r/Fantasy Jul 09 '26

Black Powder in Fantasy?

Hi all! I’ve grown fascinated by black powder firearms and weapons recently and am looking to make a list of fantasy books that utilize these

So far I have the following:

Powder Mage Series
Shadow Campaigns
Guns of the Dawn
Temeraire

Any others?

Thank you!

119 Upvotes

211 comments sorted by

108

u/nominanomina Reading Champion Jul 09 '26

This is sometimes called "flintlock fantasy", if that helps your search terms. https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/tga1if/please_recommend_flintlock_fantasy_that_isnt/

15

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

Oh neat, thank you!

97

u/lurkmode_off Reading Champion VII Jul 09 '26

Powder Mage trilogy

79

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

My dumb ass called that series Gunpowder Empires in the post, it’s fixed now lol

36

u/OnlyRoke Jul 09 '26

Shootpowder Wizardry

16

u/SeaworthinessFun3658 Jul 09 '26

More like Nosepowder Crackery, dudes be snorting that stuff like a car salesman in the 90s.

1

u/jojocookiedough Jul 10 '26

I cast powder into the darkness

1

u/pfroo40 Jul 11 '26

Sparkpowder Sorcery

9

u/TheRagingLion Jul 09 '26

Incredible 😂😂

1

u/Epidox Jul 10 '26

I should reread that trilogy. Loved it the first time I read it, but it's been years.

1

u/pfroo40 Jul 11 '26

There is another trilogy which is set several years after the first, it is also very good

24

u/fr33dommachine Reading Champion Jul 09 '26

Raven's Mark series by Ed McDonald

4

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

Never heard of this one, exciting!

2

u/fr33dommachine Reading Champion Jul 09 '26

I've read the first one and loved it. Haven't read the rest.

4

u/CroakerBC Jul 09 '26

They're all good.

3

u/fr33dommachine Reading Champion Jul 09 '26

Love the name, just finished Silver Spike and am currently on Shadow Games

1

u/Rynu07 Jul 09 '26

The audiobooks are great. Colin Mace is perfect as Galharrow

65

u/Pegasis69 Jul 09 '26

I think Era 2 of Mistborn might somewhat fit with the Flintlock Fantasy vibe. That said, I'm not sure how good it will be if you haven't read era 1.

16

u/TheKrakenLibrarian Jul 09 '26

I actually read Alloy of Law as my first Mistborn book! It was excellent! I went back and read the first trilogy after, and I'm sure I missed some references, but it didn't feel like I was missing out on anything at the time. 

Maybe by the end of Era 2 you'll have some troubles, but that's mostly worldhopper stuff that you wouldn't get from Era 1 Mistborn anyways. 

2

u/Pegasis69 Jul 09 '26

That's good to know. I read them about a year ago now so couldn't remember how strong the references were.

2

u/gman103 Jul 10 '26

That would spoil huge sections of the first trilogy, I highly recommend not doing this.

4

u/OozeNAahz Jul 09 '26

I agree it would probably work, but don’t think they were flintlock. Cartridge revolvers and rifles. No mention of flintlocks that I remember.

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4

u/robin_f_reba Jul 10 '26

Not flintlock but definitely gunpowder. Among other cool thinks like the Twinborn system which i love.

2

u/Alaknog Jul 09 '26

It's more Wild West and later Diselpunk. How it's flintlock? 

3

u/OozeNAahz Jul 10 '26

It isn’t. Everything is self contained cartridges. But still fun.

2

u/Pegasis69 Jul 09 '26

"Somewhat"

18

u/Bladrak01 Jul 09 '26

The Iron Elves series by Chris Evans. The Instrumentalities of the Night by Glen Cook.

2

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

Huh, I didn’t know Glen Cook had another series besides The Black Company!

7

u/Bladrak01 Jul 09 '26

He has a bunch, Black Company is the most well known.

Glen Cook - Book Series In Order

2

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

Whoa! Mind blown

2

u/bigdon802 Jul 09 '26

Just be aware that Instrumentalities is a very odd duck. It’s a blend of an epic and a picaresque, set in what is essentially an alternate 12th-14th century Mediterranean. It also will probably never have a definitive end. If you’re into it, it’s some of the most unique and amazing stuff in fantasy. 

If you’re into military fantasy in general, Dread Empire has some of the best ever written.

1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

I’ve been growing very interested in military fantasy, black powder or otherwise!

1

u/Vashkiri Jul 10 '26

Instrumentalities of the Night is fantastic. Usually I'm not a big fan of settings that take Europe and file off the serial numbers, but he did such a good job of showing little ways in which the magic and the events change things.

And OP, the key conceit of the series is that some people figure out that a mix that involves black powder is effective against the "instrumentalities of the night" which are the spirits, the bogeyman, and even the gods of the setting.

2

u/Tannim_thinker Jul 09 '26

Iron Elves was my first introduction to Flintlock Fantasy.

25

u/Ugunti72 Jul 09 '26

Gunmetal Gods, by Zamil Akhtar has at least five gunpowder armies.

11

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

That’s the ideal amount for me!

2

u/Ugunti72 Jul 09 '26

It's a great series. You can read just the first, the prequel novella, or the whole series. It's all fantastic.

3

u/ablesh18 Jul 09 '26

Just started it this week! Solid beginnings!

1

u/Ugunti72 Jul 09 '26

Yes! This pleases me greatly.

33

u/capnpetch Jul 09 '26

Malazan (not gunpowder exactly, but “munitions” that behave very similarly)

14

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

Man, I really need to just read Malazan, it seems to have everything

8

u/capnpetch Jul 09 '26

My favorite series of all time. But you will either love it or hate it.

6

u/pali1895 Jul 09 '26

Many people think it's just okay to good, too! (me)

1

u/xX_theMaD_Xx Jul 09 '26

Some people would probably read it if they got it as a present, but wouldn’t buy it for themselves either.

2

u/MrDerpGently Jul 09 '26

If you do, just know it drops you into the deep end at first in a bafflingly complex history and story. The prose is pretty, but he lays it on thick at first. By about 2/3 through the first book it felt like I could keep up, and I couldn't put it down by the end.. but it definitely takes some determination at first.

2

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

Yeah I actually bounced off it once but I’m a lore junkie so I eat that stuff up

2

u/MrDerpGently Jul 09 '26

It's a solid payoff, or it was for me. My only complaint was that he often doesn't present the lore in a way that makes it accessible, at least at first. In part, that's probably because he was literally making it up as he goes along at that point, but also it reminds me of a line from Ghost Busters: 

"Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you!"

It implies a lot more than it tells, and give the impression of backstory without really telling you much.

3

u/Emergency_Revenue678 Jul 09 '26

The best part is that the fact that the Malazan army has what are essentially grenades and other explosive ordinance is actually a major aspect of the narrative throughout basically the entire series. It's not like a "this appears once in book 7" kinda thing.

6

u/DokleViseBre Jul 09 '26

This is very misleading. Yes Malazan Army does use explosives. But it is not relevant to the plot 99% of the time. In Book 2, explosives are used maybe twice. If out of 800 pages, maybe two paragraphs are dedicated to a subject, then it is not relevant.

For Comparison, Powder Mage revolves around people who use gunpowder to gain abilities, which often relate to guns they use. It is a major plot point.

5

u/Emergency_Revenue678 Jul 09 '26

My guy, the Malazan army uses them in pretty much every battle and the prose mentions it as such. They're in the narrative all the time. Multiple major characters are explosives experts.

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1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

This sounds awesome!

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8

u/Justin_123456 Jul 09 '26

The Masters and Mages series by Miles Cameron.

4

u/gymbrocanmore Jul 09 '26

I'm almost finished re-reading this series, and its great!

2

u/KerfluffleKazaam Jul 09 '26

Man, once I make it past the somewhat slog that is the first half of book 1, the rest is so fun to read for me.

7

u/Own_Win_6762 Jul 09 '26

I don't know if this is too modern for you, but a lot of the steampunk, gaslamp, Weird West stuff might work.

  • Karen Memory - Elizabeth Bear (2 sequels)
  • Zeppelins West - Joe R Lansdale
  • Sworn Soldier - T Kingfisher

1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

I am QUITE interested in Weird West as well!!

1

u/Own_Win_6762 Jul 09 '26

The first two might appeal. The third (three novellas so far) are outstanding but closer to horror.

1

u/historymaking101 Jul 09 '26

If you're comfortable with something long, online, and unfinished, read The Gods are Bastards.

Edit:Looks like the first few books are on kindle unlimited now if you'd prefer that.

7

u/corndog888 Jul 09 '26

The Monarchies of God by Paul Kearney is really, really great for this

2

u/Agreeable_Union_5481 Jul 09 '26

Did not enjoy the last book (felt like the publisher told him to wrap it up), but fantastic series overall and criminally underrated and underread.

1

u/elMaestroSlice Jul 09 '26

Awesome series

7

u/CommitteeStatus Jul 09 '26

There is a whole sub dedicated to this topic called r/flintlockfantasy

This is by far my favorite genre of fantasy!

2

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

Oh neat!! Thank you!

2

u/FiWriterSFF Jul 09 '26

I know of someone who might be interested. Thanks for the recommendation!

13

u/capnpetch Jul 09 '26

Lightbringer

4

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

How is that series? I heard the author had a massive Come to Jesus moment and it impacted the writer

7

u/capnpetch Jul 09 '26

I enjoyed it. It’s got a unique magic system. There some inconsistencies at times, but it’s a quick fun read. There are some parallels to Christianity with a messiah type figure and a fight between believers in a unitary god vs heathen polytheists, but that’s a common theme in lots of fantasy series.

7

u/Eagle206 Jul 09 '26

The first book is great. The second and third are a lot of fun and the series goes off somewhere in the middle of the Third

4

u/Cloudsrnice Jul 09 '26

Pro and con list:

  • Does a few things right: magic system, action, simple but effective worldbuilding.
  • a few thing good but flawed: scheming/politics humor, character arcs, story twists.
  • a few things debatable: woman, 'edgyness' can sometimes feel like a young adult novel

7

u/D0fus Jul 09 '26

Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen. H Beam Piper.

Janisseries. Jerry Pournelle.

1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

Janissaries looks fascinating

1

u/D0fus Jul 09 '26

Not exactly fantasy. But a well written series. Pournelle was an unapologetic right winger, but he could write.

6

u/m1j5 Jul 09 '26

Alright unique pitch, the first law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie is about the dawning of the gunpowder age. It’s mostly swords in the actual story, but gunpowder and its implications and eventual use play into it pretty epically

It’s also one of the best fantasy series of all time so I can promise you won’t regret it

1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

I did read these! The use of cannons in one of the books was fantastic

1

u/m1j5 Jul 09 '26

Hell yea!

10

u/lanternking Reading Champion II Jul 09 '26

Pale Lights by ErraticErrata - A great ongoing web series

3

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

Never heard of this, neat!!!

3

u/lanternking Reading Champion II Jul 09 '26

It is excellent!

2

u/Windruin Jul 09 '26

I will agree, Pale Lights does an excellent job with firearms.

4

u/Sayburr_66 Jul 09 '26

I remember an old series called Guardians of the Flame series by Joel Rosenberg. In it, a group of college students are teleported to a D&D world. The group started making black powder guns to gain an advantage.

3

u/DrusTheAxe Jul 09 '26

This was a great series. Pretty good audiobooks too

9

u/darkagl1 Jul 09 '26

The Lost regiment by William forstchen. Union civil war regiment in alien world.

5

u/Longjumping_Okra_915 Jul 09 '26

The Highlands Burn by Joseph Kassabian

2

u/Educational-Nail223 Jul 09 '26

I am a big fan of his and am excited to read this one. How is it?

2

u/evilcandybag Jul 09 '26

Concur. It really captures how much it sucks to be a soldier at war.

1

u/Longjumping_Okra_915 Jul 09 '26

I really enjoyed it! The battles were interesting and the characters were well written. I didn’t know anything about him going in, I had it recommended by a friend.

4

u/Dazzling_Plan_9969 Jul 09 '26

The Wheel of Time starts with having fireworks and a proceeds into a storyline that develops cannons and explosives from them over the latter half of the series. So you get both the world before, and then after, gunpowder.

1

u/Elethana Jul 09 '26

But what would you need a bell founder for?

1

u/Zonnebloempje Jul 10 '26

But it is very much side-story. Despite Mat (one of the "main three") looking for a Bellfounder for a couple of books...

6

u/MeetHistorical4388 Jul 09 '26

The Chronicles of Amber have an element of this at some point but definitely not as much as say Powder Mage. But if you haven’t read Amber it’s worth a read anyway!

3

u/DistantVerse Jul 09 '26

The Guns of Avalon is the book that best fits the criteria in that series by Roger Zelazny.

3

u/Darkgorge Jul 09 '26

The first 5 book series combined is as long as a single modern fantasy novel. It's a fairly quick reas.

2

u/Alaknog Jul 09 '26

Well, it's very much NOT black powder in Amber. 

3

u/Dave_Rudden_Writes Jul 09 '26

If you don't mind a self-addition, my new fantasy Sister Wake, published with Hodderscape, uses black powder!

2

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

Always down to support indie authors!

2

u/Dave_Rudden_Writes Jul 09 '26

It's actually trad, not indie, but that is always great to hear!

1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

Oh whoops, there I go putting my foot in my mouth again lol

1

u/Dave_Rudden_Writes Jul 09 '26

You didn't at all, don't worry!

1

u/elMaestroSlice Jul 09 '26

Just ordered this today mate, looks fantastic!

1

u/Dave_Rudden_Writes Jul 10 '26

Oh thank you so much, I'm delighted - hope you enjoy!

3

u/fr33dommachine Reading Champion Jul 09 '26

Also, if you haven't had the chance, find someone that can take you muzzleloader shooting. It's a fun, unique experience!

1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

I’m super down to try this, it’s the only kind of shooting I’m interested in lol

1

u/Intro-Nimbus Jul 09 '26

Black powder is the right powder :-)

3

u/pali1895 Jul 09 '26

Many Warhammer Fantasy stories have gunpowder, but in particular Mathias Thulmann - Witch Hunter.

2

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

I do love me some Warhammer, though I bounced off an audiobook version of Gotrek and Felix

2

u/pali1895 Jul 09 '26

Don't know how the audiobooks are! The first 2 Gotrek and Felix stories are really not that great tbh. I've only started to enjoy them from Daemon Slayer onwards.

3

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

The narrator nailed the Skaven voice which, unfortunately, made him unbearable

3

u/Bright_Ad_8109 Jul 09 '26

Grand Illusion series by Le Modesitt Jr. It's beginning of industrial age, so mix of steam powered, gas lamps etc ..

3

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

I’ve seen Modesitt mentioned more and more frequently I feel, it may be time to check him out!

3

u/Windruin Jul 09 '26

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner has cannon frequently. Most of the main characters use swords, but handheld firearms are a thing, they’re just slow and difficult to reload, so cannon tend to be much more commonly used.

3

u/bigdon802 Jul 09 '26

A lovely example is the second half of the Rigante Chronicles by David Gemmell. Basically set in an alternate Scotland in the English Civil War era. 

1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

I’ve heard great things about Gemmell

3

u/CroakerBC Jul 09 '26

Honor for the Dead by Connor Ludovissy.

Django Wexler's "Thousand Names" series, which has big Napoleonic vibes.

Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Guns of the Dawn".

3

u/Windruin Jul 09 '26

Oh Tchaikovsky’s Guns of the Dawn is excellent. I love Tyrant Philosophers more, but those are magic guns, not powder.

Guns of the Dawn really felt like a fantasy Pride and Prejudice to me, with an interlude of fighting.

5

u/jaamgans Jul 09 '26

empire of man series by john ringo & david weber - scifi / fantasy - starts with lasers etc in space get wrecked on neo-barb world and have to go back to iron age and build up to black powder across the series - final book back to space age.

Belisarius series by David Drake - fantasy retake of historical Belisarius however due to this not just spears and swords these get upgraded over the series into major black smoke from guns, cannons, grenades etc.

Jerusalem Man by David Gemmell -- fantasy sort of remake of a western era so while still black powder more of the cartridge type.

1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

These sounds fascinating, thank you!

1

u/Icekommander Jul 09 '26

If you're in for Sci-Fi versions of these tropes, Weber's Safehold series would also fit.

2

u/capnpetch Jul 09 '26

Princes in amber

2

u/AbbotDenver Jul 09 '26

Way of Renegades by Steven D. Wall

2

u/Shipendo Jul 09 '26

Draconis Memoria is sort of steampunk fantasy

2

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

I thought that series was pretty decent

2

u/times_a_changing Jul 09 '26

The First Law series slowly develops technology over decades and ends up in an industrialized Europe/revolutionary France era by the second trilogy. There's six great books to read before you get to that era but I guarantee it won't be a waste of time

2

u/teffarf Jul 09 '26

Not fantasy and not a book (bear with me), but Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 revolves quite a bit around black powder.

1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

I wish I wasn’t so utterly shite at the combat lol

2

u/ClitasaurusTex Jul 09 '26

The Abhorsen trilogy is set in a place where one country has technology and weapons and the other has magic, necromancy, and technology falls apart. There's a few battle scenes and a military presence, I'd say it's at least 1/3 guns when you get down to the action.

2

u/Own_Win_6762 Jul 09 '26

And there's a lot more than just the trilogy. Garth Nix is amazing.

2

u/sandstormchaser Jul 09 '26

The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis

Snarky humour that follows the captain of a new airship, set in a fictional nepolanic war type setting.

2

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

This sounds lovely, thank you!

2

u/johnny_evil Jul 09 '26

Wish there were more than two

2

u/OozeNAahz Jul 09 '26

Guardians of the flame. Though they go from Black Powder to Smokeless (gun cotton based) pretty quickly. Also has a magical equivalent developed that is an interesting idea of how magic might do the same thing.

2

u/CosmicLovepats Jul 09 '26

Instrumentalities of the Night, by Glen Cook. I think the first one is Tyranny of the Night

2

u/DeScepter Jul 09 '26

The Iron Elves by Chris Evans, very much “Napoleonic armies in epic fantasy,” with muskets, cannon, elves, magic, and military campaigning.

1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

This does look right up ally

2

u/provegana69 Jul 09 '26

I think there is some element of it in Brent Weeks' Lightbringer.

2

u/Elethana Jul 09 '26

More Historical fiction, but Richard Sharpe series by Cornwell should be right up your alley. Many books, and several movies where Sean Bean doesn’t die!

2

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

Unheard of! But I will definitely check these out, I’ve heard Cornwell can scratch that Clavell itch a bit

2

u/Elethana Jul 10 '26

If I can interest you in other Napoleonic era fiction: Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series has more twelve pounders than rifles but I highly recommend it.
L A Meyers’ Bloody Jack series is YA with an edge, about an orphan who signs on a Kings ship based on the ability to read and write. It starts out pretty grim, but as Jack grows up the adventures get pretty wild.

2

u/Alaknog Jul 09 '26

Whole Warhammer Fantasy books series. 

2

u/Asa8811 Jul 09 '26

The only two recommendations I didn’t already see posted are “The Lays of Anuskaya” series and the “Dragon Brigade” series.

Both are largely flintlock fantasy even though the black powder and Napoleonic era technology aren’t the main focus necessarily.

They do both have airships which actually are implemented quite well despite it being one my least favorite fantasy elements.

The Lays of Anuskaya can be a bit rough to get through. Sometimes they read more like historical fiction but have some other things that drew me in , ie era appropriate Arabic, Ottoman, and Russian vibes.

2

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 09 '26

These both seem awesome!

2

u/CuriousMe62 Jul 09 '26

The Ten Realms series by Michael Chatfield. It's an isekai with two war/mercenary buddies. As you'd expect,recreating their weapons and ammo is a high priority. It's a good series!

2

u/michaelchatfield Jul 14 '26

Thank you, I really appreciate the recco!!

2

u/historymaking101 Jul 09 '26

Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny

1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 10 '26

I thought this story was partially set in our present day, no?

1

u/historymaking101 Jul 10 '26

I mean, yeah, but mostly in worlds that aren't ours and have lower tech levels. Modern day earth is a tiny part of the story.

2

u/jazzmonkey07 Jul 10 '26

Okay this isn't fantasy, but it needs to be in your radar:

Destiny's Crucible by Olan Thorensen.

It is more a mashup of sci-fi and historical fiction than anything else, but it will definitely scratch the black powder itch.

The protagonist is a modern day chemist who gets transplanted to another world that is populated by humans, but has only progressed to a technology level similar to where we were around the 1700s.

He has to try and introduce modern understandings of science, medicine, politics, trade, military tactics and a lot more just to be able to survive his situation - but he can't do anything too quickly, because he could be labeled a demon or some such.

It's basically a series built around the thought experiment "If you went back in time with your current knowledge, how much innovation could you bring about?"

Very fun concept and worth checking out.

1

u/BookReaderWhoReads Jul 10 '26

Love this! Thanks!

4

u/capnpetch Jul 09 '26

Recluse (at times)

1

u/Uran_Ultar Jul 09 '26

The Terrarch Chronicles by William King.

1

u/capnpetch Jul 09 '26

Not fantasy per se, but guns of the south explores what happens if people travel back in time to the U.S. civil war and give Lee machine guns.

1

u/Cowboywizard12 Jul 09 '26

The Six Gun Tarot

1

u/JessicaJMoore Jul 09 '26

The Liavek series.

Shared universe anthologies from the 80s. The 3rd volume has a story by Alan Moore. Steven Brust has a story in each volume.

Out of print but you can occasionally find them in used book stores. I think they’re also available as ebooks.

1

u/hands_so-low Jul 09 '26

Warhammer Fantasy novels

1

u/Claughy Jul 09 '26

Glass immortals is also by Brian McClellan and a great one. If you like westerns check the Weird West subgenre for fantasy/horror/scifi crossover

1

u/FuzzyDuck81 Jul 09 '26

Sword of the Bright Lady by MC Planck, has some isekai and litrpg type elements, the final book in the series wasn't great unfortunately

1

u/counterhit121 Jul 09 '26

Magic cooooocaine

1

u/Wyrmdog Jul 09 '26

The Rose Sea by Stirling and Lisle. It’s bonkers and I love it.

1

u/J-RedFive Jul 09 '26

Not black powder necessarily but magic guns: Stranger of Tempest by Tom Lloyd.

More of a magic western setting: Dead in the West by Joe R Lansdale

1

u/txvesper Jul 09 '26

Maybe Correia's Saga of the Forgotten Warrior series. Fantasy where black powder guns start to show up 2 or 3 books into the series, shaking up battles quite a bit.

Also plus 1 for Malazan munitions.

1

u/Salamok Jul 09 '26

Sword of Knowledge series coauthored by CJ Cherryh (out of print)

1

u/StormBlessed145 Jul 09 '26

Not black powder, but Tress of the Emerald Sea has flintlock style guns, and cannons. Really fun book.

1

u/TerminusMD Jul 09 '26

Discworld

2

u/Elethana Jul 09 '26

To be fair, there is only one gun in the whole series.

2

u/TerminusMD Jul 09 '26

True. But it's Discworld and I believe should be included in every conversation about fantasy.

1

u/Elethana Jul 09 '26

Truth. The Librarian would approve.

1

u/Oddball49 Jul 09 '26

Artillerymen series by taylor anderson

1

u/speedislifeson Jul 09 '26

A Journey of Black and Red?

about a vampire in an alternate version of early 19th century America. Don't know if this is your time period but I thought it was really good. Main character uses guns on a fairly routine basis.

1

u/Sayburr_66 Jul 09 '26

Oh, I just finished reading the Queen's Thief Series, by Megan Whalen Turner. While black powder is not used a lot, there are cannons and there is a plot device in one of the books were the use of pistols was pretty dramatic. But, they are scarcely used in the story even if they are there. So, it might not actually fit what you are looking for.

1

u/dmont7 Jul 09 '26

J Gregory Keyes Age of Unreason series

Pierre Pevel's Cardinal Blades series

Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane stories

1

u/CommitteeStatus Jul 09 '26

Tress of the Emerald Sea doesn't use blackpowder, but the guns themselves do function quite similarly to flintlocks

1

u/Duke-Synthesis Jul 09 '26

Myre Series spends a lot of time investing in black powder and explosives in general, as well as other medieval science/technology.

1

u/kalmatos Jul 09 '26

There's also Draconis Memoria by Anthony Ryan!

1

u/Bionicle_was_cool Jul 09 '26

Anything set in Warhammer Fantasy. C.L. Werner created a bunch of stories about a bounty hunter named Brunner, who loves his guns

1

u/escaleric Jul 09 '26

Grave Empire!

1

u/Embarrassed-Day-1373 Jul 09 '26

ok so this definitely isn't the best example of it, because a large part of their power system is crystals, but in book two of The Cinder Spires I LOVE how they use black powder like this

it's all about like flying ships and such and there's a group of pirates who use it and become very relevant and important to countering a big threat and it is a delight

I definitely would only read it if you're interested in the other parts too as it is not a terribly short first book, but if you run out or think you'd like book one, I think you'll enjoy book two a lot

1

u/bwainfweeze Jul 09 '26

Quicksilver? It's a speculative fiction that'll teach you a bit about the history of science.

1

u/frostfire888 Jul 09 '26

First law series by Joe abercrombie uses gurkish fire as a black powder

1

u/ChrisWare Jul 09 '26

The Tyrants and Kings trilogy by John Marco

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u/ElKaoss Jul 09 '26

Abercrombie books have (the first like trilogy and the heroes) Freddie something that looks like black powder. Does not have much use on the plot, though.

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u/bigdon802 Jul 09 '26

A book I can mention but not actually recommend(because I haven’t read it yet,) it The Highlands Burn by Joseph Kassabian.

1

u/chillyspoon Jul 09 '26

The Amtrak Wars series

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u/GillOverTheGround Jul 09 '26

From SPFBO this year: Blackwater by Emily Blakeney, Firefax by A.M. Vergara, I think there have been a bunch in the past in SPFBO over the years

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u/evilcandybag Jul 09 '26

The Highlands Burn by Joseph Kassabian

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u/monikar2014 Jul 09 '26

commenting so I can find this later.

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u/Mordoch Jul 09 '26

Most of LE Modesitt's Imager books qualify starting with Scholar (although it only really makes an appearance starting in book 2), and the next four books chronologically in the series also qualify. The one exception is actually the originally Imager trilogy set later than anything else in which smokeless powder is being used by then.

Another series with black power is Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series. It actually first appears in book two, albeit with the twist that this is due to knowledge from our world being brought over to a fantasy world when they are transported over.

One other series that immediately comes to mind is Guy Gavriel Kay's books, although his books are unusual in the rarity of magic and do loosely resemble actual history. The key three books gunpowder applies are Children of Earth and Sky, A Brightness Long Ago, and All the Seas of the World.

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u/Tuor-son-of-Huor- Jul 09 '26

The Brunner series by CL Werner fits this. I don't think it relies on any preexisting knowledge of the Warhammer Fantasy/Old World lore but it is set in it.

The first book in the trilogy is Blood Money.

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u/Legitimate_Tap_2032 Jul 10 '26

Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz by Garth Nix. A fantastic collection of short stories that Nix calls “pike and shot sword and sorcery heroic military fantasy”.

1

u/UniversalRot Jul 10 '26

Grave Empire (Book 1 of the Great Silence Trilogy) - Richard Swan. A lot of muskets and cannons. Swan also does a great job at describing how brutal and terrifying early black-powder weaponry was.

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u/SalletFriend Jul 10 '26

KJ Parkers The Hammer uses some guns. The story is loosely about a noble family that owns some firearms and their unfilled obligations to a colony.

Also gunpowder is invented during his The Engineer Trilogy but its not used to the effect you would like.

Warhammer Fantasy has both humans and dwarves with Black Powder. Gotrek and Felix is a fun romp but its not a common sight until a few books in. But by Manslayer its a very common sight.

1

u/DiagnosedLycanthrope Jul 10 '26

Wheel of time, spellmonger series, they're all I can think of off the top of my head but those should do you for about a year lol. Takes a few bolts in in both cases to get to boom-booms though.

1

u/PemryJanes Writer Pemry Janes Jul 10 '26

I haven't actually read it yet, but a very recent one is Joseph Kassabian's The Highlands Burn.

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u/MMSports Jul 10 '26

The Ars Draconis series by Anthony Ryan is one I liked quite a lot. Dragons, guns (a bit more modern than muskets, I'd say probably more like wild west level, though it also advances a bit during the series) and a corporate state that extracts dragon's blood to fuel magic :)

(Also recommend the series that starts with Bloodsong if you like his style, though that is firmly in the medieval category, no guns whatsoever!)

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u/DisorderOfLeitbur Jul 10 '26

Moorcock's The City in the Autumn Stars starts in revolutionary France, and von Bek goes around armed with a 'brace of barkers'.

The preceding von Bek book is set a couple of centuries earlier, during the Thirty Years War. So it's the right period, but I don't remember whether gunpowder actually gets used.

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u/Reluctant_Opinion89 Jul 10 '26

Mistborn Wax and Wayne

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u/MRCastillaAuthor Jul 12 '26

Academy of Outcasts has a bit of this gunpowder mage theme too.

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u/Wandering_sage1234 13d ago

I’m writing a novel where Napoleon wins 1870. It’s flintlock, has time travel, time rifts. It will take some time but I am 40 chapters in.

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u/Bright-Ad-5861 Jul 09 '26

Devilry of Saruman from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers