Some of the most influential fantasy books in recent memory are theA Song of Ice and Fireseries by authorGeorge R. R. Martin. Originally known only to general fantasy fans and spread by word of mouth in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the books hit mainstream appeal when HBO adapted them into a TV show,Game of Thrones. Audiences couldn’t get enough of the complex power struggles, the subversion of classic fantasy tropes, and the morally gray characters struggling to do what is best for them and their loved ones in a brutal world.
Unfortunately, the series has lost popularity afterGame of Thrones’disastrous final season, anddue toMartin’s delayed releaseof the sixth book,The Winds of Winter. However, it remains an important part of pop culture, especially becauseGame of Throneswas known for depicting some of the most brutal moments in television history — and yet, it was tame when compared to the books. Martin does not shy away from the evils humanity is capable of, especially in times of war. Thus,the books inA Song of Ice and Firefeature plenty of dark imagery and themes, though some outdo others. This list will rank every book based on how bleak and traumatizing they are, considering the themes they address, the shocking twists and developments, and their overall vibe.
Game Of Thrones
5’A Game of Thrones' (1996)
Darkness Level: Incest, Murder, and Abuse, Oh My
The first book in a long-running series has a lot of legwork to do. It has to not only hook the reader into the world and characters, but also set up the main story and find a way to naturally weave in exposition to give context to the events being described. Fortunately,A Game of Thronesaccomplishes it with aplomb, and even weaves in a fun investigation plot as Lord Eddard Stark tries to uncover a potential plot against King Robert Baratheon. It makes sense, then, that it would becomparatively less dark than the following books. However, that’s only in comparison to the books that follow.
Right off the bat, the book openswith the Others (White Walkers in the show)murdering members of the Night’s Watch, and the following chapter has Brandon Stark witnessing his father execute one of the survivors for desertion.More deaths pop up in every storyline, sometimes as major plot points — such as the death of Jon Arryn sending Eddard south — and sometimes as a tragic byproduct of the world — such as the innkeeper who witnesses Tyrion’s capture by Catelyn Stark being hanged by Tywin. The biggest death by far isthe surprise execution of Eddard, which shocked readers because he had been set up as the main character, so his very abrupt execution was both shocking and eerily realistic. Aside from death, dark themes also includethe incestuous relationshipbetween Cersei and Jaime Lannister, thebrutal disregard for life and consentof Dothraki culture, and thecruelty of characterslike Ser Gregor Clegane and Joffrey Baratheon.
4’A Clash of Kings' (1999)
Darkness Level: A Taste of the Horrors of War
With the setup of the first book out of the way,A Clash of Kingscould start jumping into the action as Westeros is plunged into civil war. As the book builds up towards thebrutal Battle of the Blackwater, it pulls no punches inshowing how the war is starting to affect the common people. King’s Landing descends into a horrible riot that started when a woman presented Joffrey with her dead infant, resulting in many deaths and assaults. The Blackwater has sometruly horrific descriptions of waras men are burned alive by Tyrion’s Wildfire trap, or hacked to pieces in close-quarters combat. Arya Stark’s journey through the Riverlands brings her against Lannister raiders looking for any reason to kill, andbrings her to Harrenhal, where prisoners are tortured and killed for no reason other than wanton cruelty. It ends with her making her first intentional killing when she escapes Harrenhal against one of her fellow Northmen, which sets her down the tragic path of becoming a detached assassin.
Things aren’t much better elsewhere in the world. Theon Greyjoy is driven to betray the Starks in a doomed attempt to gain the approval of his father. Soon, he finds himselftempted to acts of cruelty by Ramsay Snow, disguised as a man named Reek, to escape justice when he starved Lady Hornwood to death after forcibly marrying her. Beyond the Wall, Jon Snow is forced to accept that, to do good, you sometimes have to work with evil people. In this case, the Night’s Watch has an alliance with a man named Craster, who makes the incest between the Lannisters look like a wholesome relationship. Then there is the complex web that is the court of King Stannis Baratheon. He welcomesreligious extremists to help him in his war effort, and turns to dark magic to kill his brother, Renly, when he refuses to give up his claim to the throne. In short,A Clash of Kingsdemonstrateswhat monsters emerge during times of war, and promises that worse ones will come in the future.
3’A Dance with Dragons' (2011)
Darkness Level: Cruelty, Calousness, and Bloody Endings
Martin has said in interviews that his original plan wasfor the series to be a trilogy, but then he changed that to five books when the tale grew in the telling. When he tried writing book four,A Feast for Crows, it grew so large that he decided to split it into two parts, so he settled on seven books. Book five,A Dance with Dragons,mostly focuses on The North, The Wall, and the continent of Essos, before transitioning to the other storylines where they ended inA Feast for Crows.While there are comparativelyfewer dark moments in this book compared to others, the ones that pop up are absolutely brutal. The North sees Ramsay marrying Jeyne Poole, disguised as Arya Stark, andrepeatedly assaulting herwhile tensions rise in Winterfell. PoorTheon is a broken shell of his former selffrom Ramsay’s torture and struggles with guilt for his choices while remembering his new name, Reek, with depressing rhymes. We’re also treated to a delicious slice of Frey Pie, courtesy of Lord Wyman Manderly, a macabre theory that shows the North is ready and waiting to fight back against the Boltons. Beyond the Wall,Bran begins to abuse his Warg powersby controlling Hodor’s body so often that the gentle giant retreats into dark corners of his mind where even Bran cannot find him.
Some of the darkest moments in this bookconcern Tyrion Lannister. After killing Tywin, he has fallen intoa dark, nihilistic depressionwhere all he cares about is making his family pay. He moves like a man who has no regard for life, throwing dark jabs at everyone he talks to, and messing with the plans of others to stir up a bit of chaos. He also carries poisoned mushrooms in his boot and often contemplates eating them, but ultimately chooses instead to feed them to his captors in the Slaver camps.A Dance with Dragonsalso has probablythe darkest single-book storyline in Quentyn Martell. His entire storyline is meant to bea criticism of the Hero’s Journey, and sees him fail at absolutely everything he tries, be laughed at by Daenerys when he offers his hand in marriage, and then getsburned to death while trying to tame a dragon. The book alsoends quite grimly, with the double-deaths of Jon Snow, killed by his fellow black brothers, and Ser Kevan Lannisster, killed by Varys because he was doing too good a job fixing Cersei’s messes. WithWinds of Winterstill unfinished, this is where fans have been left hanging for 14 years, which is quite a dark fate as well.
2’A Storm of Swords' (2000)
Darkness Level: Broken Memories and Bloody Weddings
The middle acts in the story tend to be the most exciting, with lots of action and introducing new characters and storylines that will be important in the finale. Such is the case withA Storm of Swords,currently the longest book in the series. It is dominated by perhaps the singlemost shocking moment in Martin’s writings:The Red Wedding, an event so dark and so tragic that Martin put it off until the end of his first draft, and has called it themost difficult thing he has ever written. Just as things were starting to look up for King Robb Stark, he and his allies are slaughtered en masse, and his mother is killed when she claws her face in grief-induced madness. The aftermath isn’t much better, as Robb’s body is desecrated when the Freys replace his head with his direwolf, Grey Wind, and Catelyn is thrown naked into the river to mock the Tullys' funeral rites.Reading it leaves you feeling hollow, and it truly looks likeall hope has died.
Beyond the Red Wedding, there are plenty of memorable events and concepts that further add to the tragedy. Ser Beric Dondarrion is introduced as a man who has died six times, and each time he comes back, he loses memories and his wounds never heal. Arya Stark takes another step down the killer’s path when shebrutally stabs the torturer of Harrenhal, the Tickler, while repeating the same questions he asked so many. The Lannisters suffer a loss whenJoffrey dies at the Purple Wedding, and while it’s cathartic tosee the cruel boy-king suffer karmic punishment, it’s still pretty twisted that readers are celebrating a teenager choking to death in his mother’s arms. More dark moments with the Lannisters include Jaime telling Tyrion the horrible truth about his first wife, Tysha, and Tyrion killing his ex-lover, Shae, and his father. In Essos, Daenerys isconfronted with the ugly face of slavery, and though her intentions to liberate the slaves are noble, she also bringsunexpected levels of death and destruction, especially to Astapor. All this and more show howA Storm of Swordsis a shift towards the endgame and promises further grim stories as the characters work to pick up the pieces of the broken status quo.
1’A Feast for Crows' (2005)
Darkness Level:
WhileA Storm of Swordshad the single most depressing moment in the series,A Feast for Crowsisthe most grim of the books. As the name implies, it’s all about what happens after the fall of Tywin Lannister and how a weakened Westeros is ripe for further conflict. Audiences are introduced to the Iron Islands and Dorne, both of which are ripe with dark turmoil. King Balon Greyjoy’s death leaves a power vacuum that is filled by hiscruel younger brother, Euron, who sends the Ironborn pillaging and raiding along Westeros' coast. In Dorne, the death of Prince Oberyn Martell has many crying for blood, and Princess Myrcella Baratheon, an innocent girl, has daggers pointed at her. Meanwhile, in King’s Landing, Cersei takes power and begins running the kingdom into ruin due to her paranoia and narcissistic belief that she knows best. Her cruelty is demonstrated like never before, from her casually sending women to die at the hands of Qyburn to spreading rumors about Margaery Tyrell so she can be imprisoned by the newly empowered Faith of the Seven, which in itself is a very dark idea: religious extremists who can hold queens prisoner because the only authority they recognize is the gods.
The most grim sections of the book come fromBrienne of Tarth’sdoomed expeditionto find Sansa Stark. She travels through the war-torn Crownlands and Riverlands, witnessesthe grim loss of life and cruel attempts to re-establish order, and sees her attempts to do the right thing end in more pain and loss of innocent life. The worst bit is that the reader knows that Sansa is safely in the Vale of Arryn with Petyr Baelish, so while it is noble to see Brienne trek on, it’s a mission she cannot complete. However, her journey does lead her to Septon Mirabal and his speech about Broken Men. It might be the single best piece of writing Martin has ever made, and it perfectlyencapsulates the book’s anti-war thesisthrough a speech about what the horrors of war do to the human psyche. Many lambastA Feast for Crowsfor its lack of Jon, Tyrion, and Daenerys chapters, but there is no denying thatthis book has the most misery, especially when one addsthe deaths of beloved characterslike Maester Aemon, or Arya joining the House of Black and White.
