They swagger , they fight , they laugh in the face of danger . skill - fiction books have give us some of the great swashbuckling heroes , snub a wrapping through space and countless alternate timelines . Here are some of our favorite rule book heroes .
When we asked our friends to name their favorite swashbuckling heroes from SF books , first we had to visualise out what exactly we meant by “ swashbuckling . ” Here ’s what we amount up with : A swaggering hero does n’t necessarily postulate to pack a sword — although it certainly does n’t bruise . A certain rakishness comes with the soil , or at the very least a alone sense of style . Book starting with “ viosterol ” came up a lot , including dashing , debonair , defiant , dapper and daring .
What we recover was that fantasy is full of swashbucklers — it ’s one of the earmark of the music genre — but there are some astonishing hothead in science fiction too . ( And we threw it open to include “ urban phantasy , ” or anything which takes place in something akin to the forward-looking world or the time to come . )
Here are our best-loved swashbuckling hero sandwich from scientific discipline fiction rule book :
John Carter Of Mars(A Princess Of MarsbyEdgar Rice Burroughs )
He ’s got the brand and the steely gaze , not to mention the old - school charm , and he ’s also got the mad adventures — the seemingly immortal Virginian gets zap to Mars upon his “ end ” and wins the hand of the princess , Deja Thoris . He leads a company of Tharks to defeat the city - country of Zodanga , and then sacrifices his own life to save the aura on Mars . ( But then just curve up on Earth again . )
Here are some great Princess Of Mars covers and images , include some great artwork by Frank Frazetta :
Jack Half - A - Prayer ( Perdido Street Station and Iron Council by China Mieville ):
Even amongst all the other memorable and unearthly quality from Mieville ’s Bas - Lag universe , Jack Half - A - Prayer stands out , with his weird sentience of style . One of the Remade , he ’s get a giant praying mantis sleeve , but alternatively of becoming downtrodden and full of self - loathing , he becomes a exemption fighter aircraft and a legend , until it finally catches up with him . Here ’s a heavy example of him that artist Nicholas William Kole make . ( More of Kole ’s great arthere . )
“ Slippery ” Jim DiGriz ( The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison ):
The first person that came to mind when we thought of this category — a grifter and explorer who ’s always twenty jumps ahead of everybody else . Even though the love of a good woman moderate him slightly , he never stops being a scoundrel . Still , if he ever feed for President of the United States on your satellite , you ’d be wild not to vote for him .
Frank Rozvar ( The Skies Discrowned / Forsake The Sky by Tim Powers ):
As Earth ’s empire crumbles in the distant future , Frank Rozvar take in his father murdered , and is forced to flee to Munson Underground , the metropolis under the major planet ’s airfoil . He plots revenge — and it ’s a good thinghe ’s an expert fenceras well as a fashionable whoreson . Although , as my friend Bill Federal Reserve note , Powers ’ early Cuban sandwich incline to be more “ grim and spunky ” than “ dashing and dapper . ”
The Librarians ( The Greatwinter Trilogy by Sean McMullen ):
Many buckles are swashed by these dragon bibliothec in a post - apocalyptic 40th century setting . They ’re forever agitate ritual affaire d’honneur , including battles ( with very rigorous rules ) in airship . These books arepacked with derring - do and Errrol Flynn - esque feats of fearlessness and cunning .
Duncan Idaho ( Dune by Frank Herbert ):
Thisswordmasterin the service of House Atreides is a ladies humankind and an expert bookman of the Swordmasters Of Ginaz . The Harkonnens kill his parents and leaven him to be hunted for mutation — but he gets off . One of Duke Leto ’s right - hand men , he train Paul in the arts of war . And when he gives his life to defend Paul and Jessica , he takes down no less than 17 Sardaukar soldiers .
Cugel The Clever ( The Dying Earth books byJack Vance ):
A stealer and villain , Cugel displays tons of rambunctiousness and skullduggery . But he ’s also a splatter hand with a blade , and he ’s very dapper with histriple - tiered chapeau , adorned with a “ foppish bedazzlement . ” His roguish fashion and indefatigible charm have win him his ownFacebook group .
Speaker - To - Animals ( Ringworld byLarry Niven ):
One of the coolest of Niven ’s Kzinti , Speaker - To - Animals is slightly less likely to stamp out you on wad than other penis of his backwash , but he ’s still a brilliant fighter and a total badass . He ’s too respectable to kill Louis Gridley Wu for meat , even when he ’s starving . distinctive credit line : “ I have a variable brand . I exhort calm . ” Bad . Ass . ( Art byA.C. Farley . )
Anthony Villiers ( Star Well by Alexei Panshin ):
A former viscount , Villiers gets fobbed off by his family and trip around the universe in the company of a gargantuan frog call Torve , having dotty dangerous undertaking . He’salways get himself get up in duelsand assassination plots , as he moves through the high levels of galactic lodge without ever quite having enough money on hand . He ’s foppish , following the motto “ live on as you coiffure ” and doing both of those things well .
Drake Maijstral ( Crown Jewels , House of Shards , & Rock of Ages by Walter Jon Williams ):
Maijstral is an Allowed Burglar in a remote future when the human race has been conquer by noncitizen called the Khosali , who have subjected us to their regime of High Custom . Under this complicated set of rules , you may steal — as long as you hang on to the merchandise for 24 hour without getting catch . ( One of the Khosali emperor was a kleptomaniac who want to legalize theft , hence the odd compromise . ) Since all of Maijstral ’s exploits are record and broadcast , he becomes a vast celebrity with a great sentiency of verve and style .
Hiro Protagonist ( Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson ):
Protagonist ’s business card says it all : “ Last of the freelance hackers and Greatest swordfighter in the world . ” He con of the existence of a new drug called Snow Crash , that ’s both a computer virus and a realism - neuter substance . He ’s the undisputed champion of in - Metaverse sword - combat , because he helped write the code which makes swordfighting possible .
E.C. Gordon , aka Scar , aka Oscar ( Glory Road by Robert Heinlein ):
This war veteran answers an ad that take , “ Are You A Sir Noel Pierce Coward , ” localise by a beautiful woman . Then he goes on a quest and crosses sword with the Never - Born aka the Eater Of Souls , the guardian of the Egg of the Phoenix in Mile High Tower . ( For some reason , the Eater Of Souls appears as a seventeenth century fencer . )
Beka Rosslin - Metadi ( The Price Of The Stars by Debra Doyle and James D. McDonald ):
Okay , just see at the jacket , and the red eyepatch . And she ’s an amazing space pilot , raider and spacer by trade — who ’s twist her back on her famous military family . Until her mamma is assassinated , and her Father of the Church give her the best spaceship around , the Warhammer , to search for the assassins . She leaves “ a trail of kidnappings and corpses across four star systems , ” and blows the cap off the stiff private fortress in the galaxy . Rock on .
Pham Nuwen ( A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge ):
Pham farm up in a post - apocalyptical Canberra that ’s similar to the Middle Ages , complete with sword , daggers and toxicant . Then the Qeng Ho arrive and he leaves with them . He becomes a legendary commander and Programmer - At - Arms . At one point , Pham Nuwen is obtain prisoner by some idiots , and he realize that the computers on the ship had used impudent dust long ago — which stand for he can hack into the information processing system by blinking , without anyone noticing .
Ed Chianese ( Light by M. John Harrison )
Thrill - seeker , adventurer and practical - reality junky , Ed Chianese “ owe money to everyone in the universe . ” Writes Harrison , “ From an early age , Ed Chianese had been some variety of drifter and sensationist . He could n’t commemorate what major planet he came from . ‘ perchance it was even this one ! ’ He laughed . ” With his peroxide hair and cheap tattoo , he ’s dapper after a fashion .
Giraut Leones ( A Million Open door by John Barnes ):
Giraut hold up in Nou Occitan , which is sort of like gothic Europe , with the dueling , the chivraly and the artistic dabbling . But then he travel to live in another one of the thousand human cultures in the far futurity — the sterile Caledony , which is like a McCarthy - ite , Christian repressive globe . So he becomes the disaffected , sword - fighting hero of this crazy world .
Jay Kalam and his cohorts ( Legion Of Space Series by Jack Williamson ):
Kalam is commander of the Legion , and just in case you miss the Three Musketeers - i - ness of his group of stalwart hero against the renegade Purple and the malefic Medusae , one of his friends is name Samdu ( an anagram of “ Dumas . ” )
Owen Deathstalker ( Deathstalker by Simon Green ):
heritor to a warrior name , Owen Deathstalker lives a quiet sprightliness as a historian , until the Empress names him an outlaw , and he ’s pressure to flee , and help form the rebellion against the Empress Lionstone .
extra reporting by Mary Ratliff . Thanks to Bill Brickman , Jed Hartman , Chris Hsiang , Andrew Liptak , Dennis Woo , Wayne Nix , Angela Cooper , Zack Stentz , Tim Jones , Jonathan Korman , Tom Marcinko , Espana Sheriff , Richard Kadrey , Chris Hall , Allan Ebalo , David J. Schwartz , @RainOnRoof , Jenn Reese , John Klima , another Tim Jones , Cheryl Morgan and anyone else I missed for the suggestions !
Book vortexBooksJohn Carter of MarsLarry Niven
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