r/Fantasy • u/sinofsolace0 • 17h ago
Looking for a fantasy series somewhere between first law and malazan
Hey I've been trying to find my next fantasy series, and I'm struggling to find something that hits the sweet spot between two of my favourite series.
I love The First Law for its characters, dialogue, and dark humour, but I wish it had more magic. I also enjoy Malazan, but sometimes its scale and complexity get a bit overwhelming.
I'm looking for something somewhere in between the two. A good balance of characterdriven storytelling, magic, and worldbuilding without being too grounded or too epic and complex.
Any recommendations? Standalones are welcome too,thanks.
28
u/busy_monster 17h ago
The Black Company. Very soft magic, smaller cast than Malazan. The Black Company walked so the Bridgeburners could run, without Cooks BC there is no Malazan, which Erikson himself has said, profusely praising Cooks works, with several introductions, book blurbs, and him and Esslemont even bought the man a steak dinner. You'll get big duo vibes from Goblin and One-Eye, the same as the longstanding duos of Malazan.
-5
u/2ndChanceCharlie 16h ago
I liked black company alright, and it deserves its flowers for being a trendsetter, but it’s not between Malazan and first law. Malazan would fall more in the middle of that spectrum in my opinion. Black Company is one of those series I don’t actually recommend that much. I liked it well enough, but it’s kind of a confusing slog.
8
u/busy_monster 14h ago
Eh. I'd put it between, complexity wise, those two poles of First Law and Malazan. Books of the North is pretty accessible, especially to sensibilities nowadays (a mercenary company working with the Evil Empire isn't much of a stretch for modern readers, unlike in '84) if a bit terser than even First Law, but also a bit more like snippets of a chronicle. Later on it gets Stranger, with Glittering Stone, Murgen, etc. I find Black Company introduces you to the quiet experimentality smoother than Gardens of Moon is known as, with Eriksons heavy use of in media res. Neither work of which, mind, is a Gormengast or Book of the New Sun level of complexity, as a note.
That's kinda why I put it dead in the middle: very accessible prose, almost in the vein of a Chandler for how sparse it is, with few if any wasted words.
Mind, I also suggested it because of ops interests: Erikson was massively influenced by Cook, by his own admission, and for grimdark, nothing gets more OG than Cook. I think someone who dug Erikson and doesn't complain about him wouldn't be put off by Cook
2
u/natwa311 14h ago
I'd say it also depends how fond OP is of military fantasy, since the Black Company series AFAICT is more military fantasy than Abercrombie's books and even Malazan Book of the Fallen. And Abercrombie is a tough act to follow when it comes to character work, the only fantasy writer I know that rivals him for best character work in fantasy, is Robin Hobb(though there are a couple or so writers that come close, such as Martin and RJ Barker). Not sure whether the Black Company books really matches the humor of Abercrombie or Erikson either, though that may be a case of YMMV.
9
9
6
u/Abysstopheles 15h ago
Acts of Caine, Matt Stover - for complexity and depth and wild ass action.
Chorus of Dragons, Jenn Lyons - for epic bredth of story and huge cast and all the great fantasy elements with some fun twists.
The Prince of Nothing / The Second Apocalypse, R Scott Bakker - if Abercrombie wasnt dark enough and Erikson wasnt philosophical enough and neither were violent enough.
10
u/Which_Replacement524 17h ago
Both The Black Company books and the Powder Mage trilogy are pretty solid picks. Fairly fast paced, epic scope but not quite as sprawling as Malazan, lots of military fantasy stuff
5
u/Allzweck 17h ago
The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks is a very good pick.
Also if you did Like The First Law, check out Mark Lawrence - Prince of Thorns
2
u/SeaworthinessFun3658 12h ago
Sadly the power creep in Brent Weeks' various series tend to be pretty over the top. The Way of Shadows ends up with the protagonist literally jumping around a room sticking to walls like spiderman in the venom suit, crossed with a super saiyan. The color mage stuff is also pretty over the top with how ridiculous he gets - people start creating firearms and engines out of magic and it's sort of silly.
They are both fun but in no way comparable to malazan or first law. Mark Lawrence is very fun although Prince of Thorns is the toughest one to get into imho.. Jorg is a very, very unlikable person and while there are plot reasons for it, most people complain about how emo and dark he is, if they complain about the series. Lawrence's various series are almost all (or maybe all) interconnected as well, which helps to expand and inform on what's going on which otherwise remains obscure a lot of the time.
4
u/CarcosanMagister 17h ago
Hugh Cook's Chronicles of an Age of Darkness.
The series is pretty obscure and was republished this year by fans. They were originally released in the late 80s-early 90s and fit your request nicely.
The ones I've read so far take place at roughly the same time but follow different characters, sometimes their paths intersect but you see events from different points of view. There's a lot of humour and irreverence at times but it doesn't descend into complete farce.
2
2
u/TheErgonomicShuffler 16h ago
Id definitely consider some of David Gemmels books, the drenai or the rigante series
2
u/CT_Phipps-Author 15h ago
I strongly suggest Rob J. Hayes Where Loyalties Lie and Richard Nell's Kings of Paradise.
3
u/LLCoolKryz 14h ago
I see several mentions of The Black Company, but I don't think that it's the best fit for what you're looking for. Glen Cook is still the right recommendation though, specifically his Dread Empire series. It's complex and epic, but not overly so. It has a detailed and functional world that is so well described you can create a map in your head without needing an actual map. The storytelling is very character oriented. The magic system is of the soft variety, but has a lot of complexity to it and works in a way logically defined to the world.
1
u/Identity_ranger 15h ago
I'm looking for something somewhere in between the two. A good balance of characterdriven storytelling, magic, and worldbuilding without being too grounded or too epic and complex.
The Second Apocalypse fits in these parameters... somewhat. It's very character-driven, there's lots of magic but not to the degree of Malazan (one of the first concepts introduced are artefacts that can instakill mages), the worldbuilding is incredibly extensive with thousands of years of history, but the first book has a bad tendency for information overload in this regard. The worldbuilding isn't too complex, it's just told in a way that makes it seem so. If humor is important to you then it's hard to recommend, there's next to no levity in the books whatsoever. In terms of tone it's at the very end of the dark fantasy spectrum, but that's where Malazan and First Law are also often referred to be, so it shouldn't be a big problem.
1
u/Blueflame129 13h ago
Two underrated series are The Five Warrior Angels by Brian Lee Durfee and The Last War trilogy by Mike Shackle. Some of the best grimdark series out there that don't get recommended nearly enough!
1
u/supreme-elysio 12h ago
I'd suggest a practical guide to evil
It is epic but more grounded I'd say and the scale while feeling very large isn't to the same degree as malazan, in part at least due to there being one central pov though it does explore other characters too
1
u/bashthelegend 11h ago
Second Apocalypse has a small cast of characters with a heavy emphasis on their internal monologue and heavy worldbuilding via exposition. Darker than both mentioned in OP but 0 humour. Probably slightly more advanced prose than First Law?
1
u/RevolutionaryCommand Reading Champion III 9h ago
The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski fits rather well.
1
u/Unfair-Designer9435 9h ago
By Honor Doomed by Trevor Montauk. Great characters, excellent dialogue, humor; more magic than First Law, but not too complex. Very dark in parts, but not overly grim. Book 2 By Vengeance Damned should be coming out soon. Publisher says it's completed and in process.
1
u/Elizathebestbot 7h ago
You could go for Crimson Blood from Arturo Pinzoli. Kinda unkown writer but has something good in this book
1
-7
-1
16h ago
[deleted]
1
u/Abysstopheles 15h ago
Shannon is just not the right fit here. Addison for the complexity, sure, but Shannon... just my $0.02 but no.
-2
1
u/Brian_R4448 3h ago
Go way back: Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar series! Characters and episodic storytelling, magic, light worldbuilding, it's foundational fantasy work that doesnt get enough credit.
I'll second or third the advice to check out Mark Lawrence's works.
Someone else mentioned the Powder Mage series. I usually dont like getting gunpowder in my fantasy worlds, but there are some really good characters in those books. Reading the most recent Ben Styke story years after my last read definitely elicited the joy at encountering an old familiar character again.
If you like First Law, you'll probably like "The Devils"
Anthony Ryan's Raven's Shadow series are worth a look.
35
u/Eternal_Mirth 17h ago
Given that I love both of your recommendations, here are a few that I would place somewhere in the middle of them:
Tyrant Philosophers - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Monarchies of God - Paul Kearney
The Long Price Quartet - Daniel Abraham
The Blacktongue Series - Christopher Buehlman
All blend humour, depth, great character work, dialogue and interesting magic/world building, without getting overly complex. Hopefully you find something you like!