Thieves and Assassins in Fantasy

Sometimes we just want our our heroes morally grey.

Updated April 9, 2026
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Six of crows
Bardugo, Leigh
Paper Book
See the Grishaverse come to life on screen in the Netflix series, Shadow and Bone! Meet Kaz Brekker and his crew: Jesper, Inej, Wylan, and the star-crossed Nina and Matthias, on the heist of a lifetime in Six of Crows, from #1 New York Times-bestselling...
The Blacktongue Thief
Buehlman, Christopher.
Paper Book
A USA Today bestseller! Set in a world of goblin wars, stag-sized battle ravens, and assassins who kill with deadly tattoos, Christopher Buehlman's The Blacktongue Thief begins a 'dazzling' (Robin Hobb) fantasy adventure unlike any other. Kinch...
Graceling
Cashore, Kristin.
Paper Book
Discover the Graceling Realm in this unforgettable, award-winning novel from bestselling author Kristin Cashore. A New York Times bestseller * ALA Best Book for Young Adults * Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature Winner * Publishers Weekly, School Library...
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins
Clark, P. Djeli.
Paper Book
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats. Nor do they have tails. But they are most assuredly dead. Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins. ...
A dance of cloaks
Dalglish, David
Paper Book
From USA Today bestselling author David Dalglish The Underworld rules the city of Veldaren. Thieves, smugglers, assassins. . . they fear only one man. In book #1 of the Shadowdance series, Thren Felhorn is the greatest assassin of his time. All the thieves' guilds of the...
Foul Lady Fortune
Gong, Chloe.
Paper Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends comes the "equal parts intoxicating and dazzling" (Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Gilded Wolves) first book in a captivating new duology...
Assassin's apprentice
Hobb, Robin
Paper Book
"Fantasy as it ought to be written . . . Robin Hobb's books are diamonds in a sea of zircons."--George R. R. Martin    Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father's gruff stableman. He is treated as an...
Grave mercy
LaFevers, Robin
Paper Book
Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf? Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed...
Red sister
Lawrence, Mark
Paper Book
The international bestselling author of the Broken Empire and the Red Queen's War trilogies begins a stunning epic fantasy series about a secretive order of holy warriors...   At the Convent of Sweet Mercy, young girls are raised to be killers. In some few children the old...
The lies of Locke Lamora
Lynch, Scott
Paper Book
In this stunning debut, author Scott Lynch delivers the wonderfully thrilling tale of an audacious criminal and his band of confidence tricksters. Set in a fantastic city pulsing with the lives of decadent nobles and daring thieves, here is a story of adventure, loyalty, and survival that is one...
Throne of glass
Maas, Sarah J.
Paper Book
In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion....
Mélusine
Monette, Sarah
Paper Book
Mélusine-a city of secrets and lies, pleasure and pain, magic and corruption, and destinies lost and found... Felix Harrowgate is a dashing, highly respected wizard. But the horrors of his past as an abused slave have returned, and threaten to destroy all he has since become. As a cat burglar,...
Mistborn : the final empire
Sanderson, Brandon
Paper Book
Now with over 10 million copies sold, The Mistborn Series has the thrills of a heist story, the twistiness of political intrigue, and the epic scale of a landmark fantasy saga. Once, a hero arose to save the world. He failed. Ever since, the world has been a...
A darker shade of magic
Schwab, Victoria
Paper Book
A Darker Shade of Magic, from #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab Kell is one of the last Antari--magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. Kell was...
The thief
Turner, Megan Whalen
Paper Book
Discover and rediscover the world of the Queen's Thief, from the acclaimed novel The Thief to the thrilling, twenty-years-in-the-making conclusion, The Return of the Thief. The epic novels set in the world of the Queen's Thief can be read in any order. New York...
The way of shadows
Weeks, Brent
Paper Book
From NYT bestselling author Brent Weeks comes the first novel in his breakout fantasy trilogy in which a young boy trains under the city's most legendary and feared assassin, Durzo Blint. For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art -- and he is the city's most accomplished...

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