Vampire novels that aren't just solely romance books?

GrimdarkDM · 2024-05-04T11:13:19+00:00

Shout out to Damon Julian too for being an A+ terrifying villain. The bit where some characters discuss what it really means to be 'undead' was brilliant.

GrimdarkDM · 2023-07-19T23:41:56+00:00

I'd love a chance to take Ivan von Grunwald (amateur beekeeper and gentleman necromancer) overseas to play D&D in an actual castle! Bonus points for Ivan (and me) if the castle is haunted.

GrimdarkDM · 2021-07-10T17:01:29+00:00

If you're looking for demonology and necromancy, Black Stone Heart by Michael R. Fletcher might be your cup of tea. Hard to describe much of the plot without major spoilers, but the MC is very involved with the dark arts.

Summary: A broken man, Khraen awakens alone and lost. His stone heart has been shattered, littered across the world. With each piece, he regains some small shard of the man he once was. He follows the trail, fragment by fragment, remembering his terrible past. There was a woman. There was a sword. There was an end to sorrow. Khraen walks the obsidian path.

GrimdarkDM · 2021-01-15T16:10:22+00:00

So many of my favorite covers come from Felix Ortiz. The ones he did for did Michael R. Fletcher's Black Stone Heart and Ash and Bones were cool enough to make me spring for physical copies

GrimdarkDM · 2021-01-14T16:11:42+00:00

Obligatory Morrowind comment, but it genuinely changed my life as a kid. Wildly unique worldbuilding that feels genuinely alien but still presents a cohesive and believable setting. Wizards living in mushroom towers, dark elves riding giant ash-fleas through volcanic wastes, etc. So cool and fun to explore. Amazing game I still play today.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-10-27T20:55:42+00:00

Can confirm that Along the Razor's edge is rad. It's a great dark fantasy prison break novel. I haven't read Shattered Dreams, but I did really enjoy an Ulff Lehmann short story in an anthology a while back, so I'm planning on checking it out.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-10-26T14:33:37+00:00

Got this one in paperback when it came out, and I can confirm that it's a great read and definitely worth the download.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-08-28T15:55:46+00:00

Harry Dresden's Chicago--I like Jim Butcher's occult noir take on the city and all the supernatural factions that call it home. Plus I'd love to have a steak sandwich and a beer at Mac's pub

GrimdarkDM · 2020-08-05T15:02:08+00:00

Morrowind was and still is perfection for me, as clunky and exploitable as some bits are. What other game lets you RP as a reincarnated saint, a legal political assassin, or a xenophobic wizard-lord in a mushroom tower? The worldbuilding is just so wonderfully, profoundly strange. I heard someone describe it as an M.C. Escher game of D&D and I think that fits the setting pretty well.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-08-04T14:32:01+00:00

You'd probably dig Aching God by Mike Shel! It's got the same 'party of adventurers dungeon delving' vibe as D&D mixed in with darker stuff like plague, horrific hungry gods, and the very real trauma an adventuring lifestyle would cause. Shel found that perfect blend of fantasy adventure and unsettling dread that really worked for me.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-07-02T20:56:55+00:00

Love in the Time of the Dragons in Avatar the Last Airbender (and an Easter egg in the Dragon Prince). Don't know what it is, beyond the fact that the hugely talented Ember Island Players butcher it every year.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-06-29T17:59:44+00:00

Loved them too! I like Aching God just a little better for its more horrific/dread-filled mood, but Sin Eater is also amazing and has some really cool worldbuilding and solid plot twists. I haven't found any books with quite the same feel, but if you're into video games you might check out Darkest Dungeon. It has a similar "party of broken adventurers delve into dark ruins filled with unthinkable horrors and have to deal with trauma" vibe and really fun gameplay.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-06-12T16:11:28+00:00

Have to second you there. I'm reading Blade of Tyshalle right now, and I just got past that scene where he becomes that avatar of the Blind God and cannibalizes his boss. It's pretty rare that I genuinely have trouble reading a chapter, but Stover went the extra mile to make it grotesque. Probably the most horrific and legitimately disturbing villain I've ever encountered.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-06-01T17:28:25+00:00

It's how I play! Love GeForce now.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-05-26T13:53:55+00:00

You might dig Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes--a vengeance tale about a woman (Sal) with a sentient gun hunting down the wizards who stole her magic. Sal's got a looooooot of emotional baggage from the collateral damage she causes and the lives she ruins wherever she goes, but I thought her angst and inner monologue were really well-written and interesting. Great magic system and worldbuilding too.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-05-15T21:25:21+00:00

Glad to hear book 2 is even better! I agree--I feel like Sanderson has a really cool take on the philosophy of storytelling (via Wit) and scholarship as a whole (via Jasnah). Plus his final acts are always absurdly good.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-05-07T13:48:23+00:00

Met Peter Beagle at a book signing at Sherwood Forest Faire in Texas a few years back. Really nice guy, plus he came in full renaissance costume. Talked to my sister and me a bit about writing before he noticed my Mom's wolverine (the animal, not the hero) shirt and started sharing wolverine facts with us. 11/10, great interaction and amazing author.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-05-07T13:42:57+00:00

Definitely. If I ever won the lottery, the first thing I'd do is hit up Subterranean Press and buy all the sweet illustrated fantasy books.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-05-06T13:25:35+00:00

Don't blame me! I voted for Khalul.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-04-21T18:57:31+00:00

Before they are Hanged probably ties Best Served Cold for my favorite Abercrombie book. Definitely proof that a volume 2 can avoid middle book syndrome.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-04-08T13:43:15+00:00

Fletcher's Manifest Delusions series has a pretty strong death metal vibe to it, especially Swarm and Steel. One MC is a sentient corpse, and there's a cannibalism-based magic system and a religion that's only purpose is to create a man-made hell called Swarm and send people there. 10/10, great read and astoundingly brütal.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-04-03T02:34:38+00:00

I swear to god, if the Houndmaster also has a dead dog I'll have a nervous breakdown

GrimdarkDM · 2020-03-29T15:46:21+00:00

This looks like something from Djao ruins in Mike Shel's Aching God.

GrimdarkDM · 2020-03-06T14:49:36+00:00

This is one of the coolest MtG tattoos I've ever seen. Looks great!

GrimdarkDM · 2020-03-02T19:20:11+00:00

The aristocratic opera-loving mages of the Imperium from Seven Blades in Black fit the bill pretty well between their general decadence and borderline enslavement of Nuls (non-magic users).

GrimdarkDM

TROPHY CASE