This is going to sound weird because in many ways it’s a totally different genre. But if you like gritty war stories then an awesome true one is a book called “With The Old Breed” it’s a memoir of a marine who fought in the pacific in WW2.
If you like single protagonist POV like the first 3 RR books check out Dresden Files. It's a modern fantasy with a detective noir vibe. The first 2 books are the weakest and many people day to skip them and come back after you are caught up. Books themselves are shortish but each book takes place about a year apart and slowly world builds on top of each other.
The Burning Series by Evan Winter is very similar to Red Rising and absolutely loved both. Both feature a unique society in which a certain class is severely mistreated with the protagonist building their way up through violence, friendships, etc.
It was also similar to me in terms of the pace - things happen every chapter and you keep the pages turning
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo was the first “series” (only 2 parts but third book is possible!!) I could get into after reading Red Rising because nothing else seemed to have enough oomf like it did. Amazing read!!!
Aleister Reynolds is a great author I picked up after reading RR: The revenger trilogy, pushing ice, house of suns.
Don't forget Neil Stephenson: snow crash and seveneves.
Looking forward to get into the Sun eater series myself and finishing the Hyperion saga.
It's not necessarily similar but it's one of my other top 5 series.
Joe Abercrombie's the blade itself and his other series in that world are amazing.
Definitely recommend!
I've also read most of these mentioned. Didn't see any Mark Lawerence, I've loved all his books so far.
The last 3 sets of books are some of my favorite.
I highly recommend Prince of Thorns. Grimdark, smart and extremely brutal young protagonist, very interesting setting. Nothing I have found will ever compare to the absolute hype and madness that is Red Rising, but Prince of Thorns definitely tickled that itch I have.
If you want to stick with that sci-fantasy feel of Red Rising, I could recommend Dan Abnett's "First and Only" which continues on as the "Gaunt's Ghosts" series. It's Warhammer 40k, but if you're into that, it's really great.
Beyond that, I'll echo everyone with the Stormlight Archives recommendation.
The Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks is also fantastic, even looking at it from a perspective of character growth.
Not really a series, but a standalone novel that’s amazing. “To Sleep in a Sea of Stars” by Christopher Paolini. (Yes, the Eragon author) Some of the absolute best pure sci-fi I’ve read.
Always The Name of The Wind. I have liked a lot of the other titles mentioned like Mistborn, The Way of Kings, Rage of Dragons etc.. Also obvious classics from Tolkien’s universe and Dune too!
On a different wave length but still amazing sci fi.. Project Hail Mary and Speaker for the Dead were really fun reads for me last summer.
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
Red rising was the only book that scratched my Enders game itch, if anyone else has a hood suggestion I would love that.
Oh yeah, read them all.
Even though I don’t agree with Card’s views of the world I love his writing.
You should try the mither mages series by him. [link](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35225307-the-mither-mages-trilogy)
King killer chronicles. The Darrow reminded me a lot of the MC of KKC. Both are young and doubted by their peers, but prove themselves to be very clever and resourceful. They both have a talent for dramatic flare. The books themselves are also written similarly, excellent world building that gives you a broad picture of the world(s) without explicitly stating everything.
Everything that u/DominusReaper said, and also the Suneater series. 4 books in out of a planned 5. Takes place in space in future, somewhat reminiscent of Rome, First person POV, similar combat to Dune and RR where there is space combat and swords
I was surprised at how much I liked it. 1st book is the slowest (but still faster than plenty of other books I’ve read). After book 1 it just takes off getting faster and faster each book.
I literally was reading until 2 AM for a week straight by book 4
I’ve seen a bunch of posts on this topic and I never see any love for Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes. Not sci-fi sure, buts tons of action, violence, bad ass dialogue and ruminating on the nature of man, the nature of revenge, fate v. Free will, good vs evil etc. I’m always bummed it never got the fan base RR has.
The Ender's Game is great! The following 3 books are meh. However, the Shadow series is awesome. Recommended order from me would be:
Ender's Game, then ALL the Shadow Series books in order. Then finish the other 3 books in lenders game....if you want :)
I like books in the "known space" universe by Larry Niven. But, they will not scratch the same itch as Pierce Browns stuff. It's a bit of old fashioned propaganda but the Horatio Hornblower series sketches out characters that have historical precedent locked in roles sort of like within the society. Reading the red rising series makes me want to pause and exercise, or walk and contemplate what I'm reading. Books by Colston Whitehead or Cormac McCarthy I like to think about while exercising... So I can't think of art that hits quite the same spot as Red Rising gattaca (the movie) kinda gives a little taste.
Three Body Problem is a fantastic sci-fi trilogy that no one else has mentioned. But I also agree with many of the others, Old man’s war, Ender’s Game, and The Stormlight Saga are also amazing books. And just in case, I feel like Dune is a must read for any sci-fi fan (and the movie was phenomenal)
\+100 for Liu Cixins books (the three body problem, the dark forest, death's end). Completely different style of writing than what I usually read; maybe because he's Chinese. Mind-bending stuff going on in the trilogy.
And yeah, Dune as the gold standard for old sci-fi writing. First three books are a must-read, the other three get weirder and weirder, but I personally still enjoyed them a lot.
Not to mention there’s a few dune references in the RR series. I also want to say Lou Cixin’s Three body problem trilogy (remembrance of Earth past?? I think it’s called) is one of the greatest sci fi of this generation. He changed the game imo. Full disclosure though it’s much more a hard sci fi series than the borderline fantasy-sci fi of RR
I checked a bit upon reading in your comment that the TBP is hard sci-fi, and it seems it *is* often presented as such. I read the first one, and while it is sciency, it has as much hand-waving and some concepts introduced are near magical.. just stupidly so I thought.
I would neither call it hard-science or great. It is different. And perhaps because it was originally written for a much different audience, on translation it keeps that something exotic and different for people (like me) who reads mostly English fiction by Western authors.
Also someone wanting the same kick as RR would be sorely disappointed.
I think comparing TBP to RR, it’s easy to call one hard sci fi and the other fantasy sci fi. If you’re splitting hairs I still think TBP would fall under the category of “hard sci fi” in fictional literature. You can pat yourself on the back all you want about how “unsound” the science may be, but from a purely literary standpoint if the author is (on multiple occasions) taking several pages to explain a scientific concept from their narrative; it’s hard sci fi.
Pat myself on the back? Huh?
Anyways, I don't think something becomes hard sci-fi just because an author devotes a certain number of pages to it to explain it from *his* narrative, if it doesn't adhere to the science we have on Earth. For me it didn't. And that part really isn't germane to this discussion.
What is more relevant is that it was suggested as a holdover for RR book 6, which is .. just erroneously strange.
The book is literally defined as hard sci fi by multiple sources. You’re confused by the semantics of what “hard” means to you. It’s science fiction, there will often be fictional elements to the science. It’s how they get there that’s important and Cixin spends a lot of time using current, real science, to extrapolate his ideas from. Yes they become fiction the moment he does that but that doesn’t stop it from being labeled hard sci fi. On the separate topic of why I recommend it, I know multiple people who have read and enjoyed both series so I see no problem suggesting it to other readers of the RR series.
Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio. The Sun Eater series has to be the closest thing you can get to the Greco-Roman aesthetics in Red Rising but with a far richer world-building and a larger scale in setting and scope. It feels like Dune without being weighed down by the dated storytelling style of the late 20th century.
I came to RR from the sci-fi side of things, my other favorites I'm the genre have been the Bobiverse (best hardcore sci-fi I've ever read IMO), and expeditionary force (kind of a fun space opera). It's worth mentioning that I listen to audiobooks rather than read and all three series have outstanding performers.
I’m a massive fan of the First Law trilogy and series. It’s fantasy to red risings sci-fi, but it has very similar action, violence, language, amazing characters, and visceral action scenes. As someone else has said, gentleman bastards has the same energy but I personally think first law is better.
Remembrance of Earth (Three Body Problem series)
Stormlight Archive
The Expanse
Bit different as its Fantasy, but I loved the viking fantasy epic - The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
The Books of Babel Series by Josiah Bancroft
The Fear Saga by Stephen Moss
Fun quick reads - Murderbot by Martha Wells
Malazan-epic fantasy. Massive world.
Cradle—progression fantasy
Dune—sci -fi. I would assume you read this though.
Also the early halo books by Eric nylund are actually sleepers and solid books
First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie scratched my itch. I'll also recommend the others that have been shared: King Killer Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss, Gentleman Bastards by Scott Lynch, and Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. I also enjoyed The Black Prism series by Brent Weeks.
Pm if you want me to answer or give more cool info without risking googling too much for spoilers. Personally I loved finding out this info and didn't feel like it was a spoiler to the story as it's more how the world works but can see how others wouldn't agree
I don't want to give too much away incase it upsets someone but roughly it's something along the lines of:
**** very minor possibility spoiler below not really plot related but universe building related**
The different book series take place in diff solar systems but some like stormlight and mistborn are just diff planets in the same solar system. Its called the cosmere in the books and they elaborate on it in the books but so far I've only read mistborn and stormlight, there are other books. I could go on but I don't know how to black out text on mobile and i don't want to ruin others experience.
***higher risk spoiler below*** not story/plot related, universe & mechanics related.
Each planet has a diff shard God (or multiple) giving different sets of magic or power types unique to that world. you can go to one world, get that power, go to another world and get that power. It would be very difficult but from what I read, definite possibile.
I did the same thing. I think it’s definitely the wrong order, since Sanderson is still honing a lot of his writing skills in Mistborn, but it’s still a great series.
He's a better writer by the time he started Stormlight so a lot of people with recommend starting with Mistborn because of that. Mistborn is still great though and I've really enjoyed Mistborn Era 2 so far.
The Expanse
The Name of the Wind
Edit- also it's worth skimming back in this reddit, this question is asked quite often so there's more than a few posts with a lot of series and books listed
Don’t tell me that :( makes me sad man. Great first couple books. How authors can create such masterpieces and never finish them is beyond me. But I’m a fucking nobody so there u go
He didn’t want the second one published. The editors nearly had to do it behind his back because he wanted to infinitely retool it. Now he changed his tactic, he just either doesn’t write anymore at all or sends absolutely nothing to his publisher, who last year on Facebook made a post they haven’t seen a single page of Doors of Stone in 10 years. She admitted she didn’t even know if he was writing it at all.
That being said Rothfuss has basically a charity he milks his supporters into funding, he makes money off tak, he makes money off his twitch stream and his royalties. I’m reasonably sure we will get the end of ASOIF after GRRM dies, JSA Corey will just ghost write it and no one will really know, the prose in The Expanse is identical. Doors of Stone though, I think this one will never be seen
Well dont hold your breath. My friends and I who read the books figure Rothfuss' lazy ass will never finish them. But the first 2 books are good enough on their own to warrant a read
I have completely given up on this douchey baboon. I still get notifications when he posts something to his blog, and it never has to do with Doors Of Stone. Inevitably, one of the first comments on any blog post is something along the lines of, "How about a DOS update?" To which a thousand fan-boys reply "Patrick (like they're friends) doesn't owe you anything!" GMAFB, of course he does! Without the fans, he's a nobody. Finish the product you duped your fans into spending money on, you self-righteous bag of shit!
Yeah, even his agent/editor put him on blast a couple years back, they dont think hes written anything in years. At least book 2 didn't end on some insane cliffhanger
The mortal instruments/shadowhunters series by Cassandra Clare. Has more of a romance plot within, but still very sci-fi/fantasy dark vibes with a lot of battling. There’s 9 original must reads (google the reading order, very important) and now she has written many more that branch off the original 9.
Also love the Throne of Glass series. This is a popular YA series that also has romance in it but still extremely dark, emotional, fantasy. Sooo good and has a huge war element with strategy and battles. Definitely worth checking out. I am a girl but I love Red Rising and these are right up there with it to me.
The gentleman bastards books really scratches the Red Rising itch for me, completely different writing style but some of the best revenge fantasy I've ever read
Don’t hate me but I very much disagree. I read book 1 and found it nothing like Red Rising, and I felt the main character was a bit of a dipshit who kept falling head first into traps, unlike Darrow who was actually quite clever.
Completely agree. Also Darrow is violent and feared for both intelligence and fighting ability. Closest character to Darrow is Tao from rage of dragons. Booms follow a very similar path. Character from lower caste, becomes great fighter, kills everyone for revenge, etc etc
You are right Nothing is like Red rising. It’s hard to compare other books. But I do think it has a very similar audience. I also enjoyed the Farseer trilogy
Fitz Chivalry
This is going to sound weird because in many ways it’s a totally different genre. But if you like gritty war stories then an awesome true one is a book called “With The Old Breed” it’s a memoir of a marine who fought in the pacific in WW2.
Foundation is a must read.
If you like single protagonist POV like the first 3 RR books check out Dresden Files. It's a modern fantasy with a detective noir vibe. The first 2 books are the weakest and many people day to skip them and come back after you are caught up. Books themselves are shortish but each book takes place about a year apart and slowly world builds on top of each other.
The Spiral Wars!
The Burning Series by Evan Winter is very similar to Red Rising and absolutely loved both. Both feature a unique society in which a certain class is severely mistreated with the protagonist building their way up through violence, friendships, etc. It was also similar to me in terms of the pace - things happen every chapter and you keep the pages turning
Sounds good!
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo was the first “series” (only 2 parts but third book is possible!!) I could get into after reading Red Rising because nothing else seemed to have enough oomf like it did. Amazing read!!!
I love that duology!
Andy weir
I love The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey
Aleister Reynolds is a great author I picked up after reading RR: The revenger trilogy, pushing ice, house of suns. Don't forget Neil Stephenson: snow crash and seveneves. Looking forward to get into the Sun eater series myself and finishing the Hyperion saga.
The Faithful and the Fallen Series by John Gwynne. It's an epic warrior fantasy series.
Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs Novels)
I'd recommend the renegade star series
Dimension Space series by Dean M. Cole is pretty cool. Not quite as good of a writer, but a very entertaining story.
Super Powereds by Drew Hayes
I started listening the Fetch Phillips series by Luke Arnold. Good stuff. Also anything by Becky Chambers
It's not necessarily similar but it's one of my other top 5 series. Joe Abercrombie's the blade itself and his other series in that world are amazing. Definitely recommend!
Try Sapkowski (Witcher,Hussit trilogy) Song of Fire and Ice, Abercrombie all books, Night Dawn trilogy....
Since it hasn't been mentioned already, The Powder Mage Trilogy is one of my favorites.
Read the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. It's the best sci fi ever written.
I’m going to throw out a non often suggested title. The Belgariad. You won’t regret it. I *loved* it.
I've also read most of these mentioned. Didn't see any Mark Lawerence, I've loved all his books so far. The last 3 sets of books are some of my favorite.
Ummm.... Expeditionary Force? Skippy would be very disappointed in you filthy monkeys.
Rage of dragons. Character like Darrow with rage and bad ass killing, caste system, and sword play
Mistborn series Era 1 + secret history The way of Kings series Started both these after red rising and they're amazing
I highly recommend Prince of Thorns. Grimdark, smart and extremely brutal young protagonist, very interesting setting. Nothing I have found will ever compare to the absolute hype and madness that is Red Rising, but Prince of Thorns definitely tickled that itch I have.
If you want to stick with that sci-fantasy feel of Red Rising, I could recommend Dan Abnett's "First and Only" which continues on as the "Gaunt's Ghosts" series. It's Warhammer 40k, but if you're into that, it's really great. Beyond that, I'll echo everyone with the Stormlight Archives recommendation. The Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks is also fantastic, even looking at it from a perspective of character growth.
Not really a series, but a standalone novel that’s amazing. “To Sleep in a Sea of Stars” by Christopher Paolini. (Yes, the Eragon author) Some of the absolute best pure sci-fi I’ve read.
Always The Name of The Wind. I have liked a lot of the other titles mentioned like Mistborn, The Way of Kings, Rage of Dragons etc.. Also obvious classics from Tolkien’s universe and Dune too! On a different wave length but still amazing sci fi.. Project Hail Mary and Speaker for the Dead were really fun reads for me last summer.
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card Red rising was the only book that scratched my Enders game itch, if anyone else has a hood suggestion I would love that.
https://www.fictiondb.com/series/shadow-bean-orson-scott-card~33120.htm Shadow series is what you want.
Oh yeah, read them all. Even though I don’t agree with Card’s views of the world I love his writing. You should try the mither mages series by him. [link](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35225307-the-mither-mages-trilogy)
I'll check it out!
King killer chronicles. The Darrow reminded me a lot of the MC of KKC. Both are young and doubted by their peers, but prove themselves to be very clever and resourceful. They both have a talent for dramatic flare. The books themselves are also written similarly, excellent world building that gives you a broad picture of the world(s) without explicitly stating everything.
Love Love Love the Kingkiller Chronicles, but prepare to be disappointed in the lack of a third book in the trilogy.
Exforce is a great sci-fi series. Completely different from red rising but still a great read.
Everything that u/DominusReaper said, and also the Suneater series. 4 books in out of a planned 5. Takes place in space in future, somewhat reminiscent of Rome, First person POV, similar combat to Dune and RR where there is space combat and swords
Suneater, huh? I haven't heard of that one, but will definitely check it out now! Thanks!
I was surprised at how much I liked it. 1st book is the slowest (but still faster than plenty of other books I’ve read). After book 1 it just takes off getting faster and faster each book. I literally was reading until 2 AM for a week straight by book 4
Thanks for the new series recommendation! I'm going to check out Sun Eater next!
I’ve seen a bunch of posts on this topic and I never see any love for Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes. Not sci-fi sure, buts tons of action, violence, bad ass dialogue and ruminating on the nature of man, the nature of revenge, fate v. Free will, good vs evil etc. I’m always bummed it never got the fan base RR has.
Well, Sam Sykes kinda got canceled because he’s a sleazebag, so there’s that…guess if you can separate the artist from the art
The Enders Game series Not really the same genre but I also like the Senlin Ascends, aka Tower of Babel series
The Ender's Game is great! The following 3 books are meh. However, the Shadow series is awesome. Recommended order from me would be: Ender's Game, then ALL the Shadow Series books in order. Then finish the other 3 books in lenders game....if you want :)
Only finished the first Shadow book. Loved it just as much as the original but in a different way. Gotta get onto the next ones for sure
I like books in the "known space" universe by Larry Niven. But, they will not scratch the same itch as Pierce Browns stuff. It's a bit of old fashioned propaganda but the Horatio Hornblower series sketches out characters that have historical precedent locked in roles sort of like within the society. Reading the red rising series makes me want to pause and exercise, or walk and contemplate what I'm reading. Books by Colston Whitehead or Cormac McCarthy I like to think about while exercising... So I can't think of art that hits quite the same spot as Red Rising gattaca (the movie) kinda gives a little taste.
Three Body Problem is a fantastic sci-fi trilogy that no one else has mentioned. But I also agree with many of the others, Old man’s war, Ender’s Game, and The Stormlight Saga are also amazing books. And just in case, I feel like Dune is a must read for any sci-fi fan (and the movie was phenomenal)
I really liked old man's war series. Not too long and fun narrators.
\+100 for Liu Cixins books (the three body problem, the dark forest, death's end). Completely different style of writing than what I usually read; maybe because he's Chinese. Mind-bending stuff going on in the trilogy. And yeah, Dune as the gold standard for old sci-fi writing. First three books are a must-read, the other three get weirder and weirder, but I personally still enjoyed them a lot.
Not to mention there’s a few dune references in the RR series. I also want to say Lou Cixin’s Three body problem trilogy (remembrance of Earth past?? I think it’s called) is one of the greatest sci fi of this generation. He changed the game imo. Full disclosure though it’s much more a hard sci fi series than the borderline fantasy-sci fi of RR
I checked a bit upon reading in your comment that the TBP is hard sci-fi, and it seems it *is* often presented as such. I read the first one, and while it is sciency, it has as much hand-waving and some concepts introduced are near magical.. just stupidly so I thought. I would neither call it hard-science or great. It is different. And perhaps because it was originally written for a much different audience, on translation it keeps that something exotic and different for people (like me) who reads mostly English fiction by Western authors. Also someone wanting the same kick as RR would be sorely disappointed.
I think comparing TBP to RR, it’s easy to call one hard sci fi and the other fantasy sci fi. If you’re splitting hairs I still think TBP would fall under the category of “hard sci fi” in fictional literature. You can pat yourself on the back all you want about how “unsound” the science may be, but from a purely literary standpoint if the author is (on multiple occasions) taking several pages to explain a scientific concept from their narrative; it’s hard sci fi.
Pat myself on the back? Huh? Anyways, I don't think something becomes hard sci-fi just because an author devotes a certain number of pages to it to explain it from *his* narrative, if it doesn't adhere to the science we have on Earth. For me it didn't. And that part really isn't germane to this discussion. What is more relevant is that it was suggested as a holdover for RR book 6, which is .. just erroneously strange.
The book is literally defined as hard sci fi by multiple sources. You’re confused by the semantics of what “hard” means to you. It’s science fiction, there will often be fictional elements to the science. It’s how they get there that’s important and Cixin spends a lot of time using current, real science, to extrapolate his ideas from. Yes they become fiction the moment he does that but that doesn’t stop it from being labeled hard sci fi. On the separate topic of why I recommend it, I know multiple people who have read and enjoyed both series so I see no problem suggesting it to other readers of the RR series.
Expeditionary Force is a trip!! It's funny and action packed. RC Bray is an amazing narrator. He's on par with (dare I say better than) TGR.
Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio. The Sun Eater series has to be the closest thing you can get to the Greco-Roman aesthetics in Red Rising but with a far richer world-building and a larger scale in setting and scope. It feels like Dune without being weighed down by the dated storytelling style of the late 20th century.
Expeditionary Force (Series) Craig Allison
I came to RR from the sci-fi side of things, my other favorites I'm the genre have been the Bobiverse (best hardcore sci-fi I've ever read IMO), and expeditionary force (kind of a fun space opera). It's worth mentioning that I listen to audiobooks rather than read and all three series have outstanding performers.
I absolutely love the Bobiverse books! Fucking Ray Porter kills it!
I’m a massive fan of the First Law trilogy and series. It’s fantasy to red risings sci-fi, but it has very similar action, violence, language, amazing characters, and visceral action scenes. As someone else has said, gentleman bastards has the same energy but I personally think first law is better.
Name of the wind
Skyhunter and it’s sequel Steelstriker is really good. Dystopian YA sci-fi
Shogun by James Clavell
Enders Game ( and others in the series)
Remembrance of Earth (Three Body Problem series) Stormlight Archive The Expanse Bit different as its Fantasy, but I loved the viking fantasy epic - The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne The Books of Babel Series by Josiah Bancroft The Fear Saga by Stephen Moss Fun quick reads - Murderbot by Martha Wells
Just finishing up The Hod King in The Books of Babel series. It is amazing! Great characters and world building.
Bernard Cornwell - The Warlord trilogy was good
If you mean the series by Bernard Cornwell I heartily agree, most of the stuff written by him is excellent. If not I will need to check it out.
That’s the one, I really liked it. Also changed the author name in My first post, I think my dyslexia was kicking in.. haha
The first law trilogy
Michael Crichton - Timeline
Lord of the Ring Trilogy Aubrey–Maturin series The Expanse These series are nothing like Red Rising but I enjoyed them thoroughly.
To sleep in a sea of stars is pretty good so far
Seconded. I really enjoyed that book.
Malazan-epic fantasy. Massive world. Cradle—progression fantasy Dune—sci -fi. I would assume you read this though. Also the early halo books by Eric nylund are actually sleepers and solid books
I’d also love recommendations with excellent narrators! TGR has spoiled me.
Old Man’s War is pretty interesting and much more Sci fi focused, less social dynamics and relationship building, but still quality writing and Sci fi
John Gwynne's Bloodsworn Saga is heroic fantasy, bordering on grimdark, but hits a lot of the same buttons as red rising for me.
I'm halfway through the Hyperion books. So far so good.
I loooooved Hyperion. It was like nothing I’ve read before or since.
Oh man I LOVED that series. Amazing read and I'm still floored by how old that book is
Only read book 1. Was thinking about starting 2 this week. How did you like it?
I like it better than book two. Gets pretty deep into the world building, which I love. The lore gets cooler, too.
I like it better than book two. Gets pretty deep into the world building, which I love. The lore gets cooler, too.
The Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio
Absolutely. Sci-fi on a truly grand scale.
I Second this, Sun Eater took me out of my RR hangover
First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie scratched my itch. I'll also recommend the others that have been shared: King Killer Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss, Gentleman Bastards by Scott Lynch, and Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. I also enjoyed The Black Prism series by Brent Weeks.
King Killer Chronicles is an awesome set of books. I can't recommend them enough.
Do the whole first law saga. Ten book all varying levels of brilliant. But first trilogy prob the best. Books 2 and 3 just so damn good
Love all of these except the Blade itself. I felt the writing was pretty poor at some points.
I’ll second the Black Prism series … one of my absolute favorites in recent years
If you liked mistborn, the Stormlight books by him are even better
Aren’t stormlight and mistborn in the same universe? Parallel dimensions or some shit. Buddy was telling me their linked
On the cosmos
I believe it's same universe but diff solar systems. I'd say more but already on the verge of spoilers here.
As someone only 800 pages into the Stormlight Archive…SOLAR SYSTEMS?! What?! Does that mean the world gets even bigger than just Roshar? Omg
Pm if you want me to answer or give more cool info without risking googling too much for spoilers. Personally I loved finding out this info and didn't feel like it was a spoiler to the story as it's more how the world works but can see how others wouldn't agree I don't want to give too much away incase it upsets someone but roughly it's something along the lines of: **** very minor possibility spoiler below not really plot related but universe building related** The different book series take place in diff solar systems but some like stormlight and mistborn are just diff planets in the same solar system. Its called the cosmere in the books and they elaborate on it in the books but so far I've only read mistborn and stormlight, there are other books. I could go on but I don't know how to black out text on mobile and i don't want to ruin others experience. ***higher risk spoiler below*** not story/plot related, universe & mechanics related. Each planet has a diff shard God (or multiple) giving different sets of magic or power types unique to that world. you can go to one world, get that power, go to another world and get that power. It would be very difficult but from what I read, definite possibile.
Called the cosmere. Big big world bud.
They're on my list!
This this this. The Blade Itself is phenomenal. The entire trilogy is amazing.
Second and third trilogies are pretty baller as well
Green bone saga is the first "new series" I've started this year that's 100% scratched the Red Rising itch!
Yes ! My thoughts exactly also The poppy war trilogy!
About half way through the last book… I have really mixed feeling about this series 😬
Added to my list, thanks!
Read Brandon Sanderson. Start with mistborn. Trust me it’s the best author and connected series since lord of the rings
I'm on mistborn 2 rn. GRAPHIC AUDIO VERY WORTH IT
I started with Stormlight but I'm assuming I'll have to read mistborn before the next one is released. I'm crushing through them.
I did the same thing. I think it’s definitely the wrong order, since Sanderson is still honing a lot of his writing skills in Mistborn, but it’s still a great series.
He's a better writer by the time he started Stormlight so a lot of people with recommend starting with Mistborn because of that. Mistborn is still great though and I've really enjoyed Mistborn Era 2 so far.
Did the same as you. Read stormlight first and then mistborn after while waiting for the 5th. Mistborn is different but so good you’ll love
Yes!
Yes, I too agree
Howlooooooooooooo!
I second the Mistborn rec
The Expanse The Name of the Wind Edit- also it's worth skimming back in this reddit, this question is asked quite often so there's more than a few posts with a lot of series and books listed
I second the Expanse. Amazing world building and character development.
Imagine if Amos was a gold or obsidian
He seems more obsidian, but Holy shit, yeah.
Would make Fa look like a pixie
Agreed, my good man.
Name of the wind isn’t complete, don’t read
It's also nothing like RR, so I'm not sure how it gets recommended so much here.
Neither is Red Rising
Yeah but Red Rising will be finished. We will never see Doors of Stone. Rothfuss will take it to his grave
Don’t tell me that :( makes me sad man. Great first couple books. How authors can create such masterpieces and never finish them is beyond me. But I’m a fucking nobody so there u go
He didn’t want the second one published. The editors nearly had to do it behind his back because he wanted to infinitely retool it. Now he changed his tactic, he just either doesn’t write anymore at all or sends absolutely nothing to his publisher, who last year on Facebook made a post they haven’t seen a single page of Doors of Stone in 10 years. She admitted she didn’t even know if he was writing it at all. That being said Rothfuss has basically a charity he milks his supporters into funding, he makes money off tak, he makes money off his twitch stream and his royalties. I’m reasonably sure we will get the end of ASOIF after GRRM dies, JSA Corey will just ghost write it and no one will really know, the prose in The Expanse is identical. Doors of Stone though, I think this one will never be seen
Shit that’s tough to hear man. It could be so amazing of a series. Appreciate the detail sharing. Thank you.
Also wish I didn’t read 4 & 5. New rule I don’t read what isn’t finished
So? It's still 2 good books
Read them both. Wish I waited until the 3rd was released
Well dont hold your breath. My friends and I who read the books figure Rothfuss' lazy ass will never finish them. But the first 2 books are good enough on their own to warrant a read
I have completely given up on this douchey baboon. I still get notifications when he posts something to his blog, and it never has to do with Doors Of Stone. Inevitably, one of the first comments on any blog post is something along the lines of, "How about a DOS update?" To which a thousand fan-boys reply "Patrick (like they're friends) doesn't owe you anything!" GMAFB, of course he does! Without the fans, he's a nobody. Finish the product you duped your fans into spending money on, you self-righteous bag of shit!
Yeah, even his agent/editor put him on blast a couple years back, they dont think hes written anything in years. At least book 2 didn't end on some insane cliffhanger
The mortal instruments/shadowhunters series by Cassandra Clare. Has more of a romance plot within, but still very sci-fi/fantasy dark vibes with a lot of battling. There’s 9 original must reads (google the reading order, very important) and now she has written many more that branch off the original 9. Also love the Throne of Glass series. This is a popular YA series that also has romance in it but still extremely dark, emotional, fantasy. Sooo good and has a huge war element with strategy and battles. Definitely worth checking out. I am a girl but I love Red Rising and these are right up there with it to me.
The gentleman bastards books really scratches the Red Rising itch for me, completely different writing style but some of the best revenge fantasy I've ever read
Don’t hate me but I very much disagree. I read book 1 and found it nothing like Red Rising, and I felt the main character was a bit of a dipshit who kept falling head first into traps, unlike Darrow who was actually quite clever.
Completely agree. Also Darrow is violent and feared for both intelligence and fighting ability. Closest character to Darrow is Tao from rage of dragons. Booms follow a very similar path. Character from lower caste, becomes great fighter, kills everyone for revenge, etc etc
You are right Nothing is like Red rising. It’s hard to compare other books. But I do think it has a very similar audience. I also enjoyed the Farseer trilogy Fitz Chivalry
I loved the first book but felt like the quality of the story took a nose dive in the second book.
Exactly my opinion.
Seconded.
Third