the books were first.
Ooh may give them a try then.
the books were first.
Second vote for the Witcher series. Also the Watch books by Sergei Lukyanenko. If you dig Russian stuff you've probably already read them.
Bernard Cornwell does some pretty good dark ages 'historical' fiction which might as well be fantasy books. The Warlord Chronicles (Arthurian, Complete) start with the Winter King and are a great read. The Saxon Chronicles (ongoing, Alfred) are more formulaic and Uhtred is kind of a dip****.
Warhammer pretty much defines grimdark and some of the earlier novels are surprisingly readable. The Vampire Genevieve (Written by Kim Newman under the alias Jack Yeovil) and the Felix and Gotrek series (Bill King) are worth hunting around for.
Richard K Morgan has written some fantasy. I read the Steel Remains and didn't think it was a patch on his Kovacs stuff, YMMV.
If you liked Banks and Morgan I'd point you towards Alastair Reynolds and Neal Asher. I can recommend the Skinner where Asher invents an entire ecosystem and then intersperses the story with vignettes of how vicious the local fauna are. Read those sections in a David Attenborough voice for extra enjoyment.
Historical fiction rather than fantasy but really good books:
David Gemmell's Troy trilogy
Conn Iggulden's Genghis series and Emperor series are very good too
I read the Ghengis series and loved it.
Robin Hobb, Robin Hobb, Robin Hobb
I loathe Fitz, I really can't get past how much I hate him and enjoy the book unfortunately.
That's a real shame. A lot of the books don't even mention his name. I love him <3
I keep getting stuck on book 3 when he turns into an absurdly whiny **** bag. Is it possible to keep reading the series and skip book 3?
I actually like Hobbs writing it's just Fitz I can't get away with.