The Endsong
#7663.65 adjusted 3.74 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Ongoing 2022–present Reading commitment Low Sascha Stronach Last reviewed 2026-08-25
Overview
A biopunk-inflected dark fantasy series set in Hainak, a coastal city grown from and infused with living fungal architecture, following a disgraced police officer drawn into a revolutionary movement against the city's rulers. Sascha Stronach's series opens with The Dawnhounds (2022) and continues with The Sunforge (2024), tracing the same protagonist's role in an uprising against Hainak's colonial power structure as the city's biotechnology and its underlying magic are put to increasingly extreme uses on both sides of the conflict. The series draws its distinctive biopunk texture from fermentation and mycology imagery rather than conventional elemental or arcane magic systems, giving Hainak's architecture and technology an organic, decaying quality that sets the setting apart within contemporary secondary-world fantasy.
New Weird, Dark fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
The Endsong Sascha Stronach
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Dawnhounds | 2022 | 1 | core | 3.62 (2,240 ratings) |
 | The Sunforge | 2024 | 2 | core | 3.94 (238 ratings) |
A biopunk-inflected fantasy series set in the fungal, semi-living city of Hainak, following a disgraced police officer turned revolutionary; further volumes beyond the second book had not been confirmed as of research.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Endsong? The Endsong's Core Canon is 2 books.
- What is the reading order for The Endsong? Publication order, starting with The Dawnhounds. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Endsong finished? Ongoing (2022–present).
- How much reading does The Endsong take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books).
- How is The Endsong ranked? #766 in this site's official ranking, based on 2,478 reader ratings across 2 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #766?
Ranked #766 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.65 across 2 core books.
- A smaller readership (2,478 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- 0.07 behind #765, The Bird King.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 2 books · Ongoing · 2k ratings · Ranks #766 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment New Weird universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- The Dawnhounds (2022)
- The Sunforge (2024)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what The Endsong and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Witch King Epic fantasy / Dark fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 3.76
- The Charlatan Duology Dark fantasy / Urban fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.59
- The Dark Star Trilogy Mythic fantasy / Dark fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 3.56
- Zothique Sword & sorcery / Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.22
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.65 across 2,478 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 Endsong accepted 2026-08-25
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26
Rule: Core Canon covers the two novels published so far. Further volumes had not been confirmed as of research, so the series is treated as ongoing.