The name sounds like a Penny Arcade joke, but like De, it still seems to point at a perhaps temporary subgenre that speaks to me. I feel like Joe Abercrombie lives here, with all his really nice book covers. There's something to be said for authors taking back what's supposed to be a derogatory term.
» Blog Archive » On Grimdark: or popup subgenres on the greater froth of story
Grimdark: what is it? I had no idea until recently, other than it pisses off authors who are labeled with it. So I looked it up. This turned out to be a bad idea, because it’s a bigger subject than I should probably get into at six-thirty in the morning on a school day with a cheesecake to drop …
So have you read Prince of Thorns yet? If nothing else just read that first scene: it's this great example of "Why the hell did he start the book here?" which then turns into "Ohhhh" upon further examination.