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You’ve finished The Blade Itself. You’ve read Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings. You’ve maybe dipped into Abercrombie’s standalone novels set in the same world. And now you’re sitting with a specific book-hangover: the need for fiction that has that same combination of moral complexity, dark wit, excellent prose, and characters who feel genuinely human in all their compromised imperfection.
Here are ten books that get closest.
1. The Prince of Thorns — Mark Lawrence
The most extreme end of the morally complex protagonist spectrum. Jorg Ancrath is younger and more disturbing than Glokta, operating in a post-apocalyptic world dressed as medieval fantasy. Not for everyone but the prose is genuinely excellent. Full review here.
Rated 4.3 Stars. Buy on Amazon.
2. The Farseer Trilogy — Robin Hobb
Morally complex from a different angle — FitzChivalry is victimised and compromised rather than cynical, and Hobb’s emotional depth goes places Abercrombie doesn’t attempt. The grimdark is in the hopelessness rather than the violence. Full Robin Hobb guide here.
Rated 4.7 Stars. Buy on Amazon.
3. The Blacktongue Thief — Christopher Buehlman
Morally complex, darkly funny, set in a world that’s survived a catastrophic war and is still picking up the pieces. The voice is the closest to Abercrombie in feeling — sardonic, specific, aware of its own genre. Full review here.
Rated 4.4 Stars. Buy on Amazon.
4. A Little Hatred — Joe Abercrombie
Yes, more Abercrombie — but this first book of The Age of Madness trilogy is set in the same world as the First Law, a generation later, and it’s arguably his best standalone work. Industrial revolution comes to the Circle of the World. The moral complexity is as sharp as ever but the setting feels fresh.
Rated 4.6 Stars. Buy on Amazon.
5. The City of Stairs — Robert Jackson Bennett
A different flavour — more mystery than grimdark — but the same commitment to political complexity and characters who are neither heroes nor villains in any simple sense. The world-building is extraordinary and the tone has that Abercrombie quality of being simultaneously serious and wryly funny. Full Divine Cities review here.
Rated 4.3 Stars. Buy on Amazon.
6. Best Served Cold — Joe Abercrombie
The First Law standalone that most closely shares The Blade Itself’s DNA — a revenge plot, a morally compromised protagonist, a cast of damaged supporting characters. Monza Murcatto is excellent. The ending is characteristically Abercrombie in the best way.
Rated 4.5 Stars. Buy on Amazon.
7. Kings of the Wyld — Nicholas Eames
Lighter in tone but sharing Abercrombie’s awareness of genre conventions and his affection for characters who are past their heroic prime. Where Abercrombie deconstructs the hero, Eames shows what happens to heroes after the story ends. Full review here.
Rated 4.5 Stars. Buy on Amazon.
8. The Faithful and the Fallen — John Gwynne
The opposite of grimdark in some ways — Gwynne writes genuine heroes — but the violence is real, the world is dark, and the moral stakes are taken seriously. If Abercrombie showed you heroism was complicated, Gwynne argues it’s worth attempting anyway. Start with Malice.
Rated 4.4 Stars. Buy on Amazon.
9. A Song of Ice and Fire — George R.R. Martin
The obvious comparison, and it holds up. Martin’s political complexity, his subversion of fantasy heroism, his willingness to punish good people and reward bad ones — all of this shares DNA with Abercrombie’s approach. Martin arrived first; Abercrombie refined and concentrated what Martin spread across five enormous novels. Full GRRM guide here.
Rated 4.7 Stars. Buy on Amazon.
10. The Gentleman Bastard Sequence — Scott Lynch
Locke Lamora is morally grey in a different register — a thief rather than a killer — but the verbal wit, the intricate plotting, and the sense of characters operating in a world that doesn’t reward virtue are all present. The Lies of Locke Lamora is one of the great fantasy debuts.
Rated 4.5 Stars. Buy on Amazon.
You Might Also Like
- The Blade Itself Review
- Joe Abercrombie Books in Order
- The Edge of Darkness: 9 Grimdark Fantasy Books
- The Best Fantasy Book Series of All Time
Check out Sunset In the East — a mind-bending short story collection from Ben Luxon.
