarded as disappointing by book fans. The books are just that good. Some of the richest characters ever written journey across these pages. If you’re a fan of any other element of this franchise, be it the show or the games, these books are worth going back to.
His Dark Materials
Darkness for all ages
A rare intersection between dark fantasy and children’s fantasy, His Dark Materials is a bittersweet adventure notable for its lovable characters, bold commentary, and strong elements of tragedy.
Dark Fantasy is usually for adults. The whole point of it is that it acknowledges and deals with elements of the world thatmore uplifting, morally simplistic fantasy storiestend to ignore. However, it is possible for a children’s story to be transgressive. It just requires a bold author who knows how to get things past censors, and that’s exactly what’s going on here.
These novels take place in a world as dystopian as any other dark fantasy setting, and contain brutal elements of loss and tragedy, all in a story designed to subvert our ordinary moral expectations. Though the age of its target audience imposes some limitations, there’s still a lot about these books that’s rather bleak.
The Dinosaur Lords
Something mainstream fantasy never has enough of
Though pedants would argue this book is sci-fi rather than fantasy, the Dinosaur Lords books nevertheless take place in a bleak but fascinating world of adventure, warfare, and giant monsters.
It’s a fantasy book where knights ride dinosaurs. This is an important point to emphasize, because it’s the main selling point on the surface of this novel. We say on the surface because, to be clear, this novel has plenty more going for it than that. Its world is well-built and interesting, especially once you deduce where it actually is and what’s been going on. Its intrigue is fun, and its characters are interesting.
The only major flaw of this novel is that the saga it begins will forever be unfinished, due to the death of the author. However, if that doesn’t bother you, you have no reason not to check these books out.
The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
Somehow exists in the same world as It
From the most popular writer currently alive comes the first part in an epic dark fantasy saga about a ruined world and the ruined people who call it home.
Whether dark fantasy is a subgenre of horror is the subject of vicious nerd debate. Though the precise answer to that question is beyond the scope of this article, it’s difficult to deny that, at the very least, the genres are similar enough thatbeing good at writing horror is a decent recipe for being good at writing dark fantasy.
That’s certainly the case with Stephen King and Gunslinger, and the larger Dark Tower series it kicks off. This book takes place in a fascinating world that carries whiffs of Western, post-apocalypse, fantasy, and sci-fi. Its epic scope is something to behold, as are its rich characters.
The Warded Man
A world of demons and runes
In a world scoured by nightly demonic invasion, The Warded Man is a story of survival and resiliance about a boy with an unparalleled ability to keep the demons at bay.
One of the defining elements of dark fantasy is the kinds of magic systems that are usually found in these books. Where other fantasy stories make magic relatively easy to use, at least for those willing to put in the work, dark fantasy stories have relatively little of the stuff, and where it exists, it comes at a price.
The coolest things about The Warded Man and the saga it begins, which was completed in 2024, are the bleak, quasi-ruined world and the difficult-to-master magic the characters wield. Here, the primary form of magic is wards, which protect humans from the violence of the demons that have reduced this world nearly to ruin, allowing a precious few characters to achieve great power. It’s always fun to see how people react to this world of extreme danger, especially once they begin to rise above it.
Prince Of Thorns (The Broken Empire)
Is revenge a science, or an art?
Prince of Thorns, and the Broken Empire trilogy of which it is a part, are a great example of how the same story can be bleak and morose while still being fun.
On the extreme end of darkness, as far as dark fantasy goes, the Broken Empire trilogy, which begins with this book, is a surprisingly engaging revenge story and political thriller. It concerns the rise to power of a young, ruthless prince who seeks to avenge his dead mother and brother and obtain ultimate power, and he’s willing to do anything to make that happen. The setting is very interesting, but elaborating on why would require spoilers.
If there is anything wrong with these novels, it’s that he’s so heinous that some may struggle to root for him, but if you see yourself getting invested in an evil genius, this story just might be for you.
FAQ
What are Grimdark fantasy books?
The term “grimdark” originates from Warhammer 40,000, and is used to describe stories and settings that are almost completely devoid of hope, heroes, and happy endings. The precise boundaries of what counts as grimdark are not widely agreed on, with some just using it to refer to any sufficiently dark work of fiction and others arguing that it only describes stories completely devoid of hope and morality to an extent that few stories fully manage.
What’s the difference between Grimdark and Dark Fantasy?
There are two differences. First, the term “Grimdark” is applicable to sci-fi as well as fantasy. Second, the term “Grimdark” is generally recognized as requiring stories to meet a higher threshold of darkness. Not every Dark Fantasy story is quite bleak enough to count as Grimdark, though, again, the precise boundaries of both those categories are fuzzy.
