Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Top Ten Tuesday: Time for Some Thrilling Heroics

This week, That Artsy Reader Girl is giving us a freebie for Top Ten Tuesday!  I've decided to share my top ten favorite swashbucklers with you.


To me, a book or movie is a swashbuckler if it has adventure, sword fights (or brawls), daring escapes or rescues, and a certain amount of swagger.  I adore stories like that!  Here are my ten favorite, complete with a few story elements you'll find in them.  All titles are linked to my reviews.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas -- prison escape, long-lost love, revenge, murder, disguises, tall ships, young love, damsels in distress, bandits...

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson -- stolen inheritance, kidnapping, shipwreck, escape, mismatched buddies, disguises, treason, assassination, fencing, bagpipes...

The Princess Bride by William Goldman -- fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle -- archery, banditry, outlawry, brawling, courtly romance, captures, rescues...

The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley -- fencing, disguises, rescues, chases, more fencing...


Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson -- pirates, treasure, tall ships, maroonings, sieges, rescues...

The Black Swan by Rafael Sabatini -- pirates, damsels in distress, kidnappings, rescues, tall ships, sea battles, fencing, brawling, treachery...

The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope -- mistaken identity, disguises, fencing, kidnapping, doomed romance, rescues...

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy -- disguises, rescues, chases, fencing, romance, mistaken identities, damsels in distress...

Sackett's Land by Louis L'Amour -- exploration, chases, escapes, fencing, brawling, tall ships, sea battles, fortune seekers, romance...


And there you have it!  Are you a fan of swashbucklers too?  Got any to recommend?

30 comments:

  1. This is such a fun post! I loved The Princess Bride.

    My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-bookish-confessions/

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    1. Thanks, Lydia! Hard not to love that one, I think :-)

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  2. I had NEVER heard the term swashbuckler until you dropped it on my post! How could you do that and not explain, LOL! I *think* I understand it now. The Princess Bride is my husband's favorite movie of all time and my kids love it too. It has grown on me, LOL! I don't think I have any to recommend, all of these sound like Classics...although I did think of The Three Musketeers...

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    1. Cindy, well, welcome to the merry world of swashbuckling! I adore the movie version of The Princess Bride :-D And The Three Musketeers is definitely a swashbuckler!

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  3. Swashbuckler is such a cool word and one not used often enough! I absolutely LOVED your snippet descriptions - I may have to borrow that in the future. It highlights the key points in the story and like Google, I can search through the 'keywords' for one that suits me! Very clever. I've read a couple but apparently not nearly enough swashbucklers! Thanks for the visit - have a terrific week.
    Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys

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    1. Terrie, it IS such a good word. I'm working on a post on my other blog of my favorite swashbuckler movies because I just love them so much.

      Glad you liked this format! Sometimes I do summaries of the books, but sometimes I am just not in the mood for that at all, and I like just doing keywords to give people a taste of what a book is like :-)

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  4. All of these sound so good, and I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't read a single one of them! Although I know the movie The Princess Bride backwards and forwards, I have had the book on my TBR forever and still haven't gotten to it yet. Great list!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Leah! If you love the movie The Princess Bride, definitely try the book. Because the book's author also wrote the screenplay, they are VERY similar -- the book is like having an extended edition of the movie!

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  5. Oh my goodness!! I love movie The Princess Bride and the book has been on my list; I definitely don't hear about it often. So many of these books are on my TBR, and I'm adding the other ones!

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    1. Raven, oh, you are in for a treat when you do read The Princess Bride!!!

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  6. Well, you know how I feel about The Princess Bride. ;) What a fun list! I do love a good swashbuckler, but tend to prefer them in movie form rather than book form . . . hmm.

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    1. Olivia, I, in fact, do know :-D You know, I also just didn't read many swashbucklers for a long time because I just liked them better on the screen (and keep an eye on my other blog for a top ten list of swashbuckly movies coming soooooon). But lately, I have been reading some really good ones and finding them extremely enjoyable. Kind of like how I've gotten more into reading westerns the last decade or so, after only really wanting to watch them for most of my life.

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  7. The only one of these I've read is Monte Cristo, but Edmond was a great hero.

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    1. Ivy Miranda, well, if I had to pick just one for people to read, it would be that one! Ahhhhh, so good. I love Edmond's character arc.

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  8. What a fun topic! I immediately thought of Robin Hood, The Princess Bride and Treasure Island. I also think of The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleishman as a swashbuckler-esque and similarly The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain.

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    1. Thanks, Gretchen! It's been years since I read The Whipping Boy, but I know I have a copy around here somewhere, so I should dig it out. I love Sid Fleischmann! Same goes for The Prince and the Pauper, actually.

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  9. Oooh, I love your topic for this week! I really enjoyed The Scarlet Pimpernel, too, but swashbuckling in general is always a win for me!

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    1. Thanks, Sammie! Have you read any of the other Pimpernel books? I know there's a whole series, but I've only read the first one.

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  10. Nice list idea! I love this! I've read Princess Bride, Scarlet Pimpernel, Treasure Island, and I'm hoping to read Count of Monte Cristo soon.

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    1. Thanks, Kami! Ooooooh, I hope you love The Count of Monte Cristo. It's been one of my top 3 favorite books since I was a tween! Wonderful story.

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  11. Fun theme for a list! "Swashbuckler" makes me think of pirates and pirates make me think of the Bloody Jack series, which I adore. It's got lots of action, humor, and sass. Tons of fun.

    Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!

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    1. Thanks, Susan! I've not heard of the Bloody Jack series, but it does sound swashbuckly :-D

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  12. Love this topic! You have so many great ones listed here and there are several books I still need to read :)

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    1. Thanks, Jaime! I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of the genre myself.

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  13. This is such a cool topic! I love seeing all the classics on your list.

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  14. Love this list! Robin Hood is probably my favorite out of all these, but Zorro is close behind. Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog Tuesday.

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    1. Thanks, Cheryl! Can't go wrong with Robin Hood or Zorro :-D

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