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Nifft The Lean by Michael Shea

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In Nifft The Lean, did you enjoy ...

... the relentless, goal-driven adventures through perilous, otherworldly realms?

The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson

If you loved following Nifft's harrowing quests through bizarre and deadly landscapes, The Broken Sword will grip you with its relentless pursuit of vengeance and fate. Skafloc, the protagonist, is swept through mythic Norse realms on a desperate mission, facing monstrous foes and twisted magic at every turn. The action never lets up, and the stakes grow ever higher as he battles both gods and his own doom.

... the vivid, grotesque worldbuilding and strange societies?

The Scar by China Miéville

If you were enthralled by the grotesque landscapes and bizarre societies Nifft explored, The Scar offers a feast of atmospheric, imaginative worldbuilding. You'll sail with Bellis Coldwine aboard a floating pirate city, encountering mosquito-people, flesh-forging magicians, and aquatic horrors in a world as inventive and perilous as Shea’s.

... the morally ambiguous, hard-edged antiheroes?

The Black Company by Glen Cook

If you appreciated Nifft’s cunning pragmatism and blurred lines between heroism and villainy, The Black Company is a must-read. Croaker and his mercenary band navigate a war-torn world where survival means compromise, and even their best intentions are tinged with darkness. You'll find the same flavor of gritty, complex antiheroes making hard choices in a lethal world.

... the dark, grotesque tone and nightmarish fantasy?

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

If Nifft’s grim journeys through monstrous realms stuck with you, Perdido Street Station will immerse you in a city teeming with bizarre creatures, nightmarish threats, and desperate characters. The story’s bleak, macabre atmosphere—filled with alien horrors, criminal underworlds, and impossible magic—echoes Shea’s uniquely unsettling fantasy.

... the use of dark, enigmatic magic that warps both the world and its people?

The Etched City by K. J. Bishop

If you were fascinated by Nifft’s encounters with dangerous, mysterious magic, The Etched City weaves a similarly haunting tapestry. Raule and Gwynn, exiles from a failed revolution, find themselves in Ashamoil—a city where alchemical miracles and horrors are for sale, and magic is as likely to corrupt as to save. The boundary between the real and the unreal blurs in ways as seductive and perilous as anything in Shea’s world.

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