No writer personified the positive aspect of fantasy fiction quite like J.R.R. Tolkien. It is hardly surprising that Tolkien is often touted as the father of fantasy fiction. As such, one wonders what the author of The Lord of the Rings would think of the prevailing popularity of Grimdark.
The Grimdark subgenre is fantasy fiction with a dark edge. George R.R. Martin breathed new life into fantasy fiction when he wrote the first Game of Thrones novel and instantly became the new father of fantasy fiction.
Martin sought to subvert every trope that the Lord of the Rings ever championed, and he more than succeeded in his efforts, paving the way for a new wave of fantasy fiction authors driven by a desire to bury the genre’s previously whimsical nature.
Today, the fantasy landscape is ruled by the likes of Mark Lawrence and Steven Erikson. Grimdark is easy enough to spot. Expect far more profanity, plenty of graphic sex, and an outpouring of violence and gore.
The villains are so horrible as to turn your stomach but the heroes are never equally heroic. Rather, they lean into murky gray waters, more often than not skirting and even crossing the line into villainy.
Good does not always triumph and even those victories that the protagonist eventually ekes out when it is all said and done are made bitter by the painful sacrifices along the way. As the name suggests, Grimdark is grim. The world authors Scott Bakker and Joe Abercrombie paint is harsh and merciless.
And yet the popularity of Grimdark only grows with each year. Why?
Here’s what most professionals have surmised. People don’t read Grimdark because they are sadistic creeps that enjoy swimming in the misery of fictional characters.
Readers today love Grimdark because the subgenre is so grounded. Once upon a time, people reveled in the idea of noble men and women of perfect character traversing the land and righting wrongs wherever they went. But after decades of the same old stories, the fantasy genre grew stale.
So authors began to pepper their fantasy heroes with a few more flaws, shading them in less heroic colors. And readers responded to these changes with considerable enthusiasm. So the publishing industry started leaning in that direction, nurturing new talent that was not afraid to push the boundaries and cross all the lines, until the Grimdark genre secured its hold.
Grimdark is expected to continue along its trajectory of growth because people love the idea of stories that more accurately reflect reality. They want heroes who fall, men and women that are more likely to do wrong than they are to pursue justice.
Readers want sex and gore and villains that reign victorious because that storytelling approach more accurately mirrors the real world and the lives they lead. Once upon a time, people looked to fantasy fiction to escape the darkness of their realities. Now they want fantasy fiction that embraces that darkness.
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