Nailing down grimdark!

[Mark]

I'm trying to establish what grimdark is through the democratic process. A whole bunch of books need more votes to establish their level of grimdarkiness...

http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.co.uk...

Currently the list of those with enough votes to get a reliable average looks like this (you can still vote on these too)

The aim is to establish a scale so a range of books are considered.

The Darkness That Comes Before - by R. Scott Bakker, Grimdark Rating 4.49
Prince of Thorns - by Mark Lawrence, Grimdark Rating 4.42
The Steel Remains - by Richard K. Morgan, Grimdark Rating 4.00
The Black Company - by Glen Cook, Grimdark Rating 3.84
The Blade Itself - by Joe Abercrombie, Grimdark Rating 3.84
Gardens of the Moon - by Steven Erikson, Grimdark Rating 3.56
Elric of Melnibone - by Michael Moorcock, Grimdark Rating 3.45
A Game of Thrones - by George RR Martin, Grimdark Rating 3.41
Lord Foul's Bane - by Stephen R Donaldson, Grimdark Rating 3.18
The Way of Shadows - by Brent Weeks, Grimdark Rating 2.78
The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett, Grimdark Rating 2.56
Legend - by David Gemmell, Grimdark Rating 2.27
The Lies of Locke Lamora - by Scott Lynch, Grimdark Rating 2.26
Assassin's Apprentice - by Robin Hobb, Grimdark Rating 1.96
The Sword of Truth - by Terry Goodkind, Grimdark Rating 1.51
Magician - by Raymond E Feist, Grimdark Rating 1.46
The Pawn of Prophecy - by David Eddings, Grimdark Rating 1.26
The Sword of Shannara - by Terry Brooks, Grimdark Rating 1.16

[Tracey the Lizard Queen, First In, Last Out]

I've added my two cents to the ones I've read.

[Scott]

I voted for the ones that I have read. However the ones which were listed as waiting for a vote there were no hyperlinks. Beyond Redemption in particular from that list is one of the finest works of GD out there and as GD as it gets.

[Silvana]

Good and useful stuff!

[Mark]

Quite a few more titles now scored and a more waiting for votes.

[Scott]

I'm happy Beyond Redemption is getting the respect it deserves.

[Mark]

Scott wrote: "I'm happy Beyond Redemption is getting the respect it deserves."

I guess that depends on what you mean by respect. How grimdark a book is is a comment on content or style rather than quality.

I've heard good things about the book, but a high gd score isn't a good or a bad thing.

[Scott]

Mark wrote: "Scott wrote: "I'm happy Beyond Redemption is getting the respect it deserves."

I guess that depends on what you mean by respect. How grimdark a book is a comment on content or styl..."

I agree. I was more referring to the total number of votes, or I guess votes would be wrong more feedback, it received especially given I wasn't able to access it from the start. I'm not sure if others had that issue or not.

You should check it out. I think you would really like it.

[Silvana]

I am still confused why Gardens of the Moon and Black Company receive lower than 4....Aren't those like, classic grimdark?

[Mark]

Silvana wrote: "I am still confused why Gardens of the Moon and Black Company receive lower than 4....Aren't those like, classic grimdark?"

I've not read them. Hundreds of people who have voted them those averages...

[Earl]

They are definitely 4.5 to 5. Both gritty and dark! Loved them!👍🏽

[Scott]

Earl wrote: "They are definitely 4.5 to 5. Both gritty and dark! Loved them!👍🏽"

I haven't read BC yet but totally agree on BotF.

[Earl]

Erikson gives homage to BC as his inspiration .

[Scott]

Earl wrote: "Erikson gives homage to BC as his inspiration ."

Nice. It's been on my TBR for a long time. I'll have to make a point to start it soon.

[Silvana]

Well, well....Clearly we need to make BC as a group read sometime next year.

[Earl]

👍🏽 where Malazan is huge BC is on a smaller scale but more characterization