blog – published on Wednesday May 1st
The first adventure novel that you ever read is hard to forget: after all, we all remember the first time our imaginations were lit by whispers of buried treasure, lost worlds, and faraway jungles. As Jane Eyre says: “It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.”
Luckily, we’ve made the act of finding action easy for you! We have 100 of the best adventure books for you in this post, ranging from fun journeys on land to survival stories at sea. who knows where your next book will take you? let’s find out.
You are reading: Best adventure books of all time
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the number of amazing adventure books available, you can also take our 30 second quiz below to quickly narrow it down and get a personalized book recommendation for your tastes😉
classic adventure books
o: the books that started it all. From Don Quixote to Treasure Island, they invented many of the tropes we still see in adventure novels today.
There’s more to the jungle than just the jungle book. From boa constrictors to alligators, there’s danger lurking behind every tree in these classics.
71% of the world is sea, which could explain why so many adventure novels take place in these rough and uncharted waters. From Moby-Dick to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, they dive below the surface to find the heart of adventure.
Remote, isolated and desolate: what better setting for an adventure than a desert? Meet scorpions, nomadic tribes, and golden sands in the following books featuring desert adventures.
See Also: 12 Must-Read Books On Lighthouses
is the x factor in our knowledge of the world that has not yet been mapped: space and all that it implies. these books push that boundary and boldly go where no man has gone before.
adventures with animals
what’s better than a normal old adventure story, you ask. Well, an adventure with animals. These books take readers on a journey to another world: where nature reigns supreme and a blade of grass can be as tall as the Empire State Building.
By day, you could be just another nameless employee at a nameless company. but when you put on the mask, the land opens up before you, along with a whole world of adventure.
You may think you’re lucky to have survived a plane crash or a shipwreck… until you realize you have another problem on your hands: now you have to survive on an inaccessible island, without any rescue. view.
When humans didn’t have planes, trains, or cars to travel with, they still had feet. These novels feature adventures taken one foot in front of the other.
If you dream of escaping to another country, look no further than these adventure books, which can transport you anywhere from Transylvania to India.
Sometimes the best adventures are the ones that originate in our heads, and these fantasy adventure novels certainly bring us worlds we couldn’t have begun to imagine on our own.
Arthurian adventures
Camelot was the birthplace of many of the most famous adventures, from Gawain and the Green Knight to the eternal quest for the Holy Grail. These are some of the most classic novels that faithfully represent the adventures of King Arthur.
See Also: The Best Climate Books of 2021 – Five Books Expert Recommendations
If a stand-alone book isn’t enough to satisfy your thirst for adventure, check out these acclaimed adventure series.
Nowhere is the phrase “truth is stranger than fiction” more accurate than in the context of adventure nonfiction. These authors present true stories of some of the most daring, dangerous, and tragic journeys mankind has ever undertaken.
turn on the spirit of adventure early! From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to The Wizard of Oz, these classic children’s novels will show that people of any age can take a journey.
You don’t necessarily need 50,000 words to bring the thrill of adventure to life! If you only have 30 minutes to spare, the short stories below may whet your appetite.
96. “the sea raiders” by h. gram. wells
monstrous squid. need we say more? for example wells wrote this tale in the style of moby-dick and the 20,000 leagues under the sea, but the tentacular emotion of this tale is all his own.
97. “the sound of thunder” by ray bradbury
Time travel has become a reality in 2055, and a company called Time Safari Inc announces the possibility of time travel to hunt dinosaurs. Many things can and do go wrong in Ray Bradbury’s masterful tale of the butterfly effect.
98. “make fire” by jack london
as you may know, jack london had a thirst for adventure and wildlife. His famous tale, “To Make Fire,” is about one man’s struggle against the arctic winter in the Yukon Territory.
99. “kings of the arena” by george r. r. martin
before a song of ice and fire, george r.r. Martin wrote this fantastically dark novel that won the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and Locus Award in 1980. Set on the fictional planet of Baldur, it is about a playboy named Simon Kress who doubles as a collector of exotic animals and one day a terrarium full of creatures called sand kings is found… and what happens next becomes the kind of dark adventure only grrm can write.
100. “the short and happy life of francis macomber” by ernest hemingway
Ernest Hemingway was a big game hunter and drew on his own experiences to write “The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber”. In it, Francis Macomber, his wife, and a friend of his are in Africa hunting buffalo, which doesn’t turn out the way they wanted.
See Also: 5 Ultra-Compelling Books Like The 48 Laws of Power | Bloomsoup