Are There Any Dark Fantasy Books Similar To Berserk?

The Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence consists of the novels The Knife of Letting, The Vacuum of Strife and The Field of Elyon. This brutal journey, which follows the protagonist Jorg Ancrath through a post-apocalyptic medieval world, is as dark and intense as ‘Berserk’ and Jorg is as ruthless as Griffith, even with an equal dose of nihilism.

If you haven’t already checked out The Prince of Nothing series by R. Scott Bakker, then this is another ‘as dark as ‘Berserk’‘ recommendation for you. While ‘Berserk’ focuses more on the struggle to combat monsters within a more moral framework, The Prince of Nothing focuses on deeper philosophical themes – religious in particular – while managing to deliver an epic struggle of good versus evil in a WORLD THAT IS GOING DOWN THE DRAIN!

A rather different category of dark fantasy is represented by The Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski. Many strange monsters, but also a host of moral ambiguities inhabit the world of this Polish author and his hero, Geralt of Rivia. I’ve already recommended his short stories as written specifically to be read in small doses and The Last Wish is a good introduction to this character who exists in a world somewhere between dark fantasy and fairy tale. He is a soulless assassin, struggling to come to terms with his lot in life.

Lastly, a manga called ‘Claymore’ by Norihiro Yagi is another dark fantasy series which often gets compared to ‘Berserk’. There are half-demon warriors called ‘Yoma’ and they have been wiped out by human warriors known as ‘Claymores’. It has some good tragic back-stories behind the characters and an equally unforgiving world as ‘Berserk’, but with less detailed drawings than ‘Berserk’.

Dark fantasy is my preferred genre and while 'Berserk' is still my favorite work in the genre, there are other works of great merit that might also interest readers. The ‘Malazan Book of the Fallen’ series by Steven Erikson is massive and complex, and the world he has created is dark and intricate in equal measure to that of ‘Berserk’. Many epic battles, plenty of varied and powerful magic and deeply flawed characters all make for a very demanding but rich read similar to that of ‘Berserk’.

Another category of work that could possibly interest fans of the dark fantasy that is Berserk would be Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, which is part horror, part western, and part quest. This work follows the increasingly dark and bleak path of Roland Deschain in his dogged pursuit of the Dark Tower, often through extreme suffering and great personal cost. Just as the later volumes of Berserk plunge to increasingly deep and twisted depths, so too does the later portions of The Dark Tower series.

For manga fans, it is a must-read, as it is quite similar to Berserk in many respects. The history is changed quite a bit, but themes of revenge, atonement, and the violent costs that one must bear are deep and resonant. The journey that the main character, Thorfinn, goes through from a resentful and hateful child to a more mature man searching for peace is nothing short of phenomenal and is one of the greatest character developments that I have ever read. The art is also extremely beautiful, and the combat scenes are merciless and vivid just like Berserk.

While there is nothing quite like it, there are some other works that hit similar notes. Glen Cook’s The Black Company series for example follows the same sort of gritty, hard-boiled, mercenary type as the Band of the Hawk would have been if they were all hardened soldiers. Kentaro Miura has actually cited Cook as an influence so it’s very good. The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie is another work that possibly appeals to readers of Berserk. The characters are all more or less moral, the battles are brutal and several are Near Run Things, and the overall world is on the brink of collapse at any moment. All in all it’s a rather bleak read that should appeal to fans of Berserk’s darker moments. And then there’s The Vagrant by Peter Newman. It’s a rather solitary warrior against against the darkness sort of story and the protagonist is a mute which rather immediately brings to mind Guts. The artwork for Berserk is legendary but cannot be surpassed, however these books make up for it in brutality and depth alone.