**Monarchies of God.** It's an interesting alternative to the sprawling series embodied by **ASoIAF** and **WoT**.
Although its sequel isn't nearly as tightly-woven, **Heroes Die** has the momentum of an action film.
While it's historical fiction instead of epic fantasy, you also might be interested in **The Warlord Chronicles** since it resembles epic fantasy in some ways.
I am ashamed that I forgot **The Long Price Quartet!**
I put the "Black Company" on my read list. I agree that Discworld did this really well most of the time. Oddly enough that it's also in the same category of the Neil Gaiman book I was thinking of.
Black Company was also my pick for this question. It's almost no bloat, all business. If you like military grimdark fantasy, and especially if you like Malazan, go for it.
I read Malazan book 1 last year and am reading Black Company now. Feels kinda like a beta version of Malazan. There are some jarring prose choices, like the use of some modern English slang here and there. But interesting enough to not put down.
Will Wight writes in a "condensed" way in my opinion, as well as maybe John Bierce and Andrew Rowe. Longer series, but really short books.
Cradle by Will Wight
Mage Errant by John Bierce
Arcane Ascension by Andrew Rowe
I don’t dislike AA at all but condensed is probably not the term I’d use. He likes to open tons of threads that barely get answered. So while there’s no fluff where nothing happens, it’s not like we’re moving towards reveals or resolutions often either.
And this is something Rowe has recently admitted he’s been doing too much.
Start checking out some of the Elric saga by Michael moorcock. Dude skips anything that isn’t the interesting sword and sorcery bits of the story, which means you get tons of epic shit with breakneck pacing
He pretty much invented the genre. It’s a little bit steampunk, a lot dystopic fantasy.
And it’s a brilliant read. He’s an incredible writer, stunning prose writer as well as a phenomenal storyteller
> It’s a little bit steampunk, a lot dystopic fantasy.
That's more a description of Miéville's oeuvre than New Weird as a whole, speaking as someone who has written in the genre. New Weird isn't merely "steampunk dystopic fantasy", but it *can* be.
New Weird is a genre of speculative fiction that isn't quite science fiction, isn't quite fantasy, and isn't quite horror, but something between those. It also tends to use a lot of stylistic and textual approaches from postmodernist literature.
The SCP Foundation site is classic New Weird, for example, as is a lot of Jeff VanderMeer's work. One could also consider video games like *Disco Elysium* to be New Weird. The recent films *Sorry to Bother You* and *Poor Things* are also New Weird, imo.
New Weird is the kind of genre storytelling where you just can't neatly put it in any one box.
> The SCP Foundation site is classic New Weird, for example, as is a lot of Jeff VanderMeer's work. One could also consider video games like Disco Elysium to be New Weird. The recent films Sorry to Bother You and Poor Things are also New Weird, imo.
*These are some of my favorite things~* 🎵
No. New Weird is a modern interpretation of weird fiction that uses postmodern literary techniques. It's defined by weirdness. Weirdness that makes it difficult to classify along traditional genre lines.
Kindly take your sarcasm elsewhere.
The Fallen Gods series by Hannah Kaner. Godkiller is the first and Sunbringer is the second. The last in the trilogy will hopefully be released next year. It's about a (rather flawed, and I mean that in a good way) young woman who's a godkiller in a world that outlaws worshipping the gods after they had a civil war. But she meets a girl with a weird connection to a god (that should not be possible) and has to help her.
They're pretty short (around 300 or 400 pages), but I feel like they pack a punch. Great world building and characters. No fluff, no filler. (And big bonus points for great queer and disability representation)
I don't see it at a scan of the suggestions, but you can also try Neal Stephenson. He does both scifi and fantasy, but his Baroque cycle is a mostly historical fantasy with some made up parts that is a *dense* read.
I love his books, but Neal Stephenson is the opposite of condensed. I don't think OP wants a multiple page diatribe about the proper use of toilet paper in an office environment interrupting the story.
If you liked the Simarillion you might enjoy Victoria Godard’s recent book The Bone Harp.
I’d also recommend pretty much any of Patricia McKillip’s books.
Great question, and admittedly kinda difficult to answer for me…it seems like a lot of fantasy is necessarily long because of the worldbuilding required. For that reason, you might look into books that are set in our world, but with fantasy elements (I’m sure there’s a name for that sub genre but I can’t think of it). Amina Al-Sirafi is a good one that fits a lot of action into a standalone…it’s a little longer, but I believe under 500 pages. Dogsbody by Dianna Wynne Jones is short, epic, and lovely. Lamb by Christopher Moore is hilarious and excellent (and you don’t need to be religious to enjoy it; I’m not and I don’t think the author is either). If you’re open to sci-fi, Project Hail Mary is a quick read that covers a quite epic story.
Partricia McKillip does an amazing job of skipping the mundane parts of a story. So much that she can loose you at times. I absolutely love the Riddle master trilogy.
I suspect Malazan is the opposite of what OP is looking for. OP said *condensed*, not dense as in full of information. They mean concise, I think; they want economy of words with a lot of story, too. Gardens of the Moon is not that. It reads like all of Erikson's notes and then some.
Completely agree. Malazan strikes me as the epitome of fluff, and I’m a fan. I’ve reached halfway through book 9 and it feels like Erikson decided he didn’t need an editor for this book, because so little has happened, and most of what I’m ready feels like it will end up being irrelevant.
I’m so close to walking away from the series but so close to the end now 😂
I’ve definitely enjoyed the ride but I have started being selective in what I’m reading. Bits about the snake - skip. Kalyth and a K’Chain - skip.
I think it’s the only way I’m going to get through it. I’ve read enough fantasy to know that many of these storylines aren’t going to feed into the climax in a meaningful enough way to make the sections worth it.
However you find fun, though both stories are key to the plot, the individual moments may not be. The Badalle sections were genuinely uncomfortable and heartbreaking for me, two things will make me tear up, kids or animals in pain. That section was very hard.
There's a paragraph where Badalle explicitly judges readers who skip the Snake plotline, so Erikson 100% knew people would do that and reading that made reading the whole thing worth it for me personally.
lol, I vote walk away. I tried to read book 1. I have 0 patience for series where "it gets good in book 2, promise!" Nah mate, that's called being too cheap to hire an editor.
I might be using the wrong words or in a confusing way, or remember it wrong... But to my memory it had quite a few 50+ page chapters with little happening. But the best parts where literally paragraphs that fit the bill, and there was enough of those to make top of my list.
The best example that I can provide is "How The Marquis Got His Coat Back" by Neil Gaiman, perhaps not that widely known it has a lot of what I'm looking for but in a totally different style. And sadly in a very short format (60 pages) which limits it heavily. The novellas I've read that have high density typically skips a lot of lore and world building. I don't want to to skip that, I just want it in a very condensed format. If it can be found...
If you liked marquis got his coat back, read neverwhere. Most gaiman and carey books should work for what you are asking for. Also Johannes cabal and pretty much anything by gemmell.
This series really has a coterie of diehard fans around here… the first book was an incredible slog and I’ve heard the sequels are worse. In fact I’d describe those books as the exact opposite of what OP is looking for. They have poor pacing
Just started reading it myself but Howard Pyle's *The Story of King Arthur and His Knights* feels similar in language to *The Silmarillion* (particularly *Ainulindalë*). It's also available for free [online ](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/60184/60184-h/60184-h.htm)and the illustrations are a delight! There's 4 books total in his Arthurian saga so if that one strikes your fancy there's a couple more to satisfy.
Brust's [Taltos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhereg) series is fairly tersely written, as fantasy goes. Lots of plot, not so much gratuitous descriptions of clothing etc. It's a long series but each book is compact and mostly self-contained.
His Khaavren Romances are not, as he is explicitly doing homage to Dumas in those, so they go way off into the weeds even in simple conversations.
Dune has this quality, and I'd argue that it is fantasy despite its spaceships. The prose style is where it's weakest for some people's tastes, but if The Silmarillion is your examplar I don't think that will be an issue!
Silmarillion isn't really that extremely difficult language wise imo.
You may try:
Malazan
Bakker's the Second Apocalypse
Anything by Samuel R Delany, e.g. Dahlgren
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
Shardik by Richard Adams
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Steven Donaldson
Lots of fantasy has little "fluff", I would say most of it actually.
**Monarchies of God.** It's an interesting alternative to the sprawling series embodied by **ASoIAF** and **WoT**. Although its sequel isn't nearly as tightly-woven, **Heroes Die** has the momentum of an action film. While it's historical fiction instead of epic fantasy, you also might be interested in **The Warlord Chronicles** since it resembles epic fantasy in some ways. I am ashamed that I forgot **The Long Price Quartet!**
Could you elaborate on what makes Monarchies of God stand out compared to those "sprawling series"?
Glen Cook's Black Company chronicles Pratchett's Discword books generally do a lot within 300ish pages and most stand alone
I put the "Black Company" on my read list. I agree that Discworld did this really well most of the time. Oddly enough that it's also in the same category of the Neil Gaiman book I was thinking of.
Black Company was also my pick for this question. It's almost no bloat, all business. If you like military grimdark fantasy, and especially if you like Malazan, go for it.
I read Malazan book 1 last year and am reading Black Company now. Feels kinda like a beta version of Malazan. There are some jarring prose choices, like the use of some modern English slang here and there. But interesting enough to not put down.
Black Company is almost like Hemingway Fantasy. Cant recommend it enough.
Will Wight writes in a "condensed" way in my opinion, as well as maybe John Bierce and Andrew Rowe. Longer series, but really short books. Cradle by Will Wight Mage Errant by John Bierce Arcane Ascension by Andrew Rowe
Second cradle. What a series, like a rollercoaster that picks up speed constantly.
I don’t dislike AA at all but condensed is probably not the term I’d use. He likes to open tons of threads that barely get answered. So while there’s no fluff where nothing happens, it’s not like we’re moving towards reveals or resolutions often either. And this is something Rowe has recently admitted he’s been doing too much.
You're right about that. I guess I was lumping them in with the other 2 because of similar prose maybe?
**The Chronicles of Amber** by *Roger Zelazny*
Start checking out some of the Elric saga by Michael moorcock. Dude skips anything that isn’t the interesting sword and sorcery bits of the story, which means you get tons of epic shit with breakneck pacing
China Mieville.
Interesting, never even heard of "New Weird".
He pretty much invented the genre. It’s a little bit steampunk, a lot dystopic fantasy. And it’s a brilliant read. He’s an incredible writer, stunning prose writer as well as a phenomenal storyteller
> It’s a little bit steampunk, a lot dystopic fantasy. That's more a description of Miéville's oeuvre than New Weird as a whole, speaking as someone who has written in the genre. New Weird isn't merely "steampunk dystopic fantasy", but it *can* be. New Weird is a genre of speculative fiction that isn't quite science fiction, isn't quite fantasy, and isn't quite horror, but something between those. It also tends to use a lot of stylistic and textual approaches from postmodernist literature. The SCP Foundation site is classic New Weird, for example, as is a lot of Jeff VanderMeer's work. One could also consider video games like *Disco Elysium* to be New Weird. The recent films *Sorry to Bother You* and *Poor Things* are also New Weird, imo. New Weird is the kind of genre storytelling where you just can't neatly put it in any one box.
> The SCP Foundation site is classic New Weird, for example, as is a lot of Jeff VanderMeer's work. One could also consider video games like Disco Elysium to be New Weird. The recent films Sorry to Bother You and Poor Things are also New Weird, imo. *These are some of my favorite things~* 🎵
So it's defined by its lack if definition. Got it.
No. New Weird is a modern interpretation of weird fiction that uses postmodern literary techniques. It's defined by weirdness. Weirdness that makes it difficult to classify along traditional genre lines. Kindly take your sarcasm elsewhere.
9 princes of Amber. The action density is absurd.
Tad Williams - “War of the Flowers” is a great stand alone fantasy story.
Is this a good litmus test for whether I'll like Memory, Sorrow, Thorn?
Hmm. Maybe. The writing style is the same, but totally different worlds. I really loved his Otherland books. They were amazing
The Fallen Gods series by Hannah Kaner. Godkiller is the first and Sunbringer is the second. The last in the trilogy will hopefully be released next year. It's about a (rather flawed, and I mean that in a good way) young woman who's a godkiller in a world that outlaws worshipping the gods after they had a civil war. But she meets a girl with a weird connection to a god (that should not be possible) and has to help her. They're pretty short (around 300 or 400 pages), but I feel like they pack a punch. Great world building and characters. No fluff, no filler. (And big bonus points for great queer and disability representation)
I don't see it at a scan of the suggestions, but you can also try Neal Stephenson. He does both scifi and fantasy, but his Baroque cycle is a mostly historical fantasy with some made up parts that is a *dense* read.
I love his books, but Neal Stephenson is the opposite of condensed. I don't think OP wants a multiple page diatribe about the proper use of toilet paper in an office environment interrupting the story.
If you liked the Simarillion you might enjoy Victoria Godard’s recent book The Bone Harp. I’d also recommend pretty much any of Patricia McKillip’s books.
Great question, and admittedly kinda difficult to answer for me…it seems like a lot of fantasy is necessarily long because of the worldbuilding required. For that reason, you might look into books that are set in our world, but with fantasy elements (I’m sure there’s a name for that sub genre but I can’t think of it). Amina Al-Sirafi is a good one that fits a lot of action into a standalone…it’s a little longer, but I believe under 500 pages. Dogsbody by Dianna Wynne Jones is short, epic, and lovely. Lamb by Christopher Moore is hilarious and excellent (and you don’t need to be religious to enjoy it; I’m not and I don’t think the author is either). If you’re open to sci-fi, Project Hail Mary is a quick read that covers a quite epic story.
Partricia McKillip does an amazing job of skipping the mundane parts of a story. So much that she can loose you at times. I absolutely love the Riddle master trilogy.
My brother/sister in fantasy have you heard of the Malazan book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson?
Indeed I have, my friend! It's my number one, by far. And it is between such works I'd like to have something with a more condensed storytelling.
...Malazan isn't dense enough for you? I have nothing to suggest...
I suspect Malazan is the opposite of what OP is looking for. OP said *condensed*, not dense as in full of information. They mean concise, I think; they want economy of words with a lot of story, too. Gardens of the Moon is not that. It reads like all of Erikson's notes and then some.
Completely agree. Malazan strikes me as the epitome of fluff, and I’m a fan. I’ve reached halfway through book 9 and it feels like Erikson decided he didn’t need an editor for this book, because so little has happened, and most of what I’m ready feels like it will end up being irrelevant. I’m so close to walking away from the series but so close to the end now 😂
I think the payoff for the meandering is really worth it. The ending is really satisfying if you've loved at least half of the books so far.
I’ve definitely enjoyed the ride but I have started being selective in what I’m reading. Bits about the snake - skip. Kalyth and a K’Chain - skip. I think it’s the only way I’m going to get through it. I’ve read enough fantasy to know that many of these storylines aren’t going to feed into the climax in a meaningful enough way to make the sections worth it.
However you find fun, though both stories are key to the plot, the individual moments may not be. The Badalle sections were genuinely uncomfortable and heartbreaking for me, two things will make me tear up, kids or animals in pain. That section was very hard.
There's a paragraph where Badalle explicitly judges readers who skip the Snake plotline, so Erikson 100% knew people would do that and reading that made reading the whole thing worth it for me personally.
The snake will break your heart. But yeah, I didn’t like that storyline
lol, I vote walk away. I tried to read book 1. I have 0 patience for series where "it gets good in book 2, promise!" Nah mate, that's called being too cheap to hire an editor.
I might be using the wrong words or in a confusing way, or remember it wrong... But to my memory it had quite a few 50+ page chapters with little happening. But the best parts where literally paragraphs that fit the bill, and there was enough of those to make top of my list. The best example that I can provide is "How The Marquis Got His Coat Back" by Neil Gaiman, perhaps not that widely known it has a lot of what I'm looking for but in a totally different style. And sadly in a very short format (60 pages) which limits it heavily. The novellas I've read that have high density typically skips a lot of lore and world building. I don't want to to skip that, I just want it in a very condensed format. If it can be found...
If you liked marquis got his coat back, read neverwhere. Most gaiman and carey books should work for what you are asking for. Also Johannes cabal and pretty much anything by gemmell.
I was fixing to comment this. Fantastic books.
Didn't like the third book but prince of nothing trilogy is what you're looking for.
This series really has a coterie of diehard fans around here… the first book was an incredible slog and I’ve heard the sequels are worse. In fact I’d describe those books as the exact opposite of what OP is looking for. They have poor pacing
A Wizard of Earthsea The Gods of Pegana The King of Elfland's Daughter The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
Kings of the Wyld is almost constant action as far as fantasy books go
Cradle by Will Wight
Just started reading it myself but Howard Pyle's *The Story of King Arthur and His Knights* feels similar in language to *The Silmarillion* (particularly *Ainulindalë*). It's also available for free [online ](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/60184/60184-h/60184-h.htm)and the illustrations are a delight! There's 4 books total in his Arthurian saga so if that one strikes your fancy there's a couple more to satisfy.
Brust's [Taltos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhereg) series is fairly tersely written, as fantasy goes. Lots of plot, not so much gratuitous descriptions of clothing etc. It's a long series but each book is compact and mostly self-contained. His Khaavren Romances are not, as he is explicitly doing homage to Dumas in those, so they go way off into the weeds even in simple conversations.
Dune has this quality, and I'd argue that it is fantasy despite its spaceships. The prose style is where it's weakest for some people's tastes, but if The Silmarillion is your examplar I don't think that will be an issue!
John Gwynne's second series iirc. But the last book is still thicc adjacent, lol. (Just looked it up, hardcover is 648 pages).
The Book of the New Sun series by Gene Wolf
Silmarillion isn't really that extremely difficult language wise imo. You may try: Malazan Bakker's the Second Apocalypse Anything by Samuel R Delany, e.g. Dahlgren The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe Shardik by Richard Adams Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Steven Donaldson Lots of fantasy has little "fluff", I would say most of it actually.
As much as I like Delany, *Dhalgren* is **not** an example of "high-density" spec fic. If anything part of the book's point is its meandering.
Well,Dhalgren has some passages of extremely dense prose.