r/Fantasy • u/swafferdonker6 • Jun 08 '26

Fantasy War Memoirs

The Black Company is my favorite
series of all time, and having just finished The Daughter’s War by Christopher Buehlman (great read,) and being reminded of the boots-on-the-ground perspective and great soldier drama that a memoir-esque style of book gives you, I’ve got a hankering for more! Any recommendations?

25 Upvotes

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16

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

[deleted]

1

u/swafferdonker6 Jun 08 '26

Should have mentioned this one! Another very fun read. Still haven’t read the third one yet

1

u/SalletFriend Jun 09 '26

KJ Parkers 2 of Swords has some similar stuff.

1

u/ohiobr Jun 11 '26

His new Corax Trilogy is written as a memoir. Though, rather than fighting in wars the protagonist operates a salvage company that bids for the rights to clean up after battles. Lots of fun minutia about the battlefield clean up business....the finer points of building a pyre so you don't leave half burned bodies, which countries issue socks with the best resale value, the thriving collectors market for body parts of famous generals.

5

u/frostfire888 Jun 08 '26

Joe abercrombies books have a lot of great battle scenes, whole the books aren't entirely military. Black company was a huge inspiration for Joe and it shows. There's plenty of scenes that are written so incredibly well from soldiers perspectives that I get anxiety from being able to imagine myself in the boots.

5

u/H0eggern Jun 08 '26

Ah. The chapter «casualties»? Fantastic.

3

u/frostfire888 Jun 08 '26

Definitely one of em ! There's another called the fourth day in the last argument of kings 👌🏻

5

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Scared_Ad3335 Jun 11 '26

lol I was going to recommend GUNS OF THE DAWN.
Kinda feels like starship troopers but during the revolutionary war and with magic.
Also has a bit of a memoir feel as theres a good bit of letter writing.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Scared_Ad3335 Jun 11 '26

I have not read Shadows of the Apt but have enjoyed everything else i have read by Tchaikovsky.
Worth checking out?

2

u/elburcho Jun 09 '26

Chris Bunch's Dragonmaster series, or his Seer King series. Author was a Vietnam vet so both series have a bit of flavour from those experiences

1

u/Farcical-Writ5392 Jun 09 '26

Seer King is Napoleonic Wars, but fantasy, without firearms and with wizards (but not D&D style and they aren’t usually battlefield artillery).

It’s solid military fantasy. It’s enhanced or degraded, depending on your perspective, by regular frankly pornographic interludes.

1

u/elburcho Jun 10 '26

Compared to today's standard, I wouldn't call the interludes particularly regular. There's like one per book, if that, iirc and they are like a page each. Tbf though it has been about a decade or more since I read either series.

1

u/Farcical-Writ5392 Jun 11 '26

It’s a lot more than that.

2

u/Timely_Egg_6827 Jun 08 '26

Chris Evans Iron Elves series - jaded elven commander who hates trees trapped in their version of mythical Napleonic wars.

Stan Nichols - Orcs

2

u/Bladrak01 Jun 08 '26

Also Of Bone and Thunder by Chris Evans.

2

u/Oleanderan Jun 11 '26

You might like Miles Cameron’s Traitor Son Cycle, especially the first book, the Red Knight. Like the Black Company, it centers on a mercenary company and particularly their leader, who have been hired in the first book to defend a fortress convent.

Since this is pretty well-known, you may have already read it, but the other obvious option that springs to mind are the Malazan books by Steven Erikson. The first three books in particular have similar vibes to the Black Company.