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Game of Thrones is a fantasy TV series that is arguably one of the most successful shows of all time. The series follows nine royal families in the high fantasy world of Westeros, who constantly squabble over the throne that rules the realm while, unbeknownst to them, an even greater, more supernatural threat is gathering forces far to the north, preparing to destroy the world itself. The show is based on the currently unfinished A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels by George R. R. Martin.
The series of novels belong to a subgenre of high fantasy known as “grimdark.” Grimdark fantasy specifically refers to works of fantasy in which the tone is extremely dark, featuring graphic violence, political corruption, and in some cases, a lot of sex. Grimdark fantasy is also very cynical, as there is often no clearly-defined good or evil, usually because everyone in the story is awful in one way or another. For those who have been looking for a similar story to Game of Thrones in literary form (aside from reading the actual novels, of course), fear not, because there are plenty of stories out there that offer the same tone, and some of the same narrative beats as this hit television series.
1
‘Prince of Thorns’ (2011)
Written by Mark Lawrence
Prince of Thorns is set in the distant future, long after a nuclear war decimated the Earth. From the ashes of humanity rises the Broken Empire, a wide-reaching realm encapsulating Europe, Northern Africa, the Middle-East, and Southern Asia, and is divided into roughly a hundred smaller kingdoms. Each of these kingdoms have spent the last several decades fighting over the Throne of the Empire, with some showing more promise than others. In what used to be France and Germany, a prince named Jorg Ancrath leads a warband, sacking and pillaging his way across the kingdom, and at the young age of only 14.
Jorg is a self-described sociopath, and spends much of his time killing innocent people just for the heck of it, finding ways to undermine his foes, and removing the obstacles in his way. You see, he doesn’t just want to rule over his estranged father’s kingdom–he wants to rule the whole of the Empire. But while Jorg goes on with his conquest, a dangerous and magical threat begins to pursue him. Prince of Thorns is the first in a thrilling trilogy, and, as is to be expected from the genre, has some really messed-up content in it. However, the theme of royals squabbling over a throne mixed with there being no real good vs evil dynamic (since pretty much everybody sucks) makes it a perfect pick for any fan of Game of Thrones.
2
‘Blood of Elves’ (1994)
Written by Andrzej Sapkowski
Blood of Elves is the very first novel of the hugely popular The Witcher series, written by Andrzej Sapkowski. There are previous installments in the series, but these are collections of short stories–Blood of Elves is the first fully-fledged novel. Famously, the books have been adapted to a hit role-playing video game series, followed by a Netflix series in 2019. The Netflix series started out strong, but has unfortunately taken a bit of a dive in recent years.
But the books, fortunately, stay consistent in quality. The overall story is about Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster hunter known as a Witcher, who travels across the land, taking contract work to kill various monsters for distressed townsfolk. These range from common creatures of folklore to some truly terrifying monsters. While the story differs greatly from that of Game of Thrones, the overall somber tone, combined with the cynical nature of the characters and the non-existent good and evil dynamic make this a pretty good fit for fans of George R. R. Martin.
3
‘The Grim Company’ (2013)
Written by Luke Scull
The Grim Company certainly lives up to its name, fitting perfectly within the grimdark genre with its gruesome violence and overall brutality. The first in its series, The Grim Company is set five centuries after the legendary Godswar ravaged the landscape and nearly destroyed the world. The war was initiated by a group of mages, who felt that the gods had bound them in chains, and thus waged war against the powers that be in order to seek personal freedom.
Still reeling from the cataclysmic event, the mages who once freed the world live on, but have turned to a new foe: each other. The various city states run by the mages are now waging a whole new war in a world that is barely holding on. With its themes of various political factions fighting each other for personal gain, combined with its grimdark tones and overall aura, The Grim Company is a book that any Game of Thrones fan should absolutely pick up.
4
‘Best Served Cold’ (2009)
Written by Joe Abercrombie
Joe Abercrombie is an author who has mastered the grimdark genre, and is known for publishing novel after novel, all utilizing this subgenre of epic fantasy. Best Served Cold is just one of his many forays into the genre, but it is widely considered to be one of his best. The stage is set, dropping readers right into the middle of a near two-decade-long war, with the Grand Duke finding himself at odds with an organization known as the League of Eight.
Meanwhile, the powerful elite, consisting of bankers, priests, politicians, and powers unknown, are all conspiring to determine that their candidate of choice becomes king when the dust settles. A tale of vengeance, violence, and political instability, Best Served Cold is great for any viewer of Game of Thrones who loved the Braavosi assassin plotline, but also the political maneuvers executed by the nobles in the shows and novels.
5
‘The Rage of Dragons’ (2017)
Written by Evan Winter
The Rage of Dragons started as Canadian author Evan Winter‘s own personal project, with him detailing his writing process on Reddit. Eventually, his book was released, smashing its way into the mainstream and really making waves in the fantasy community. The book was good–very good, in fact, and shocked everyone with its quality, because it initially seemed to be an amateur’s project, yet it oozed quality and had a very unique world.
The world in question is sort of like Earth’s equivalent to the Bronze Age, with the Omehi people being locked in conflict for over 200 years. Very few of the Omehi are born with special talents: some women can summon dragons, while some men can magically transform into a more improved version of themselves, one that is much better at killing. With the existence of dragons, a general story about revenge, and a surprising amount of perfection, The Rage of Dragons is something that deserves the praise that it gets. It’s actually been described by some as “Game of Thrones meets Gladiator,” so you know it’s an ideal pick for fans of the former.
6
‘The Way of Kings’ (2010)
Written by Brandon Sanderson
The Way of Kings is set in Brandon Sanderson‘s Cosmere, an expansive universe of multiple fantasy novel series, each taking place on their own unique planet, which possesses their own unique magic systems. The Way of Kings is book one of The Stormlight Archive, which is consistently ranked among Sanderson’s finest works. This monster of a novel is set on the remote world of Roshar, a world plagued by regular superstorms that sweep across the planet, uprooting any fauna that exists. As a result, the planet has a mostly rocky surface, and any animals that exist are crustaceans in nature, so that they can hide in their shells when the storms hit.
In the far reaches of the Shattered Plains, the warmongering Alethi people are fighting a retaliatory conflict against the crustaceous Parshendi people, as revenge for the Alethi king’s assassination. Whilst the Alethi are locked in a stalemate with the Parshendi, a primeval shadow is stirring, threatening to engulf the entirety of Roshar unless an ancient order of magical knights is resurrected. On top of fighting the Parshendi, the Alethi also commonly fight amongst themselves, with ten major clans fighting for control of their entire nation. Though The Way of Kings is noticeably lighter than Game of Thrones, the storylines are very similar, with the former bringing a new, alien world unlike anything ever seen before in fantasy.
7
‘Gardens of the Moon’ (1999)
Written by Steven Erikson
Gardens of the Moon is the first book in the Malazan series, written by Canadian author Steven Erikson. The grimdark fantasy novel was a huge success, and rapidly grew to spawn multiple different series and subseries, all set in the same, expansive world. The world in question is the Malazan Empire, which wages war across the continent, capturing any city or kingdom that it deems to be a threat to the Empire’s existence.
The Empire isn’t just fighting other nations, but also itself, as it is rife with infighting and political uprisings, most of which are quickly squashed. But everything that has happened until now has only been a test, because the gods themselves are scheming against the Empire, and they’re preparing their final offensive. Like Game of Thrones, the basic story is that there’s a wide-reaching kingdom that is at war with itself, completely unaware of the fact that the biggest threat to their way of life is slowly building up strength. While the finer details are obviously very different, it still maintains the same atmosphere and overall broad strokes.
8
‘Age of Assassins’ (2017)
Written by R. J. Barker
Age of Assassins is, believe it or not, about an assassin, albeit one who is kind of inexperienced and still has a long way to go to be a well-respected killer-for-hire. Since this assassin isn’t always very good at taking lives, he is given a different assignment: to save a life, and to prevent that life from being taken by various political conspirators, all while the kingdom cries for civil war, and while shadowy figures move about behind the scenes, plotting the downfall of the realm.
This is a great pick for anyone who loved the assassin plotline of Game of Thrones, along with the political conspiracies and backstabbing that take place in the earlier seasons. Age of Assassins might not be the most popular book on this list, but it earned rave reviews, and established its own series. It’s also not a super-long read, in comparisong to many other fantasy books, so if one doesn’t like it so much, at least it won’t feel like too much time was wasted.
9
‘The White Queen’ (2009)
Written by Philippa Gregory
The White Queen is the only non-fantasy novel to make this list. The story is a heavily-fictionialized retelling of actual events, taking place during the Wars of the Roses, a time in English history when various families were warring over who would control the throne. Sound familiar? That’s because George R. R. Martin actually based A Song of Ice and Fire off of this very real Medieval conflict, and he hasn’t exactly been very shy about it.
The White Queen is less about the conflict itself and more about the politics going on behind the scenes, specifically about the noblewomen of the Royal House of Tudor. As their subjects fight against the enemy forces, these women pull numerous strings behind the scenes to shape the outcome of the war in their favour. Famously, this book was also adapted for television, taking the form of a critically-acclaimed 2013 miniseries which went on to score four Emmy nominations Obviously, any fans of Game of Thrones will love The White Queen, because it’s a fictional story about the events that inspired Game of Thrones in the first place.
10
‘The Emperor’s Blades’ (2014)
Written by Brian Staveley
The Emperor’s Blades is another novel set in a country in chaos, filled to the brim with political turmoil. Right at the start, the novel opens on the Emperor’s assassination, leaving a gaping power vaccuum, with various factions all competing to win the throne of the Annurian Empire. This is in spite of the Emperor having living heirs, who are caught in the middle of it all. Now, it’s up to them to uncover a political conspiracy and save their kingdom from falling into pieces.
There are quite a few parallels here with Game of Thrones: namely, in the fact that it opens up on the assassination of an important political figure, along with the fact that there are loads of conspiracies and plots going on behind the scenes, and, of course with a strong sense of family being central to the plot. It might not be anything revolutionary, but The Emperor’s Blades earned brilliant reviews, and is worth picking up.
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