Great Adventure Novels

In C.S. Lewis’ essay “On Stories”, he references a lot of adventure stories as evidence for his points. It made me think about the adventure stories that I have loved reading. So below is a list of some of my favorites. They are in order of how recently I’ve read them.

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne – I read this right after my first child was born. The chapters are short which were perfect for the 5-10 minutes of free time I received when my daughter was only weeks old. It is a fun, escapist read. While it is certainly a product of its time, it has interesting parallels to our age, at least the pre-2020 era. It inspired me to write an updated version titled Around the World in 80 Hours.

The Scarlett Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy – I’ve read that this book can be credited with establishing the masked superhero genre. Perhaps that’s one reason I love it so much. Not knowing the twist makes reading it so much more enjoyable but an astute reader will probably guess it relatively early on. I learned that there are sequels and I look forward to reading those and maybe adding them to the list. Rereading the book recently also made me think that the French Revolution probably held the literary world’s imagination captive in pre-WWI times the same way WWII has held cornered the market today. This one also inspired me to write an updated story titled The Golden Eagle.

The Aeneid by Virgil – Many of the stories on this list can be read for the deeper themes that they discuss, but, in the vein of Lewis, I want to simply focus on the story itself. From the opening of the sacking of Troy to the final battle with Turnus, this story has everything one would want from a fantasy adventure: action, romance, prophecy, and cross-overs. There is a lot it says about empire which is worth exploring but I enjoy it for the excitement. The sacking of Troy was also very cathartic for me as I watched Afghanistan disintegrate under the force of the Taliban.

The Iliad by Homer – I knew I wanted to read The Aeneid, so I thought I should first read what narratively preceded it. Even though I thought I was familiar enough with Greek mythology and the story, it took a little bit of background research in the first few pages. The story picked up steam quickly though and held my attention until, what I think is, a flat ending. I think Hector is the real hero of the story. Homer’s technique of telling someone’s life story right before they’re killed would not be as effective in a lesser poet’s hands. This got the epic movie treatment that it deserves but with poor results. It deserves someone to take another shot at it since it has served as the literary world’s Avenger’s: End Game for centuries.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien – On the list of books that I wish I had read in my childhood, The Hobbit is near the top of the list. I had every reason to have read it: it was a Christmas gift, my friends read it and loved it, and I was reading everything else that was influenced by it. Alas, I read it for the first time in my late twenties, but I don’t think that diminished my enjoyment at all. The shift in tone half way through the book from story book to something more akin to Lord of the Rings was surprising, but the book is a perfect adventure story for anyone halfway interested in the fantasy genre.

King Solomon’s Minds by H. Rider Haggard – This is the book that inspired this blog post. In Lewis’ essay “On Stories” he mentioned it several times as an example. The background behind the book was the author was wagered that he couldn’t write an adventure book better than Treasure Island, so he set himself to the task I believe he won the bet mightily. Alan Quartermain, the protagonist and literary precursor to Indiana Jones, is a great character and it’s a shame he isn’t remembered as one of the great characters of the West’s literary canon. And while there are probably deeper themes in the story, it is one of those books which is just pure fun and you don’t have time for anything else.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson – This. This is the GOAT. This is my favorite book of all time. I make a point to reread it at least once a decade (which is very frequent for me. Yes, I know Lewis would be disappointed). This is also one of those rare stories where the film adaptations are just as good, if not better, than the book. I’m not trying to take away anything from novel, I just think that the story is so strong that it gives adapters plenty of material to work with; I have not seen a bad adaptation of the film (yes, even Muppet Treasure Island is good). This inspired me to write a pirate story myself titled Isla de Oro which I’m looking to publish soon.