The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Grim and gritty, with phenomenal character development that hones in on the fallibility of people. The narration by Steven Pacey is incredible, if you'd like to go that route.
Pacey is seriously incredible, they could not have possibly found a better voice for the series. I listened a few years back and loved it. I really need to get around to the other books in the setting, I read Best Served Cold right after the original trilogy and then moved on and never came back.
