The Blade Itself

If you like this 21st century upgrade to the Fantasy genre similar to Abercrombie, check out: 

Abercrombie's other standalone books set in the same world as First Law: Best Served Cold and The Heroes and Red Country. He has a new YA series out as well called Half a King, with books 2 and 3 out this year (2015).

The Grim Company. A lot of similarities to Abercrombie's Blade Itself, in fact the book almost channels The Blade Itself in regards to the prose, the setting, and even the band of so called heroes. There's a cast of troubled characters including a couple Northern barbarians (read Bloody Nine), there's a cowardly sword fighting fop who bullshits his way through fights, and there's a troubled girl with a dark past. Really, this is probably as close you are going to get to Abercrombie's style in tone and setting sharp prose, witty sarcastic dialogue, troubled characters, and an entertaining if tragically dark story. For part of the novel, I felt like I was reading Abercrombie through and through. Read.

The Scourge of the Betrayer by Jeff Salyards. Oh man, shockingly good. I have to say, as of 2015, Salyards is one of my new favorite authors. Absolutely read this good good grimdark if you love Abercrombie. While it's not necessarly the same in style (The Scourge of the Betrayer reads more like of a cross between say The Black Company and Prince of Thorns), it's some of the best grimdark I've had the pleasure of recently reading. The sequel, The Veil of the Deserters, is even better than the first book. Really, pick this one up right away. Be wary though, it's grim as fuck.

Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire Trilogy. Mark takes the idea of the antihero, set within the grimdark medium, and brings in something new to the form. It's a compelling tale that really resonates. You will either love or hate the Broken Empire, but if you like Abercrombie, you should read it.

While it doesn't have the sarcastic, cutting edge wit of Abercrombie, the story is dark and the setting even darker and the characters a bunch of criminal misfits that do a lot of bad just for a pay check. Black Company, arguably, IS one of the major books that started the whole grim dark movement  Martin was hugely inspired by Glen Cook's works. You can argue Cook helped influence a major part of the 21 century fantasy movement that's still being felt today with NEW books written in the same sort of style.

Steven Erickson's Malazan Book of the Fallen -- dark epic fantasy on a grand, grand, grand scale. 

If you like the epic-fantasy-turned-on-its-head that marks Abercrombie's effort, read Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains. Morgan writes some interesting science fiction but has turned his writing chops to the fantasy genre with a new epic fantasy series. Like Abercrombie, Morgan flips some of the standard fantasy conventions on their side (including an openly gay hero). Even better, the trilogy is now completed with the last book (and best!) released the end of last year (2014). This is some of the darkest fantasy works in the whole of the genre.

R. Scott Bakker's The Prince of Nothing series. In short, an epic fantasy about a fake Jesus Christ with some of the same powers comes back to "rescue" mankind from evil. But this savior's goals are questionably self-centered. The books are full of raw action, grey characters, with an interesting hero, and a subtle mix of some deep philosophy thrown in too.

Scott Lynche's The Lies of Locke Lamora. This hero is in fact a thief. And not a thief who steals from the rich to give to the poor, but rather steals from the rich to get rich -- filthy rich. Full of sharp and witty writing, often hilarious with a dark edge to boot as you progress through the book. Probably the closest style of "writing" you'll find to Abercrombie.

Michael Stover's Cain series. Expect: dark, sarcastic humor; gritty and dirty worlds; heroes die and suffer; intelligent plots and fantastically sharp prose.

George R.R. Martin. His A Song of Ice and Fire is as gray and gritty -- maybe even more so  as Abercrombie's works. Really, I've talked enough about him here. Just read him, dammit! 

Kameron Hurley's Bel Dame Apocrypha: God's War. God's War does is a refreshing read, proving that there is still more to Grimdark then you might have thought, nearly a decade after it's become popular. 

KJ Parker. The Folding Knife. Grimdark, but a different style than Abercrombie. Really, Read anything by this author.

If you like the dark cynicism found in Abercrombie's work, you should read some Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series. You might also like his Gap sci-fi.

You might also want to check out Stephen Deas' fast paced, ultra violent fantasy Memory of Flames. Like some of the books recommended above, there are no real heroes. Everyone is willing to betray another to reach their goals. The story has some great action, though less character development. You can think of this series as a more gritty and unfeeling version of Naomi Termerak. 

Sam Sykes' Tome of the Undergates is another novel in the same vein as the Blade Itself. The book subverts some of the standard fantasy conventions. Overall, I quite enjoyed it as it's a creative and witty take on some of the standard fantasy conventions.

A new series on the fantasy scene by Daniel Abraham, one of the most gifted writers in the genre (author of The Long Price Quartet), is The Dragon's Path. It's a fresh and innovative answer to the standard epic fantasy fare, challenging quite a few of the fantasy assumptions that most people take for granted. Definitely up your alley if you appreciate authors like Abercrombie, Bakker, and Lynch. Keep in mind, it's MUCH slower paced and focuses much more on character building for the most part. We are 5 books in now and it's a love or hate sort of series. You can't argue with the writing chops present in the series, though.

If you like gritty, grimdark fantasy, we suggest you check out our Best Grimdark Fantasy Books list.