I’ve so in love with reading medieval fantasy recently! I’ve been trying to look for more books like Elden ring, a knight traveling or a group of them, monsters, maybe magic! I’ve finished between two fires, I’m reading once was willem, and pilgrim is also in my reading list! But if you have any more recs that would be amazing!!

  • the starving saints by caitlin starling is a new ish release - fantasy jesus arrives with fantasy saints to break a siege and their arrival is unequivocally a bad thing! (not a spoiler, that's basically the blurb)

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    Also the Death of Jane Lawerence by the same author

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  • Empire of the Wolf is a fantasy trilogy by Richard Swan with horror aspects. It is about an inquisitor and his retinue (the story is told from the POV of his apprentice, Helena) on an investigation. The necromancy parts (which are less about reviving the death as more as making contact with the spirit world, a place full of very un-nice entities) are superb and very spooky. The horror aspects starts slowly, but always looms in the background (nevertheless, it stays a fantasy book).
    There is also the first book of a sequel trilogy (The Great Silence) which place several centuries after the first trilogy (the technology is now 18th century like), where the horror passages are even greater.

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    My best reads of 2025 🤩 Swan’s take on the afterlife is incredibly interesting and uncomfortable. I def recommend too!!

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    The father of time is a stern patron 😉

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  • His Black Tongue by Mitchell Luthi

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  • Aching God by Mike Shel

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    This, absolutely great. Unfortunately the sequels aren't nearly as good

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  • The Starving Saints is a fun trippy read. Hellmouth for a shorter read.

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  • Low Town by Daniel Polansky.

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  • Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

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    seconding this, just about to finish the third book and it is so good

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    Funny, I thought the ending of the third book was so badly executed I'll never recommend it to anyone ever again! Author bit off way more than he could chew on that one. 

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  • Between Two Fires

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    I finished it a while ago lol

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  • It’s part of Warhammer Age of Sigmar, so lots and lots of fantasy. Lady of Sorrow is quite spooky and entertaining.

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  • Starving Saints, and once was willem

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  • Contra Amatores Mundi by Graham Thomas Wilcox. It's the thing I've read that most feels like Dark Souls.

    The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling is a great recent medieval horror.

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  • Heaven’s Needle by Liane Merciel

    Crucible trilogy by Sara Douglass

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  • The upcoming The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan. Reading it now and it's amazing.

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  • Daniel Ford's "The Paladin Trilogy" which is "Ordination", "Stillbright" and "Crusade" the main character is knight who lives in a medieval world where there is no King and its ruled by lords fighting for dominance. The MC walks away from his keep and ends up becoming a Paladin though a chance encounter and things take off from there.

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  • Not strictly horror, but The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordon is definitely dark fantasy and scratched that Elden Ring itch for me. Ignore the terrible cover

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  • The vagrant trilogy by Peter Newman

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  • Pilgrim by Mitchell Luthi

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  • I shall continue recommending Armed In Her Fashion by Kate Heartfield for medieval horror until someone else reads it. It's a hellishly good time and has some memorable characters.

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  • The Salt Grows Heavy is a nice short horror in a medieval setting focusing on creatures of myth.

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  • The Vagrant by Peter Newman if you want the Elden Ring vibes.

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  • Pilgrim by Mitchell Lüthi

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    Beat me to it, that was a wild book.

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    I bought a special edition kickstarter for this last year because it sounded insane. Complete blind buy, and look forward to reading it when it arrives at some point this year.

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  • The Blacktongue Thief

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  • The Second Apocalypse by R Scott Bakker, beginning with The Darkness That Comes Before

    Gunmetal Gods by Zamil Akathar

    Both are a bit more byzantine in their setting than European medieval fantasy

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  • Check out the Black Company series, Glen Cook

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  • The Dragon and the George

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  • Might be a weird pitch as it’s not medieval fantasy, but Sun Eater’s protagonist is explicitly knighted and treated as such later in the series with a lot of medievalistic overtones to his society, they even compare the imperial knights to classical Arthurian aesthetics. It’s a sci fi fantasy series that gets more fantasy over time, and I’d argue the explicitly sci fi aesthetics are just set dressing that get peeled back more and more as you go. It also definitely does contain a lot of horror, at least deeper into the series.

    I would also recommend Elric of Melnibone, not horror but it does involve a lot of sword and sorcery adventures in explicitly a pretty dark fantasy setting, lots of good macabre imagery and tragedy throughout.

    Already saw someone recommend Pilgrim, that would have been my pitch as well.

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