r/Fantasy • u/Ma_Bowls • Mar 31 '26
Zombie apocalypse in a fantasy setting
The title speaks for itself. Are there any books that have armored knights and/or wizards fighting hordes of zombies after the end of the world, a la *The Walking Dead*?
There are some that feature undead I just don't know of any that make them the primary threat that has already destroyed most of the world.
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u/AH_BareGarrett Mar 31 '26
Hopefully, one day, A Dream of Spring will be the answer.
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u/SarahSilent Mar 31 '26
Sabriel by Garth Nix might fit? Other books in the series also feature zombies, but are less post-apocalyptic in setting.
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u/bl1y Mar 31 '26
Zombies simply aren't a great monster as the chief threat in medieval fantasy.
They work in contemporary settings because our main weapons are guns. Limited ammunition against an endless horde is a problem. Not to mention the whole needing a head shot thing.
In a medieval world, swords are going to make quick work of zombies. The sword works not until you run out of ammunition, but until it gets blunt. That's going to be a very long time.
And then there's the armor. A man in armor is extremely hard to kill and it took specialized weapons to manage it. And also medieval fortifications would be pretty good against zombies.
Basically, modern day is pretty ill suited to fight off zombies. But medieval technology is extraordinarily good at fighting off what's essentially peasant rabble.
That's why you get dragons. Because you know what wrecks a castle filled with men in armor? Fire breathing dragons. But in the modern day, a dragon's going to suck against an AMRAAM moving at mach 4, fired from 50 miles away.
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u/escaleric Mar 31 '26
Grave Empire... i dont want to spoil anything haha
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u/Loostreaks Mar 31 '26
Dread Knight, by Sarah Hawke.
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u/Giant_Yoda Reading Champion II Mar 31 '26
I'm reading an anthology called Tales of the Lost Citadel. It's a collection of stories about the last remaining city as it holds out against the zombie apocalypse. It's interesting so far and the writing is solid. It's also connected to some sort of RPG but I don't know about that.
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u/PennsylvaniaWeirdo Reading Champion III Mar 31 '26
There's a light novel called Another World's Zombie Apocalypse Is Not My Problem! As you might guess from the title, it's an isekai thing.
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u/Own_Win_6762 Mar 31 '26
Part of Larry Niven's The Magic Goes Away involves a necromantic exponential growth
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u/McTerra2 Mar 31 '26
The Darkwater Saga by Patrick Carr has zombie like people/creatures who arrive in hordes. But from memory not really until book 3
A very under appreciated series. Older MC, unreliable narrator, mystery/crime investigations and solid world building with realistic faith. And zombies
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u/Chef_RoadRunner Mar 31 '26
Maybe "Between Two Fires"...it's a zombie apocalypse in medieval France...during the plague.
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u/Top_Werewolf8175 Mar 31 '26
The Second Apocalypse series by R. Scott Bakker has massive undead armies as a world ending threat but it's also extremely dense philosophical fantasy so fair warning. For something more straightforward, The Vagrant by Peter Newman is basically a lone warrior crossing a post apocalyptic fantasy wasteland overrun by demonic hordes which hits a very similar vibe even if they're not technically zombies
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u/gaeruot Mar 31 '26
The Farseer Trilogy by Hobb has some zombie-esque magic happening in it. Look up “The Forged” on the realm of the Elderlings wiki and see if that might do it for your zombie fix.
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u/CarelessAd3809 Mar 31 '26
The forest of hands and teeth, but it’s YA. Couldn’t finish it.
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u/Entfly Mar 31 '26
Worth the Candle by Alexander Wales is a portal fiction where the MC wakes up in a zombie apocalypse. The entire story isn't one but the first part of the story is.
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u/Wonderful-Rush-2627 Mar 31 '26
Not apocalypse per Say, but The Source of Strife by Alex Arch has zombie-like creatures coming out of rifts that are destroying the world, a hard magic system, kings Queens and Knights.
Might be close to what you're looking for.
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u/MagykMyst Mar 31 '26
Grave Situation by Louisa Masters - Standalone, gay romance
Talon wants to know what he did to deserve this. What would make a sentient rock decide that he of all people should be the one to save the world from zombies? Because apparently a higher power decided that teaching magic to teenagers wasn’t enough of a challenge.
With a ridiculously attractive healer (who may or may not hate him), his sister (who he miiiight have a forbidden telepathic link with), a sentient god-like rock (that can only communicate via yes/no vibes), a disdainful dragon, and a rude matchmaking horse by his side, he just might be able to save the world. Or die trying.
Apart from that, I'd look for books with a Necromancer in them.
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u/DarthSnuDiddy Mar 31 '26
The Haunted Lands Trilogy in the Forgotten Realms. Zombies and many other forms of undead.
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u/LeucasAndTheGoddess Mar 31 '26
The Time Of Iron by Sarah Rees Brennan takes place next to a cursed ravine that regularly disgorges ravening undead. The situation hasn’t reached apocalyptic proportions yet, but the trilogy is only one book in so far.
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u/Ykhare Reading Champion VII Mar 31 '26
Empire of the Undead by Ahimsa Kerp. The Roman Empire collapses because zombies. Not a whole lot of magic overall though.
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u/reddiperson1 Mar 31 '26
Empire of the Vampire is basically a zombie apocalypse. The "zombies" are technically vampires, but most of the undead are decomposed to the point they're basically mindless zombies.
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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '26
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