Raider and Rapier Books in Order

Raider and Rapier is a fantasy adventure series linking a tomb robber's private grief with the struggles of an empire. Edmond Mondego searches for a God Grave because he hopes its magic can bring his murdered wife's soul back to the living world. Lord Captain Augustin Mora, a former knight commanding the ship Intrepid, has a very different duty: guarding forbidden waters and pursuing the man whose search breaks their rules.

Their aims set them on a collision course.

In Graveyard Gods, Edmond's discovery leads him toward an imprisoned goddess and secrets about an extraordinary gift available to the emperor. The search becomes more than finding an artifact in a remote place. Edmond needs access to people who control power, and his willingness to pursue that access turns personal desperation into a political problem. His knowledge of alchemy and his talent for deception give him tools, but they don't make the imperial world safe to navigate.

Augustin's position offers another view of the same conflict. He commands a vessel and has obligations to an emperor, yet his past and the actions of other powerful people complicate the pursuit. A knight's sense of duty doesn't automatically tell him whom to trust once competing interests enter the story. The series places his responsibilities beside Edmond's determination, asking the reader to follow two men whose reasons can be understood even when their immediate goals cannot be reconciled.

The setting includes dangerous seas, divine graves, ships, and a hierarchy of nobles and imperial officials. Those elements make movement important: forbidden waters and routes into power shape what the characters can attempt. Magic is connected to the political world rather than remaining a separate wonder, because whoever controls an exceptional power can change what other people are willing to do. The adventures combine pursuit, intrigue, and the possibility that a personal quest can unsettle a much larger order.

Start with Graveyard Gods, then continue through Titan's Folly, The Stolen King, and Where the Dead Float. The sequence develops a connected fantasy story, so beginning at the first book establishes both protagonists and the reasons their paths intersect. Readers who like seafaring adventure and conflicted loyalties will find those interests central here. Edmond wants to reverse a loss, while Augustin has a duty to enforce boundaries. Neither can pursue his purpose without encountering people whose ambitions reach beyond the immediate chase, making the question of who deserves power as important as whether one man can finally recover what he has spent years seeking.