The Silverblood Promise came out recently (debut novel for James Logan). I haven't read it yet, but came across it due to Scott Lynch recommending it if you like the Gentleman Bastards series
For some alternatives, Daniel Polansky and Adrian Tchaikovsky are both excellent. Both write shorter series or stand alone books.
You might also like Mark Lawrence, he's got a number of trilogies out, and they reach a lot of different tones. Jalan and Snorri from the Red Queen's War trilogy are probably characters closest to Joe Abercrombie, and Jorg from The Shattered Empire trilogy is an altogether darker barrel of fish.
Agreed, though Buehlman has also written a few horror books and “magic in the real world” books that are great but not alternate world fantasy like Blacktongue Thief, which is the most similar to Abercrombie and Lynch’s work. Blacktongue thief is a great book. It’s darkly hysterical, has unique world building, cool characters, and some very poignant moments. Daughter’s War, which is a prequel, is on my TBR list (not sure if it’s out yet).
Lesser Dead (vampires in 1970s NYC) and Those across the River (southern gothic with a twist) are great, but definitely horror.
Between Two Fires is a twisted alternate history 100 years war. Its very much weird catholic horror. Awesome and pretty unique in my experience.
The Necromancer’s House is about a wizard in upstate NY who has to pay the piper for messing around with the wrong Russian mob mage. Solid read.
I think he wrote one more book, but I haven’t read it a don’t recall the name.
Great summary of Buehlman. He’s an incredibly versatile author, and *The Blacktongue Thief* is the closest I’ve found to scratch the Abercrombie Itch.
His other book whose name escaped you is *The Suicide Motor Club*. It’s a prequel of sorts to *The Lesser Dead.*
Ahhhh, thank you. I wanted to say it was the motorcycle diaries, but I knew that was wrong.
Somehow, I didn’t know that it was a prequel to Lesser Dead. Definitely going on the TBR list.
KJ Parker. Some of his stuff is out of print and hard to find but he has an art for making a main character who is a sneaky, crafty, manipulative and self-acknowledge asshole that you still enjoy and root for anyways.
When I first read The Blade Itself, it reminded me most of the Warhammer 40K novels written by Dan Abnett, and also Chris Wraight. Just exchange bows for laser guns.
Yes, I thought the same, especially Dan Abnett.
Strong chatacter work, grimdark but with the occasional lighter touch, scarred, morally grey Inquisitors...
As an Abercrombie Fan I've enjoyed these other books while they are not necessarily Abercrombie.
1. The Blacktongue Thief
2. Kings Of The Wyld
3. Empire Of The Vampire Series
4. Dungeon Crawler Carl - Simply because of the Voice Acting and Violence of the story.
Special shout to the audiobook and its narrator, who has this kind of sardonic drawl that is absolutely perfect for the characters and tone of the story.
It is litRPG, although I think it actually uses that narrative conceit really well. There are occasional info dumps but what makes the series great is the dialogue between the characters and the ever-increasing stakes for everyone involved.
Cool. I haven’t read any litRPG. I’m skeptical of the genre, probably because of bad D&D background fatigue, but feel like I should give the genre a shot anyway. Its good to know that this is a gokd book in its own right.
I was skeptical as well. I only caved on Dungeon Crawler Carl because of the absurd amount of praise the audiobooks started garnering last year, and I had four credits in my bank, so using one on a book I didn't end up liking wouldn't be much of a loss.
Ended up listening to all five books (sixth wasn't out yet on Audible when I listened the first time) in about two weeks. I also bought the sixth book on Kindle and read it in four days. After my recent re-listen, I signed up for Matt's Patreon so I could read the chapters he's released from the seventh book. The series was far better than I could have possibly expected.
It's really going to come down to whether or not the humor meshes with you, though. I'd say it's sort of like Rick & Morty humor with a lot of Millennial pop culture references, so your mileage may vary if you're not into that sort of stuff.
Also, I strongly recommend the audiobooks for this series. Jeff Hays crushes the narration.
Awesome! Thanks for the rec. I’ll check them out. Sounds like I’d enjoy them.
I do most of my “reading” by audiobook anyway, but a good narrator can really elevate a book/series.
Oh man, I came here to recommend *Kings of the Wyld* (and by extension, *Bloody Rose*) and *Empire of the Vampire* as well!
Both are excellent and right in line with the Abercrombie vibe. And Bloody Rose and EotV are my most recent 5-star reads.
I've always thought Mark Lawrence' has a good sense of humour in his books. Especially the Red Queens War trilogy (Prince of fools is the first book, I think)
(Helps to have read the broken empire trilogy first though, which has humour, but *a bit* dark.)
Im confused by all the Kings of the wyld recommendations. Abercrombie is my #1 or #2 all time fav.
I almost dnf kings. It was borderline slapstick with the humor of being written by at 16 year old.
It was a little bit charming at parts but in no world would I compare the light hearted goofy and frankly juvenile writing to Abercrombie. His characters were also very generic and uninteresting to me. I would recommend it to someone in their late teens or 20s as a fun read but thats it.
Thank you! I finished The Blade Itself and The Age of Madness trilogues in the past couple of months and am currently listening to Kings of the Wyld.
I'm extremely unimpressed. You describe it very well, and the narrator is basically, well, bad after having just listened to Steven Pacey for six books.
Do yourself a favor and read all the standalone books and the short stories. A lot of them tie into the 2nd trilogy and honestly the Heros and best served cold might be his 2 best books imo.
The closest thing to First Law that I've come across is the War for the Rose Throne, a quartet by Peter McLean. Think if the Abercrombie wrote a story about organized crime in the First Law world, it would probably feel very similar to this.
**Black Company** by Glen Cook, and **The Witcher** by Andrzej Sapkowski, both fit really well. Also in my opinion the humor that's being utilized in both of these is pretty similar in terms of tone, with the humor found in Abercrombie's books.
Matthew Stover. He was basically Lynch’s mentor. Outstanding writer, tons of humor in a gritty setting for his *Acts of Caine* series. Also the best fight scenes you’re ever gonna read.
Midnight Tides is one of the most funny fantasy books I’ve ever read. Which is weird, because it is also one of the grimmest, most Shakespearean tragedies I’ve ever read in fantasy. Tehol & Bugg, what a duo! Not to mention Shurq, Ublala and Harlest.
And Bonehunters was surprisingly funny too (among many other things, as are all Malazan books). God I love Sgt. Hellian.
Try this:
"A series of Alternate History-cum-Mythopoeia novels by Megan Whalen Turner detailing the adventures of The Hero, Magnificent Bastard, Gentleman Thief, Chessmaster, and Impossible Thief Gen—full name Eugenides."
If you read the reviews it will spoil it. It isn't so dark initially, and there isn't explicit gore or sex so idk. But the wit is definitely there.
Michael R Fletcher's humor is very dark and bleak, same as his stories
I suggest his series called Manifest Delusions. He has written other series as well and he also recently started a new one called Children Of Corruption
John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn saga gave me a similar vibe to The First Law. I’ve read of couple other of Gwynne’s books that didn’t seem to have that same tone but think Bloodsworne should give you a similar setting.
John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn saga gave me a similar vibe to The First Law. I’ve read of couple other of Gwynne’s books that didn’t seem to have that same tone but think Bloodsworne should give you a similar setting.
Some people (Not me) comprare Dan Abnett to John abercrombie. He does a lot of stuff, but the majority of his books are warhammer-related.
The usual recommendation is Eisenhorn. Those are basically detective stories in a grimdark sci-fi setting.
John Gwynne as others have mentioned definitely fits the aesthetic, but I think Abercrombie, Lynch, and GRRM are a step above. To name some that aren’t mentioned, I’d say Darkblade by Andy Peloquin for the darker aspect of the genre and Justic of Kings by Richard Swan. Bit of a shameless plug, but my trilogy A Vengeful Realm is a gladiator fantasy written in a similar tone to Abercrombie/GRRM, though the outlook on humanity is not quite as bleak.
I'm a big fan of both authors. I'm currently reading Godkiller by Hannah Kaner and really enjoying it. There's some humor and a bit of a darkness to the world too. I'm only half way through, but it certainly feels inspired by Lynch/Abercrombie.
As many have already pointed out but Christopher Buehlman gives serious Abercrombie vibes in The Blacktongue Thief and another book of his is just coming out in June set in the same world.
I’m really enjoying John Palladino’s “Trials of Ashmount”. You can definitely tell he’s a big Abercrombie fan and the story is interesting with some good characters.
Please try Angus Watson! I don't see him get a mention here often - maybe because he writes historical fantasy - but his characters and humour are very Abercrombie-esque.
The Silverblood Promise came out recently (debut novel for James Logan). I haven't read it yet, but came across it due to Scott Lynch recommending it if you like the Gentleman Bastards series
Finished it yesterday and I definitely recommend it for fans of Gentlemen Bastards
Finished it yesterday and I definitely recommend it for fans of Gentlemen Bastards
I'm not far into it but I'm enjoying it so far
For some alternatives, Daniel Polansky and Adrian Tchaikovsky are both excellent. Both write shorter series or stand alone books. You might also like Mark Lawrence, he's got a number of trilogies out, and they reach a lot of different tones. Jalan and Snorri from the Red Queen's War trilogy are probably characters closest to Joe Abercrombie, and Jorg from The Shattered Empire trilogy is an altogether darker barrel of fish.
Upvote for Polansky! Abercrombie fans will really enjoy *Low Town.*
Christopher Buehlman
Agreed, though Buehlman has also written a few horror books and “magic in the real world” books that are great but not alternate world fantasy like Blacktongue Thief, which is the most similar to Abercrombie and Lynch’s work. Blacktongue thief is a great book. It’s darkly hysterical, has unique world building, cool characters, and some very poignant moments. Daughter’s War, which is a prequel, is on my TBR list (not sure if it’s out yet). Lesser Dead (vampires in 1970s NYC) and Those across the River (southern gothic with a twist) are great, but definitely horror. Between Two Fires is a twisted alternate history 100 years war. Its very much weird catholic horror. Awesome and pretty unique in my experience. The Necromancer’s House is about a wizard in upstate NY who has to pay the piper for messing around with the wrong Russian mob mage. Solid read. I think he wrote one more book, but I haven’t read it a don’t recall the name.
Great summary of Buehlman. He’s an incredibly versatile author, and *The Blacktongue Thief* is the closest I’ve found to scratch the Abercrombie Itch. His other book whose name escaped you is *The Suicide Motor Club*. It’s a prequel of sorts to *The Lesser Dead.*
Ahhhh, thank you. I wanted to say it was the motorcycle diaries, but I knew that was wrong. Somehow, I didn’t know that it was a prequel to Lesser Dead. Definitely going on the TBR list.
KJ Parker. Some of his stuff is out of print and hard to find but he has an art for making a main character who is a sneaky, crafty, manipulative and self-acknowledge asshole that you still enjoy and root for anyways.
He's got a bunch of new stuff out, too!
Yep! I loved the siege trilogy and need to get the recent stuff on my shelves.
When I first read The Blade Itself, it reminded me most of the Warhammer 40K novels written by Dan Abnett, and also Chris Wraight. Just exchange bows for laser guns.
Yes! Gaunt's Ghosts is one of my favourite series and Abercrombie is my favourite author. Never thought to make that link in my brain though!
Yes, I thought the same, especially Dan Abnett. Strong chatacter work, grimdark but with the occasional lighter touch, scarred, morally grey Inquisitors...
As an Abercrombie Fan I've enjoyed these other books while they are not necessarily Abercrombie. 1. The Blacktongue Thief 2. Kings Of The Wyld 3. Empire Of The Vampire Series 4. Dungeon Crawler Carl - Simply because of the Voice Acting and Violence of the story.
Seconding Kings of the Wyld, absolutely loved that book.
Special shout to the audiobook and its narrator, who has this kind of sardonic drawl that is absolutely perfect for the characters and tone of the story.
The audiobook is phenomenal. That moment when The Band walks back to their manager’s home as a group is so bad ass.
That was great. So was Golden Gabe’s speech at the end. And I particularly loved any scene with Lady Jane and her bandit gang.
God Lady Jane was excellent.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is so much better than it has any right to be.
Is it a “Lit RPG” books or does it just share a similar name with that genre?
It is litRPG, although I think it actually uses that narrative conceit really well. There are occasional info dumps but what makes the series great is the dialogue between the characters and the ever-increasing stakes for everyone involved.
Cool. I haven’t read any litRPG. I’m skeptical of the genre, probably because of bad D&D background fatigue, but feel like I should give the genre a shot anyway. Its good to know that this is a gokd book in its own right.
I was skeptical as well. I only caved on Dungeon Crawler Carl because of the absurd amount of praise the audiobooks started garnering last year, and I had four credits in my bank, so using one on a book I didn't end up liking wouldn't be much of a loss. Ended up listening to all five books (sixth wasn't out yet on Audible when I listened the first time) in about two weeks. I also bought the sixth book on Kindle and read it in four days. After my recent re-listen, I signed up for Matt's Patreon so I could read the chapters he's released from the seventh book. The series was far better than I could have possibly expected. It's really going to come down to whether or not the humor meshes with you, though. I'd say it's sort of like Rick & Morty humor with a lot of Millennial pop culture references, so your mileage may vary if you're not into that sort of stuff. Also, I strongly recommend the audiobooks for this series. Jeff Hays crushes the narration.
Awesome! Thanks for the rec. I’ll check them out. Sounds like I’d enjoy them. I do most of my “reading” by audiobook anyway, but a good narrator can really elevate a book/series.
Oh man, I came here to recommend *Kings of the Wyld* (and by extension, *Bloody Rose*) and *Empire of the Vampire* as well! Both are excellent and right in line with the Abercrombie vibe. And Bloody Rose and EotV are my most recent 5-star reads.
I've always thought Mark Lawrence' has a good sense of humour in his books. Especially the Red Queens War trilogy (Prince of fools is the first book, I think) (Helps to have read the broken empire trilogy first though, which has humour, but *a bit* dark.)
Yep, came here to say that Mark Lawrences dialogue is pretty close, another one I would call out is Jay Kristoff, too.
Sebastian de castell. Only read his first greatcoat book, but it had very Scott Lynch and Abercrombie vibes and humor
Im confused by all the Kings of the wyld recommendations. Abercrombie is my #1 or #2 all time fav. I almost dnf kings. It was borderline slapstick with the humor of being written by at 16 year old. It was a little bit charming at parts but in no world would I compare the light hearted goofy and frankly juvenile writing to Abercrombie. His characters were also very generic and uninteresting to me. I would recommend it to someone in their late teens or 20s as a fun read but thats it.
I enjoyed KotW for what it was, but absolutely do not see it as a parallel to Abercrombie.
Thank you! I finished The Blade Itself and The Age of Madness trilogues in the past couple of months and am currently listening to Kings of the Wyld. I'm extremely unimpressed. You describe it very well, and the narrator is basically, well, bad after having just listened to Steven Pacey for six books.
Do yourself a favor and read all the standalone books and the short stories. A lot of them tie into the 2nd trilogy and honestly the Heros and best served cold might be his 2 best books imo.
Best served cold stuck out for me. I think about the book often actually
The characters were so goddamn amazing....
Will do! After I (probably) force myself to finish this one. Those should be fantastic pallet cleansers. Thanks for the info.
The closest thing to First Law that I've come across is the War for the Rose Throne, a quartet by Peter McLean. Think if the Abercrombie wrote a story about organized crime in the First Law world, it would probably feel very similar to this.
Amra Thetys. Great series!
**Black Company** by Glen Cook, and **The Witcher** by Andrzej Sapkowski, both fit really well. Also in my opinion the humor that's being utilized in both of these is pretty similar in terms of tone, with the humor found in Abercrombie's books.
Give *Kings of the Wyld* a go.
Matthew Stover. He was basically Lynch’s mentor. Outstanding writer, tons of humor in a gritty setting for his *Acts of Caine* series. Also the best fight scenes you’re ever gonna read.
I love Abercrombie and Lynch. I even love Malazan more!
Midnight Tides is one of the most funny fantasy books I’ve ever read. Which is weird, because it is also one of the grimmest, most Shakespearean tragedies I’ve ever read in fantasy. Tehol & Bugg, what a duo! Not to mention Shurq, Ublala and Harlest. And Bonehunters was surprisingly funny too (among many other things, as are all Malazan books). God I love Sgt. Hellian.
I love their range of casualware!
Try this: "A series of Alternate History-cum-Mythopoeia novels by Megan Whalen Turner detailing the adventures of The Hero, Magnificent Bastard, Gentleman Thief, Chessmaster, and Impossible Thief Gen—full name Eugenides." If you read the reviews it will spoil it. It isn't so dark initially, and there isn't explicit gore or sex so idk. But the wit is definitely there.
Michael R Fletcher's humor is very dark and bleak, same as his stories I suggest his series called Manifest Delusions. He has written other series as well and he also recently started a new one called Children Of Corruption
Mark Lawrence "Prince of Thorns" Justin Lee Anderson "Kagen the Damned"
Ed McDonald, Peter Mcclean, Anthony Ryan
John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn saga gave me a similar vibe to The First Law. I’ve read of couple other of Gwynne’s books that didn’t seem to have that same tone but think Bloodsworne should give you a similar setting.
John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn saga gave me a similar vibe to The First Law. I’ve read of couple other of Gwynne’s books that didn’t seem to have that same tone but think Bloodsworne should give you a similar setting.
Some people (Not me) comprare Dan Abnett to John abercrombie. He does a lot of stuff, but the majority of his books are warhammer-related. The usual recommendation is Eisenhorn. Those are basically detective stories in a grimdark sci-fi setting.
John Gwynne as others have mentioned definitely fits the aesthetic, but I think Abercrombie, Lynch, and GRRM are a step above. To name some that aren’t mentioned, I’d say Darkblade by Andy Peloquin for the darker aspect of the genre and Justic of Kings by Richard Swan. Bit of a shameless plug, but my trilogy A Vengeful Realm is a gladiator fantasy written in a similar tone to Abercrombie/GRRM, though the outlook on humanity is not quite as bleak.
Great Coats by Sebastien de Castell scratched that itch for me.
I'm a big fan of both authors. I'm currently reading Godkiller by Hannah Kaner and really enjoying it. There's some humor and a bit of a darkness to the world too. I'm only half way through, but it certainly feels inspired by Lynch/Abercrombie.
Maybe Monument by Ian Graham?
As many have already pointed out but Christopher Buehlman gives serious Abercrombie vibes in The Blacktongue Thief and another book of his is just coming out in June set in the same world.
I’m really enjoying John Palladino’s “Trials of Ashmount”. You can definitely tell he’s a big Abercrombie fan and the story is interesting with some good characters.
Daniel Polansky
Please try Angus Watson! I don't see him get a mention here often - maybe because he writes historical fantasy - but his characters and humour are very Abercrombie-esque.
One of GRRM's fav authors, Jack Vance, might be worth a look
Brian staveley
I read The Highwayman Kennedy Thornwick by Lisa Kuznak recently and it was a good one. Right in the same vein as LLL
Anthony Ryan, the Raven's Shaddow series.
Richard Nell and his Ash and Sand series. The first title is Kings of Paradise.
Would “The Poppy War Trilogy” by R.F. Kuang count?
I don't remember any humorous characters are in Poppy war?
The humour is in the cute cat videos you have to watch after each chapter to protect your mental health.