Readers of dark fantasy increasingly crave worlds where technology collides with sorcery, where politics are as deadly as warfare, and where heroes make choices that scar more than they save.
This list gathers five standout grimdark fantasy series that blend:
- magi-tech or industrial-era technology
- deep political scheming
- morally complex characters
- horror or eldritch undertones
If you enjoy The First Law, The Poppy War, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, or worlds thick with occult tension and political decay, these books scratch that exact itch, and might introduce you to your next obsession.
1. A Little Hatred — Joe Abercrombie (The Age of Madness Trilogy)
Joe Abercrombie’s Age of Madness trilogy returns to the First Law world at the dawn of its industrial revolution. Magic still lurks, particularly in the long shadow of Bayaz, but steam engines, factories, and nascent electricity transform the landscape into a volatile battlefield.
Why It Fits This List
- Grimdark tone: cynical humour, savage battles, and moral rot baked into every faction.
- Tech meets magic: an industrial revolution overturning an old magical order.
- Political intrigue: nobles scheme amid labour uprisings, espionage, and impending war.
Abercrombie’s world feels like a powder keg and political manoeuvring is the spark.
2. The Black Prism — Brent Weeks (Lightbringer Series)
Set in a world where colour itself is magic, The Black Prism introduces chromaturgy, a system as scientific as it is mystical. Gunpowder, cannon, optics, and engineered luxin devices give the series a distinct early-modern magi-tech aesthetic.
Why It Fits This List
- Magi-tech energy: lenses, mirrors, and crafted luxin tools blur the line between sorcery and engineering.
- Political warfare: the Chromeria governs the Seven Satrapies like a magical empire.
- Grim undertones: assassinations, religious extremism, rebellions, and morally torn characters.
Weeks blends epic scope with the grittiness of collapsing political systems.
3. Eluthienn — Sam Middleton (A Tale of the Fromryr)
Eluthienn opens the A Tale of the Fromryr series in the vast underground realm of Formaria, a labyrinth of tunnels, ancient alien alloy installations, and the remnant technologies of the long-dead Formarians.
Above it lies Yeggardania, a poisoned forest warped by ancient sorcery, where twisted creatures, dead gods, and eldritch remnants haunt the earth.
Inside this gothic science-fantasy world, rival powers wage a cold war of faith, espionage, arcane technology, and buried secrets, while the missing prince Eluthienn becomes the fulcrum of a conspiracy that could ignite the entire Fromryr.
Why It Fits This List
- Grimdark tone: monstrous forests, political betrayals, witch-hunters, moral ambiguity, and a world where salvation is scarce.
- Magi-tech foundation: gyre ships, feranium engines, voidstone, fulcrums, ancient alien alloys, and magically-powered infrastructure.
- Political intrigue: noble houses, Church conspiracies, sorcerous cover-ups, disappearing royals, and shifting alliances across the underground nations.
- Eldritch horror: corrupted forests, malformed creatures, old gods, and powers from the Aeturnum pressing against reality.
Readers who enjoy The First Law, Blackwing, or The Poppy War’s fusion of magic and technology will feel immediately at home — and deeply unsettled — in the Fromryr.
4. Blackwing — Ed McDonald (Raven’s Mark Trilogy)
Set on the edge of a magical wasteland known as the Misery, Blackwing delivers some of the most atmospheric grimdark of the decade. Magical super-weapons, arcane technology, and eldritch entities shape a world hanging by a thread.
Why It Fits This List
- Magi-tech warfare: Nall’s Engine (a sorcerous war machine), rifles, “spinners,” and weaponised light.
- Apocalyptic eldritch vibes: body-horror magic, raven messengers, and the ever-encroaching Deep Kings.
- Political conspiracies: immortal wizards, shadow wars, and failing magical infrastructure.
Few books capture despair and dread as vividly as Blackwing.
5. The Gutter Prayer — Gareth Hanrahan (Black Iron Legacy Trilogy)
A masterpiece of industrial dark fantasy. Set in the alchemical metropolis of Guerdon, where guilds, cults, and foreign powers fight over technology, trade, and divine favour.
Why It Fits This List
- Industrial magi-tech: alchemical explosives, toxins, crafted assassins (Tallowmen), and living constructs.
- Political depth: guild conspiracies, treacherous alliances, thieves’ wars, and international espionage.
- Monstrous cosmic horror: ghouls, crawling gods, and undead remnants of divine warfare.
A perfect fusion of steampunk, sorcery, urban decay, and nightmare.
If You Enjoy These Books… Explore the Fromryr
Readers who crave:
- grimdark worlds scarred by ancient magic
- political games played in the shadows
- eldritch forces leaking into reality
- magi-tech relics and industrial sorcery
- morally grey characters fighting impossible odds
…will find A Tale of the Fromryr a perfect next read.
Start with Eluthienn, and descend into the abyss beneath Yeggardania, a world of gyre ships, dead gods, corrupted forests, and political machinations that threaten to tear Formaria apart.