Books Like The First Law: 12 Reads You'll Love
If you want more of The First Law's grimdark, start with The Blade Itself.
Updated July 2026
Books like The First Law by Joe Abercrombie: 12 picks. Hand-picked reads with the same mood and themes, from The Blade Itself to Prince of Thorns.
Filter by mood
12 books like The First Law
A ranked list of books similar to The First Law by Joe Abercrombie — if you liked it, start at the top and work down. Each pick includes why it works and who it's for.
The Blade Itself
If you've only read the original trilogy, Abercrombie's standalones and the Age of Madness sequel trilogy are the obvious next step. But if you're looking for *non-Abercrombie* grimdark with the same flavor, start with everything below — and circle back to Best Served Cold when you're ready.
Prince of Thorns
Jorg Ancrath is fourteen, furious, and unforgivable — and Lawrence dares you to keep reading anyway. Short, savage, and written in a voice that owes a clear debt to Abercrombie. If First Law's appetite for difficult protagonists is what hooked you, this is the closest thing on the shelf.
The Black Company
by Glen Cook
Mercenaries on the wrong side of a centuries-long war, writing their own annals. The Black Company is the granddaddy of modern grimdark and the book most modern authors (Abercrombie included) quietly nod to. Lean, cynical, and weirdly tender about its terrible crew.
The Poppy War
by R. F. Kuang
Kuang shares Abercrombie's commitment to a protagonist who genuinely becomes the monster of her own story. The Poppy War is bleaker than First Law and less funny, but the moral architecture will feel deeply familiar.
Gardens of the Moon
Malazan is denser and stranger than First Law, but it shares Abercrombie's refusal to hold your hand and his love of soldiers, gallows humor, and battles that don't go the way prophecy promised. Commit to it and it pays back tenfold.
The Lies of Locke Lamora
by Scott Lynch
For the witty, sweary, ride-or-die ensemble. The Lies of Locke Lamora is lighter than First Law — but the banter, the heist-gone-wrong plotting, and the willingness to ruin your favorite characters will feel right at home.
The Rage of Dragons
by Evan Winter
Tau Tafari is the kind of vengeance-poisoned protagonist Abercrombie loves to write. Lean, brutal, and absolutely respects your reading time. A great palate cleanser between First Law re-reads.
Promise of Blood
Flintlock fantasy with a military coup as the inciting incident. Cynical generals, war-mage soldiers, and the political horse-trading Abercrombie fans crave. Faster pacing, lighter touch, but the bones are similar.
Senlin Ascends
A wild card, but stay with me. Bancroft's Tower of Babel quartet starts as a polite man's nightmare and slowly turns him into someone unrecognizable — same character-erosion arc that makes First Law unforgettable, in a totally fresh setting.
The Way of Shadows
by Brent Weeks
An assassin's apprenticeship in a city that chews up its own. Pulpier than First Law, but the moral compromises and master-apprentice dynamic will hit familiar notes for Glokta fans.
A Game of Thrones
If you somehow haven't yet — yes, you'll like it. Different scale, similar willingness to let likable characters lose, get hurt, and stay hurt. A foundational text for anyone who loves what Abercrombie does.
Why readers loved The First Law
Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy ruined a lot of readers for ordinary fantasy. Once you've spent a few hundred pages with Logen Ninefingers, Glokta, and Jezal — once you've laughed at jokes that shouldn't be funny and watched a noble quest curdle into something much uglier — most other series start to feel like they're pulling their punches.
Across thousands of reviews, readers keep coming back to the same notes: grimdark, morally grey, ensemble. Every book on this list was chosen because it delivers on at least two of those threads.
Shared themes & tropes
The threads that connect these recommendations to The First Law.
Who this list is for
Genre fit
Perfect for readers who want…
- grimdark — without losing what made The First Law special.
- morally grey — without losing what made The First Law special.
- ensemble — without losing what made The First Law special.
- character study — without losing what made The First Law special.
- military fantasy — without losing what made The First Law special.
- epic fantasy — without losing what made The First Law special.
Frequently asked questions
Explore related topics
Jump into the wider genre hubs and tag pages connected to The First Law.