You. Yes you, you television-watching-lazy-bones. Have you read A Song of Ice and Fire? If not, rectify this immediately. It’s basically, right, Game of Thrones, but a book. Quite a few books actually. If you have read A Song of Ice and Fire; wasn’t it good? Would you like to know a few more books that we think you might like? If not, you should probably stop reading this article now. That’s basically all it is.

Now, there is a lot of good High Fantasy out there, but we’re not looking at that here. No Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan in this list, or even Patrick Rothfuss with his post-Whedon dialogue and unfolding anti-hero yarns. Instead, we’re looking at the authors who take a step back from the fantastic and enter murky, violent worlds of politics, misery and everything going a bit wrong.

Welcome to the ‘Everyone is an Incredible Bastard’ Fantasy subgenre.

1. Joe Abercrombie – The First Law trilogy

Abercrombie’s publishers have put a quote from George R. R. Martin in prominent places on his recent novels, primarily because they’re not stupid. Starting with his initial The First Law trilogy, Abercrombie’s six novels (with at least three more due) continue to expand the un-named fantasy world.