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Books like The Trouble with Peace

Joe Abercrombie · 2020 · UK · fantasy
Book 2 of 3 in The Age of Madness
★ 4.60 Goodreads · 50,799 ratings

A prince, a soldier, and a socialite navigate a fragile peace that everyone knows is about to shatter.

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12 books for readers of The Trouble with Peace

The Blade Itself

Joe Abercrombie · 2006 · UK 98% match ★ 4.22 Goodreads · 339,692 ratings
Book 1 of 3 in The First Law
shares: cynical, dark fantasy, morally ambiguous, grimdark · morally murky, ironic

A barbarian, a torturer, and a nobleman are drawn into a war they don't understand, in a grimdark world where nobody is the hero.

The Heroes

Joe Abercrombie · 2011 · UK 98% match ★ 4.35 Goodreads · 82,601 ratings
Book 2 of 4 in The First Law: standalones
shares: cynical, dark fantasy, morally ambiguous, grimdark · ironic, morally murky

Three days of a brutal battle over a hill and a ring of standing stones, told from many sides: heroes, cowards, schemers and everyone muddling through in between.

The Black Company

Glen Cook · 1984 · US 97% match ★ 3.93 Goodreads · 56,869 ratings
Book 1 of 11 in The Black Company
shares: cynical, dark fantasy, morally ambiguous, grimdark · morally murky, speculative

The annalist of a hard-bitten mercenary company records the year his brothers-in-arms took a contract with a sorceress-empress and found themselves fighting for the wrong side.

A Game of Thrones

George R.R. Martin · 1996 · US 97% match ★ 4.45 Goodreads · 2,827,310 ratings
Book 1 of 5 in A Song of Ice and Fire
shares: dark fantasy, betrayal, morally ambiguous, grimdark · intricate plot, speculative

As summer ends in the Seven Kingdoms, the noble houses scheme for the Iron Throne while an exiled princess gathers dragons and something ancient stirs beyond the Wall.

The Poppy War

R. F. Kuang · 2018 · US 96% match ★ 4.15 Goodreads · 557,801 ratings
Book 1 of 3 in The Poppy War
shares: dark fantasy, war, grimdark · dark, speculative

A war orphan with shamanic powers is drafted into a military academy where she must survive both the brutality of training and the awakening of ancient gods.

The Pariah

Anthony Ryan · 2021 · UK 96% match ★ 4.15 Goodreads · 19,666 ratings
Book 1 of 3 in The Covenant of Steel
shares: morally ambiguous, war, grimdark · morally murky, action-packed

Alwyn, raised among the outlaws of the Shavine Forest, is captured after his band is ambushed and sent to the mines, where he learns to read and write, and the road that follows leads him to Lady Evadine Courlain, a captain whose visions speak of a coming apocalypse.

The Last Wish

Andrzej Sapkowski · 1993 · Poland 95% match ★ 4.14 Goodreads · 439,372 ratings
Book 1 of 9 in The Witcher
shares: dark fantasy, morally ambiguous · ironic, speculative

Geralt of Rivia, a witcher who hunts monsters for pay, rests at a temple of the goddess Melitele after a hard fight and remembers the jobs that brought him there.

The Black Prism

Brent Weeks · 2010 · US 94% match ★ 4.23 Goodreads · 134,867 ratings
Book 1 of 5 in Lightbringer
shares: ensemble, war, political · speculative, deep world-building

A former emperor imprisoned for sixteen years is freed into a world at war, where his forbidden colour magic is the only hope.

Foundryside

Robert Jackson Bennett · 2018 · US 94% match ★ 4.16 Goodreads · 59,888 ratings
Book 1 of 3 in The Founders
shares: industrial · speculative, deep world-building

A thief in a city of magical industry discovers that the technology everyone depends on has a terrifying sentient origin.

Prince of Thorns

Mark Lawrence · 2011 · UK 94% match ★ 3.82 Goodreads · 126,944 ratings
Book 1 of 3 in The Broken Empire
shares: dark fantasy, morally ambiguous, grimdark · morally murky, action-packed

A tortured prince fights his way to the throne through a grimdark medieval world where cruelty is the only currency and survival is the only virtue.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night

Carissa Broadbent · 2022 · US 94% match ★ 4.25 Goodreads · 828,575 ratings
Book 1 of 5 in Crowns of Nyaxia
shares: dark fantasy · easy read, speculative

Oraya, the human adopted daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, enters the Kejari, a deadly tournament held for the goddess of death, and is forced into an alliance with Raihn, a rival vampire she has every reason to fear.

Three Dark Crowns

Kendare Blake · 2016 · US 93% match ★ 3.78 Goodreads · 120,059 ratings
Book 1 of 4 in Three Dark Crowns
shares: dark fantasy, betrayal, political · speculative, intricate plot

On the island of Fennbirn, every generation of queens is born as triplets, each with a different gift, and when they turn sixteen they must fight to the death for the crown: Mirabella the elemental, Katharine the poisoner and Arsinoe the naturalist.