The Blacktongue Thief
#1204.19 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Ongoing 2021–present Reading commitment Low Christopher Buehlman Last reviewed 2026-08-25
Overview
A dark, irreverent low-fantasy sequence following Kinch Na Shannack, a thief-assassin trained from childhood by a monastic order and bound by crushing debt to his own guild. The books mix battlefield horror, black comedy and giant war-mammoths with a first-person voice reviewers have repeatedly compared to Joe Abercrombie and Andrzej Sapkowski.
Grimdark, Sword & sorcery · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
The Blacktongue Thief sequence Christopher Buehlman
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Blacktongue Thief | 2021 | 2 | core | 4.18 (53,018 ratings) |
 | The Daughters' War | 2024 | 1 | core | 4.22 (15,141 ratings) |
A third novel, The Thrice-Bound Fool, is announced for publication later in 2026 but had not been released as of the latest update; not catalogued yet.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Blacktongue Thief? The Blacktongue Thief's Core Canon is 2 books.
- What is the reading order for The Blacktongue Thief? Publication order, starting with The Blacktongue Thief. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Blacktongue Thief finished? Ongoing (2021–present).
- How much reading does The Blacktongue Thief take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books).
- How is The Blacktongue Thief ranked? #120 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 68,159 reader ratings across 2 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #120?
Ranked #120 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 4.19 across 2 core books.
- A smaller readership (68,159 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 2 rated core books rate within 0.04 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #119, Discworld (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 2 books · Ongoing · 68k ratings · Ranks #120 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment grimdark fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- The Blacktongue Thief (2021)
- The Daughters' War (2024)
Documented internal/story order
- The Daughters' War (2024)
- The Blacktongue Thief (2021)
Awards (verified)
- No confirmed major award nomination was found for this series after a genuine search.
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Suggestions computed from what The Blacktongue Thief and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Band Sword & sorcery / Comic fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 4.23
- Zothique Sword & sorcery / Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.22
- Kane Dark fantasy / Sword & sorcery · Complete · Low commitment · 4.10
- Ash and Sand Grimdark / Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.30
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.19 across 68,159 ratings on 2 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit The Blacktongue Thief accepted 2026-08-25
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Christopher Buehlman's official author site Tier 1
- Blacktongue series bibliography (specialised series-tracking site) Tier 3
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26
Rule: Core Canon covers every published entry in the main sequence: the original novel and its later-published prequel. A third novel is announced for later in 2026 but was not yet published at the time of this admission.