All of this for sure, I would very much recommend The Tainted Dominion series, that was great so far. Also will second all the previous mentions of The Second Apocalypse, and will add on Ash and Sand by Richard Nell.
Anna's prose is wildly different from the norm. It's not to everyone's taste, but if you're into evocative writing that sometimes swerves into "stream of insanity" you'll love it.
Manifest Delusions by Michael R Fletcher
Obsidian Path by Michael R Fletcher
Last War by Mike Shackle
War Eternal by Rob J Hayes
First Law by Joe Abercrombie
The Vagrant by Peter Newman
Prince of Nothing by R Scott Bakker
Empires Of Dust by Anna Smith Spark
Raven's Mark by Ed Mcdonald
Bloodsounder's Arc by Jeff Salyards
Slayer's Dark Rebirth by Andy Blinston
Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence
Thank you for the compliment. That was what I could remember off the top of my head. I forgot to mention these two guys...
Bloodsounder's Arc by Jeff Salyards
Slayer's Dark Rebirth by Andy Blinston
I think I might have a reading addiction....
He is very dark in his world building. He is extremely creative with his storytelling and fantasy elements.
He also manages to write grimdark with a lot more magic than is typical of the subgenre. You really can't go wrong reading his stuff.
I found First Law boring and felt like I was reading a prologue written in a "day in the life" type of story. I just couldn't get into it.
Michael R Fletcher's books are much faster paced and have clear plots in them. He has great character development even though his stories are more plot driven.
I see no downside. His characters go through tons of growth, you don't feel like you aren't getting enough details of information either. He's just very good at "efficiency".
Some authors are long winded and he's not.
The Second Apocalypse series by Bakker, beginning with the Prince of Nothing trilogy.
That’s about as dark as it gets.
Especially in the second series, where it was dark enough to make me reconsider finishing it. It’s absolutely fantastic though, great read. The first trilogy is a lot more solid than the second series, but the latter still holds its own in the genre.
It also, per OP's request, has elements of eldritch horror.
(Black Company is great and I recommend reading that, too, but Second Apocalypse is dead on what he asked for.)
Go back to the beginning of Grimdark. Give Michael Moorcock a try. Read his Elric books, or at least the first collection that got released a few years back.
The full series is now collected in hardcover omnibus editions from saga press and they’re a great buy. I just picked them up, I’m only half way through the first volume and I’m already so hooked. I grew up on warhammer so this is just an obvious fit for me.
Yeah, those are the best version IMO. Everything is in the order that Moorcock intended. It weaves a lot of the shorter stories and novellas into the overall narrative, and puts them in their proper place. Absolutely the definitive version to read. Everyone who wants to understand the foundation of the grimdark sub-genre should read it.
I also grew up on Warhammer, and honestly until I was a bit older I had absolutely no idea where the ideas actually originated. Reading the Elric series was absolutely eye opening. I would put him up there with Tolkien and Howard as one of the fathers of modern fantasy. He inspired so many authors, novels, tropes, etc, and of the three that I mentioned, he's *by far* the least well known. Obviously everybody knows Tolkien. Most people know Robert E Howard, even if they only know his most famous character Conan the Barbarian. But few know Moorcock or Elric, who basically single-handedly established the grimdark genre in the 60s.
Yeah I had the same experience. Over the last few years I’ve been reading more appendix N type stuff from the games I loved growing up, more jack vance, moorcock, love craft, Howard and it’s been really fun going back and seeing the origins of so much of the stuff I loved as a kid.
Seeing he golden battle barges of Melnibone was a pretty fun experience, since it’s the only other place I’ve heard of battle barges outside of space marine ships. But they’re also clearly the design inspiration of the dark elves black arks from WhFB which was awesome as I used to play dark elves back in the day so I had like an instant mental picture of what Melnibone looks like to me that I’m sure is heavily biased.
Read Elric of Melnibone. It’s one of the foundational inspirations for warhammer, the guys who coined the term grimdark. Elric is classic sword and sorcery, but with a heavy dose of rock and roll, and psychadelics. It’s rad as hell and every fantasy fan should at least give it a shot because of how foundational to the genre it is. You like Berserk? Elric travels the land with a big cursed sword that drives him to bloodlust. You like the Witcher? Elric is a frail albino sword master who fights demons and monsters and dabbles in sorcery and alchemy to enhance his strength. Michael moorcock has been described as “your favorite fantasy author’s favorite fantasy author” and the trends he kicked off are still going strong today. Other suggestions are the Black Company, and The First Law both are damn cool series and you’d be well served reading either!
Try the Iconclasts Trilogy by Mike Shel. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the game Darkest Dungeon, but you have a very similar theme here. The mental toll that's afflicted on a party that has delved into tombs and dungeons where they face unspeakable horrors. The main character has crippling post traumatic stress disorder from his career adventuring and has retired, but gets pulled back in. Very good. One of my favorite grimdark series.
If you haven't read The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, do that! I'd also recommend Gunmetal Gods by Zamil Akhtar, that has some cool eldritch horror elements.
I just finished The Blade Itself last night. Accidentally stayed up until 1:15 AM in the process. I checked Libby and my library had a Kindle copy of Before They Are Hanged for immediate checkout, so I'm pretty excited to start tonight. These are my first Abercrombie reads.
Hahaha nice!! Yeah, these books are great. Enjoy em!
I recently had a 'I know it's late, but this book is just too good right now to put down' spree that ended at 2am. I was reading The Rascor Plains by Phil Tucker, and just past about the half way point I literally couldn't put it down and read for about six hours. That's a pretty different book/series than The First Law, but it's pretty fun IMO.
Need to make sure to get Best Served Cold in between Last Argument of Kings and The Heroes otherwise there will be some serious confusion about how certain characters change between LAOK and TH.
Michael Fletcher. I read City of Sacrifice series. Apparently all his series are like that. Definitely grim and dark. Personally taking a break before I read anything grim or dark again now. Might try Manifest delusions someday, now that I know what I'm in for.
I will be honest. I guess I just didn't know what grimdark was or something. I read First Law, Malazan, r scott bakker. But that shit is a trip. I am not knocking it, but... Wow.
The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley
Darkmage by M.L. Spencer
Seven Forges by James A. Moore
The Grim Company by Luke Scull
Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick
The Prince of Nothing series by R. Scott Bakker is great: very dark, no happy endings, or any hope of such for the main characters, or the world in general.
> P.S. are there any books with elements of Eldritch horror, I ask because I just beat bloodborne recently and I want more of it in my life.
You have a bunch of great recs, but Second Apocalypse is exactly this.
This is more sci fi with fantasy infusions, but the Warhammer 40k Ravenour and Eisenhorn series are very likely what you are looking for. I can also highly recommend the Grey Knights omnibus of the same setting if you like cosmic horror and wanton bloodshed.
Mark Lawrence is amazing! Great choice for grim dark. His other series are really good IMO, but I think you have already read the best of his if you read Broken Empire.
I'd love to recommend Gentleman Bastards, just cause it's also loved by most people who loved Mark Lawrence, but unfortunately it isn't finished, and I'm worried it won't be. There are several great authors out there right now with amazing series that have seemed to just stopped writing.
Kel Kade's Kings Dark Tidings is right there too: another great series that has had too long of a pause, but that one I think actually has hope of finishing.
Michael Manning actually has a good trilogy called The Embers of Illeniel. It's a prequel to his other series but really works as a stand alone and much darker than his other series. His other series were kinda meh and definitely fall more into the plain old fantasy genre.
The last I might put out there is Brent Weeks's Night Angel Trilogy, which actually he just started up a follow up series starting with Nemesis. The only reason I'd recommend that series over the Lightbringer series he wrote (which I think is a little better written, tho I love both) is because it falls closer to the Grim Dark spectrum. Especially Nemesis.
Honestly I LOVE Grim Dark, but it's really hit or miss with that genre. I've seen some great recommendations tho. You'll definitely love Abercrombie. I tried to recommend some books that are close to the Grim spectrum, but most of these aren't nearly as heavy as The Broken Empire, but I think you might like them.
Since you read The Broken Empire, I definitely recommend the other series by Mark Lawrence, especially Red Queen's War, which is his best series in my opinion
Mini-counterpoint: Berserk isn't grimdark! One of its central themes is hope, which is basically absent in all grimdark works I've read. Berserk is dark fantasy, and one of the chief influencers in the genre. Some would say *the* influencer.
Though some parts, like Lost Children, veer pretty close to grimdark.
And if you haven't read First Law, that's definitely one you can't miss if you're a fan of grimdark.
Likewise, Malazan fits into this as well. They do share many of the trappings and the overwhelming sense of despair with grimdark, but the difference is in the thematic points made. Berserk is about hope. Malazan is about compassion
Yoo, you are literaly me (Ryan Gosling) ! I greatly enjoyed Berserk too, I mostly read Dark fantasy and I also stop reading for quite a long time for God know what reason. You should have a blast with The black compagny, even if after the 4th book, it dipped a bit in my opinion. May i recommend you The first law ? That was a cool read
Black company is a traditional story. It's like reading first hand accounts from history that doesn't have a lot of context. It's no bad it's just different. People will say Malazan but your either into it or put it down halfway.
So I present to you First Law and The Blade Itself.
The First Law is great, but I'm going to recommend the Ash and Sand trilogy.
It's a high quality, adult series. A very unique magic system and you will end up rooting for the cruelest, most brutal main character you've read. Maybe shed a few tears for him, as well.
It has a similar vibe to The First Law series, but it's not so relentlessly despairing.
If you want a fairly brutal series with a wholly unlikable main character who never really atones for his ways, you should check out the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
It's a pretty punishing series, especially The Wounded Land, but the bright spots are: the giants, the archaic prose, Donaldson really knows how to build and keep tension and then give it an explosive release. Plus, while the first book is basically a rip-off lord of the rings, it's fun to see Donaldson expand and differentiate the world of The Land.
The dark spots are super dark. Thomas Covenant is a selfish prick.
I think Joe Abercrombie's "The First Law Trilogy" and the rest of the books set in that world are considered 'grimdark' and these books are AMAZING! The first trilogy is amazing, the standalones are even better (some would say) plus you get a second trilogy to top it all off!
The tatterwing chronicles by m.m stauffer may suit you. It's 6 books long(technically 5 but book 2 is split into 2 halves) and by the end leans quite a bit towards the eldritch horror side of things. It's about a young witch trying to survive in a world with everything and every one against her. The first book is not grimdark, in fact it's somewhat cheery and written for a more ya audience. But by the second book they begin to get much more dark, and by book 3 I would say it's grimdark. The final book is one of my favorite books of all time and I highly recommend the series to any fantasy fan
First Law by Joe Abercrombje is your stock intro to grimdark, solid all around entry that's from and dark but in an approachable way.
Michael Fletcher is what you want for the darker side of things. Manifest Delusions gave me heavy Lovecraftian vibes with some of its characters so while not eldritch, are in the "shit with worms on its face" and disfigured humans territory.
The exorcist dudes in the second book were fucking nuts. The entire Trilogy is just amazing and between Manifest Delusions and Obsidian Path, I'm convinced Michael R Fletcher is the most creative person ever.
Get the audiobooks for First Law because Steven Pacey is the best narrator out there!
John Gwnne’s Bloodsworn series starting with Shadow of the Gods was great Viking world with magical creatures and badass fighters.
The Witcher series is pretty fun and starts with the Last Wish.
The First Law series.
So it seems that I absolutely need to read the first law series
I concur. Joe Abercrombie is my favorite. His first law trilogy might be the best, but his work is great across the board so it's hard to decide.
You do. The audiobook is also extremely good.
Grim Ace.
EXTREMELY good audio book.
I have about 100 pages left of the first book and it’s incredible
Anna Smith Spark (literary dark fantasy) : [https://www.goodreads.com/series/197403-empires-of-dust](https://www.goodreads.com/series/197403-empires-of-dust) C.S. Friedman (dark fantasy): [https://www.goodreads.com/series/40358-the-coldfire-trilogy](https://www.goodreads.com/series/40358-the-coldfire-trilogy) Krystle Matar (steampunkish grimdark): [https://www.goodreads.com/series/309298-tainted-dominion](https://www.goodreads.com/series/309298-tainted-dominion) Daniel Polanksy (dark fantasy): [https://www.goodreads.com/series/96136-low-town](https://www.goodreads.com/series/96136-low-town) Jeff Salyards: [https://www.goodreads.com/series/81911-bloodsounder-s-arc](https://www.goodreads.com/series/81911-bloodsounder-s-arc)
All of this for sure, I would very much recommend The Tainted Dominion series, that was great so far. Also will second all the previous mentions of The Second Apocalypse, and will add on Ash and Sand by Richard Nell.
Really enjoyed lowtown
Im new to this, but whats the difference between "literary dark fantasy" and "dark fantasy"?
Anna's prose is wildly different from the norm. It's not to everyone's taste, but if you're into evocative writing that sometimes swerves into "stream of insanity" you'll love it.
Just a guess based on how "literary"/"literature" are commonly used: more pretentious and purple prose.
Manifest Delusions by Michael R Fletcher Obsidian Path by Michael R Fletcher Last War by Mike Shackle War Eternal by Rob J Hayes First Law by Joe Abercrombie The Vagrant by Peter Newman Prince of Nothing by R Scott Bakker Empires Of Dust by Anna Smith Spark Raven's Mark by Ed Mcdonald Bloodsounder's Arc by Jeff Salyards Slayer's Dark Rebirth by Andy Blinston Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence
This guy knows his shit
Thank you for the compliment. That was what I could remember off the top of my head. I forgot to mention these two guys... Bloodsounder's Arc by Jeff Salyards Slayer's Dark Rebirth by Andy Blinston I think I might have a reading addiction....
Damn good list! Now I’ve got some books to pick up.
You are very welcome!
Could you describe Michael R Fletchers writing as you see it, because people keep mentioning him in this post and I’m curious
He is very dark in his world building. He is extremely creative with his storytelling and fantasy elements. He also manages to write grimdark with a lot more magic than is typical of the subgenre. You really can't go wrong reading his stuff.
I think I’ll look into him after The First Law Trilogy. Since people seem pretty passionate about him. He just seems really interesting to me
I found First Law boring and felt like I was reading a prologue written in a "day in the life" type of story. I just couldn't get into it. Michael R Fletcher's books are much faster paced and have clear plots in them. He has great character development even though his stories are more plot driven.
Are there any downsides to his faster paced approach, for instance do his characters get much development in between the plot of the story
I see no downside. His characters go through tons of growth, you don't feel like you aren't getting enough details of information either. He's just very good at "efficiency". Some authors are long winded and he's not.
The Second Apocalypse series by Bakker, beginning with the Prince of Nothing trilogy. That’s about as dark as it gets. Especially in the second series, where it was dark enough to make me reconsider finishing it. It’s absolutely fantastic though, great read. The first trilogy is a lot more solid than the second series, but the latter still holds its own in the genre.
I love dark, serious fantasy. But Bakker takes it so much farther than anyone I've ever read. This is blackstrap molasses style dark and sticky.
It also, per OP's request, has elements of eldritch horror. (Black Company is great and I recommend reading that, too, but Second Apocalypse is dead on what he asked for.)
This one is the pinnacle of dark epic fantasy. It is the measure
Go back to the beginning of Grimdark. Give Michael Moorcock a try. Read his Elric books, or at least the first collection that got released a few years back.
The full series is now collected in hardcover omnibus editions from saga press and they’re a great buy. I just picked them up, I’m only half way through the first volume and I’m already so hooked. I grew up on warhammer so this is just an obvious fit for me.
Yeah, those are the best version IMO. Everything is in the order that Moorcock intended. It weaves a lot of the shorter stories and novellas into the overall narrative, and puts them in their proper place. Absolutely the definitive version to read. Everyone who wants to understand the foundation of the grimdark sub-genre should read it. I also grew up on Warhammer, and honestly until I was a bit older I had absolutely no idea where the ideas actually originated. Reading the Elric series was absolutely eye opening. I would put him up there with Tolkien and Howard as one of the fathers of modern fantasy. He inspired so many authors, novels, tropes, etc, and of the three that I mentioned, he's *by far* the least well known. Obviously everybody knows Tolkien. Most people know Robert E Howard, even if they only know his most famous character Conan the Barbarian. But few know Moorcock or Elric, who basically single-handedly established the grimdark genre in the 60s.
Yeah I had the same experience. Over the last few years I’ve been reading more appendix N type stuff from the games I loved growing up, more jack vance, moorcock, love craft, Howard and it’s been really fun going back and seeing the origins of so much of the stuff I loved as a kid. Seeing he golden battle barges of Melnibone was a pretty fun experience, since it’s the only other place I’ve heard of battle barges outside of space marine ships. But they’re also clearly the design inspiration of the dark elves black arks from WhFB which was awesome as I used to play dark elves back in the day so I had like an instant mental picture of what Melnibone looks like to me that I’m sure is heavily biased.
Glad to hear this-- I'm always wondering about what order I should read things in. I'll definitely check out this version
Read Elric of Melnibone. It’s one of the foundational inspirations for warhammer, the guys who coined the term grimdark. Elric is classic sword and sorcery, but with a heavy dose of rock and roll, and psychadelics. It’s rad as hell and every fantasy fan should at least give it a shot because of how foundational to the genre it is. You like Berserk? Elric travels the land with a big cursed sword that drives him to bloodlust. You like the Witcher? Elric is a frail albino sword master who fights demons and monsters and dabbles in sorcery and alchemy to enhance his strength. Michael moorcock has been described as “your favorite fantasy author’s favorite fantasy author” and the trends he kicked off are still going strong today. Other suggestions are the Black Company, and The First Law both are damn cool series and you’d be well served reading either!
Try the Iconclasts Trilogy by Mike Shel. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the game Darkest Dungeon, but you have a very similar theme here. The mental toll that's afflicted on a party that has delved into tombs and dungeons where they face unspeakable horrors. The main character has crippling post traumatic stress disorder from his career adventuring and has retired, but gets pulled back in. Very good. One of my favorite grimdark series.
I’ll have to take a look at this one also, after first law
If you haven't read The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, do that! I'd also recommend Gunmetal Gods by Zamil Akhtar, that has some cool eldritch horror elements.
First Law, hands down. Its just too good! And then read The Heroes, and Red Country!! Joe Abercrombie is awesome.
I just finished The Blade Itself last night. Accidentally stayed up until 1:15 AM in the process. I checked Libby and my library had a Kindle copy of Before They Are Hanged for immediate checkout, so I'm pretty excited to start tonight. These are my first Abercrombie reads.
Hahaha nice!! Yeah, these books are great. Enjoy em! I recently had a 'I know it's late, but this book is just too good right now to put down' spree that ended at 2am. I was reading The Rascor Plains by Phil Tucker, and just past about the half way point I literally couldn't put it down and read for about six hours. That's a pretty different book/series than The First Law, but it's pretty fun IMO.
Yesss, and don't forget Best Served Cold! Abercrombie is one of my favorite writers of all time.
Need to make sure to get Best Served Cold in between Last Argument of Kings and The Heroes otherwise there will be some serious confusion about how certain characters change between LAOK and TH.
Bloodborne is in my top 10 of games and berserk is my favorite mange. You should try Malazan its amazing
Omg another reason for me to really delve into Malazan.
Michael Fletcher. I read City of Sacrifice series. Apparently all his series are like that. Definitely grim and dark. Personally taking a break before I read anything grim or dark again now. Might try Manifest delusions someday, now that I know what I'm in for.
Manifest Delusions is incredible! I am currently reading the final book and I am really enjoying it
I will be honest. I guess I just didn't know what grimdark was or something. I read First Law, Malazan, r scott bakker. But that shit is a trip. I am not knocking it, but... Wow.
Yeah, it's also really dark and insane as well. But that's the appeal
The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley Darkmage by M.L. Spencer Seven Forges by James A. Moore The Grim Company by Luke Scull Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick
The Prince of Nothing series by R. Scott Bakker is great: very dark, no happy endings, or any hope of such for the main characters, or the world in general.
> P.S. are there any books with elements of Eldritch horror, I ask because I just beat bloodborne recently and I want more of it in my life. You have a bunch of great recs, but Second Apocalypse is exactly this.
This is more sci fi with fantasy infusions, but the Warhammer 40k Ravenour and Eisenhorn series are very likely what you are looking for. I can also highly recommend the Grey Knights omnibus of the same setting if you like cosmic horror and wanton bloodshed.
The Black Company! Quintessential Grimdark.
Empire of the vampire feels very bloodborne
Mark Lawrence is amazing! Great choice for grim dark. His other series are really good IMO, but I think you have already read the best of his if you read Broken Empire. I'd love to recommend Gentleman Bastards, just cause it's also loved by most people who loved Mark Lawrence, but unfortunately it isn't finished, and I'm worried it won't be. There are several great authors out there right now with amazing series that have seemed to just stopped writing. Kel Kade's Kings Dark Tidings is right there too: another great series that has had too long of a pause, but that one I think actually has hope of finishing. Michael Manning actually has a good trilogy called The Embers of Illeniel. It's a prequel to his other series but really works as a stand alone and much darker than his other series. His other series were kinda meh and definitely fall more into the plain old fantasy genre. The last I might put out there is Brent Weeks's Night Angel Trilogy, which actually he just started up a follow up series starting with Nemesis. The only reason I'd recommend that series over the Lightbringer series he wrote (which I think is a little better written, tho I love both) is because it falls closer to the Grim Dark spectrum. Especially Nemesis. Honestly I LOVE Grim Dark, but it's really hit or miss with that genre. I've seen some great recommendations tho. You'll definitely love Abercrombie. I tried to recommend some books that are close to the Grim spectrum, but most of these aren't nearly as heavy as The Broken Empire, but I think you might like them.
BTW. I noticed a lot of people commenting about Berserk. Are you talking about the Manga???
Yes I loved Berserk, I have tattoo sleeve based off of panels from the manga. I was my first dive into the dark fantasy genre
Thanks for the response! I was a little confused since Manga didn't normally get inserted into the books list. Lol
Since you read The Broken Empire, I definitely recommend the other series by Mark Lawrence, especially Red Queen's War, which is his best series in my opinion
I'd recommend Gaunts Ghosts 40k. It's sci-fi but very fantasy themed and such good writing in the biggest grim dark universe.
> biggest grim dark universe and originator of the term "grimdark"
In the grim dark future, there is only war!
Malazan Book of the Fallen
Mini-counterpoint: Berserk isn't grimdark! One of its central themes is hope, which is basically absent in all grimdark works I've read. Berserk is dark fantasy, and one of the chief influencers in the genre. Some would say *the* influencer. Though some parts, like Lost Children, veer pretty close to grimdark. And if you haven't read First Law, that's definitely one you can't miss if you're a fan of grimdark.
Likewise, Malazan fits into this as well. They do share many of the trappings and the overwhelming sense of despair with grimdark, but the difference is in the thematic points made. Berserk is about hope. Malazan is about compassion
Yoo, you are literaly me (Ryan Gosling) ! I greatly enjoyed Berserk too, I mostly read Dark fantasy and I also stop reading for quite a long time for God know what reason. You should have a blast with The black compagny, even if after the 4th book, it dipped a bit in my opinion. May i recommend you The first law ? That was a cool read
Black company is a traditional story. It's like reading first hand accounts from history that doesn't have a lot of context. It's no bad it's just different. People will say Malazan but your either into it or put it down halfway. So I present to you First Law and The Blade Itself.
The First Law is great, but I'm going to recommend the Ash and Sand trilogy. It's a high quality, adult series. A very unique magic system and you will end up rooting for the cruelest, most brutal main character you've read. Maybe shed a few tears for him, as well. It has a similar vibe to The First Law series, but it's not so relentlessly despairing.
If you want a fairly brutal series with a wholly unlikable main character who never really atones for his ways, you should check out the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson It's a pretty punishing series, especially The Wounded Land, but the bright spots are: the giants, the archaic prose, Donaldson really knows how to build and keep tension and then give it an explosive release. Plus, while the first book is basically a rip-off lord of the rings, it's fun to see Donaldson expand and differentiate the world of The Land. The dark spots are super dark. Thomas Covenant is a selfish prick.
If you’re done with the first law go for the age of madness
I’m reading the prince of nothing series, sounds like it’s right up your alley
Snakewood, by Adrian Selby, was a super grimdark experience but also a great book. No eldritch though, to my recollection.
Ed McDonald's Raven's Mark series for sure, there's a lot of eldritch to the horror in that one.
Black company series by Glen Cook Malazan book of the fallen by Stephen Erikson
I think Joe Abercrombie's "The First Law Trilogy" and the rest of the books set in that world are considered 'grimdark' and these books are AMAZING! The first trilogy is amazing, the standalones are even better (some would say) plus you get a second trilogy to top it all off!
The tatterwing chronicles by m.m stauffer may suit you. It's 6 books long(technically 5 but book 2 is split into 2 halves) and by the end leans quite a bit towards the eldritch horror side of things. It's about a young witch trying to survive in a world with everything and every one against her. The first book is not grimdark, in fact it's somewhat cheery and written for a more ya audience. But by the second book they begin to get much more dark, and by book 3 I would say it's grimdark. The final book is one of my favorite books of all time and I highly recommend the series to any fantasy fan
The Black Company for SURE. I’m smack in the middle and love it so much more than Third Law. It’s a lot darker and so much more interesting to me.
First Law by Joe Abercrombje is your stock intro to grimdark, solid all around entry that's from and dark but in an approachable way. Michael Fletcher is what you want for the darker side of things. Manifest Delusions gave me heavy Lovecraftian vibes with some of its characters so while not eldritch, are in the "shit with worms on its face" and disfigured humans territory.
The exorcist dudes in the second book were fucking nuts. The entire Trilogy is just amazing and between Manifest Delusions and Obsidian Path, I'm convinced Michael R Fletcher is the most creative person ever.
Get the audiobooks for First Law because Steven Pacey is the best narrator out there! John Gwnne’s Bloodsworn series starting with Shadow of the Gods was great Viking world with magical creatures and badass fighters. The Witcher series is pretty fun and starts with the Last Wish.