[Saxon]

May I suggest The Sundering by Jacqueline Carey? The first book is Banewreaker. It is fabulous and is essentially the Lord of the Rings, told from the other side. Sure, the story is different, but the heart of it is there.

Why do the bad guys do it? What drove them to it? The books look at the characters of the “evil” characters and makes “the good guys” play a minor role and a somewhat evil one at that. If the Knight in Shining Armor has a sword and kills people, is he really that good?

I found this on George RR Martin’s website and must credit him for pointing out the LOR symmetry. He lists what he has been reading recently. Dan Simmons does the same on his site. Looking at what top authors are reading, with their comments, is often a much better guide at where to find quality reading than listening to random jokers like me in a forum.