Books like Low Town
27 fantasy books to read after Low Town, by Polansky, Daniel, the closest match first.
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Low Town book 1 Start here
1. Low Town
by Polansky, Daniel
- Same series
- Same author
Low Town (titled the Straight-Razor Cure in the UK), is the first instalment in the Low Town series, and is a noir detective mystery transplanted to a fantasy setting. The...
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Low Town book 2
2. Tomorrow The Killing
by Polansky, Daniel
- Same series
- Same author
Dark, violent, and shot through with corruption, TOMORROW, THE KILLING is a fantastic successor to THE STRAIGHT RAZOR CURE, one of the most heralded fantasy debuts of recent times. Once...
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3. Gods In Darkness: The Complete Novels Of Kane
by Wagner, Karl Edward
- On the same lists
Kane is a bloodthirsty warrior and cunning thinker, one of the first anti-heroes of sword-and-sorcery.
Kane is the original anti-hero, both a bloodthirsty warrior and a cunning intellectual, and in his stories he's more often than not one of the bad guys, but with a...
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4. The Spook's Apprentice
by Delaney, Joseph
- On the same lists
This book (and the rest of the Wardstone Chronicles) genuinely scared the absolute shit out of me when I first read it. It's the story of a young boy being...
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5. Neverwhere
by Gaiman, Neil
- On the same lists
Gaiman's work is perfect for anyone who's after stories with 'mundane' protagonists from the real world who are pulled into worlds of unsettling dark fantasy. His stories have worth not...
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Elric book 1 Start here
6. Elric Of Melniboné
by Moorcock, Michael
- On the same lists
Elric is the famed albino sorcerer and wielder of Stormbringer, a sentient sword that confers power upon its wielder. All for the totally-reasonable price of being fed souls. Needless to...
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The Demonata book 1 Start here
7. Lord Loss
by Shan, Darren
- On the same lists
This is the opening to a 10-book series for young adults, and holy shit is it heavy for something supposedly aimed at young people. It's urban dark fantasy rather than...
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The Vagrant book 1 Start here
8. The Vagrant
by Newman, Peter
- On the same lists
This book is about the titular vagrant, who is a mute, and his journey across a desolate, demon-ravaged world with a baby and a goat. It sounds pretty weird and...
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9. Low Town
by Polansky, Daniel
- Same author
Warden was a decorated soldier and a spy for the empire. Now he deals drugs in Low Town, the filthy underbelly of the city of Rigus, and keeps a close...
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10. Those Below
by Polansky, Daniel
- Same author
For centuries beyond counting, humanity has served the Others, god-like Eternals who rule from their cloud-capped mountain-city, building a civilization of unimagined beauty and unchecked viciousness. But all that is...
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The Red Queen's War book 1 Start here
11. Prince Of Fools
by Lawrence, Mark
- On the same lists
This first entry into the Red Queen's War trilogy is about a layabout, womanizing, alcoholic prince. He's also just funny enough not to think he's an utter bastard. Okay, he's...
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Manifest Delusions book 1 Start here
12. Beyond Redemption
by Fletcher, Michael R.
- On the same lists
In a world where belief defines reality, the world could be a paradise, right? Not in Fletcher's world of Manifest Delusions, where corpses line the streets and narcissists spawn false...
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The Crimson Empire book 1 Start here
13. A Crown For Cold Silver
by Marshall, Alex
- On the same lists
The Crimson Empire trilogy, of which there are two instalments published at the time of writing, is one of the best additions to darker fantasy in recent years. It's the...
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American Gods book 1 Start here
14. American Gods
by Gaiman, Neil
- On the same lists
In his novel, American Gods, Neil Gaiman ventures into the heart of contemporary America, juxtaposing the decline of America's 'Old Gods' with the rise of new 'deities' (e.g. technology, mass...
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First Law World book 1 Start here
15. The Blade Itself
by Abercrombie, Joe
- On the same lists
Abercrombie's work has become synonymous with the growing sub-genre of grimdark fantasy Naturally there's a lot of crossover between grimdark fantasy (which subverts the tropes of traditional heroic fantasy) and...
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Night Angel book 1 Start here
16. The Way Of Shadows
by Weeks, Brent
- On the same lists
With magically enhanced assassins, intrigue, and a conflicted protagonist, this trilogy is epic and personal.
The Night Angel trilogy is the story of a young, abused street-thief's transformation into a badass, magically-enhanced assassin. As one might expect from a story about learning to kill people...
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The Dark Tower book 1 Start here
17. The Gunslinger
by King, Stephen
- On the same lists
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba An impressive work of mythic magnitude that may turn out to be Stephen Kings greatest literary achievement...
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The Acts Of Caine book 1 Start here
18. Heroes Die
by Stover, Matthew Woodring
- On the same lists
A novel about two worlds that blends Science Fiction and Fantasy. An action packed adventure filled with real danger, sorcery, and a complex social system.
The Acts of Caine series takes adventure fantasy and drags it sixteen miles through the mud, and then tortures what's left. In a dystopian future, humanity has discovered a way...
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Abhorsen book 1 Start here
19. Sabriel
by Nix, Garth
- On the same lists
Garth Nix's Sabriel is marketed to the young adult audience but easily appeals to a wider readership. Fantastic world-building paints both the realm of Ancelstierre, and The Old Kingdom, where...
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Watch book 1 Start here
20. Night Watch
by Lukyanenko, Sergei
- On the same lists
The unusual Moscow setting of Night Watch is echoed by its magic system. Lukyanenko’s contemporary world is inhabited by both humans and ‘Others’, supernatural beings who can attune to Dark...
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21. Malazan Book Of The Fallen
by Erikson, Steven
- On the same lists
A grand and epic series with a huge cast of characters with epic battles, sieges, mages, and carnage.
Steven Eriksen has been both lauded and criticized for his extreme detail, and that extends to his magic system. In Malazan, magic comes from warrens, a realm from which mages...
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The Prince Of Nothing book 1 Start here
22. The Darkness That Comes Before
by Bakker, R. Scott
- On the same lists
This book and the Prince of Nothing trilogy, as well as the other books that follow, are so dark that you'll need a shower after reading them. And therapy. This...
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A Song Of Ice And Fire book 1 Start here
23. A Game Of Thrones
by Martin, George R. R.
- On the same lists
While Martin's epic contains a lot of brutality towards women, it also shows how women, surviving in a man's world, can use their cunning, charm, and looks to run the...
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24. The Demon Cycle
by Brett, Peter V.
- On the same lists
At night, Peter V. Brett’s world changes. Demons rise from the planet’s core, infused with supernatural powers and with a hunger for human flesh.Constant bombardment has knocked humans back into...
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25. Broken Empire / Red Queens War
by Lawrence, Mark
- On the same lists
The first in The Broken Empire series, this gritty and violent novel focuses on a single character, who is an anti-hero, with a very dark past.
Mark Lawrence doesn’t use an abundance of technical explanations and diagrams, but that doesn’t make his magic system any less interesting. In fact, it lets him focus on his astonishing...
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The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever book 1 Start here
26. Lord Foul's Bane
by Donaldson, Stephen R.
- On the same lists
Epic Fantasy that's also very High Fantasy. Features an antihero hero.
Lord Foul's Bane begins the epic Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, a series in which a leprosy-stricken man in the real world is transported to a stereotypical fantasy world....
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The Chronicles Of The Black Company book 1 Start here
27. The Black Company
by Cook, Glen
- On the same lists
An elite mercenary unit is the focus of this series. It is a mix of fantasy, gritty realism, and military fiction. It is often cited as an inspiration for the Grimdark sub-genre.
In an era when fantasy was about honorable farm boys with magic swords and a noble destiny, Glen Cook said 'fuck that mess; let's have some amoral pricks doing bad...
Matches come from series and authors, from the lists the books share, and from the books readers open together. They are rebuilt every night. Back to Low Town.
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