Adventure Novel recommendations

Joe Brody

Well-known member
Indyt's thread searching for Indiana Jones Books struck a chord -- wasn't there a thread or threads suggesting quality Indyesque adventure novels?

I'd swear there have been a couple but my searches came up empty. The nearest that I could find was this excellent
thread (which deserves a bump).

[Question to the mods -- are some non-objectionable threads deleted?]
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
Joe Brody said:
[Question to the mods -- are some non-objectionable threads deleted?]
Actually, all preceding a specific date are. That's somewhere early 2004.
 

Paden

Member
Question: in discussing adventure novels, are we talking about stories that specifically evoke the themes and ideas inherent to the Indiana Jones films, or is the field broader than that?

I ask because, when contemplating the idea of an adventure story, I tend to think first of some of my favorite books from my youth. Such as:

Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island, Kidnapped, The Black Arrow)
Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo)
Jules Verne (Around the World in Eighty Days, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)

Are these appropriate additions, or are we seeking more archaeologically flavored fare? Or titles that are more recently published?
 

roundshort

Active member
Paden, wow new icon, didn't recopgnize you, no those are perfect titles, but for others

I think Rupert Ruark's "Something of Value" is a true Indy adventure book.
Anything by Barlte Bull, fiction or nonfiction is very Indyesque (I can't wait for more of his books)

For true life, Charles Askin's Bio, "Unrepentent Sinner" is a ton of adventure.
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
Paden, I think those are all great suggestions and in-scope. I just try to think of novels that would likely appeal to fans of the Indiana Jones franchise.

Building on your list and the other input, I recommend the following:

Rudyard Kipling's 'Kim' -- one if not 'the' first spy novels -- set in India at the height of Empire and fun, fun read. (However there's a lot of terms and native phrases so only read from Edward Said's annotated version). Kipling's 'Kim' is a direct literary descendent of 'Kidnapped.'

Hemingway -- I will never tire of promoting 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'.

James Dickey's 'Deliverance' and 'To the White Sea' are great reading. Not pure adventure but riveting.

Bartle Bull's novels -- Pure Adventure (so I'm with Roundshort on this). The first three starting with 'The White Rhino Hotel' and 'The Cafe on the Nile' (possibly the best) and 'The Devil's Oasis' are set in Africa and build up the beginning of the second World War. His latest 'Shanghai Station' is also fun and starts with a whole new set of characters. It will be interesting to see if Bull tries to blend his two storylines during a novel set in WWII.

Alan Furst's 'The Polish Officer' -- the story of a competent cartography thrust into varied intrigues abroad as a Polish spy working to fight the Germans any way he can. This is the story of a true soldier alone in a world seemingly falling apart (i.e. falling under the heel of the German Tyrants). Good Hemigwayesque writer.
 

roundshort

Active member
I have to write a bt more about "Something of Value" by Ruark. This is in my opinon one of the best adventure novels ever written based on true events, (unlike South, which is the best adventure/survival story ever). In Africa, int he 50's a peaceful tribe of Kikuyu, under a plot by the commuinist to rise up and kill the English whom had "stolen thier lands" under a very, very bloody revolt, many British were chopped to death by the now named Mau Mau's. Instead of running as the Mau Maus thought, they English turned to big game hunters (there were many in Kenya at this time) to head scoutting parties into the mountains and hunt down nd kill all the mau mau.
Rupert Ruark wrote an amazing story aboout this, based on fact, that I was not able to put down, even though I was reading it on South Beach (where trust me there were many, many better things to look at!)
 

Violet

Moderator Emeritus
Personally, I'm quite the fan of Henry R. Haggard's "King Solomon's Mines" and "Alan Quartermain." In Australia, there is a series of novels for pre-teens and up called the "Cairo Jim Chronicles" and another series called the "Jocelyn Osgood Jaunts" by Geoffrey McSkimming. There are the closest I have found to Indiana Jones. The Cairo Jim character is a bit like Indy but really a more soft hearted version and Jocelyn is much like Marion. There's also a very close Marcus Brody character called Gerald Perry. They sound like pale imitations but both series are quite good and highly recommended.
 

Webley

New member
The Doc. Savage books are some good adventure novels I think.
And thare is like 180 of theme.
 

otto rahn

New member
Talbot Mundy's "Jimgrim" stories may well appeal to fans of "Indiana Jones". Set mainly in the east and written and set in about the 1920's they are about an American , James Schuyler Grimm (known as Jimgrim) who works for the British in the area, encountering intrigue, action and occasionally mysticism. For those who have tried the "Cairo Jim" books I would recommend trying Lloyd Alexander's "Vesper Holly" novels. Written for teenagers, they trace the adventures of a resourcefull and adventurous girl and her long suffering guardian in the 1870's. Very much in the "Indiana Jones" style,except that Vesper rarely uses violence, preferring to think her way out of situations. Heck the blurb even compares Vesper to Indy ("Look out Indiana Jones, here comes Vesper Holly"). The comparison is rather unfair in my opinion , as the only thing that Vesper and Indy share seems to be a love of adventure (and an ability to get into trouble!)
 

kongisking

Active member
roundshort said:
Paden, wow new icon, didn't recopgnize you, no those are perfect titles, but for others

Yeah, how do you get an icon anyway? I want one of those!

As for my adventure-book recommendations, I highly suggest:

Atlantis Found and Sahara and Valhalla Rising by Clive Cussler

20,000 Leagues by Jules Verne

The Time Machine by H.G.Wells (well, I think it's an adventure story, anyway...)

Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World (VERY BIG THUMBS UP!!!!!)

And, of course, Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park duo.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Can't go wrong with Conrad. I've only read <I>Heart of Darkness</I> personally, but that's an essential read, especially for people interested in what colonialism does to the colonizer. Kurtz is one of <I>the</I> great characters.
 

otto rahn

New member
rMore modern in setting of course (more akin to Cussler) you have Australian author Matthew Reilly and also writers such as David Gibbins, Steve Berry and James Rollins . Unfortunately I haven't got around to reading any Berry or Rollins yet (and only the first Gibbins, "Atlantis") but the style is akin to Cussler and/or "Indiana Jones", at least if one is to judge by the blurbs ! As mentioned Jules Verne is worth checking out; not only his classic works such as "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea", but some of his other adventure stories like "The Mighty Orinoco". Edgar Rice Burroughs is another who is worth investigating; everyone knows "Tarzan" but his other books such as the "Pellucidar", "Caprona" and "Caspack" (spelling ?) series and his less fantastic works like "The Mad King" and "The Mucker" ! Then of course there is Robert E Howard. Again, everyone probably first thinks of "Conan", but Howard wrote plenty of adventure, pirate, horror and other stories featuring characters like "Black Terence Vulmea","Sailor Steve Costigan" and "Breakenridge Elkins".
 

otto rahn

New member
Heck I even have a collection of stories featuring "The Phantom" ("The Phantom Chronicles" Joe Gentile & Lori Gentile eds), the classic comic character !:)
 

IndySeven

New member
Around the World in 80 Days is in my opinion, the best adventure novel ever. The novel has lots of elements from the Indy movies, including the Thuggees!:)

This is also one of my favorite novels ever!(y)
 

Ska

New member
To further drive home what Otto Rahn has mentioned, I'm a huge fan of Matthew Reilly, James Rollins, & Steve Berry.

Matthew Reilly is who really got me into reading adventure novels. Check out Temple & 7 Deadly Wonders (one of my favorites).

James Rollins is by far my favorite author. Excavation is heavily into archeology and lost cities/traps/etc...very Indy-ish. Sandstorm is the same. His newer books are a little different, but also great...a little less adventure, a little more action.

Steve Berry is also one of my favorites. His writing style is top notch. He's more along the lines of Dan Brown, though, than Indiana Jones. Alexandria is a very, very good book.

I've also read David Gibbin's Atlantis...it was ok at best to me.

Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody series revolves around Egptology and archeology.

Wilbur Smith is another great adventure author. A great recommendation for Indy fans.

Robin Cook usually writes medical novels, but ventured into the adventure genre with Sphinx.

I'm not really a fan of Clive Cussler, but Inca Gold was ok.

J.F. Freedman's Fallen Idols was a fun read.

And I'll save the best for last, Tim LaHaye's (author of the Left Behind series) Babylon's Rising series. It's a religious apocalypse series like Left Behind, but it's done in a very Indy-like adventure way. The lead character is a Bible Archeologist/Professor. He goes on adventures throughout the world looking for artifacts that proves the Bible to be true...but has to do it before the bad guys get there.
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
While not an adventure novel, Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union published this past summer is a riveting noir tribute novel with plenty of action. Next to The Corrections, YPU is the best book that I've read in years.

I found Chabon's Kavalier & Clay ponderous (Pulitzer be damned) -- but the YPU was pitch perfect and moved. No one can tell stories-within-a-story like Chabon.
 

jonesissparrow

New member
IndySeven said:
Around the World in 80 Days is in my opinion, the best adventure novel ever. The novel has lots of elements from the Indy movies, including the Thuggees!:)

This is also one of my favorite novels ever!(y)

aroundworldin80daysse.jpg


Yes I totally I'm surprised its not mentioned in the Classic Adventures in the Indy's influences section!

Also you can't go wrong with Tintin, (although it is a graphic novel its still worth a look, I totally recommend you reading this!)

tintin.gif
 

otto rahn

New member
Another adventure writer that I have discovered recently is Bill Napier . I haven't read them yet (of course !:eek: ) but "Nemesis" , "The Lure" and "Revelation" (I don't have his other one, "Shattered Icon") all look like interesting adventures, if not exactly in the "Indiana Jones" mold.
 

Ska

New member
I've read Shattered Icon and Nemesis...they were o.k. Worth reading...but not great.

More along the lines of Dan Brown than Indy (which you mentioned). Shattered Icon is like DaVinci Code and Nemesis is similar to Deception Point.
 

otto rahn

New member
SKAbatula said:
I've read Shattered Icon and Nemesis...they were o.k. Worth reading...but not great.

More along the lines of Dan Brown than Indy (which you mentioned). Shattered Icon is like DaVinci Code and Nemesis is similar to Deception Point.
Thank you "SKAbatula", I have read "Da Vinci Code" but not "Deception Point" as yet and who knows when I might get around to reading one of the Napier novels.
 
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