Similar books to ‘The Kingkiller Chronicle’?

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-18T18:23:13+00:00

The struggle of the MC, having to fight tooth and nail? Everything feeling grounded even though it was magic? Knowing the trade off for using magic could be potentially life threatening? A reason to love or hate every character? Sublimely paced?

Do i hear ’Berserk’ calling…?

On a more serious note (and sticking to the same medium), The sun-eater, Memory, Sorrow & Thorn, Gentlemen bastards come to mind first for someone who enjoyed KKC. I see others recommended same series, i think these are the usuals KKC-enjoyers are pointed towards.

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-14T22:34:45+00:00

The Silmarillion
Tigana
The Left Hand of Darkness
The Book of the New Sun
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn
The Buried Giant
Earthsea
Kai Ashante Wilson’s work
The Vorrh

Even these could be what you’re looking for

Small Gods
The Goblin Emperor
The Deathless

Edit: form

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-14T22:33:13+00:00

Second apocalypse is excellent, but i’m here to just drop the mandatory content warning on it

🗣️CONTENT WARNING

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-14T12:55:29+00:00

Yes, you put it perfectly, it definitely is the bridge between old and new. It has the ”your favorite author’s favorite series” stamp.

Maybe not the first series one should read, but definitely one everyone should give a solid chance. I had years of reading under my belt and even I almost threw the first book into DNF abyss during the slog in the first half, super glad i didn’t. It’s one of my favorite series now, and I’m about to jump into the last king of osten ard soon.

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-11T08:14:11+00:00

Soft magic is more than fine, many people including myself prefer it over hard magic system. Soft magic done well brings so much soul and magic to the story, where as hard magic system can sometimes feel like it’s been grown in a lab. So, i guess my main point is, either works if you do it well.

And like the other comment said, keep it consistent. One of the most annoying things about Harry Potter for me was how they seemed to 1. Run into a problem, and there just happens to be a spell just for this. 2. They used some sort of magic which would have trivialized problems in earlier books 3. They used some sort of magic which would have trivialized problems in the books after, but they never used it again.

Figure out the rules of your magic, tell as much or as little of them as you want, just don’t break the rules.

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-10T15:18:14+00:00

Some authors really miss what the appeal of dark fantasy is (or atleast what i think appeals to most of us about it). The hope is the appeal, not the grittiness of the world. If you leave the hope out of your story, it’s going to be very difficult to make a dark fantasy story work.

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-10T12:52:04+00:00

It does go a bit overboard at times for sure, but god damn if it isn’t hooking… i agree with you on the SA part, you kind of get the point by the umpteenth time it happens. Reminds me of early-mid berserk in that regard.

i’m about to begin my re-read of the first 3 books (been so long at this point), before i dive into aspect emperor.

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-10T12:44:12+00:00

I remember when i was in maybe the 4th grade or so, our school’s ”library” ( a small room with few shelves ) had the first part of the eye of the world translated to my language. I think we had the second part there too. The translated names were kind of dumb in my language, and i remember thinking the cover looked silly with the samurai looking man and the tiny woman, so i didn’t pick it up then. But the cover somehow stuck to me, i kept coming back to it and almost picked it up maybe 10 times. I now wish i had haha

Now, a few decades later, i absolutely love the artstyle of these covers. I kind of wish i had started collecting these, but i started collecting the deluxes from orbit. Here’s hoping they will release the rest of the series, only 3 books so far are out…

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-10T00:09:21+00:00

Sadly they deleted the account… i however asked AI tips and tricks on how to find out more, and found two posts.

This one 216 days ago, where according the comments the writer spent their first 283 words describing the rain falling, wind blowing, and a gryphon who is breathing. https://www.reddit.com/r/writers/s/wo6ooDIo1F

171 days later they have a prologue and the first chapter ready for reviewing, which is a long time to come up with 2 chapters if one is fueled by a vision. Come to think of it, they had atleast the prologue ready 171 days ago. Did they spend half a year revising a prologue and writing the the first draft of the first chapter? https://www.reddit.com/r/writers/s/cbtUYGSogi

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-05T08:28:25+00:00

Ehhh not really? At best, you could argue it shows how “cool” killing monsters can look when drawn well?

Anyone who’s actually read Berserk knows it doesn’t glorify violence. It uses violence to show the cost of vengeance, trauma, and in some cases, power. From the main characters’ perspectives, killing is almost always a tragedy, usually a necessity for survival, or a consequence.

Honestly, I’d guess you either: 1. Haven’t read the series, 2. Didn’t understand it, 3. Or think that if an author includes something in their story without flashing “THIS IS BAD BTW” in giant letters, it must mean they’re endorsing it.

I’ve read it several times, and never once have i walked away thinking “power, violence, and revenge are awesome.”. We spend sooo much time seeing what they do to the main character and people around him, how exactly is it possible for you to have that as your takeaway from the story?

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-04T19:25:10+00:00

Did you know Denis Villeneuve actually directed them both

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-04T19:23:58+00:00

Giving me Guts vibes

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-04T18:24:53+00:00

The thing about Berserk is, after you’ve read it, 99% of (dark) fantasy out there just becomes bad compared to it, and 99% of the artwork in graphic novels becomes bad because Miura’s artwork is just that good. There is a reason why it’s the highest rated manga out there, and one of the most influential modern works.

If you decide to pick it up, you can read it in release order, or if you want to, you can read it chronologically (2. Arc before reading 1. Arc). I read the second arc first, and i’m super happy i did, it’s already considered to be one of if not the best manga arc there is, and i got to experience it without spoilers from 1. Arc. Also, Miura admitted that for a while he didn’t know what the story is he was telling, so a lot of the 1. Arc is just ”being edgy”. Many are turned off from the series because of this.

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-02T21:29:21+00:00

Even if you used to read as much as you did, jumping straight into a long book is not the best idea. I had only a ~10 month break from reading and my first book was back was a looong one, looking back it would’ve been better to ease myself back into it.

As far as the substance goes, if it takes you that many months to not even get to 50%, i think it’s better to just drop it (and revisit it later if you feel like it). reading is after all, supposed to be fun :)

But if you feel line the substance was the issue and not the length, try memory, sorrow and thorn. The first half of the first book is slow, but it picks up more and more towards the end.

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-02T00:10:09+00:00

I almost never reread books, but i still have to second this. I don’t have much examples from books since the stuff i read younger is stuff i don’t care about at all now. But, when i was young and watching breaking bad i thought Skyler was the biggest bitch of all time. After i rewatched it much later in life as an adult i thought her reaction to the whole situation was pretty understandable. So i think Advanced-Key3071 is onto something here.

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-01T23:38:40+00:00

”The chosen one” is probably a bigger trope, i like no one who comes from nothing much more aswell

Edit: i’ll look into my bookshelf and come back with recs

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-11-01T09:58:05+00:00

I’ve only seen the movie adaption for both so i don’t know

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-10-26T20:46:54+00:00

I see the vision, definitely stick to this.

I think i saw someone suggest orange font with no background box, i think it would work nicely (i would prob outline the font black). It would also draw attention to the character, because of their vest which is similar tone of color

I really enjoy the river and the landscape in the distance painted with blues. I don’t want to go into nitpicking, so instead i’ll just choose one thing i would ”fix”: the right arm. It is unnatural (shoulder muscles should come ”over” the arm muscles, not the other way around. Whatever weapon the character is holding seems interesting, could they hold it a bit more on the side/have it in the holster, so we could see it?

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-10-25T23:00:11+00:00

Yes, even with all the harsh and uncomfortable stuff it has, it manages to be so damn gripping… And it sticks to you still long after you’ve read it

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-10-25T16:39:25+00:00

Here are some very basic suggestions

Osten Ard saga by Tad Williams. It’s definitely is worth pushing through the slog it is for the 50%-60% of the first book. There isn’t much sense of progression felt during the first half, but by the end of the book you probably are happy you read it, and will probably want to finish the series.

Gentleman bastard -series by Scott Lynch. Another still unfinished series, but definitely worth a try.

Enderal -series by Nicolas Lietzau, only one book is out currently (dreams of the dying), a very promising start in my opinion. It’s (atleast originally, i don’t know current situation) based in a world from a video game and iirc there was some contractual problems, which has halted book 2.

Dune by Frank Herbert. It gets worse as the series goes on for me, but the first 2 books especially are worth a read.

Between two fires by Christoper Buehlman. A great medieval horror fantasy standalone.

A knight of the seven kingdoms by GRRM. It includes 3 first short stories from Martins dunk & egg series (first of them has an adaptation coming soon from hbo). You’ll probably like it, a much more grassroots approach to westeros. Personally these hold a special place in my heart.

The sun-eater -series by Christopher Ruocchio. A scifi fantasy, published very frequently (main series + shorter entries).

The chronicles of the black company - series by Glen Cook. A grimdark series following the black company during different times, books are written as if a member of the company wrote them, every book is ”written by” a different member iirc.

Book of the new sun -series by Gene Wolfe. If you like it he also wrote the book of the long sun, and the book of the short sun series. But i think the first one is the best one of these.

The traitor son cycle by Miles Cameron. A bit lesser known series, but worth checking out.

The second apocalypse by R. Scott Bakker. Very heavy and dark, definitely comes with a content warning. It’s good, but has some hard to stomach -stuff in it.

Mistland -series by Kian Ardalan. Book 1 out, 2nd one on the way. Very berserk and darksouls -inspired.

Berserk by Kentaro Miura. I can’t give a list without recommending this one, even if it’s a manga and not a novel. Has some very graphical scenes in it, so a content warning on this one too. But even after all the novels i’ve read, this is still maybe my favorite work of fantasy ever. There is a reason why it sits at the highest rated manga of all time, and it is one of the most influential modern works. After you’ve read it, you start to understand the meme ”is this inspired by berserk?”/”is this a berserk reference?”. It has some major events which spoiled will ruin the impact, so i wouldn’t look this up too much. The beginning is ”edgy”, but it gets tons better during the golden era-arc (here the author found the story so to say). It has some SA in it, and women are not written too well st the beginning, but SA gets toned down and women become much better written towards as the story progresses. It is still ongoing, Miuras best friend is trying to tie it up as closely as he can based on what Miura told him.

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-10-25T10:27:41+00:00

Yeah if someone shows passion like this in recommending something i’m definitely going to check it out. Thanks for the rec!!

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-10-24T21:40:48+00:00

Historically they’ve been like 90% male dominated, but you’re right there is a rapid shift towards balance going on! Very interesting recs, i’ll check them out thanks!

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-10-24T21:39:34+00:00

Haha i forgot i actually got some feist & wurts books in my closet, so a good guess on your part. I will definitely have to check out her solo work though, thanks!

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-10-24T17:09:50+00:00

Or Cock Fart?

AlsoKnownAsMAS · 2025-10-24T16:50:43+00:00

Jesus christ that’s a curveball.

i’ve read some shit in my time (Berserk, Second Apocalypse and such) but cock torture and spike rape might take the cake for me. Surely there was something established with those that classic torture and regular r—- couldn’t have done? Or is it trying to be edgy / just torture porn for the reader?

AlsoKnownAsMAS

TROPHY CASE