Books Like The Warded Man
If you finished The Warded Man and want more demons, found family, morally gray, start here. Each pick shares at least two tropes with it, and we've rated every one for spice and darkness so you know what you're getting into.
For reference, The Warded Man is:
Last updated
We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It doesn't change what we recommend. How we make money.
The picks
-
1. Jade City
Shares: morally gray, revenge, found family
The Godfather with martial arts magic. The Kaul family's warriors draw power from jade, a rival clan wants their territory, and a new drug lets anyone use it. Slow start while it builds the city, then the clan war hits and it doesn't let up.
- Morally Gray
- Court Intrigue
- Revenge
- Found Family
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Drug or alcohol abuse, Death of a loved one
-
2. Babel
Shares: found family, morally gray, revenge
Robin is taken from Canton as a child and raised to study at Oxford's translation institute, where silver bars powered by mistranslation run the British Empire. Long, footnoted and furious about colonialism. The friendship at the center is the part that hurts.
- Dark Academia
- Found Family
- Morally Gray
- Revenge
Content warnings
Murder, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one, Physical or emotional abuse
-
3. House of Earth and Blood
Shares: demons, morally gray, found family
Urban fantasy Maas: phones, clubs, angels and a half-fae party girl hunting whoever killed her best friend. The first 200 pages are a slog and the last 200 are a sprint.
- Fae
- Demons
- Morally Gray
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Gore, Murder, Drug or alcohol abuse, Death of a loved one
-
4. Perdido Street Station
Shares: morally gray, found family
A scientist in the filthy city of New Crobuzon takes a commission from a birdman whose wings were cut off, and accidentally releases something that feeds on dreams. The city itself is the star. The prose is thick, so give it 100 pages.
- Morally Gray
- Grimdark
- Found Family
Content warnings
Drug or alcohol abuse, Gore, Graphic violence, Sexual assault
-
5. She Who Became the Sun
Shares: morally gray, revenge
A peasant girl takes her dead brother's name and his destiny during a famine, and decides she'll become the first Ming emperor. Her rival is a eunuch general with a revenge plan of his own. Queer, ambitious and ruthless about what wanting something costs.
- Morally Gray
- Revenge
- Forbidden Love
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence, Torture, Death of a loved one, Harm to children
-
6. The Fifth Season
Shares: found family, morally gray
It opens with a woman finding her son beaten to death by his father, on the same day the world ends. Orogenes can move the earth and are feared, enslaved and bred for it. Parts are in second person, which pays off. Won the Hugo three years running for a reason.
- Found Family
- Morally Gray
- Gods and Mythology
Content warnings
Harm to children, Genocide, Physical or emotional abuse, Death of a loved one
-
7. The Gunslinger
Shares: morally gray, demons
The man in black fled across the desert, and Roland followed. A weird, dusty, half-dreamed western that King revised years later. It's the thinnest book in the series and the strangest. The Tull chapter is still one of his nastiest.
- Grimdark
- Morally Gray
- Demons
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Harm to children, Dubious or non-consent
-
8. The Lies of Locke Lamora
Shares: found family, revenge, morally gray
Locke runs elaborate cons on the nobles of Camorr with his crew of Gentleman Bastards, and it's a heist romp for about half the book. Then someone starts killing thieves and the tone flips hard. Funny, filthy-mouthed and crueler than you expect.
- Found Family
- Revenge
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Torture, Murder, Death of a loved one
-
9. The Wretched Divine
Shares: demons, morally gray
Grace's adult debut: a knight bonded to an angel has to team up with a demon to find a cure. Way darker than Belladonna and a bit overstuffed, but the emotional core is the most complicated thing she's written.
- Demons
- Forbidden Love
- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
-
10. This Savage Song
Shares: demons, found family, morally gray
In Verity, violence literally breeds monsters. Kate wants to be as ruthless as her father, who runs half the city, and August is a monster who'd rather be human. No romance to speak of. YA and the best of Schwab's books for teens.
- Demons
- Found Family
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Murder, Suicide or suicidal thoughts, Graphic violence, Physical or emotional abuse
-
11. Interview with the Vampire
Shares: morally gray, found family
Louis tells a reporter how Lestat made him a vampire in 1791 New Orleans, and how they turned a dying five-year-old into a daughter. Lush, mournful and very homoerotic for 1976. Louis whines a lot, and Claudia is the real horror.
- Vampires
- Morally Gray
- Found Family
Content warnings
Murder, Harm to children, Gore, Death of a loved one
-
12. Lady of Darkness
Shares: found family, morally gray
Scarlett Monrhoe and her sisters were raised to torture and kill on command, and she is very good at it. Book one is long and stingy with the romance. Readers who push on say the later books are where it catches fire, in every sense.
- Assassins
- Fae
- Slow Burn
- Found Family
Content warnings
Sexual assault, Murder, Torture, Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence
-
13. The Black Company
Shares: found family, morally gray
Croaker, the company's doctor and record keeper, writes down what a mercenary band does after signing on with the Lady, who is pretty clearly the villain. Dry, cynical and short. The book half of modern grimdark is quietly copying.
- Grimdark
- Found Family
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence, Torture, Murder
-
14. The Blacktongue Thief
Shares: found family, morally gray
Kinch Na Shannack owes the Takers Guild a fortune, so a botched robbery turns into a job escorting a knight across a country wrecked by goblin wars. The narrator is a funny, profane liar. Then there are the giants, and the war flashbacks, which are not funny at all.
- Found Family
- Morally Gray
- Grimdark
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence, Animal death, Gore
-
15. The Grey Bastards
Shares: found family, morally gray
Half-orcs riding war hogs patrol the badlands like a biker gang, and Jackal thinks his chief has gone soft. Crude, violent and a lot of fun if you can handle the language. The other two books in the trilogy are better.
- Found Family
- Morally Gray
- Grimdark
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Sexual assault, Gore, Murder
Read more than just The Warded Man? Tap everything you've loved and we'll build a reading list around all of it, not just this one book.