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5 Dark Fantasy Books You Should Read

I love dark fantasy novels. That's probably no surprise since I'm a dark fantasy author. For me it's a genre that provides a wonderful sense of escapism, combined with the thrill of exploring the shadowed corners of the human psyche. Dark fantasy is essentially regular fantasy with some edgier, horror elements to it. More than that though, dark fantasy books often have morally ambiguous heroes, villains you can relate with, and a much more ‘shades of grey’ sense of right and wrong. If that’s still feeling pretty broad, don’t worry. I’ve narrowed down some of the best dark fantasy stories below. 

Here are the best dark fantasy books getting around...

1. The Warded Man by Peter V Brett

Also known as The Painted Man in Australia and the UK, this is the first in Peter V Brett's Demon Cycle series. The Painted Man portrays a post-apocalyptic world where demons have risen from the core of the earth, reaping death and violence upon humanity. We follow the life of a young boy, Arlan Bales, as he grows up to become a demon fighter and possibly 'The Deliverer' - a messiah-like figure who will lead the world in a battle against all demon kind. 

The in-depth storytelling involved in this book is extraordinary. You get an amazing sense of the characters, even delving into the minds of 'villains' to change perspective and see their side of things. I would absolutely recommend getting into this sooner rather than later. The fifth and final book in the series, The Core, has just been released so it’s the perfect time to start and binge it all the way to the end.

The get your hands on the Warded man, head here. 

2. The Way of the Shadows by Brent Weeks

The Way of the Shadows follows young orphan Azoth's path to becoming the deadliest assassin the world has ever seen. Set in a medieval-style fantasy world with kings, queens, guilds, apprentices and of course magic, this book is the first in a trilogy and has all of the elements of a great anti-hero's journey. There's sex, political intrigue, violence, and a love story woven into the mix. Queue them up on your Kindle and rip through the whole lot in a holiday break. Just don't start if you don't have much time to spare because you'll neglect your job, friends, partner and children in favour of diving into the story.

To dive into this Dark Fantasy epic, start here.

3. Imajica by Clive Barker

When it comes to classic dark fantasy look no further than Clive Barker. While he's better known for his horror titles (like Hellraiser/The Hellbound Heart), for my money Barker's best work comes when he delves even deeper into his twisted imagination to create entire universes. 

Imajica is a monster of a dark fantasy book at 824 pages. It chronicles the events surrounding the reconciliation of Earth with four other parallel worlds unknown to all but a select few of Earth's inhabitants. Woven into the tale are interesting ideas on sex, religion, god, love and death. It's part fantasy, part philosophy, part fast-paced thriller. To give you an indication of how ahead of his time Clive Barker was on a lot of this stuff, he was exploring gender fluidity in Imajica way back in 1991. Pretty crazy considering that topic is really only becoming a major discussion point in the world now.

If you like this book, another great dark fantasy title by Clive Barker is Weave World. Get both on your reading list. As a start, check out this insane illustrated version of Imajica here.

4. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

When American Gods came out it won the Hugo, Locus, Nebula and Bram Stoker awards all in the same year. Think about that for a second. It won ALL the major awards for scifi, horror and fantasy. That means it somewhat defies genre, yet is so amazing it has critics raving about how good it is. If that isn't enough to interest you in reading it, here's a little teaser of the story line.... Shadow has just been released from jail, only to find that his wife was killed in a car accident while giving a blowjob to one of his best friends. On the plane ride home for the funeral, Shadow encounters a strange man called Mr Wednesday, who wants to hire Shadow as a bodyguard. With nothing to lose, Shadow accepts and is thrown into a world that blends myth and reality.  A true dark fantasy masterpiece.

American Gods has also just been released as a new Amazon TV series. You can either watch that, or read the book first to prime your imagination for a war between deities.  

The audible version of America Gods is especially great, which you can listen to here.

5. The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Witcher has had an epic rise to fame over the last decade. From a hugely popular videogame series, to a mega hit show on Netflix. For some, it’s easy to forget this dark fantasy classic started as a short story and evolved into a dark fantasy novel series. The first of these is The Last Wish. Monster hunting, a hero that is definitely one dark guy, villains you learn to love and a world that you can easily get lost in. If you’re looking for a guide on the best order to read the witcher books in, head here.

Hopefully, that’s satisfied your need for getting some of the best dark fantasy books onto your to be read pile. If that’s not enough, I’m happy to cheat. That’s the spirit of dark fantasy after all. Try The Dark Tower by Stephen King, or Dark Dawn by Australia’s Jay Kristoff.

Or, if you want a free copy of the first book in my own dark fantasy trilogy, Hellbound, head here.

The Witcher Books In Order - Two Ways To Read Them

The Witcher series on Netflix has been a wild success. The games franchise also. Because of that, many people are reading, or rereading, the original Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski. But what order should you read The Witcher books in? Is chronology of story or publishing date the best order to read The Witcher? Here’s a guide on The Witcher books in order of how you should read them.

First, a little about the books. The series follows a ‘Witcher’ - a monster hunter with supernatural abilities - called Geralt of Rivia. He sweeps the land slaying beasts and conquering demons, before succumbing to his destiny - the protection of a child called Ciri. The whole story was sparked way back in the 80s by a short story that appeared in a Polish fantasy magazine called Fantastyk. People loved it so much, it turned into more shorts, then novels. Not until 2007 were they translated into English for the first time. 13 more years later and it’s a global smash hit (take heart authors hoping for a slow-burn success story for their own work).

So, the big question, what are The Witcher books in order?

The Witcher books in order of publishing date

I’m going to go off their original Polish publishing dates, rather than the translations, to keep with how Andrzej Sapkowski laid them out. These are The Witcher books in order of how they were first put out:

Sword of Destiny (1992) - Short Story Collection

The Last Wish (1993) - Short Story Collection

Blood of Elves (1994) - The Witcher Saga

Time of Contempt (1995) - The Witcher Saga

Baptism of Fire (1996) - The Witcher Saga

The Tower of the Swallow (1997) - The Witcher Saga

The Lady of the Lake (1999) - The Witcher Saga

Season of Storms (2013) - Stand Alone Novel

There’s a solid argument here that the order of release should match your reading order of The Witcher. Like Star Wars, it’s how the fans first fell in love with them, so it stands to reason you should take the same path. However, just like Star Wars, there are other opinions on how they should be consumed.

That brings us to an alternative way to read The Witcher books in order.

The Witcher Books in order of story chronology

As you’ve probably guessed, the order of release has meant that Andrzej Sapkowski has woven through some backstories, filled in gaps and set certain scenes. The order isn’t wildly different to the publishing dates (contrary to our favourite space wizard movies). However, here are The Witcher Books in order of actual story chronology.

The Last Wish

Sword of Destiny

Season of Storms 

Blood of Elves

Time of Contempt

Baptism of Fire

The Tower of the Swallow

The Lady of the Lake

The reason for this order is that in the initial short stories time does jump around a lot. In the Netflix series, this causes some confusion with a lot of viewers, which is understandable. While it’s not perfect, the better order is probably The Last Wish first. This is because the history and geography of the continent are set up best in Last Wish, as are the powers and escapades of Geralt. The stories of Sword of Destiny take place right before the main saga and introduce the key character of Ciri. Season of Storms is technically the last book to be published, but is set around this time as well. There’s an argument you could leave Season of Storms out altogether because it’s not central to the main arc of the other books. However, if you’re wanting the full scope of Sapkowski’s world it’s worth diving into.

So, there you have it. Two ways to read The Witcher books in order - by publishing date, or chronology. I’m not quite sure which is the best order to read The Witcher Books because I can’t go back and do it differently. However, it’s good to know your options. At a push, I’d say go with the publishing date. It’s how they rolled from the author’s pen, so it’s probably how they should roll into your mind.

If you’re wanting to get your hands on a full box set, this is a great one on Amazon, or you can just start with The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny as an intro.

Either way, happy reading and happy monster hunting.

The Hellbound Trilogy's Epic New Covers

When it came to updating the covers of the Hellbound Trilogy it was pretty hard to go past dark art extraordinaire Menton3. Menton has produced work for the X-Files comics, Transfusion, Chasing the Dragon and more. His creepy vision and dark artistry matched so well with the dark fantasy themes of Hellbound it was scary.

After explaining the concept to Menton, he ran with it and created the 3 below masterpieces. An impactful way to gives this cult dark fantasy series a new afterlife…

Menton3’s Cover Art for Hellbound - Book 1.

Menton3’s cover art for I Am Satan - Book 2 of the Hellbound Trilogy by Tim Hawken

Menton3’s cover art for Deicide - Book 3 of the Hellbound Trilogy by Tim Hawken

To finished things off, cover design Xavier Davies added titles, and away we go.

To get these special editions of The Hellbound Trilogy click below.

ShOP NOW

Best Lowbrow Pop Surrealism Art Accounts On Instagram

I’m an art junky. Pop Surrealism, Lowbrow Pop, Dark Art, Monsters, New Contemporary or simply skilful illustrations. For those like me, here are the best lowbrow pop surrealism accounts on Instagram I’ve been able to find. As a bonus, I’ve listed some curated pages that have lowbrow pop on Insta but also weave in other dark art and generally epic others sprinkled in there too, just to branch out a little. Good art is good art.

Follow, feast your eyeballs and enjoy.

Best Lowbrow Pop On Instagram

Pop Surreal - Just like the name suggests, a wide range of Pop Surrealism to feast your eyes on.

Casey Weldon - For my money Casey is one of the funniest lowbrow pop artists getting around.

Tom Grillo - Lowbrow pop with a dark humor twist. Tom Grillo throws up demons, cats, cat demons and more.

Just one rainbow slice of gold from Casey’s Weldon’s insta.

Collections - These accounts offer a great variety of artists all on one scroll

Wicked Eye Candy - A wonderful mix of weird, wicked and, well, wonderful

She Walks Softly - Super well curated pop surrealism and more

Beautiful Bizarre - The Instagram feed of the magazine. So good.

Copro Gallery - A gallery in California that has been running for 20 years. They know their stuff.

Image via Copro Gallery by Lori Nelson, @lorinlsonart on Instagram

Artists - Pop Surrealists, Dark Artists and More.

Mab Graves - Amazing pencil art, detours and, ah, dolls

Adrian Borda - Regular posts of interesting characters in unique worlds

Joshua Roman - Colourful portraits that border on insane (see Mugatu below)

Elena Masci - Italian fine artist with a beautiful mind.

Menton3 - Dark artiste extraordinaire

Image by Joshua Roman - @joshuaromanart on Instagram

Adults Only - Beware there are some ‘themed’ artworks in here, so if you find nipples or sex offensive, then steer clear.

Amber Carr - Little devils and BDSM nuns among others

Olivia De Berardinis - Pin ups of a most sublime nature

Luis Royo - Fantasy, erotic and apocalyptic illustrations

Virginia Rose - A collection of retro art with a saucy twist

Image by Olivia De Berardinis - @oliviapinupart on Instagram

That’s a highlight reel for you. Of course, it’s not exhaustive, so if you have any of your own favourites, hit up the comments below.

If you’d like to get a dose of my favourite artists, podcasts and more in your inbox each month. Hit subscribe on my newsletter here.

End Note: A lot of these artists live off sales of art and other merch too, so if you’re thinking of gifting art this year, do you bit to help them eat by buying into their stylings.

The Best Drabbles of 2020

A drabble is a micro-story of exactly 100 words. As a writer, I love the format as a test to see how much imagination you can pack into a short space. For over a year now, I’ve been dropping art-inspired drabbles on my Instagram feed most weekdays. They’re a fun way to keep active on social media without resorting to selfies or food shots. A lot of people seem to love them too. So, I thought I’d wrap up my top 3 for the year here, going by likes and comments. There’s a very solid chance the number of likes is more for the art than the story itself, but seemed like the best way to figure out the best drabbles of 2020 on the feed.

Here they are in order.

Best Drabble of 2020

They came at dawn - the Fallen and their shadow master.

At first I thought it was a trick of the light, my eyes adjusting to the morning mist.

Then, the bodies emerged, suspended in mid-air like dark marionettes.

By then, it was too late to run. I tried, but something tugged me back.

An invisible string wrapped around the core of me. Wove inside my mind.

I was pulled into the sky, back to join the others. My mouth smiled with dark delight. Together we would take over the town.

Deep down though, I screamed to be let go.

#

This 100-word micro story was inspired by the epic art of Abhay Parmar who you can follow on Instagram here.

It received 11.1K likes and 40 comments.

#2 Drabble of 2020

Everybody wanted to live in The Shade. The cool district.

Every morning I’d wake up to the scorching sun in the city and look over. They hadn’t woken yet. Didn’t know the meaning of tropical insanity. The inability to sleep because you lay all night in a pool of sweat.

Their air-conditioning took the remaining power that didn’t go into irrigation pumps. Said we were lucky we could eat. We had shelter. Had lives while the rest of the world was a desert.

The Shade was the place to be, but only because of us who worked in the sun.

#

This 100-word microstory was inspired by the insane scifi concept work of Inward Sound who you can follow on Instagram here.

It received 7.8K likes and 46 comments.

#3 Drabble of 2020

The stories go that our land was carved by the gods. Really, it was scratched out by their kids.

A sandpit to play in. A paddle pool to splash in. This world was designed for them to learn the ropes of destruction before they tried their hands at creation.

Yet what they created was beautiful. Swirling rivers dug with sticks, sweeping mountains that were their fortresses, rainforests teeming with tiny playthings.

We have the god children to thank for that past. Just as we have our own to thank for the future.

Never underestimate what some innocent play can create.

#

This 100-word microstory was inspired by the always playful art Ian Mutch who you can follow on Instagram here.

It received 7.1K likes and 47 comments.

You can my more of these art-inspred microstories over on Instagram here or on good old Facebook here.

The Best YA Fantasy Books with Sabaa Tahir

Sabaa’s Tahir’s YA fantasy books have sold more than a million copies worldwide and recently made TIME Magazine’s 100 best fantasy books of all time. Her latest novel A Sky Beyond the Storm is out December 1st and is by a mile the most eagerly awaited fantasy series finale this year. Sabaa has a bright sock addiction, makes a mean music playlist, and enjoys killing off darling characters even more than Jay Kristoff and George R Martin combined. 

In this episode we dive into what makes an amazing sock, why romance is underrated, and how YA is a category that often defies genre. We also of course talked about Sabaa’s best YA fantasy book recommendations. 

Sabaa Tahir’s most loved YA fantasy novels include:

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdeah

This YA fantasy series has rich historical detail and plenty of romance. Renée’s newer series starting with The Beautiful is also amazing YA urban romantic paranormal fantasy.

Six of Crows Leigh Bardugo

A YA Fantasy series with an Oceans 11 ‘heist movie’ feel to it.

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

A reimagining of the Arabian Nights, including rich historical details with a heist element too.

The Sun is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

Incredible Contemporary Literary YA fiction 

They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera 

Another genre defying book, it’s maybe best described as Young Adult LGBT Adventure

Sabaa’s newest YA Fantasy book, the final instalment in the Ember In The Ashes series can be found where all good books are sold.

The Best Action Adventure Books with Matthew Reilly

Matthew Reilly is a New York Times bestselling author of 18 novels - with his latest, The Two Lost Mountains launching today. His books have sold over 7.5 million copies worldwide, thanks to his intriguing characters and plot pacing that’s faster than a Dalorian DMC-12. While most peg him as an action adventure writer, he also touches other genres like scifi and fantasy frequently in his work. Matthew himself describes his novels as 'escapist' fiction.

In this chat, we talked Hollywood adaptations, killing off characters (and getting hate mail for it), plus how Michael Crichton influenced his writing…

For the best action adventure novels (other than his own) Matthew recommended…

The Andromeda Strain or The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton.

He also thinks non-fiction like Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari & The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova help inspire great works of fiction.

Finally, for pure imagination, Matthew Reilly recommends scifi classics: Rendevous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke, The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov, and The Hyperion Series by Dan Simmons.

To read Matthew Reilly’s books, or some of his free short stories head to MatthewReilly.com

The Best Biographies with Derek Rielly

Derek Rielly is a strange cross of dirtbag surfer meets eloquent wordsmith. This made him the perfect person to write Wednesdays With Bob - the bestselling biography on Bob Hawke. Derek has since followed that up with an incredible book on the Indigenous Australian icon David Gulpilil. When he’s not writing about real people, Derek also makes up facts about his parents to colour up his author’s bio. 

Derek chatting with the late Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke. Photo shot by Richard Freeman, sourced via BeachGrit.com

In this chat, we uncover whether Derek’s dad really was a pro wrestler, how persistence landed him the book with Bob Hawke, and how one of the most compelling biographies he’s read opens up with a corpse on a slab…

Derek’s best biography recommendations include…

Night Train: The Sonny Liston Story by Nick Toches

Dino: Living High On The Business of Dreams by Nick Toches

The World Is My Home by James Mitchener (actually a memoir) 

When Warriors Lie Down and Die by Richard Trudger (history)

To stay in touch with Derek’s latest, head to BeachGrit.com.

The Best Non Fiction Books with Jess Hill

Jess Hill is an investigative journalist and the author of See What You Made Me Do, which recently won the coveted Stella Prize. Jess’s work has also won two Walkley awards, three Our Watch awards, and an Amnesty International award. She even helped set Twitter on fire last year with her revelation that Stockholm Syndrome is actually a bunch of bullshit. 

Jess’s book See What You Made Me Do is for sure the most mindblowing non-fiction book I’ve read this year, up there with my favourites of all time like Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.

I was lucky enough to have a remarkable chat with this remarkable woman, where we spoke about the role of non-fiction for society, the best non-fiction books getting around, and what it meant for Jess to win The Stella Prize.

Listen to the interview below, and check out all her recommendations.

Best Non-Fiction Books According To Jess Hill

Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman

The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk

Educated by Tara Westover 

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Anything by Tony Judt

Bonus - The Best Cli-Fi Books according to Jess

James Bradley’s Ghost Species

A Constant Hum by Alice Bishop

To connect with Jess, follow her on Twitter here, or head to her website here.

To shop all of the titles above in a way that helps support local bookstores, and the Genre Wars Book Podcast at the same time, head here.

The Best Sci Fi Books with Ken Liu

Reading Ken’s Liu bio, you might think he’s a replicant from the future who never sleeps. He’s worked as a programmer for Microsoft, practices law with a degree from Harvard and has won just about every major sci-fi and fantasy writing award getting around including The Hugo, The Locus, The Nebula and more. On top of that, he’s translated critically acclaimed works from Chinese into English, including one of my favourite sci-fi books The Three Body Problem. His latest series The Dandelion Dynasty also cements Ken as the undisputed godfather of Silkpunk.

In episode 5 of the Genre Wars Book Podcast, we talked about how genre is useful, how it’s not, what kinds of stories Ken is drawn to, and that time he wrote for a little series called Star Wars… 

To browse Ken Liu’s best sci-fi book recommendations, see below.

Best SciFi Classics

(*Note: Ken chose writers here over specific works. I’ve selected one book I think represents them well.)

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin

"[A] science fiction masterpiece."--Newsweek

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

"Intricate and extraordinary."--The New York Times

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler 

"In the ongoing contest over which dystopian classic is most applicable to our time, Octavia Butler's 'Parable' books may be unmatched."--New Yorker

Newer SciFi Books People Will Be Delighted To Discover

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

"A twisting, sapphic time travel fantasy love story that never stops surprising." --Booklist

Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huan  

"Trust us, trigonometry has never sounded so cool." --Paste Magazine

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi   

"A thrilling, intense, nail-biting read that transcends genre and has an ending of biblical proportions." --Grimdark Magazine

A Song For A New Day by Sarah Pinsker     

“This tale of hope and passion is a remarkable achievement." --Publishers Weekly

United States of Japan by Peter Tieryas

"A searing vision of the persistence of hope in the face of brutality, United States of Japan is utterly brilliant." -- Ken Liu

To connect with Ken and get updates about his writing, find him on Twitter @KYLIU99 or head to his website . I’d recommend his Paper Menagerie as a wonderful place to start. 

To see all of the best science fiction book titles above, along with recommendations lists from other authors head here.