Rec me some Swashbuckling/Sword and Sorcery fiction...please?

[DarthSnuggles]

Hi guys!  I'm looking for reccommendations for swashbuckling and sword&sorcery books.  I feel like I've read some of the more commonly-reccommended stuff, but I'm sure there's a lot out there that I haven't heard of, and maybe some of my fellow Rebels have.  As a rough idea of the kind of stuff that I'm looking for--and maybe to give someone else a new author or title to try--here's a short list of what I'm already familiar with.

 

- Alexandre Dumas (like...all of them)

- Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories

- R.A. Salvatore

- The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcok

- Robert E. Howard

- Ed Greenwood (I kind of loved the pulpy, goofy Band of Four novels)

- Robin Hood (any version)

- The Once and Future King by T.H. White

- The Halfblood Chronicles by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey

 

Does anybody know of anything along those lines that I could add to my reading list?

[Hong WeiLoh]

Not really "swashbuckling" but pure awesome: The Black Company series by Glenn Cook. Accurately described as "Sword & sorcery Vietnam war fiction on peyote"... it's a very definite departure from the usual formulaic fantasy stuff. Give the first compilation (they're only sold in compilations of 3 books under one cover now) a shot. I'd very highly recommend it.

[TMedina]

Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan

Game of Thrones, George "Character killer" Martin

The First Law, Joe Abercrombie

 

...urgh...brain failing, brain failing!

[Kevin Mack]

Rafael Sabatini

A lot of Tim Powers' work would fit, check out On Stranger Tides or The Drawing of the Dark. All of his protagonists tend to be smart and these two books involve a lot of swordplay (and pirates, demons, black magic and quantum mechanics).

Silver by I can't remember. It's an unofficial prequel to Treasure Island (unrelated to Black Sails on Starz) with a lot of historical fiction thrown in.

 

I'll let you know if I think of any more.

[Strickland5]

Robert E Howard's Conan and Solomon Kane - you only mention his name so yeah

 

David Eddings's The Elenium and The Tamuli series

 

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series

 

I second the Black Company series!

[stonegirl77]

Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive (two books, many thousands of pages). They're a bit slow to start with, but they are, to my thinking pretty classically in Sword&Sorcery. 

          (That is if you like Sanderson. I know some people don't)

 

If you like the Horatio Hornblower type of book, David Drake's Daniel Leary series is pretty good. I think the first one is "With The Lightnings"...

 

Best,

 

Petra

[Kevin Mack]

Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive (two books, many thousands of pages). They're a bit slow to start with, but they are, to my thinking pretty classically in Sword&Sorcery. 

          (That is if you like Sanderson. I know some people don't)

 

If you like the Horatio Hornblower type of book, David Drake's Daniel Leary series is pretty good. I think the first one is "With The Lightnings"...

 

Best,

 

Petra

 

I'm in the middle of Mistborn right now and I'm really liking it so far.

[Gobnait]

Steven Brust Novels like Jhereg.

[MasterOfCows]

In the vein of "The Once and Future King," check out Jack Whyte's Camulod series (or if you're in Canada, the whole series is called A Dream of Eagles).  Don't forget the semi-stand alone Uther.

 

Bernard Cornwall writes possibly the best battle scenes ever.  The Sharpe books are pulpy fun, and I really enjoyed the "Thomas of Hookton" books as well.

Steven Erikson's Malazan series is complicated, but awesome.  If you check out The Black Company books mentioned above, and like them, the dark tones are quite similar, and both focus on a group of soldiers.

I've read the first two of David Anthony Durham's Acacia books and they are great.  

 

The Dagger & the Coin series by Daniel Abraham is also fantastic.

 

If you're looking for some traditional type fantasy, Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow & Thorn series is one of my favourites.

This might not be quite up your alley, but I recommend Pat Rothfuss' Kingslayer Chronicles to everyone I meet.  Best books I've read since Game of Thrones.

[DarthSnuggles]

Thanks so much, guys!  I kind of forgot about this thread for a few days, but what a great list to come back to!

 

Robert E Howard's Conan and Solomon Kane - you only mention his name so yeah

 

I have read some of the Conan stuff, and a lot of Solomon Kane, starting with "Skulls in the Stars."  I got into Howard as a contemporary of Lovecraft (probably my favorite writer of all time), so Solomon Kane is right up my alley.    I'll have to check the others out, though.

 

 

Rafael Sabatini

A lot of Tim Powers' work would fit, check out On Stranger Tides or The Drawing of the Dark. All of his protagonists tend to be smart and these two books involve a lot of swordplay (and pirates, demons, black magic and quantum mechanics).

Silver by I can't remember. It's an unofficial prequel to Treasure Island (unrelated to Black Sails on Starz) with a lot of historical fiction thrown in.

 

I'll let you know if I think of any more.

 

Oooh, those all sound great!  Thank you!  My local library has a few of Tim Powers' books, and I know they have Sabatini, so I'll have to look for them when I return my current batch of books.

 

 

Not really "swashbuckling" but pure awesome: The Black Company series by Glenn Cook. Accurately described as "Sword & sorcery Vietnam war fiction on peyote"... it's a very definite departure from the usual formulaic fantasy stuff. Give the first compilation (they're only sold in compilations of 3 books under one cover now) a shot. I'd very highly recommend it.

 

With the number of people urging me to read the series, I'm definitely going to have to give it a look.  Thanks!

In the vein of "The Once and Future King," check out Jack Whyte's Camulod series (or if you're in Canada, the whole series is called A Dream of Eagles).  Don't forget the semi-stand alone Uther.

 

Bernard Cornwall writes possibly the best battle scenes ever.  The Sharpe books are pulpy fun, and I really enjoyed the "Thomas of Hookton" books as well.

Steven Erikson's Malazan series is complicated, but awesome.  If you check out The Black Company books mentioned above, and like them, the dark tones are quite similar, and both focus on a group of soldiers.

I've read the first two of David Anthony Durham's Acacia books and they are great.  

 

The Dagger & the Coin series by Daniel Abraham is also fantastic.

 

If you're looking for some traditional type fantasy, Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow & Thorn series is one of my favourites.

This might not be quite up your alley, but I recommend Pat Rothfuss' Kingslayer Chronicles to everyone I meet.  Best books I've read since Game of Thrones.

Hmm, several of these sound interesting to me.  I'll look out for them.

 

Also, I've been putting off picking up Game of Thrones since it seems like a huge investment of time.  (I'm one of those people who can't not finish a series once I start it.)  Is it really as great as everyone keeps telling me?

[MasterOfCows]

If you want to finish a series once you start it, hold off on GOT.  The wait between books is excruciating.  But they really are that good.

[Maj. Bloodnok]

Second the recommendation on Bernard Cornwell!  He's got a three-volume Grail Quest series (The Archer's Tale, Vagabond, Heretic) set in the 1300s. Lots of fighting, blood, mud, etc, but no magic.

 

A short, but very funny book is "Gentlemen of the Road" by Michael Chabon.  It's a big hat-tip to Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, set in the Caucasus circa 950 AD.  No magic per se, but if you like Fritz Lieber, you'll dig this.

[mkdutch]

Songs of the Lioness is a 4 book series about a little girl that wants to be a knight. There is sword play, magic, and thieves. It is a wonderful book series!

[Maj. Bloodnok]

Oh, by the way, check out Rafael Sabatini's "Scaramouche".  Classic French Revolution-era three-fisted tale of adventure, intrigue, and swordplay, with a twist at the end.

 

Also, check out Arturo Perez Reverte's "Captain Alatriste" series (life of an early 17th century Spanish professional duellist and soldier, with some famous secondary characters) and "The Fencing Master".  The Fencing Master is more of a mystery, set in Madrid during the 1920s, but the story hinges on a distinctive technique. He's an excellent writer and former war correspondent, so he knows how to write action.  He's also a huge Dumas fan.

[MasterOfCows]

Second the recommendation on Bernard Cornwell!  He's got a three-volume Grail Quest series (The Archer's Tale, Vagabond, Heretic) set in the 1300s. Lots of fighting, blood, mud, etc, but no magic.

 

A short, but very funny book is "Gentlemen of the Road" by Michael Chabon.  It's a big hat-tip to Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, set in the Caucasus circa 950 AD.  No magic per se, but if you like Fritz Lieber, you'll dig this.

Yeah!  The Grail Quest series were the books I was talking about, but could only remember the protagonist's name.  There's a fourth book out now called 1356.

[DarthSnuggles]

Songs of the Lioness is a 4 book series about a little girl that wants to be a knight. There is sword play, magic, and thieves. It is a wonderful book series!

I'm pretty sure, if it's the series I'm thinking of, I read that one back in middle school.  By Tamora Pierce?  I love all her books!

[DarthSnuggles]

A short, but very funny book is "Gentlemen of the Road" by Michael Chabon.  It's a big hat-tip to Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, set in the Caucasus circa 950 AD.  No magic per se, but if you like Fritz Lieber, you'll dig this.

That sounds awesome!  I'll definitely have to look for that!

[MasterOfCows]

Oooh!  "The Gentlemen Bastards" Series by Scott Lynch.  I'm almost done the 2nd book and a great portion of it takes place on a pirate ship.  Third book should be out later this fall.

[Maj. Bloodnok]

Oooh! Saladin Ahmed's "Throne of the Crescent Moon"! The Arabian Nights meets 1980s Dragonlance novels via Douglas Fairbanks.  Ghuls! Shapeshifters! Ancient forbidden magics! Killer dervishes! Cardamom tea!

 

And the most original take on magic I've seen in a long time. (Most writers treat magic as a technology, which works whether or not you believe in it.  In this book, magic is an expression of personal faith, and spells are invocations of the Almighty.)

[Northlander]

Oooh!  "The Gentlemen Bastards" Series by Scott Lynch.  I'm almost done the 2nd book and a great portion of it takes place on a pirate ship.  Third book should be out later this fall.

 

I can't second this recommendation hard enough.  These are probably the most fun fantasy books I've read.

[rketterman]

Im going to second the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. They are fantastic and yes you have to invest some time but they are so worth it. Also, all of the books are out now so once you finish one you can start the next.

[Squeak]

Check out S.M. Stirling's Emberverse. The first is called Dies the Fire deals with all of our high level tech being taken away, no electricity firearms or steam power over a certain level, and the people who survive the subsequent die off rebuilding civilization with preindustrial tech.

[PolishRifle]

An off the radar series I've been reading is Lev Grossman's The Magicians.  It's more magic and sorcery but some swashbuckling adventures are in the second book (haven't started the third yet.  I saw the author speak and a charity dinner and basically he describes his series of "the stuff that happens off screen of Hogwarts."  Basically teenagers are teenagers and they'll find ways to get into trouble etc.

 

When you read them you can see he borrows from Harry Potter, Narnia, etc but his spin is just a little different.

[nemers]

I can't second this recommendation hard enough.  These are probably the most fun fantasy books I've read.

I third this series with an extra two thumbs up, and will add that the audio version from audible is fantastic. One of the best narrators around with fantastic characterisation and superb dramatisation.

[Quill]

Jim Butcher's codex Alera series. Starts with Furies of Calderon.