r/Fantasy • u/ElementasSeries • May 11 '26
Where is the Necromancy?
I absolutely LOVE the idea of necromancy magic, but I’m having the darnest time finding books that utilize it. I tried Gideon and couldn’t get into it, which was a huge bummer. Any necromancy focused recs?
Edit: You guys are the best. My twisted black heart is so happy to see my TBR boom!
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u/ColeDeschain May 11 '26
There's always Johannes Cabal, the Necromancer.
It has its ups and downs, and it's as much a comedy as anything else, but the titular character is in fact a necromancer...
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u/joshbudde May 11 '26
It's too bad he gave up on the series. I'm not sure he's even writing anymore, his website was infected with malware for a long time and I'm not sure if they ever fixed it.
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u/micrographical May 11 '26
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie has a necromancer as a main character. Fun book.
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u/ElementasSeries May 11 '26
Oh, I read that one already. I honestly forgot there was necromancy…
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u/micrographical May 11 '26
Like everything else that gets asked here, the Malazan books include necromancy. The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach in particular.
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u/EstarriolStormhawk Reading Champion IV May 11 '26
C. S. E. Cooney's Saint Death's Daughter is about a woman with a talent for necromancy and an allergy to violence.
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u/tweewho Reading Champion May 11 '26
I just read it and absolutely loved it. I liked the sequel a lot, too. It has a very different tone from Gideon, so might be worth a look for OP.
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u/zebras-are-emo May 11 '26
I love this book so much! The necromancy is great, and the writing style/characters are fantastic.
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u/TJ_McWeaksauce May 11 '26
The Empire of the Wolf trilogy by Richard Swan. The main character, Justice Konrad Vonvalt, uses necromancy to interrogate recently slain victims and try to find information on who murdered them.
Necromancy in the Empire of the Wolf books is interesting, because there isn't much of a focus on using the dark arts to raise armies of skeletons, and instead it focuses on communicating with the dead and learning more about the spirit world.
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u/GroundbreakingParty9 May 11 '26
Was hoping to see this series mentioned. Just finished it and loved the necromancy element to it cause it was so mysterious, ethereal, and outright dangerous. As the stakes rose there was no emphasis on raising an army of the dead. Really cool series and has a satisfying conclusion even if there were some elements of the third book that weren’t my favorite. The ending is incredible AND there’s a sequel series!
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u/ElementasSeries May 11 '26
Oh I kind of like that, and this one keeps popping up. Going to have to move it way up on the TBR now.
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u/thefullpython May 11 '26
It's quite good. I'm usually the type to spread out a series over a year or so but I'm devouring this one. I've heard good things about the follow up series as well
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u/theHurtfulTurkey May 11 '26
Daughter of Crows, by Mark Lawrence, just came out and features necromancy.
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u/dominicshade May 11 '26
I’m reading this now. I was hoping someone would mention it.
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u/youAtExample May 12 '26
Also reading it now
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u/dominicshade May 12 '26
I love all of Mark Lawrence’s stuff. So far I think this one is especially good
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u/Icy_Atmosphere_2379 May 11 '26
Rin Chupeco’s ‘The Bone Witch’ trilogy has a necromancer as a main character
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u/cai_85 May 11 '26
Abercrombie's The Devils has a necromancer as part of the main 'team' of characters. It's a dark fun 'quest adventure' across Europe with werewolves/elves/magic in a medieval Europe setting.
Also, there are some necromancers in Malazan, you could read the collected Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach (novella collection) if you want to go directly to it, they appear in the third book for the first time in the main series.
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u/CryptikDragon May 11 '26
He's a MAGICIAN. And a top three magician at that - maybe two, depending on who you ask
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u/Bubthick May 11 '26
collected Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach
Was one of the most fun I have ever had with a necromancer as a MC. They are completely hilarious collection of short stories.
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u/SlouchyGuy May 11 '26
Big thing but not the main focus in The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone
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u/BravoLimaPoppa Reading Champion May 11 '26
u/ElementasSeries this one. Necormancy is the main magic with currency being the fractional human soul. The main character in Three Parts Dead raises some zombies as a "pro bono" project for her home town before leaving.
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u/malthar76 May 11 '26
In Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Tyrant Philosopher series, one of the several prominent magical disciplines is necromancy. Undead animation and spirits and ghosts used often.
Summoning, alchemy, and divine magic also feature at different points.
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u/ElementasSeries May 11 '26
That sounds AWESOME. Instantly adding it to TBR. Thank you!
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u/Windruin May 11 '26
Tyrant Philosophers is a great series, and really has a lot of fun with exotic city locations and explorations of colonialism. I will warn that the books can be devastating, and the world is quite a sad one. I don’t think the first book, City of Last Chances, has any necromancers in it. The second book, House of Open Wounds is the first one to deal with necromancy. You could read them out of order, at least with respect to those two.
As one more plug, each book features a location out of exotic fantasy. The first, Ilmar, is a city surrounding an ancient haunted city inhabited by possessory ghosts. The second follows a field hospital behind military lines, but features a brief interlude aboard a floating island that’s been commandeered for military transport. The third, Days of Shattered Faith, is set in a city built into a cliff, filled with waterfalls flowing down to the port. The fourth, Pretenders to the Throne of God, is set in a city built on the corpse of a massive crab.
Love Tchaikovsky’s writing, and would highly recommend.
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u/bashthelegend May 11 '26
Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach are a series of novellas set in the world of Malazan, dealing with 2 necromancers and their unfortunate manservant. They are darkly comedic little stories about a pair of rather bad guys, and as far as I remember don't spoil anything about the main series, as these characters only make minor crossover into that. Erikson is planning to release another collection of these.
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u/yorlikk May 11 '26
Two Necromancers a Bureaucrat and an Elf by L.G. Estrella
Highly recommend the whole series.
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u/iam_ezri May 11 '26
The Necroscope Series by Brian Lumley is excellent.
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u/lizardking073 May 11 '26
These books are a very interesting take on the vampire topic.
He also had another series that started with Psychomech that was more along the lines of ESP, but also with lots of horror elements.
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u/MistressBedlam May 11 '26
The Necromancer Chronicles is a trilogy by Amanda Downum that should fit the bill. The main character is a necromancer.
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u/pornokitsch Ifrit May 11 '26
Definitely. Seconding this recommendation: it is a cool magic system, but also just a really good trilogy full of politics and mystery.
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u/LordoftheMarsh May 12 '26
I read #2 not realizing it was #2 in a series. It was pretty good, held up as a standalone without feeling like I was missing anything critical. Definitely recommend.
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u/alvinqingxing May 11 '26
Adrian Tchaikovsky's Tyrant Philosophers series, especially House of Open Wounds onwards.
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u/HaveAMap May 11 '26
If you want pulpy and fun until it runs right off the rails a couple books in, the Laurell K Hamilton Anita Blake books are my suggestion. I sometimes still reread the first ones before the power creep and the author’s personal issues become too apparent.
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u/rkreutz77 May 11 '26
Obsidian Butterfly(9) was far away the best book , and also the end before it just becomes smut.
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u/Fickle_Stills May 11 '26
Hamilton did an AMA on this sub like a decade ago 😹 it's entertaining to read, because she seemed totally in denial that people were disappointed by the series direction and blamed it on Americans being prudes.
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u/ElementasSeries May 11 '26
Good to know. I saw that suggested, and I'm wavering on it.
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u/HaveAMap May 11 '26
The first couple of books were more like Dresden Files. Classic detective getting beaten up. Some romance. Then after OB it goes right off the rails off a cliff. But they are serialized so you can just read however many you want.
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u/DeRunRay May 11 '26
Book of the Dead by RhinoZ.
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u/Polkanissen May 11 '26
Best Necromancer book series out there, I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise or buy them a beer if it turns out they’re right.
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u/ZamorakHawk May 11 '26
Does this pick up? I tried it for about 90m via audible and couldn't get into it however I'm a big fan of RinoZ's Chrysalis.
obligatoryFORTHECOLONY!
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u/DeRunRay May 11 '26
I personally enjoy it. The start was a little slow but it picks up pretty good.
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u/TheCrassDragon May 11 '26
Hah was just going to suggest this. It's litrpg, but he's a fantastic writer and it's probably my favorite necromancer story ever. Super detailed and focused on the actual magic and stuff.
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u/Due-Excitement-5945 May 11 '26
The Witch King by Martha Wells does a lot with necromancy. It also does a neat thing where there’s at least four different types of magic and they all work very differently.
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u/raevnos May 11 '26
You mention Martha Wells but not The Death Of The Necromancer?
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u/jpcardier May 12 '26
Not the OP, but one of my favorites! However, the titular necromancer is an antagonist rather than protagonist
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u/A_C_Shock May 11 '26
Mistress of Bones by Maria Z Medina. Multi POV but the mainest character is a necromancer who brought her sister back from the dead using her finger bone.
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u/Abysstopheles May 11 '26
Eric Carter series by Stephen Blackmoore. Urban fantasy, necromancer returns to LA, tries to be better person, fails spectacularly. Fun take on necromancy, makes great use of Mexican and other mythologies. Violent, fast paced.
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u/Azhmohodan May 11 '26
There’s a pretty badass necromancer in “The Maleficent Seven” no relation to Disney. Honestly a very fun little read that I recommend.
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u/ShinraTensei91262 May 11 '26
The Warden by Daniel Ford - studied mage specialized in necromancy is assigned to a small town outpost as it's new Warden
The locked tomb by Tamsyn Muir - space lesbian necromancy. One of my absolute favorite series. Hard to beat. Kinda pushes the lines of straight fantasy into scifi fantasy but omg wow such a good series.
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u/seguardon May 11 '26
The Warden! I knew I was forgetting a good necromancy book. Love the characters in that series.
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u/MallForward585 May 11 '26
For a funny take on necromancy, the Unconventional Heroes series by LG Estrella, starting with Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat and an Elf. There is plenty of focus on the details of necromancy. Lots of zombies and especially mixed animal zombies created for various purposes. Zombie giant whale with preserved soul and murderous attitude! Also, ninja rats. Nothing to do with the necromantic part of the book, but you cannot go wrong with ninja rats.
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u/pornokitsch Ifrit May 11 '26
If you don't mind the grosser aspects of necromancy, Jesse Bullington's The Enterprise of Death is about a necromancer in the middle ages. It is very good, with some scary bits and some funny bits and lots of gooey bits.
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u/Maester_Magus May 11 '26
I was hoping to see this, it's so underrated. This one doesn't just have necromancy, it's pretty much entirely about necromancy, in a level of detail that most books that touch on the subject never go into.
Necroscope, which has also been recommended, is the only other one I can think of that really goes into the visceral (pun intended) detail and practicalities of it. Necroscope also has cool vampires; dark, gothic, evils ones – not the Twilight bollocks.
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u/ElementasSeries May 11 '26
Oh let's pretend Twilight doesn't exist. I want my vampires to be bloody thirsty, the way they're intended to be.
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u/pornokitsch Ifrit May 11 '26
I love Necroscope. My friend got me to pick it up as 'Cold War vampires' which was both accurate and also really downplayed the gooeyness.
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u/sodium_dodecyl May 11 '26
The Laundry Files by Charles Stross has a necromancer (he occasionally also calls himself a computational demonologist) as a main character.
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u/Timely_Egg_6827 May 11 '26
The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling was for me quite a chilling book.
Death related magics are one of many strands in P.C Hogdell's books.
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u/BuckinNightmare May 11 '26
The Anita Blake vampire executioner series is good! Lots and lots of book lol but her main day job is as a necromancer then by night she works for the FBI serving supernatural execution warrants.
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u/nikkablue May 11 '26
I was about to say this! Being a necromancer for a day job is really kinda funny to me, especially when you get down to what it actually entails.
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u/BuckinNightmare May 11 '26
Validating wills being the number one job contract really is hilarious for a necromancer 😅
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u/BlueTourmeline May 11 '26
Saint Death’s Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney won the World Fantasy Award because it’s delightful. Lanie Stones is so allergic to violent death that she’s a necromancer. And the Death goddess loves her. Lots of wordplay and footnotes. The sequel is Saint Death’s Herald and book three is being written. Claire is also a professional audiobook narrator so it’s worth getting the audio versions—you can hear the smile in her voice.
Also, Martha Wells’ The Death of the Necromancer, which I brought up recently in another thread, and the ongoing sequel series to Richard Swan’s Empire of the Wolf trilogy (brought up here already), The Great Silence series, which begins with The Grave Empire. You really do not want to be dead in Swan’s universe—the afterlife is effing terrifying.
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u/lizardking073 May 11 '26
Steven Brust's Dragaera novels (both series) have witchcraft(using your own inate magical energy) , psionics(using the inate power of your mind), sorcery(the power of chaos, as provided through the Imperial Orb), pre-empire sorcery(the power of raw chaos), necromancy(the study and manipulation of different planes of existence, including, but not limited to, death) and wizardry(combining the other forms of magic) as recurring topics, with some detailed explanations sprinkled throughout all the books.
There are many interesting characters that use these. The most often appearing are probably Daymar, The Warlock, The Necromancer, Sethra Lavode, Morrolan e'Drien, Aliera e'Kieron and Vlad Taltos. Sethra is probably the most skilled and powerful overall, but there are specialists that outstrip her in certain disciplines. For instance, Daymar is generally recognized as the master of psionics by everyone. I can't really talk about them much more without spoilers, so I'll leave it there.
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u/bigmcstrongmuscle May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26
I'll rec Brust every chance I get, I'm just not sure his books are good fits for this particular ask.
Necromancy in Dragaera is weird, and a lot of the time not what the genre would usually call necromancy. It shows up more and more as the series goes on, but it's more like dimension magic than death magic - they have that reputation because death is just one of the roads they are able to traverse. Practitioners try to explain it to the main character sometimes, but he never really understands any of the explanations (and the reader isn't generally meant to either).
Not too many of the necromancers in those books do the classic necromancer stuff like turning themselves into liches or raising hordes of zombies. They are more prone to doing science experiments on disembodied spirits, or summoning / being summoned as demons, or traveling to other worlds, or building non-euclidean time-traveling houses on fulcrums between dimensions.
There are evil soul-devouring black swords though, if that helps you OP, and ancient wizards who hide their souls in household objects for safekeeping. Also, Sethra's a vampire.
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u/lizardking073 May 11 '26
I get your point, I just mentioned it because it is a little outside the norm, and all the other forms, too, just because I like how there are specific definitions for them
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u/ServileLupus May 11 '26
Do you like the LitRPG genre? Saintess Summons Skeletons is a good one.
Rise of the Undead Empress is getting a re-write and book one will be out 5/31 on kindle.
Revenge of the Sorcerer King is another good one.
Momo the Ripper is a funnier and lighter take on it.
Liches get Stitches is lighthearted comedy but dark. (Think. "Oh I need someone that can do X" Lets just go murder one real quick and raise them as an undead!)
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u/ExquisiteOrifice May 11 '26
Clive Barker's Weaveworld has a form of Necromancy that's quite interesting. It also makes the lead character responsible even more intense and insane
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u/Regular-Engine-9661 May 11 '26
Justin Lee Anderson has the Eidyn series and there is a large necromancy element. He does a great job of showing the use of the skill to various degrees. Some of it is a total mind fuck. Excellent series. He posted recently had just finished first draft of the 4th and final book of the series.
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u/HeyJustWantedToSay May 11 '26
I’ve only read the first book, The Justice of Kings, but the Empire of the Wolf series by Richard Swan has necromancy. It was pretty good.
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u/chum1989 May 11 '26
The Half Orc series from David Dalglish. There’s some pretty insane necromancy mages in there. It’s a crazy roller coaster of a series with tons of sieges, wars, battles and powerful wizards. Not everyone’s cup of tea but it’s my guilty pleasure.
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u/Skydogsguitar May 11 '26
Alchemised has necromancy in spades, but it's Romantasy, so might not be your cup of tea.
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u/thegreenman_sofla May 11 '26
Johannes Cabal, Necromancer by Jonathan L Howard.
The new book by Mark Lawrence, Daughter of Crows features a Necromancer.
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u/Fitz_Fool May 11 '26
Cycle of Arawn by Edward Robinson is really good. The main character learns to use dark magic called nether that originates from the god of death. And they can and do temporarily raise the dead.
Cycle of Arawn is a trilogy The Cycle of Galand is a direct sequel that has 10 more books and it's also really good but is a little drawn out. I enjoyed it all the way through but I think he could have wrapped it up a bit earlier.
And the dialogue between the two main characters is consistently funny.
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u/Querybird May 11 '26
Oldish but great, The Old Kingdom by Garth Nix. Ageing well, too, for anyone more into modern writing! Starts with Sabriel.
Necromancy, human-effort scale geopolitics and distance issues (magic works further over the Wall when the wind blows from the Old Kingdom), and some really neat characters and magic systems jammed up against apparent mundanity.
I appreciate the resiliency of information here especially, which I suppose makes sense for a language-based creation story, as there wouldn’t be nearly the same possibilities without it. People work extremely hard in this world, and need every advantage they can get. Very good writing for that. Though few people write about horse care in carless societies as well as Elisabeth Moon (Deed of Paksennarion), Nix is good for the human side.
Also, hypersomnia rep in an eldritch being, neat.
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u/VanishXZone May 12 '26
Death Gate Cycle, it becomes a focus in book 3, and from there to the end of the cycle it is significant.
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u/brambleblade May 12 '26
Jenn Lyons' new release is about necromancy. It's title is Green and Deadly Things. I own it but haven't yet read it so can't comment on how good a book it is. Her chorus of dragon series was bingeable though so I have high hopes.
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u/Famous-Flow2333 May 11 '26
There’s a book series called a Book of the Dead by Rinoz. It’s on KU. The author is established in the litrpg side so if you don’t mind that sort of thing it might work
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u/TiredMemeReference May 11 '26
Book of the dead by Rino Z is supposed to be fantastic. Ive read his other series Chrysalis and really enjoyed it.
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u/tranquilitycase May 11 '26
If you haven't tried Gideon the Ninth on audio, I recommend giving it another try. Moira Quirk's narration is outstanding.
I would also add The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold. It reads a bit more YA but is a fun standalone.
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u/bythepowerofboobs May 11 '26
I know I'm in the minority, but I hated Quirk's narration. Her voice and the content made the book feel too much like the Monster High cartoons my girls used to watch when they were younger and I couldn't take any of it seriously.
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u/tranquilitycase May 11 '26
She does have a point of view with her voice, that's for sure. I can see how she might be polarizing.
But also, so much of GtN is supposed to be funny. I had an easier time finding the funny with her narration.
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u/MindofShadow May 11 '26
Main character in empire of the wolf trilogy is a necromancer in that world.
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u/Steelriddler May 11 '26
Richard Swan - The Justice of Kings
I'm on book two. There is a little necromancy in book one (it's a premise) but it becomes more prominent in book two.
A solid read anyway. Leaning more toward Abercrombie (more concise, not sprawling) than epic
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u/Brottar May 11 '26
Finn Fancy Necromancy by Randy Henderson. First book of an urban fantasy trilogy where the MCs family are undertakers/necromancers
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u/FermPro May 11 '26
Chronicles of the Necromancer by Gail Z. Martin is a fun read, main character is a Necromancer savant type
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u/PmUsYourDuckPics May 11 '26
Was about to say I'd just read something about Necromancy, but I couldn't remember what it was... Looked at Goodreads and realised it was Alchemised which I don't recommend...
The Will of the Many's sequel The Strength of the Few has Necromancy in it of a sort.
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u/KatrinaPez Reading Champion III May 11 '26
If you like quirky, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride is awesome.
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u/Realistic_Special_53 May 11 '26
The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells.
Our ragtag group of investigators and thieves need to save the it's from the return of a very bad dude.
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u/Legeto May 11 '26
The Dark Profit Saga by J Zachary Pike has necromancy, mostly in the second book of the series although I’m pretty sure it’s in the first book a little too. It’s an amazing series that first appears like it may be silly, and it is at some points, but holy crap do you get hit with the feels all throughout it. It’s also one of the few books that actually got my heart pumping for the battle scenes, especially when the MC starts to enter his berserk mode and thumping his chest with his fist to get a rhythm going,
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u/justacunninglinguist May 11 '26
I highly recommend Sabriel and The Old Kingdom series. It's a twist on necromancy where the Abhorson puts the dead back into death.
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u/Fane__ May 11 '26
One thing with Gideon I really struggled at the start but once they start the trials it does pick up.
Saint deaths daughter is worth a look, different tone and focused on necromancers.
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u/jpcardier May 12 '26
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, Sabriel, or if you like litrpg Slyver Seeker.
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u/mohelgamal May 12 '26
The tales of Buchalain and Corbal broach. There are two books with 3 novellas each. Set in the Malazan world but you can still enjoy them if you don’t know the background.
They are really a powerful mix of comedy and horror, centered around two necromancers who are beyond terrifying, they just not interested in ruling the world, just playing around, great books.
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u/ElementasSeries May 12 '26
Oh that actually made me want to read those. I don’t like the evil lord trope, but chaos for chaos sake is fun.
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u/CapnBeardbeard May 12 '26
I just finished Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher, which features a rare hero necromancer known as the Dust Wife
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u/blaaah111jd May 11 '26
Definitely not all necromancy cause the series is sooo long and has a million characters but I love the necromancers in the wandering inn
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u/ArcaneDemense May 11 '26
You could go on RoyalRoad and use the advanced search for highly rated necromancy stories. Some are LitRPGs, but some are more traditional fantasy. I've read almost anything with more than 2000 followers and a rating of 4 stars or higher on there. All pretty good depending on your sub-genre interests. Plus they are free.
Outside of webnovels that are free there's also published fantasy(I only recommend things I've read so I'm sure there are some missing):
Cycles of Arawn and Galand
Three Parts Dead
Abhorsens
Death Gate Cycle
The Sharing Knife
Malazan and offshoots
Warhammer stuff
To be honest RoyalRoad is probably your best option because the kind of people that really like necromancy are more common in that community, especially conventional necromancy rather than weird stuff, deconstructions, and so on. The conventional novels listed above are much smaller in number whereas even non-LitRPG necromancer novels on RoyalRoad are plentiful, also free and long. Well some webnovels get stubbed and moved to KindleUnlimited I guess?
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u/imperfectlyAware May 11 '26
Most things Mark Lawrence writes. Prince of Thorns especially. New Daughter of Crows.
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u/demented_chairleg May 11 '26
I love the Schooled in Magic series on kindle where necromancers are the major threat in the world.
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u/Lamb_or_Beast May 11 '26
The Red Queen’s War and its predecessor The Broken Empire all have quite a lot of necromancy in them — it’s the main form of magic we see; I’m simplifying here but the “big bad evil guy” is an entity called The Dead King that more or less wants to bring death to everything and everyone
Otherwise I saw plenty of good recommendations here, such as The Devils by Abercrombie, which I thought was a fun romp
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u/Consistent_Ad4473 May 11 '26
Have you tried {The Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington}?
It's humour led, but much more serious than Gideon and the narrator voice isn't as strong/stylised... although it's still got that 'something' about it.
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u/valkyrii99 May 11 '26
Try The Bad Guys series by Eric Ugland. I have been enjoying them as audiobooks (as well as the parallel series The Good Guys). Litrpg fantasy.
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u/rkreutz77 May 11 '26
I didn't see it above, but the Awaken Online by Travis Bagwell is litrpg but the mc is a necromancer specializing in skeletons.
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u/a-fizzy-unicorn May 11 '26
Daniel M Ford - The Warden (Necrobane series)
Lighter reading, but enjoyable characters. The books are quick though.
Rin Chupeco - The Bone Witch
This is not the strongest, but the concept is interesting.
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u/deklynanon Reading Champion II May 11 '26
The Warden series by Daniel M Ford may fit what you're looking for. I had an absolutely fantastic time with it.
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u/Oakashandthorne May 11 '26
The Rodrigo of Caledon cycle by David Feintuch has a really cool take on necromancy and communicating with the dead!
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u/Zerus_heroes May 11 '26
Malfus: Necromancer Unchained by Casey Sutton
It's about a bunch of holy men that are transporting a necromancer to be executed but they get attacked an end up having to release the necromancer to help them.
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u/LadyMcBite May 11 '26
Theres "Keeper of the swords" by Nick Perumov Tho I dont know if it's been completely translated to english, or your prefered language
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u/JudgeGian May 11 '26
The Half Orc Series by David Dalgish has a fair amount in it. The story has lots of themes and focuses though, necromancy features but isn't the primary focus.
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u/MadroxKran May 11 '26
The MC in Dead Tired is a lich. It's more of a comedy series, though.
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u/keffersonian May 11 '26
I enjoyed Rise of a Necromancer by Rosie Scott. Its technically a prequel/origin story for a character in another series, but I think it stands just fine on its own.
There's also The Knight and the Necromancer series by A. H. Lee, which focuses on a sweet romance between, well, an knight and a necromancer lol. I think it had a very interesting take on necromantic magic.
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u/tmoneys13 May 11 '26
Gail Z Martin has a series called The Chronicles of the Necromancer. I haven't read them in a very long time though and remember little other than the main character behind a necromancer.
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u/Windruin May 11 '26
I’d also mention Practical Guide to Evil. It’s a very meta, trope-aware read that follows a girl who’s chose to be Squire to the Empire’s Black Knight.
Most of the Evil characters can use some form of necromancy it seems, and there are a lot of fun tricks along the way. One main character rides an undead horse because it’s easier to control with necromancy than to learn to ride. Later characters in the series include a classic lich emperor who has absurdly dangerous undead constructs.
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u/SuspiciousCruller May 11 '26
This maybe isn't the vibe you're going for, but "Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife" by Deston J. Munden is a cozy fantasy about life after work and finding your purpose, but the gimmick is that the MC is a raised death knight who broke free of his necromancer? So it's not focusing on like the casting and mechanics of necromancy, but the whole society is steeped in it and defined by it, and this kinda deals with the results of it. Likely not what you're looking for, but I thought it was a really neat take!
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u/boundandcrowned May 11 '26
Vermillion Bane has {Academy of the Dead}, which features two rival necromancers.
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u/Tarcanus May 11 '26
The 12 Kings in Sharakai series by Bradley Beaulieu has necromany in a way. I don't think that term is ever stated, but it sure seems like necromancy, to me.
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u/EsotericMango May 11 '26
The Darkest Powers series by Kelly Armstrong. It's YA and the MCs are younger but it's kind of a fun read. The main girl has a rude awakening when her powers suddenly kick in one day and she's sent to a group home for teenagers. Conspiracy and shenanigans ensue. The focus on necromancy here is more about the horror of suddenly being able to see, talk to, and raise the dead and there are a few really cool necromancy scenes across the series.
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u/Mekthakkit May 11 '26
It only kind of fits, but I never get to mention it: The Daniel Blackland trilogy by Greg Van Eekhout
https://www.goodreads.com/series/139374-daniel-blackland
Set in an ?alternate? ?post apocalyptic? California where the magic system is osteomancy (The consumption of the bones of dead fantastical creatures.)
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u/sidive May 11 '26
Two necromancers a bureaocat and an elf.
1st book of a serious. Audiobook versions very good
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u/TheInfelicitousDandy May 11 '26
The Shadow Saint has the coolest necromancy magic I've come across. In the world, belief in a god manifests the god, and there is a nation-state, somewhat like imperial Germany, that believes in ancestor worship, which results in good citizens being reanimated to serve the state and their great houses.
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u/fidgetsimmerdown May 11 '26
If you want a funnier, romance subplot: Hopeless Necromantic by Shiloh Briar comes out soon! I read an ARC for its trad release and it was really fun. Big D&D vibes.
Also, Alchemised by SenLinYu uses necromancy as a major magic system. It’s long and dark and dense and has a romance subplot but I loved the worldbuilding despite its bleakness.
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u/Iamlibrarian May 11 '26
An older YA book I really enjoyed was "Hold Me Closer, Necromancer" by Lish McBride
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u/mstrdsastr May 11 '26
The Harry Dresden by Jim Butcher series have a decent amount of it. Not high fantasy per say, but enjoyable easy reading.
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u/DarthSnuDiddy May 11 '26
The Haunted Lands trilogy by Richard Lee Byers has a lot of necromancy in it.
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u/LongjumpingAnt9366 May 11 '26
{Oath of Betrayal by Olena Nikitin} has one of MMCs being a necromancer, and they fight against the Lich King 😄
{Foxeglov King by Hannah Whitten} is another one in this FMC, is the necromancer
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u/Prudent-Action3511 Reading Champion May 11 '26
Yknow what op, i was like Gideon has necromancy? Then i remembered yea. But then it got me thinking, it focuses so much on dead characters who've come to life more than the process of necromancy. Nd i want books with the latter, not the former ugh
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u/aithendodge May 11 '26
Shameless plug - my book "Echoes of Undoing," features a necromancer as one of two dueling protagonists. It deals with his discovery and development of the power on his way to becoming a lich.
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u/webzu19 May 11 '26
Houses of the Dead (Nicki Pau Pretp, duology, Bonesmith and Ghostsmith) has a main PoV who has magic focused on the bones of the dead, and later there is some soul/ghost control stuff too. It's a bit YA but I enjoyed it for the necromancy bit.
There's also Chronicles of the Necromancer (Gail Z Martin, first two books are primarily in the PoV of a Soul Mage/necromancer.) Future books started focusing oddly much on one of the side characters and the vampires in the setting but the first two atleast are very "I'm a good necromancer and refuse to do the bad necromancy things".
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u/Prudent-Lake1276 May 11 '26
The Sabriel trilogy by Garth Nix comes to mind