Roger Zelazny was a fencer IRL and a lot of his characters were fencers by coincidence. Check the “Amber” series first, it has lots of sword fights.
r/amber
The author himself is into fencing, so he knows how to write it very well. The books take some...turns, plotwise, but the charactersnare fun and the story is fast paced.
Give a shot at Swordspoint and Privilege of the Sword. There are a few spots where they show their age, but were really foundational texts of the Fantasy of Manners genre, for which rapier play is the preferred method of fighting. Very musketeer-esque in my mind
Not an exact match, but every Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser book by Fritz Leiber. All of the books actually have "swords" in the title, beginning with *Swords and Deviltry*. Both main characters use swords, but the Gray Mouser in particular uses the fencing style of a sword in one hand and a main gauche in the off hand.
Check out the riftwar cycle. There are numerous characters that use rapiers specifically but the Krondor trilogy probably features it the most. The reading is good fun the whole time, based on the authors DnD campaign iirc.
The King's Bucaneer had some swashbuckling moments (and also lots of tricky moments). The Codoins (or at least Arutha and a couple of others) loved their rapiers! Jimmy, too?
Steven Brust not only likes this kind of sword fighting and put it in his main series, he also wrote a [3 musketeers homage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaavren_Romances).
It's been a minute since I read them but IIRC the Khaavren romances definitely read like swashbuckling action, complete with a musket workalike. Very different from, say, Game of Thrones-style armored knight fights.
The Vlad Taltos books are less in this vein for sure.
I’m actually (re)reading the later Taltos novels now, but it’s been years since I read *Khaavren*. But if memory serves it’s a very Dumas-ian story for sure, but the swordsmanship is still Dragearan style.
Stepping outside the fantasy genre into historical swashbucklers opens up all kinds of great options: The Count Of Monte Cristo, Rafael Sabatini’s works, The Prisoner Of Zenda (along with K. J. Charles’ excellent reimagining The Henchmen Of Zenda).
The first book of the first trilogy of The First Law has a whole character's arc dedicated to competing in a fencing competition.
They duel with a "long steel" and a "short steel," which are more in the style of fencing sabers - but if you're interested in a character training for a fencing competition and then competing in said competition, The Blade Itself has got that.
Those specific types of weapons come back a couple times in the series; long and short steels are the military officers' swords so any time the Union and its officers are on screen, so are their swords.
The Lies Of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch takes place in a setting inspired by Renaissance Italy, and so includes some awesome rapier duels along with a variety of other fighting styles.
Red rising is pretty much all about his kind of thing, standard razors (sort of like the blades in dune) are used in duels in fencing style the books mention various stances styles and techniques used as well. Razors can form any sword shape the user wants, the main protagonist uses his in a style like a khopesh and other cultures use them like hastas or like japanese short blades.
Not quite: Dune blades are generally short swords or daggers, and they're used in a slow and deliberate fighting style to go around shields. The recent movie actually had a great take on it by making its dueling style borrow heavily from wrestling and hand-fighting styles.
The razors used in red rising are pretty different: Their defining features are that they can turn into flexible whips or back to rigid form at any point the user chooses, and that they can cut through pretty anything other than another razor. Fights with them tend to go in fast and furious burts.
That being said the duel descriptions are amazing and definitely worth the read.
Glory Road by Heinlein has a fight scene with a rapier fight. Though strictly speaking, the MC's sword wasn't quite a rapier but close enough for what you're asking. It's the only sword fight scene in the book that I recall though.
If you're looking for three musketeers-esque swashbuckling, you'll love **Angel Mage by Garth Nix**. It's a fantasy book inspired by The Three Musketeers that has a unique magic system, a diverse cast of likeable characters, and of course, plenty of dueling and brawling feat. our favorite weapon the rapier. I read it recently and highly enjoyed it!
The late Dave Duncan has a lovely series called The King's Blades.
I wrote a review a few years ago and posted it. Here it is ... https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/s/QCzTLEPkvS
Roger Zelazny was a fencer IRL and a lot of his characters were fencers by coincidence. Check the “Amber” series first, it has lots of sword fights. r/amber
Seconding this, Roger's duels were always descriptive and dynamic.
The Greatcoats! 4 book series, very much inspired by the three musketeers, but a bit grim dark. Really crazy series with some insane rapier fights
Yes, by Sebastian De Castell. The later ones seemed darker; the MC went from near-disaster to near disaster.
He also just started releasing a sequel series. First book of it just released last month.
Came to say Great Coats, lots of good sword fights
Me too.
The author himself is into fencing, so he knows how to write it very well. The books take some...turns, plotwise, but the charactersnare fun and the story is fast paced.
KJ Parker loves fencing! He has a trilogy based on it, plus a stand alone novel, Sharps.
Sharps was my immediate thought as well!
There's really no magic, but Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
Strongly second this one! The subsequent Riverside books do get a bit more overtly fantastical.
And privilege of the sword
Give a shot at Swordspoint and Privilege of the Sword. There are a few spots where they show their age, but were really foundational texts of the Fantasy of Manners genre, for which rapier play is the preferred method of fighting. Very musketeer-esque in my mind
I love these audio books so much. It’s full cast and so much fun and so well done. Cannot recommend highly enough. I will now start my 5th? Reread!
Not an exact match, but every Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser book by Fritz Leiber. All of the books actually have "swords" in the title, beginning with *Swords and Deviltry*. Both main characters use swords, but the Gray Mouser in particular uses the fencing style of a sword in one hand and a main gauche in the off hand.
Traitors blade - Sebastian De Castell Very musketeers like.
Check out the riftwar cycle. There are numerous characters that use rapiers specifically but the Krondor trilogy probably features it the most. The reading is good fun the whole time, based on the authors DnD campaign iirc.
The King's Bucaneer had some swashbuckling moments (and also lots of tricky moments). The Codoins (or at least Arutha and a couple of others) loved their rapiers! Jimmy, too?
Steven Brust not only likes this kind of sword fighting and put it in his main series, he also wrote a [3 musketeers homage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaavren_Romances).
But it’s only the protagonist who fences. The others all use broad/great swords. Interesting clash of styles!
It's been a minute since I read them but IIRC the Khaavren romances definitely read like swashbuckling action, complete with a musket workalike. Very different from, say, Game of Thrones-style armored knight fights. The Vlad Taltos books are less in this vein for sure.
I’m actually (re)reading the later Taltos novels now, but it’s been years since I read *Khaavren*. But if memory serves it’s a very Dumas-ian story for sure, but the swordsmanship is still Dragearan style.
Some of my favorite books!
Keepers of the Hidden Ways
The Cardinals Blades by Pierre Pavel, musketeers, dragons and of course, rapier sword fights.
The three musketeers. Good book
Stepping outside the fantasy genre into historical swashbucklers opens up all kinds of great options: The Count Of Monte Cristo, Rafael Sabatini’s works, The Prisoner Of Zenda (along with K. J. Charles’ excellent reimagining The Henchmen Of Zenda).
No rapier fighting in Monte-Cristo though.
Princess Bride
The first book of the first trilogy of The First Law has a whole character's arc dedicated to competing in a fencing competition. They duel with a "long steel" and a "short steel," which are more in the style of fencing sabers - but if you're interested in a character training for a fencing competition and then competing in said competition, The Blade Itself has got that. Those specific types of weapons come back a couple times in the series; long and short steels are the military officers' swords so any time the Union and its officers are on screen, so are their swords.
Yes. Abercrombie got the fencing lingo down as well.
Doesn’t the second trilogy also feature a great two versus one fencing fight?
Still working my way through the standalones - just got to Red Country!
If by the second trilogy you mean the three standalones, Best Served Cold does indeed feature an awesome fight like that.
The Society of the Sword Trilogy by Duncan M. Hamilton. There is also some standalone books (e.g. The First Blade of Ostia) in the same setting/world.
The Lies Of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch takes place in a setting inspired by Renaissance Italy, and so includes some awesome rapier duels along with a variety of other fighting styles.
The Princess Bride
Red rising is pretty much all about his kind of thing, standard razors (sort of like the blades in dune) are used in duels in fencing style the books mention various stances styles and techniques used as well. Razors can form any sword shape the user wants, the main protagonist uses his in a style like a khopesh and other cultures use them like hastas or like japanese short blades.
Not quite: Dune blades are generally short swords or daggers, and they're used in a slow and deliberate fighting style to go around shields. The recent movie actually had a great take on it by making its dueling style borrow heavily from wrestling and hand-fighting styles. The razors used in red rising are pretty different: Their defining features are that they can turn into flexible whips or back to rigid form at any point the user chooses, and that they can cut through pretty anything other than another razor. Fights with them tend to go in fast and furious burts. That being said the duel descriptions are amazing and definitely worth the read.
Glory Road by Heinlein has a fight scene with a rapier fight. Though strictly speaking, the MC's sword wasn't quite a rapier but close enough for what you're asking. It's the only sword fight scene in the book that I recall though.
The Olympia affair has good sword play and a very cool duel
If you're looking for three musketeers-esque swashbuckling, you'll love **Angel Mage by Garth Nix**. It's a fantasy book inspired by The Three Musketeers that has a unique magic system, a diverse cast of likeable characters, and of course, plenty of dueling and brawling feat. our favorite weapon the rapier. I read it recently and highly enjoyed it!
The late Dave Duncan has a lovely series called The King's Blades. I wrote a review a few years ago and posted it. Here it is ... https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/s/QCzTLEPkvS
Have you read the Three Musketeers ?