Lazerbeams2

Around the point where you start looking for excuses not to read it and need to force your way through it

They don’t really fit the criteria from op, but they’re both must reads

My 3 main recommendations were already mentioned but I’ll mention them again for visibility.

Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. There are actually multiple main characters, but the world building is top notch. I haven’t finished the series yet (it’s my “read during lunch” series atm) but so far there are 2 male main characters in the 18-25ish range

The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. The main character starts around 12 and there are arguably multiple main characters, but it’s a damn good series. Think ancient Rome but everyone controls elementals

Lightbringer by Brent Weeks. A fantastic series where the government and religions of the world are built around the magic system. The series happens over a few years but the main character starts at around 15

Since I mentioned Lightbringer I also want to mention The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. It’s a dark fantasy series featuring magically gifted assassins. Most of the good guys are criminals and murderers. It’s a brutal series with an excellent cast of characters and a world that feels like it’s been through hell. The main character starts off as a kid, but is in his 20s by the end of the series

If you don’t mind a somewhat bleak post apocalyptic book, I really liked Metro 2033 by Dmitri Glukhovsky.

There’s a game series based on it too, but you asked for books and I haven’t played the games

Iirc Stardust does, in fact, have pirates. This chart is lying to you! Airship Pirates are pirates too

It’s a combination of mood and setting. The mood should be serious and the world should be harsh. Grimdark fantasy is kind of a subcategory where the world is completely hopeless as opposed to just being a bit harsh.

The most famous dark fantasy (or depending on who you ask grimdark) series that I can think of is The Witcher. You probably know a bit about about it but there really are no proper good guys. Just Geralt who at least cares enough to try sometimes

Another pretty well known (but kinda controversial) one is Goblin Slayer. This one has some… interesting ideas about goblins. It does do a decent job of making them a credible threat though and you can understand why the goblin slayer wants to make them extinct. An interesting thing about this one is that the characters don’t have actual names. This makes them feel disposable to some extent and adds to the general feel of it

Jerboa wouldn’t let me log in for some reason

I tried Liftoff, ran into some login issues, and some other minor annoyances and switched to Connect. So far I’m liking connect