Books like 'Hero in the Shadows'
Readers who enjoyed Hero in the Shadows by David Gemmell also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary fantasy high fantasy action / adventure dark fantasy heroic-fantasy epic sword-sorcery dark
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The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
49 ratings“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”My name is Kvothe.I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in... -
![The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie]()
The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie
25 ratingsConspiracy. Betrayal. Rebellion.Peace is just another kind of battlefield...Savine dan Glokta, once Adua’s most powerful investor, finds her judgement, fortune and reputation in tatters. But she still has all her ambitions, and no scruple will be permitted to stand in her way... -
![The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie]()
The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie
25 ratings“Chaos. Fury. Destruction.The Great Change is upon us . . .Some say that to change the world you must first burn it down. Now that belief will be tested in the crucible of revolution: the Breakers and Burners have seized the levers of power, the smoke of riots has replaced the smog of industry, and all must submit to the wisdom of crowds... -
![The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson]()
The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
54 ratingsWho is the Hero of Ages? To end the Final Empire and restore freedom, Vin killed the Lord Ruler. But as a result, the Deepness—the lethal form of the ubiquitous mists—is back, along with increasingly heavy ashfalls and ever more powerful earthquakes. Humanity appears to be doomed... -
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![Fourth Wing (Part 1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] by Rebecca Yarros]()
Fourth Wing (Part 1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] by Rebecca Yarros
14 ratingsEnter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history... -
![The Crippled God by Steven Erikson]()
The Crippled God by Steven Erikson
27 ratingsThe Bonehunters march for Kolanse, led by Adjunct Tavore. This woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, will challenge the gods - if her own mutinous troops don't kill her first.Her enemy, the Forkrul Assail, seek to cleanse the world, to annihilate everything... -
![The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin]()
The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
44 ratingsThis is the way the world ends... for the last time. The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women.Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe... -
![The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson]()
The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson
29 ratingsThe Seven Cities Rebellion has been crushed. Sha'ik is dead. One last rebel force remains, holed up in the city of Y'Ghatan and under the fanatical command of Leoman of the Flails. The prospect of laying siege to this ancient fortress makes the battle-weary Malaz 14th Army uneasy. For it was here that the Empire's greatest champion Dassem Ultor was slain and a tide of Malazan blood spilled... -
![Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson]()
Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson
29 ratingsAfter decades of warfare, the five tribes of the Tiste Edur are united under the implacable rule of the Warlock King of the Hiroth. But the price of peace is a pact with a hidden power whose motives may be deadly. To the south, the expansionist kingdom of Lether has devoured all lesser neighbors - except the Tiste Edur... -
![The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang]()
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
22 ratingsA mother struggling to repress her violent past,A son struggling to grasp his violent future,A father blind to the danger that threatens them all... -
![House of Chains by Steven Erikson]()
House of Chains by Steven Erikson
33 ratingsAn alternate cover edition can be found here.In Northern Genabackis, a raiding party of savage tribal warriors descends from the mountains into the southern flatlands. Their intention is to wreak havoc amongst the despised lowlanders, but for the one named Karsa Orlong it marks the beginning of what will prove to be an extraordinary destiny... -
![The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks]()
The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks
42 ratingsGavin Guile is dying.He’d thought he had five years left—now he has less than one. With fifty thousand refugees, a bastard son, and an ex-fiancée who may have learned his darkest secret, Gavin has problems on every side. All magic in the world is running wild and threatens to destroy the Seven Satrapies.Worst of all, the old gods are being reborn, and their army of color wights is unstoppable...Categorized as:
dark epic heroic-fantasy sword-sorcery action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age -
![The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan]()
The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan
27 ratingsThe capital has fallen...Field Marshal Tamas returns to his beloved country to find that for the first time in history, the capital city of Adro lies in the hands of a foreign invader. His son is missing, his allies are indistinguishable from his foes, and reinforcements are several weeks away.An army divided.. -
![Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson]()
Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson
27 ratingsAll is not well in the Letherii Empire. Rhulad Sengar, the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths, spirals into madness, surrounded by sycophants and agents of his Machiavellian chancellor, while the Letherii secret police conduct a campaign of terror against its own people. The Errant, once a farseeing god, is suddenly blind to the future... -
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![Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson]()
Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson
27 ratingsIn Darujhistan, the city of blue fire, it is said that love and death shall arrive dancing. It is summer and the heat is oppressive, but for the small round man in the faded red waistcoat, discomfiture is not just because of the sun. All is not well. Dire portents plague his nights and haunt the city streets like fiends of shadow... -
![The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan]()
The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan
29 ratingsThe hounds at our heels will soon know we are lionsTamas's invasion of Kez ends in disaster when a Kez counter-offensive leaves him cut off behind enemy lines with only a fraction of his army, no supplies, and no hope of reinforcements... -
![The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks]()
The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks
35 ratingsAs the old gods awaken, the Chromeria is in a race to find its lost Prism, the only man who may be able to stop catastrophe, Gavin Guile. But Gavin's enslaved on a galley, and when he finally escapes, he finds himself in less than friendly hands. Without the ability to draft which has defined him . . -
![The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks]()
The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks
32 ratingsStripped of both magical and political power, the people he once ruled told he's dead, and now imprisoned in his own magical dungeon, former Emperor Gavin Guile has no prospect of escape. But the world faces a calamity greater than the Seven Satrapies has ever seen... and only he can save it... -
![Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson]()
Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson
27 ratingsIn war everyone loses. This brutal truth can be seen in the eyes of every soldier in every world…In Letherii, the exiled Malazan army commanded by Adjunct Tavore begins its march into the eastern Wastelands, to fight for an unknown cause against an enemy it has never seen.And in these same Wastelands, others gather to confront their destinies... -
![Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie]()
Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
44 ratingsSuperior Glokta has a problem. How do you defend a city surrounded by enemies and riddled with traitors, when your allies can by no means be trusted, and your predecessor vanished without a trace? It’s enough to make a torturer want to run – if he could even walk without a stick.Northmen have spilled over the border of Angland and are spreading fire and death across the frozen country...Categorized as:
dark epic heroic-fantasy sword-sorcery 21st-century action-adventure anti-hero audiobook -
![Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan]()
Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan
22 ratingsThe country is in turmoil. With the capital city occupied, half a million refugees are on the march, looking for safety on the frontier, accompanied by Lady Flint's soldiers. But escaping war is never easy, and soon the battle may find them, whether they are prepared or not.Back in the capital, Michel Bravis smuggles even more refugees out of the city. But internal forces are working against him... -
![The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie]()
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
33 ratingsThey say Black Dow's killed more men than winter, and clawed his way to the throne of the North up a hill of skulls. The King of the Union, ever a jealous neighbor, is not about to stand smiling by while he claws his way any higher. The orders have been given and the armies are toiling through the northern mud... -
![Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie]()
Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
44 ratingsThe end is coming. Logen Ninefingers might only have one more fight in him but it's going to be a big one. Battle rages across the North, the King of the Northmen still stands firm, and there's only one man who can stop him. His oldest friend, and his oldest enemy. It's past time for the Bloody-Nine to come home...Categorized as:
dark epic heroic-fantasy sword-sorcery 21st-century action-adventure anti-hero audiobook -
![Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski]()
Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski
38 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times...Categorized as:
dark epic heroic-fantasy sword-sorcery 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
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![The Dark Tower by Stephen King, Michael Whelan]()
The Dark Tower by Stephen King, Michael Whelan
41 ratingsAt the outset of the final installment of our saga, Roland’s ka-tet is scattered across several different wheres and whens. Susannah Dean (still in the clutches of the demon Mia) is in End-World’s Fedic Dogan: a chamber of horrors where magic and technology can be merged and where a monstrous half-human child can be brought forth into the world... -
![The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin]()
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
48 ratingsThis is the way the world ends. Again.Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter... -
![His Holy Bones by Ginn Hale]()
His Holy Bones by Ginn Hale
12 ratingsWhen John opens a letter addressed to his missing roommate, Kyle, he expects to find a house key, but instead he is swept into a strange realm of magic, mysticism, revolutionaries and assassins. Though he struggles to escape, John is drawn steadily closer to a fate he share with Kyle—to wake the destroyer god, the Rifter, and shatter a world... -
![Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson]()
Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
36 ratingsIn the vast dominion of Seven Cities, in the Holy Desert Raraku, the seer Sha’ik and her followers prepare for the long-prophesied uprising known as the Whirlwind. Unprecedented in size and savagery, this maelstrom of fanaticism and bloodlust will embroil the Malazan Empire in one of the bloodiest conflicts it has ever known, shaping destinies and giving birth to legends...Categorized as:
dark epic heroic-fantasy sword-sorcery 21st-century action-adventure assassins audiobook -
![A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie]()
A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie
28 ratingsThe chimneys of industry rise over Adua and the world seethes with new opportunities. But old scores run deep as ever.On the blood-soaked borders of Angland, Leo dan Brock struggles to win fame on the battlefield, and defeat the marauding armies of Stour Nightfall. He hopes for help from the crown. But King Jezal's son, the feckless Prince Orso, is a man who specializes in disappointments... -
![Wizard and Glass by Stephen King]()
Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
40 ratingsRoland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Jake’s pet bumbler survive Blaine the Mono’s final crash, only to find themselves stranded in an alternate version of Topeka, Kansas, one that has been ravaged by the superflu virus. While following the deserted I-70 toward a distant glass palace, they hear the atonal squalling of a thinny, a place where the fabric of existence has almost entirely worn away... -
![Red Country by Joe Abercrombie]()
Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
31 ratingsThey burned her home.They stole her brother and sister.But vengeance is following.Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she'll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she's not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old step father Lamb for company... -
![The Burning White by Brent Weeks]()
The Burning White by Brent Weeks
27 ratingsIn this stunning conclusion to the epic New York Times bestselling Lightbringer series, kingdoms clash as Kip struggles to escape his family's shadow in order to protect the land and people he loves.Gavin Guile, once the most powerful man the world had ever seen, has been laid low. He's lost his magic, and now he is on a suicide mission. Failure will condemn the woman he loves...Categorized as:
epic heroic-fantasy sword-sorcery action-adventure assassins audiobook book contemporary -
![In the Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne M. Valente]()
In the Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne M. Valente
16 ratingsCatherynne M. Valente enchanted readers with her spellbinding In the Night Garden. Now she continues to weave her storytelling magic in a new book of Orphan’s Tales—an epic of the fantastic and the exotic, the monstrous and mysterious, that will transport you far away from the everyday…... -
![Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan]()
Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan
26 ratingsAn epic new fantasy series from Brian McClellan, set in the world of his wildly popular Powder Mage trilogy. A world on the cusp of a new age... The young nation of Fatrasta is a turbulent place -- a frontier destination for criminals, fortune-hunters, brave settlers, and sorcerers seeking relics of the past... -
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![Kings of Heaven by Richard Nell]()
Kings of Heaven by Richard Nell
10 ratingsIn the final book of the Ash and Sand trilogy, Ruka, son of Beyla, faces the emperor of the world, yet even victory may not save his people…With the death of his ally, Farahi Alaku, Ruka ‘Godtongue’ is alone. Or not exactly… The island prince Kale Alaku now haunts his mind, rattling within his once peaceful ‘Grove’, promising revenge and growing every moment in power... -
![Blood of Empire by Brian McClellan]()
Blood of Empire by Brian McClellan
19 ratingsAs the final battle approaches a sellsword, a spy, and a general must find unlikely and dangerous allies in order to turn the tides of war in this epic fantasy tale of magic and gunpowder by acclaimed author Brian McClellan... -
![The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett]()
The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett
38 ratingsThe sun is setting on humanity. The night now belongs to voracious demons that prey upon a dwindling population forced to cower behind half-forgotten symbols of power. Legends tell of a Deliverer: a general who once bound all mankind into a single force that defeated the demons. But is the return of the Deliverer just another myth? Perhaps not... -
![The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin]()
The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
45 ratingsThis is the way the world ends... for the last time.The season of endings grows darker as civilization fades into the long cold night. Alabaster Tenring – madman, world-crusher, savior – has returned with a mission: to train his successor, Essun, and thus seal the fate of the Stillness forever.It continues with a lost daughter, found by the enemy... -
![The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett]()
The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett
32 ratingsOn the night of the new moon, the demons rise in force, seeking the deaths of two men both of whom have the potential to become the fabled Deliverer, the man prophesied to reunite the scattered remnants of humanity in a final push to destroy the demon corelings once and for all... -
![Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King]()
Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King
41 ratingsRoland and his tet have just returned to the path of the Beam when they discover that they are being followed by a group of inexperienced trackers. The trackers are from the town of Calla Bryn Sturgis, and they desperately need the help of gunslingers... -
![A Time of Dread by John Gwynne]()
A Time of Dread by John Gwynne
18 ratingsA race of warrior angels, the Ben-Elim, once vanquished a mighty demon horde. Now they rule the Banished lands, but their peace is brutally enforced.In the south, hotheaded Riv is desperate to join the Ben-Elim's peacekeeping force, until she unearths a deadly secret.In the west, the giantess Sig investigates demon sightings and discovers signs of an uprising and black magic... -
![The Wolf's Call by Anthony Ryan]()
The Wolf's Call by Anthony Ryan
18 ratingsAnthony Ryan's debut novel Blood Song - book one of the Raven's Shadow series - took the fantasy world by storm. The sequels, Tower Lord and Queen of Fire were both New York Times bestsellers. Now, Anthony Ryan returns to the world of this acclaimed fantasy series with The Wolf's Call, which begins a thrilling new story of razor-sharp action and epic adventure... -
![King of Death by Lily Mayne]()
King of Death by Lily Mayne
8 ratingsEverything should be fine. The Brid is dead. I’m the new seelie king. And Lonan is with me, safe from the unseelie queen—his mother—and terrible brothers.But it’s not fine. Nothing is fine.I can’t seem to let go of my old life, even as this new one—and my new responsibilities—overwhelm me... -
![Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie]()
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
39 ratingsSpringtime in Styria. And that means war. Springtime in Styria. And that means revenge.There have been nineteen years of blood. The ruthless Grand Duke Orso is locked in a vicious struggle with the squabbling League of Eight, and between them they have bled the land white...Categorized as:
dark epic heroic-fantasy sword-sorcery action-adventure anti-hero assassins audiobook -
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![Elantris by Brandon Sanderson]()
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
49 ratingsElantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed... -
![The Shadowed Sun by N.K. Jemisin]()
The Shadowed Sun by N.K. Jemisin
20 ratingsGujaareh, the city of dreams, suffers under the imperial rule of the Kisuati Protectorate. A city where the only law was peace now knows violence and oppression. A mysterious and deadly plague now haunts the citizens of Gujaareh, dooming the infected to die screaming in their sleep. Someone must show them the way... -
![The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett]()
The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett
42 ratingsAs darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way... -
![Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch]()
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
44 ratingsLibrarian note: An older cover for this edition can be found here: 31-Jul-2007.After a brutal battle with the underworld that nearly destroyed him, Locke Lamora and his trusted sidekick, Jean, fled the island city of their birth and landed on the exotic shores of Tal Verrar to nurse their wounds... -
![So You Want to Be a Villain? by ErraticErrata]()
So You Want to Be a Villain? by ErraticErrata
12 ratingsCatherine Foundling has a plan.She'll join the Legions of Terror that occupy her homeland and work her way up the ladder until she can effect the kind of changes the former Kingdom of Callow so badly needs... -
![Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames]()
Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames
24 ratingsLive fast, die young.Tam Hashford is tired of working at her local pub, slinging drinks for world-famous mercenaries and listening to the bards sing of adventure and glory in the world beyond her sleepy hometown.When the biggest mercenary band of all rolls into town, led by the infamous Bloody Rose, Tam jumps at the chance to sign on as their bard...
![Fourth Wing (Part 1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] by Rebecca Yarros](https://48f-1.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/books/small/65eac759c1da30f75513c0ed.jpg)
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