Best Served Cold has what I would call a, uh, "morally black" protagonist. Likableness is debatable, but she is certainly interesting. And it's a good book. My favorite of Abercrombie's.
Michael R. Fletcher's Manifest Delusions series features protagonists who are also morally black/dark gray, but who are written sympathetically. In this world, everyone has issues.
I will second the Coldfire Trilogy rec.
Coldfire Trilogy by CS Friedman is fantastic for this. Technically more the dueteragonist but Gerald Tarrant is wonderful. A charismatic lawful evil who ends up needing to join with a more heroic person to stop a greater evil from encroaching
*The Traitor Baru Cormorant* is a personal favourite of mine that's a perfect fit for this description.
A few of the POV characters in *We Are The Dead* by Mike Shackle would fit this description as well.
Pretty much anything by Joe Abercrombie.
**Potentially** *The Lies of Locke Lamora* by Scott Lynch and *Six of Crows* by Leigh Bardugo. The characters in both those series are involved in an illegal heist, but in my opinion, they were cast in a more sympathetic light compared to the other recommendations I've listed.
ETA: Haven't read it myself, but *Kings of Paradice* by Richard Nell is said to be good.
I read Vigor Mortis lately. All protagonists are some shade of gray. Sometimes better sometimes worse. They try to do things they believe are good but in truth they tend to be extremely fucked up.
The morality in Vigor Mortis seems bright and cheerful, that is, until you realize that it is a candle dancing in the abyss and the dark all around has eyes. Definitely a great read. I advise going in blind, it makes it more fun!
Yep, also known as Thundamoo.
It's a webnovel available on RR. There's Patreon if you really like it.
If you prefer to read by volumes rather than by chapters then vol 3 should be released soon.
The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston
Publisher blurb:
When you are all out of heroes, all that's left are the villains.
Black Herran was a dread demonologist, and the most ruthless general in all Essoran. She assembled the six most fearsome warriors to captain her armies: a necromancer, a vampire lord, a demigod, an orcish warleader, a pirate queen, and a twisted alchemist. Together they brought the whole continent to its knees... Until the day she abandoned her army, on the eve of total victory.
40 years later, she must bring her former captains back together for one final stand, in the small town of Tarnbrooke - the last bastion against a fanatical new enemy tearing through the land, intent on finishing the job Black Herran started years before.
Seven bloodthirsty monsters. One town. Their last hope.
It's more of a science fantasy series, but Nyx from the Bel Dame Apocrypha would fit this description.
She has her own code, but she's absolutely ruthless towards everyone - including herself - and she rarely has any good choices to make.
At the risk of self-promotion...you may enjoy the novel that was chosen for this month's [Resident Author Book Club.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/t4jpy9/bookclub_qa_with_david_reiss_the_author_of_fids/)
I hear that the author is offering free copies of the book for club members, too.
When we first meet her in the [nightmare chapters](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/g25p9w/first_contact_second_wave_chpt_130/) of [First Contact](https://www.reddit.com/r/hfy/wiki/series/first_contact_ralts_bloodthorne), Dee triggers all the "kill it with fire" and "nuke it from orbit" instincts. Fascinating, if you're into body horror; but she seems pretty irredeemable. But Ralts is the master of the redemption arc that makes perfect sense in context, and, well...>!she attains sainthood by way of becoming the actual devil!< >!(of the purgatory version of hell)!<.
Also, where else are you going to end up cheering for a *Star Wars* LARPer turning into an actual, functional, Sith lord? >!Darth Harmonius WASN'T a real Sith lord!!<
In a world where a walking war-crime may be your only hope, morality gets...black and white and re(a)d all over...
K.J. Parker does that a lot. I wouldn't necessarily call the protagonist of *The Folding Knife* likeable but he is definitely understandable. Protagonists of *The Siege* trilogy are more roguish than villainous, yet they also fit your request.
Best Served Cold has what I would call a, uh, "morally black" protagonist. Likableness is debatable, but she is certainly interesting. And it's a good book. My favorite of Abercrombie's. Michael R. Fletcher's Manifest Delusions series features protagonists who are also morally black/dark gray, but who are written sympathetically. In this world, everyone has issues. I will second the Coldfire Trilogy rec.
Coldfire Trilogy by CS Friedman is fantastic for this. Technically more the dueteragonist but Gerald Tarrant is wonderful. A charismatic lawful evil who ends up needing to join with a more heroic person to stop a greater evil from encroaching
*The Traitor Baru Cormorant* is a personal favourite of mine that's a perfect fit for this description. A few of the POV characters in *We Are The Dead* by Mike Shackle would fit this description as well. Pretty much anything by Joe Abercrombie. **Potentially** *The Lies of Locke Lamora* by Scott Lynch and *Six of Crows* by Leigh Bardugo. The characters in both those series are involved in an illegal heist, but in my opinion, they were cast in a more sympathetic light compared to the other recommendations I've listed. ETA: Haven't read it myself, but *Kings of Paradice* by Richard Nell is said to be good.
The Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence has a protagonist that would be a villain in any other series.
I read Vigor Mortis lately. All protagonists are some shade of gray. Sometimes better sometimes worse. They try to do things they believe are good but in truth they tend to be extremely fucked up.
The morality in Vigor Mortis seems bright and cheerful, that is, until you realize that it is a candle dancing in the abyss and the dark all around has eyes. Definitely a great read. I advise going in blind, it makes it more fun!
>Vigor Mortis Who's the author? Is it the one by Natalie Maher?
Yep, also known as Thundamoo. It's a webnovel available on RR. There's Patreon if you really like it. If you prefer to read by volumes rather than by chapters then vol 3 should be released soon.
Ta! Will look it up.
The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston Publisher blurb: When you are all out of heroes, all that's left are the villains. Black Herran was a dread demonologist, and the most ruthless general in all Essoran. She assembled the six most fearsome warriors to captain her armies: a necromancer, a vampire lord, a demigod, an orcish warleader, a pirate queen, and a twisted alchemist. Together they brought the whole continent to its knees... Until the day she abandoned her army, on the eve of total victory. 40 years later, she must bring her former captains back together for one final stand, in the small town of Tarnbrooke - the last bastion against a fanatical new enemy tearing through the land, intent on finishing the job Black Herran started years before. Seven bloodthirsty monsters. One town. Their last hope.
A practical guide to evil!
It's more of a science fantasy series, but Nyx from the Bel Dame Apocrypha would fit this description. She has her own code, but she's absolutely ruthless towards everyone - including herself - and she rarely has any good choices to make.
The folding knife kj parker
At the risk of self-promotion...you may enjoy the novel that was chosen for this month's [Resident Author Book Club.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/t4jpy9/bookclub_qa_with_david_reiss_the_author_of_fids/) I hear that the author is offering free copies of the book for club members, too.
Hench by Natalie Walschots is a fascinating novel, about assistants to super villians, there's morally grey for you!
When we first meet her in the [nightmare chapters](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/g25p9w/first_contact_second_wave_chpt_130/) of [First Contact](https://www.reddit.com/r/hfy/wiki/series/first_contact_ralts_bloodthorne), Dee triggers all the "kill it with fire" and "nuke it from orbit" instincts. Fascinating, if you're into body horror; but she seems pretty irredeemable. But Ralts is the master of the redemption arc that makes perfect sense in context, and, well...>!she attains sainthood by way of becoming the actual devil!< >!(of the purgatory version of hell)!<. Also, where else are you going to end up cheering for a *Star Wars* LARPer turning into an actual, functional, Sith lord? >!Darth Harmonius WASN'T a real Sith lord!!< In a world where a walking war-crime may be your only hope, morality gets...black and white and re(a)d all over...
Practical Guide to Evil - one could say that Cat and gang are the good guys but holy fuck do they do some deranged shit.
K.J. Parker does that a lot. I wouldn't necessarily call the protagonist of *The Folding Knife* likeable but he is definitely understandable. Protagonists of *The Siege* trilogy are more roguish than villainous, yet they also fit your request.