With George R.R. Martin being nowhere near finishing the Game of Thrones books, fans are starting to look toward other stories to recreate that Westeros magic for them.
There’s no denying that the Game of Thrones book series is one of the most prominent works of modernist high fantasy to come out in the past couple of decades. Due to the story’s sense of intrigue, amazing characterization, morally grey narrative, and intricate worldbuilding inspired by real historical events, A Song of Ice and Fire is now among the best works in literature, and in no small part thanks to HBO’s overwhelmingly popular live-action adaptation.
Well, since that television show ended abysmally and George R.R. Martin is still struggling to bring The Winds of Winter — the sixth and penultimate book in the saga — to completion, perhaps it’s high time that we looked at other great works in the speculative storytelling spectrum to fill the arid void left by the unfinished saga of the Seven Kingdoms.
We’ve already gone through another similar list in the form of the top 10 books to read if you’re a Lord of the Rings fan, but if you find that George R.R. Martin’s more contemporaneous style is more to your liking, then these are the books that you should pick up as soon as you can. And who knows? Maybe you’ll enjoy some of them even more than you did A Song of Ice and Fire.
10. The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
Roger Zelazny was one of the most important fantasy writers in history, having influenced many of his successors, notably Neil Gaiman. The Chronicles of Amber, his magnum opus, is a 10-book series taking place in two opposite worlds, Amber and Chaos. The plot mostly follows members of the royal Amber family, who can traverse the worlds between Amber and Chaos — called Shadows — and inflict their will on reality to change it.
As the story progresses, you realize that the series is about the political intrigue sitting at the heart of the Amber court, and how each family member is vying for the throne. It also depicts the struggles and differences of relatives, similar to the familial-drama backdrop of Game of Thrones.
9. The Lightbringer Series by Brent Weeks
The Lightbringer Series is a collection of five fantasy books that start with 2010’s best-seller The Black Prism and end with 2019’s The Burning White. Brent Weeks centers his world around a very peculiar form of magic that’s derived from light, with each light turning into a substance called Luxin.
While that doesn’t sound similar to Game of Thrones and its subtle magic system at all, Lightbringer’s fictional world and political landscape feature the same sort of complicated intrigue as our main character Gavin Guile and his brother Andross Guile — influential people in their own right — navigate this increasingly treacherous world.
8. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson
Thomas Covenant tells the story of a man who is transported from the real world to a fictional realm called the Land. There, he has to fight off the evil Lord Foul and save the universe from destruction — but though the premise sounds like something out of a J.R.R. Tolkien book, Stephen R. Donaldson actually sets out to tell a very grimdark tale full of morally ambiguous characters and even more divisive ethical choices.
The main character, Thomas Covenant, suffers from leprosy, and his resentment for how the world has treated him is the lynchpin that ties the narrative together. This might be a challenging read due to its length (10 books) but trust me when I say that the destination will be well worth the journey undertaken.
7. The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell
While The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell isn’t strictly fantasy, neither is George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books, if you take away the mysterious ice zombies and Dany’s dragons. The Last Kingdom is a work of historical fiction that deals with the creation of England in the ninth century, with characters like Alfred the Great and King Guthrum playing an important part in the narrative.
The series essentially deals with the politics of Saxon Britain, and how Christianity came together to prevail against the Viking onslaught. Since Game of Thrones also has a heavy focus on historical applicability (Martin himself has said that War of the Roses inspired the rivalry between Westerosi houses), you could find a lot of similarities between the two works.
The Last Kingdom also has an acclaimed live-action adaptation, which you can currently watch in its entirety on Netflix.
6. The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski
The Witcher saga is in no way comparable to A Song of Ice and Fire in terms of scale alone, but despite being a very character-centric tale with only a handful of protagonists, Andrzej Sapkowski masterfully delves into the politics of his fictional world and uses them as a tool to raise the stakes.
In terms of overall tone, The Witcher is also a step away from traditional high fantasy storytelling, opting instead to offer a new interpretation of grim folklore and morally grey characters. Sitting through this tale from the POV of the stoic Geralt of Rivia — a monster hunter by profession and a philosopher by diffidence — is every bit as rewarding as watching Tyrion Lannister or any number of Game of Thrones characters musing over the current state of the world.
5. The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Stephen King isn’t a writer of fantasy, but the one time he dabbled his feet in the genre created the timeless masterpiece known as The Dark Tower. This story follows a character named Roland Deschain, known as the last gunslinger, who has to traverse a hostile world in search of the titular Dark Tower. In this journey, he faces an adversary in the form of the Man in Black, who is an antagonistic figure in the Stephen King multiverse.
The Dark Tower loans a lot of tropes from other genres like sci-fi and Western, but at its heart, Roland’s journey is a study of human nature and how that nature affects the formation of different societies and creeds. The 7-book series also features a lot of dark themes, so the mental demons Roland has to conquer will be right up your alley if you’re a fan of modern fantasy.
4. The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
Few authors have managed to leave such a lasting impact, one that influences not only their peers, but also the next generation of creatives. Robin Hobb is one such novelist, and her work on The Farseer Trilogy has cemented her name among the greats in this genre.
If you love the political maneuvering and backstabbing inherent to Game of Thrones and its worldbuilding, then you’re going to love Farseer, because this is essentially a political story at its core. The main character is FitzChivalry Farseer, a bastard of the Farseer line, who has to meander his way through court intrigue and try to keep his head above water. FitzChivalry is also a king’s man through and through, so his conflicting loyalties make for some superb drama.
3. Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
Malazan is probably the single most challenging series to get into even for the fantasy bookworms. Do you know how Dark Souls is famously recognized as the toughest video game out there? Well, Malazan fans describe Steven Erikson’s books as “the Dark Souls of literature,” and not without good reason.
The 10-book series takes place in one of the most ambitious fantasy worlds ever conceived after the release of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The host of characters is almost innumerable, the intricate plotlines are daunting to keep track of, and even the narrative doesn’t explain anything as you move through it. “Steven Erikson doesn’t hold your hand” has turned into a litany for Malazan fans, so you may be wondering: Why on Earth would you even pick it up?
Well, because if you manage to wrap your head around the extremely complicated plot, then Malazan will probably turn into one of the best — if not the best — experiences you’ve had in the world of speculative fiction, and across any medium. And in terms of dark narrative developments or themes, let’s just say that Erikson will put George R.R. Martin’s most nightmarish musings to shame, and leave it at that.
2. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
Guy Gavriel Kay was also a contender in our Lord of the Rings list, and the reason for that is simple. The obscure fantasy novelist is the most underrated author in the history of this genre, but his work has influenced many fellow worldbuilders, including Martin.
Tigana is a story set in a fictional world and takes place mostly on the Peninsula of the Palm. Our heroes are a band of protagonists who are seeking to uncover their lost history, learning in this pursuit that much of what they knew about their identity were falsehoods spun about by the sorcerer that conquered their land. Tigana has the prose of Tolkien and the grey subtlety of George R.R. Martin, making it the perfect read for fans of both series.
1. The First Law by Joe Abercrombie
If there’s one person who can be relied upon to write grimdark fantasy as well as George R.R. Martin does, and even move beyond what Game of Thrones has accomplished in its lifetime, it’s the Lord Grimdark himself, Joe Abercrombie.
The First Law is a trilogy of books that’s known for its unrelentingly gritty plot, featuring a cast of complex characters who are swept into a maelstrom of political intrigue and chaotic determinism. The First Law itself is a principle that dictates the use of magic comes at a cost, and that is also true of every plot thread Abercrombie weaves together in his fantasy tale. If you were to ask fantasy fans in a survey to determine the book saga closest to A Song of Ice and Fire in tone and style, most would probably go with Lord Grimdark. This is, without a doubt, the best book for Game of Thrones fans to get over their Seven Kingdoms hangup.
