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2025 Grimdark Reading Challenge
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bazhsw
Posted 2025-01-03 2:41 PM (#30718)
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Hello everyone, this is a little thread for anyone to post any thoughts, or discussion for anyone taking part in the 2025 Grimdark Reading Challenge. It's my first 'Roll-Your-Own' challenge on here although I've been taking part in other people's challenges on and off for a long time.

So why grimdark? Like many people I made a connection to the genre when reading the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series. There is something about a novel which has a lot of complex relationships in it, where the world is unforgiving and where characters are faced with difficult moral choices. In 'real life' I like to think of myself as a hopeful person, who sees the best in people and is trusting of others. So it is interesting to me that I have an affection for the morally bankrupt, the villain, the anti-hero in fiction.

I can somewhat trace my interest in the genre without really knowing it to playing role playing games in my teens (which I have still kept up). I never bought in to high-powered magic and over-powered heroic heroes with giant swords. I was more into 'Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay' (1st edition!) and beggars and thieves and rat catchers being unlikely heroes in the mud, almost against their will. The sense of humour, the type of games I played and how I envisioned the worlds I played in was 'grimdark' before I knew the word.

So onto the books. I find myself a bit of a reading butterfly. I jump from theme to genre almost book by book. I also have a bad habit of reading 'book one' in a series before reading something else, and even if I like the book, rarely getting around to book two. That's a problem with a world with so many books in it. So for this challenge I am at least going to try and read one more book in series I have started. I'm also going to make sure I read at least a couple of new-to-me authors. Whilst most of the books I have my eye on are well known and regarded I am going to try and identify at least one book independently / self-published and also something published recently.

I'm starting with Joe Abercrombie's 'Before They Are Hanged' which is the second book in 'The First Law' series. I read Book 1 'The Blade Itself' in the autumn of last year and really enjoyed the characterisation and world building but had some frustrations with the book.

Also, should anyone taking part want any recommendations, or lists for potential recommendations I've got quite a few lists saved should anyone be interested. And a final comment, in my mind reading books we enjoy is the most important thing, so I don't think we need to be to firm on a definition of 'grimdark'. In any case I'm not qualified to adjudicate on that anymore than the next person so if you feel it fits go for it.
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bazhsw
Posted 2025-01-12 7:17 AM (#30751 - in reply to #30718)
Subject: Re: 2025 Grimdark Reading Challenge		Quote Reply



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Book one down, I finished 'Before They Are Hanged' yesterday, the second book in 'The First Law' series. It builds brilliantly on the first book and does well much of what I liked first time round. Brilliant character development and world building, and very engaging throughout. It kind of suffers from being part of a trilogy and not feeling self-contained.

Next up for me is another sequel - Mark Lawrence's 'King of Thorns', which is the second in 'The Broken Empire' series. I really enjoyed the first one.
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bazhsw
Posted 2025-02-05 3:13 PM (#31168 - in reply to #30718)
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Book two for me, 'King of Thorns' by Mark Lawrence. Found it quite a brave departure from the first book whilst still being recognisable. Can't quite give it a strong recommendation as I had a few niggles with it. Next up is 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' by Scott Lynch - really enjoyed a short story of his in an anthology.
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lisagarrity
Posted 2025-02-05 11:04 PM (#31169 - in reply to #30718)
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Location: California		Have you read Glen Cook's The Black Company? Given the books mentioned, I think you would like the series.
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bazhsw
Posted 2025-02-10 7:37 AM (#31173 - in reply to #30718)
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I haven't Lisa, they are on the list to check out at some point in my life. I have read mixed reviews of them, with some people raving about them. They were published in the 80s weren't they before the sub-genre / theme was as recognised. Thanks for the recommendation
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bazhsw
Posted 2025-02-19 3:31 PM (#32486 - in reply to #30718)
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I finished 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' today and I wasn't disappointed. It's a brilliant heist caper with excellent characterisations and city building. I was unsure if the book would fit my admittedly broad definition of grimdark but there was a significant tone shift that made me go 'yep, this fits!' Really enjoyed this one. I'm reading 'Darksoul' by Anna Stephens next - I read the first in the trilogy 'Godblind' about eight years ago and loved it, and like a lot of books I read I never got to the sequel. Looking forward to this one.
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bazhsw
Posted 2025-03-08 3:13 PM (#32508 - in reply to #30718)
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I finished 'Darksoul' by Anna Stephens yesterday. I remember loving the first book so much and the things I liked in that one are very much present here. Although I really enjoyed 'Darksoul' I couldn't shake the feeling that it was a 'bridging' book in a trilogy. Also, the pace is relentless but I felt a little worn out by the end!

Next up for me will be 'The Name of the Wind' by Patrick Rothfuss. I read a novella called 'The Lightning Tree' which is set in the same universe and loved it. I am mindful that this is an 'unfinished' trilogy but at the speed I read and everything that interests me I know I'll have a lot of unfinished series of my own when my time is up!
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Weesam
Posted 2025-04-10 9:56 PM (#32555 - in reply to #32508)
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Location: New Zealand		I completed the first three books in Glen Cook's Dark Company, and I enjoyed them so much I decided to up my reading level to 6 and read the next three as well. Not being a big Grimdark fan, I really didn't think I would enjoy them as much as I did. Maybe I need to rethink my stand on Grimdark.
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bazhsw
Posted 2025-04-12 7:50 AM (#32557 - in reply to #30718)
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I may not get to the Glen Cook 'Black Company' series with this challenge but I have had my eye on it for a while. I believe it is generally considered to be a brilliant example of the genre from before it was a considered sub-genre. I may bump this up on my reading list.

I finished 'The Name of the Wind' yesterday and I really enjoyed it but it didn't really fit the genre. Rothfuss has been compared to Scott Lynch but the first in the Kingkiller series feels very different in tone. One of those books which you really like but can't help pointing out things that annoy you with it.

My next book will be Robin Hobb's 'The Mad Ship'. This is something generally not included in grimdark canon but the tone in the first book in 'The Liveship Traders' series, 'Ship of Magic' definitely hit those notes for me. It can be incredibly dark in places so I'm comfortable with it's inclusion.
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bazhsw
Posted 2025-06-04 6:49 AM (#32916 - in reply to #30718)
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Well 'The Mad Ship' definitely wasn't quite so dark as the 'Ship of Magic' so possibly doesn't fit the definition of the challenge but it really is an absolutely superb novel and a brilliant 'second in a trilogy'. Loved the character development and how the reader was led from the events of the first book to the end. I'll have to bump the third in my reading list.

I also read a book of novella's called 'Apocalypse Nyx' from the Bel Dame Apocrypha series and it's a brilliant example of science fiction grimdark as opposed to fantasy. A world in pointless perpetual war, a sense of hopelessness that only living for today and surviving tomorrow matters and a vivid unique setting and technology base. I loved 'God's War' which was the first book so hope to revisit this again.

I also read a book by a self-published author which I won't ask to be added to the database here because although I have really enjoyed their work in the past I kind of really hated the book I bought. I don't have too many qualms about leaving poor reviews but I really didn't connect on any level with it and feel sad because the author is cool. I also picked up a short story collection from the Games Workshop wargames / roleplaying games 'Gotrek and Felix' series. I have loved that series for decades even if they are more high fantasy now than the 'grim and perilous' world depicted in the 80's. The book was really brief and was mostly text written to sell models so again not something I want to add to the challenge.

Years ago I recall Brandon Sanderson pitched as a 'grimdark' author everywhere but I have never dipped in to his work. I think I have mixed feelings based on what others have shared. Maybe he'll be next because I want to read him anyway.
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