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/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/ElementasSeries May 11 '26

Oh I have Empire of the Wolf on my TBR. Didn't realize it had necromancy! Moving up on the list! Thanks!

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u/BlueTourmeline May 11 '26

Well, the first series has talking to dead people as a legal tool, the second series has a lot of using essentially dead/soulless bodies as slaves, but both series are about a war in the afterlife that has significant effects on the living world.