If you are in the mood to read a fantasy novel but also like the plot to be grittier, broodier, and slightly darker, blending the fantasy genre with horror, you should consider picking up one of the best dark fantasy books!
Dark fantasy literature offers readers a captivating blend of the fantastical and the macabre, delving into realms of magic, myth, and darkness. The genre’s ability to explore the depths of human nature while weaving intricate worlds of wonder and terror has captivated readers for generations.
In this article, we will discover some of the best dark fantasy books that have enthralled and haunted readers with their rich storytelling, complex characters, and chilling atmospheres.
As we delve into these dark fantasy tales, we will uncover the allure of morally complex characters, the allure of forbidden magic, and the allure of haunted landscapes steeped in history and mystery. These books will take us on a journey through worlds where the line between hero and villain is often blurred and where the forces of darkness and light collide in epic struggles for power and survival.
Join us as we explore the best dark fantasy books that have enthralled readers with their ability to evoke fear, wonder, and a profound sense of awe in equal measure.
Best Dark Fantasy Books in 2024
1. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
From the blurb:
Logen Ninefingers, the infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian.
Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, a dashing officer and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle.
Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship.
Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he’s about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glokta a whole lot more difficult.
2. The Black Company by Glen Cook
From the blurb:
Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself.
Darkness wars with darkness as the hard-bitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must. They bury their doubts with their dead.
Then comes the prophecy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more.
There must be a way for the Black Company to find her… So begins one of the greatest fantasy epics of our age!
3. Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
From the blurb:
Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me, I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone, and what is left of them lies in my mother’s tomb.
Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that’s true enough, but there’s something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse!
From being a privileged royal child raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities.
The world is in chaos: violence is rife, and nightmares are everywhere. Jorg has the ability to master the living and the dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father’s castle, Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him.
4. The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman
From the blurb:
Kinch Na Shannack owes the Takers Guild a small fortune for his education as a thief, which includes lock-picking, knife-fighting, wall-scaling, fall-breaking, lie-weaving, trap-making, plus a few small magics. His debt has driven him to lie in wait by the old forest road, planning to rob the next traveler that crosses his path.
But today, Kinch Na Shannack has picked the wrong mark.
Galva is a knight, a survivor of the brutal goblin wars, and the handmaiden of the goddess of death. She is searching for her queen, missing since a distant northern city fell to giants.
Unsuccessful in his robbery and lucky to escape with his life, Kinch now finds his fate entangled with Galva’s. Common enemies and uncommon dangers force the thief and knight on an epic journey where goblins hunger for human flesh, krakens hunt in dark waters, and honor is a luxury few can afford.
5. Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
From the blurb:
The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting and bloody confrontations with the formidable Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, ancient and implacable sorcerers. Even the imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearn for some respite.
Yet Empress Laseen’s rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread Claw assassins.
For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners and for Tattersail, surviving cadre mage of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the many dead.
But Darujhistan, the last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, holds out. It is to this ancient citadel that Laseen turns her predatory gaze. However, it would appear that the Empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister, shadowbound forces gather as the gods prepare to play their hand!
6. The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett
From the blurb:
As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity.
For hundreds of years, the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile.
It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night, the demons grow stronger while human numbers dwindle under their relentless assault.
Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past!
7. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
From the blurb:
The year is 1348. Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found a young girl alone in a dead Norman village. An orphan of the Black Death and an almost unnerving picture of innocence, she tells Thomas that the plague is only part of a larger cataclysm—that the fallen angels under Lucifer are rising in a second war on heaven and that the world of men has fallen behind the lines of conflict.
Is it delirium, or is it faith? She believes she has seen the angels of God. And now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon.
As hell unleashes its wrath, and as the girl’s true nature is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints, and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man.
8. The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks
From the blurb:
For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art, and he is the city’s most accomplished artist.
For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he’s grown up in the slums and learned to judge people quickly – and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.
But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins’ world of dangerous politics and strange magics – and cultivate a flair for death.
9. The Gunslinger by Stephen King
From the blurb:
One of the most iconic dark fantasy books, The Gunslinger, marks the beginning of the epic Dark Tower series by Stephen King that’s redefined the genre and enthralled readers with its stunning storytelling.
In the first book of this series, Stephen King introduces readers to one of his most enigmatic heroes, Roland of Gilead, The Last Gunslinger.
He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which frighteningly mirrors our own, Roland pursues The Man in Black, encounters an alluring woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the Kid from Earth called Jake.
Jake joins Roland on his quest, but while Roland travels with his young companion Jake, the man in black travels with Roland’s soul in his pocket.
10. The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
From the blurb:
A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe.
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.
Carolyn’s not so different from the other people around her. She enjoys guacamole, cigarettes, and steak and is adept at using a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit. After all, she was a normal American herself once.
That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father.
Raised according to Father’s ancient customs, she and her adopted siblings have studied in his Library, learned some secrets of his power, and questioned whether Father may be God. Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded.
Carolyn prepares for a battle against fierce competitors with powers that far exceed her own. Despite her plan and preparations, she realizes she has neglected to protect her humanity in the war to make a new God.
11. Aching God by Mike Shel
From the blurb:
The days of adventure are passed for Auric Manteo. Retired to the countryside and isolated with his scars and riches, he no longer delves into forbidden ruins, seeking dark wisdom and treasure. But as old nightmares begin plaguing his sleep, he receives an urgent summons back to that old life.
To save his only daughter, he must return to the place of his greatest trauma: the haunted Barrowlands. Along with a group of inexperienced companions and an old soldier, he must confront the dangers of the ancient and wicked Djao civilization.
He has survived fell beasts, insidious traps, and deadly hazards before. But how can he contend with the malice of a bloodthirsty living god?
12. Black Stone Heart by Michael R. Fletcher
From the blurb:
A broken man, Khraen awakens alone and lost. His stone heart has been shattered, littered across the world. With each piece, he regains some small shard of the man he once was. He follows the trail, fragment by fragment, remembering his terrible past.
There was a woman.
There was a sword.
There was an end to sorrow.
Khraen walks the obsidian path.
13. Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher
From the blurb:
Faith shapes the landscape, defines the laws of physics, and makes a mockery of truth. Common knowledge isn’t an axiom; it’s a force of nature. What the masses believe is.
But insanity is a weapon, conviction a shield. Delusions give birth to foul new gods. Violent and dark, the world is filled with the Geisteskranken—men and women whose delusions manifest, twisting reality.
High Priest Konig seeks to create order from chaos. He defines the beliefs of his followers, leading their faith to one end: a young boy, Morgen, must Ascend to become a god—a god they can control. But many would see this would-be-god in their thrall, including the High Priest’s own Doppels, and a Slaver no one can resist.
Three reprobates—The Greatest Swordsman in the World, a murderous Kleptic, and possibly the only sane man left—have their own nefarious plans for the young god.
As these forces converge on the boy, there’s one more obstacle: time is running out. When one’s delusions become more powerful, they become harder to control!
14. Kagen the Damned by Jonathan Maberry
From the blurb:
Sworn by Oath
Kagen Vale is the trusted and feared captain of the palace guard, charged with protecting the royal children of the Silver Empire. But one night, Kagen is drugged, and the entire imperial family is killed, leaving the empire in ruins.
Abandoned by the Gods
Haunted and broken, Kagen is abandoned by his gods and damned forever. He becomes a wanderer, trying to take down as many of his enemies as possible while plotting to assassinate the usurper–the deadly Witch-king of Hakkia. All around him, magic, long banished from the world, returns in strange and terrifying ways.
Fueled by Rage
To exact his vengeance, Kagen must venture into strange lands, battle bizarre and terrifying creatures, and gather allies for a suicide mission into the heart of the Witch-king’s empire.
15. Gunmetal Gods by Zamil Akhtar
From the blurb:
They took his daughter, so Micah comes to take their kingdom. Fifty thousand gun-toting paladins march behind him, all baptized in angel blood, thirsty to burn unbelievers.
Only the janissaries can stand against them. Their living legend, Kevah, once beheaded a magus amid a hail of ice daggers. But ever since his wife disappeared, he spends his days in a haze of hashish and poetry.
To save the kingdom, Kevah must conquer his grief and become the legend he once was. But Micah writes his own legend in blood, and his righteous conquest will stop at nothing.
16. Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop
From the blurb:
The Dark Kingdom is preparing itself for the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy – the arrival of a new Queen, a Witch who will wield more power than even the High Lord of Hell himself.
But this new ruler is young, and very susceptible to influence and corruption; whoever controls her controls the Darkness.
And now, three sworn enemies begin a ruthless game of politics and intrigue, magic, and betrayal, and the destiny of an entire world is at stake.
17. Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
From the blurb:
In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.
Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere can barely escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer and a future she never imagined.
Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison, and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder and one step closer to the vengeance she desires.
But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves. Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?
Conclusion
In conclusion, the world of dark fantasy literature offers a diverse tapestry of stories that delve into the depths of human imagination and fear. From the hauntingly beautiful prose of gothic horror to the gritty urban landscapes of modern-day sorcery, the best dark fantasy books have left an indelible mark on readers, evoking a sense of wonder, terror, and fascination.
As we close this exploration of the genre, we are reminded of the enduring appeal of dark fantasy, with its ability to transport us to realms where the supernatural and the mundane collide and where the human spirit is tested against the forces of darkness.
If you dare to tread the dark paths of fantasy, these dark fantasy books stand ready to guide you through a world of magic, mystery, and chilling adventure.
Also Read: Best Epic Fantasy Books in 2024