Favorite Classic Sword and Sorcery Books

Many people confuse sword and sorcery with other sorts of fantasy. I thought it was time to bring my vision of the sub-genre. Books like Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings aren't sword and sorcery for me. That's epic fantasy.

The traditional sword and sorcery definition is "generally characterized by a sword-wielding hero engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tales, though dramatic, focus mainly on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters."

Of course not every book follows this bill. And sword and sorcery can be novels as well as short stories.
But for me classic sword and sorcery is at least 30 years old. But i hope the list will be helpful.
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4.10 avg rating — 3,012 ratings
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4.47 avg rating — 319 ratings
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3.90 avg rating — 1,948 ratings
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4.49 avg rating — 183 ratings
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4.03 avg rating — 413 ratings
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4.31 avg rating — 26,889 ratings
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4.07 avg rating — 604 ratings
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4.05 avg rating — 5,720 ratings
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3.57 avg rating — 469 ratings
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4.12 avg rating — 6,001 ratings
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4.12 avg rating — 59 ratings
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3.93 avg rating — 45 ratings
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4.40 avg rating — 418 ratings
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3.81 avg rating — 59,911 ratings
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4.02 avg rating — 2,428 ratings
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18

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4.11 avg rating — 2,070 ratings
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4.01 avg rating — 478 ratings
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4.51 avg rating — 344 ratings
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3.92 avg rating — 897 ratings
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21

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3.91 avg rating — 731 ratings
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23

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3.64 avg rating — 224 ratings
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23

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3.71 avg rating — 263 ratings
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25

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4.04 avg rating — 1,645 ratings
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26

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4.12 avg rating — 729 ratings
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26

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3.80 avg rating — 5,055 ratings
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28

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3.71 avg rating — 1,557 ratings
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29

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3.48 avg rating — 452 ratings
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30

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3.95 avg rating — 395 ratings
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30

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3.80 avg rating — 568 ratings
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4.69 avg rating — 13 ratings
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4.02 avg rating — 376 ratings
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3.99 avg rating — 320 ratings
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3.63 avg rating — 221 ratings
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3.86 avg rating — 445 ratings
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3.89 avg rating — 28,070 ratings
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4.27 avg rating — 939,769 ratings
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4.33 avg rating — 55 ratings
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3.96 avg rating — 267 ratings
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3.53 avg rating — 154 ratings
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3.99 avg rating — 8,238 ratings
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43 books · 41 voters · list created December 20th, 2013 by Otto (votes) .
26 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Otto 4162 books
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Bret 723 books
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Greg 3069 books
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Mike 1895 books
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Sean 2455 books
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