George R R Martin’s "Song of Ice and Fire" series and the HBO series based on it are understandably beloved. They’re enthralling works of fantasy and are certainly worth the read (or watch). To me, however, I’ve never been able to help but feel that the "Song of Ice and Fire" is just a touch overrated. To me, there are quite a few fantasy series that are better than Marin’s opus. Here are three of them:
1. "The Chronicles of the Black Company" by Glen Cook
This is the granddaddy of the lot; one of the first really good, down to earth, gritty fantasy series’ to get major attention. "The Chronicles of the Black Company" came out at a time when Tolkien clones were the norm for fantasy and, in defiance of the norms present in those books, didn’t concentrate on archetypal heroes but instead followed the journeys of the titular Black Company, the last of the free companies of Khatovar, a mercenary company with a history stretching back hundreds of years. Furthermore, the series didn’t shrink from the moral grayness inherent in a story about mercenaries, as the Black Company spends the first several books of the series working for The Lady and an immensely powerful magician ruling over an empire on the brink of a rebellion. The Company through these parts of the series is, in fact, fighting for a figure that in almost any other setting would be the antagonist. "The Chronicles of the Black Company" dishes out gritty, realistic action and fantastic characterization, and did so with the same kind of moral greyness that a Song of Ice and Fire is praised for almost a decade earlier.
2. The "First Law" series by Joe Abercrombie
Consisting of a central trilogy and a number of standalone novels that share some of the trilogies characters, the trilogy is perhaps the best part of the series. And, while there is a large number of viewpoint characters throughout, the focus is on barbarian warrior Logen Ninefingers, dandified duelist Jezal dan Luthar, and crippled inquisitor Sand dan Glotka. The series as a whole has two hallmarks; extremely gritty and bloody action scenes, and a virtual absence of out and out heroes. No character in the series doesn’t in some way toe the line morally if not outright ignore it. This is arguably even more present in the stand-alone novels, where revenge and the muddy morality of warfare are nearly constant. While a "Song of Ice and Fire" is rightfully praised for its action and pragmatic morality, the "First Law" series goes far beyond that by delivering an action-packed and incredibly cynical, but nonetheless extremely entertaining series.
3. The "Bas-Lag" series by China Meiville
This one’s weird. I mentioned Mr. Melville in last week’s article, as an author who writes evocative, fascinating and very weird stories. The "Bas-Lag" series is part of what put him on the map. Set in a world that combines the tropes of fantasy, science fiction, and horror into a deeply weird, fascinating world, the three books that make up the series all focus at least partially on characters from the city of New Crobuzon, though only the first and third take place in the city at all. The Bas-Lag novels are hard to describe simply because they are all more or less standalone novels, but the first, "Period Street Station," is the best example of what the series is about: dealing with the parallel stories of independent scientist Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin and artist Lover Lin. While Lin is contracted to make a sculpture for a mysterious crime lord, Isaac sets about trying to restore flight to a bird-man stripped of his wings. The plot spirals out from there into a story equal parts horrifying and beautiful.
