Best combat scenes in literature?

Mr.Nice Guy

As the title suggests, I'm looking to find a novel that depicts fighting well, whether that be sword-fighting, hand-to-hand combat, and so on.

It seems to me like it's a difficult skill to pull off and I'm wondering what writers do it well.

Any suggestions?

Manach

Legend, the early novel Fantasy novel by David Gemmell. The theme is simple by modern standards, hold the doomed fortress for as long as possible. The battle scenes, the characters and the sense of insight into what motiviates men to holdfast - always stayed with me.

Joe_ Public

Erich Remarque's classic All Quiet on the Western Front springs instantly to mind, captures the hopelessness and insanity of trench warfare fairly vividly I thought. Sebastian Barry's A Long Long Way about the same conflict stands out too.

Also, I think lots of people will tell you the battle scenes in War and Peace are gripping and brilliantly told, it's the love scenes that drag the novel out a bit.

buck65

Karl Marlantes - Matterhorn

goose2005

The description of the Battle of Waterloo in Les Misérables is great

Oink

Check out Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Sir Nigel" / "The White Company". I can't remember which one (or both?) it was, but there's some fairly good battle scenes in there if memory serves. They're set during the Hundred Years War.

Arsemageddon

buck65 wrote: »

Karl Marlantes - Matterhorn

I only read Matterhorn because a friend nagged me into reading it. I didn't really think it would be my kind of thing but I wasn't able to put it down - a stunningly well written book.

honde

Any Sven Hassel books .

Paddy Samurai

The best combat scenes IMO are by Tim Willocks in his book The twelve children of Paris followed closely by the The Religion which is part one .
But for sword fighing in particular the best writer is Christian Cameron who trains with ancient weapons and battle reenactments.Both his books The ill made Knightand The Long Sword are excellent.

But Twelve Children is amazing For combat IMO.

chasmcb

I recently read Kingmaker:Winter Pilgrims by Toby Clements, the first of a trilogy set in the Wars of the Roses. The battle scenes in that are very well rendered, really gets the type of grisly hacking, stabbing, clubbing melee they would have been (plus added arrow showers!).

Kash

Legend immediately came to mind for me, it was one of my early fantasy reads.

The ones that have stuck with me the most are Bernard Cornwell's The Warlord Trilogy. There are depictions of being part of a shield wall in this that practically had me smelling the battle. The books aren't half bad either

Paddy Samurai

Kash wrote: »

Legend immediately came to mind for me, it was one of my early fantasy reads.

The ones that have stuck with me the most are Bernard Cornwell's The Warlord Trilogy. There are depictions of being part of a shield wall in this that practically had me smelling the battle. The books aren't half bad either

Love Gemmell and Cornwell both. I have the warlord trilogy waiting to be read, and if it's as good as his Saxon series I will be a happy man.
Only need to find the time.:(

Paddy Samurai

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

As the title suggests, I'm looking to find a novel that depicts fighting well,

It seems to me like it's a difficult skill to pull off and I'm wondering what writers do it well.

Any suggestions?

There's a good review here if you want to check it out.I have read alot of the the brilliant writers already mentioned here ,but nothing comes near to Willocks.I still think about the fight scenes years after reading it.

https://drunkendragonreviews.wordpress.com/2014/08/31/the-twelve-children-of-paris-by-tim-willocks/

As the book progressed I was easily able to imagine a Paris around me, a Paris burning even as it drowned in blood and ****.And then there’s the action. This book is the bloodiest piece of literature I’ve ever encountered, par none.

All in all, The Twelve Children of Paris was an incredible tale, and one of the best of the year for me. Willocks’ elegant prose that first captured me in The Religion and did so here again easily sheds a unique light on the most blood soaked novel I’ve ever read. An entertaining read of incredible depth, with memorable characters large and small, it was easily one of the most immersive reads I’ve ever experienced.

r3nu4l

Conn Igguldon's Emporer series has some fantastic battle scenes.

Carawaystick

Manach wrote: »

Legend, the early novel Fantasy novel by David Gemmell. The theme is simple by modern standards, hold the doomed fortress for as long as possible. The battle scenes, the characters and the sense of insight into what motiviates men to holdfast - always stayed with me.

These Druss battles sprung to mind fo rme alright.

Another tack is the Tom Clancy submarine battles in Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising are pretty gripping.

Also while not quiet a Novel, Thomas Kinsella's Táin Bó Cuiligne has some fairly epic fighting between Cú Chulain and the men of Connacht.

Heckler

Recent novelists who do it well are

Lee Child............the Jack Reacher novels....usually hand to hand and brutal. some gun play.

Stephen Hunter....The Bob Lee and Earl Swagger novels. Serious gun porn but he writes a gunfight like nothing I've ever read. Bob Lees Swaggers gunfight in i think "Time to hunt" where he and his spotter Donny face down the Vietcong is balls to the wall amazing.

Climax to "Pale Horse Coming" is great too.