Adventure Novel recommendations

otto rahn

New member
Recently read "The Amber Room" by Steve Berry. A bit of fun; not as "pulpy" as Indy (more remeniscent of "Da Vinci Code") but fun nonetheless.
 

Ska

New member
Haven't read The Amber Room yet, Otto...but I'm currently reading The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry. It's a slow starter, but picking up about halfway through.

Hope you enjoy Inca Gold, Al. It's quite a larger book for the adventure genre.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Excuse me...

...while I resurrect this thread.

To the admirable list of books and authors already mentioned, allow me to add The Chinese Bandit by Stephen Becker. For that matter, any book by Stephen Becker is worth reading for some real adventure stories. For a couple of other options, check out:

- Instruments of Darkness by Robert Wilson;
- Horn of Africa by Phillip Caputo;
- The Fu Manchu Stories by Sax Rohmer (collected in omnibus editions a few years ago);
- Deadly Safari by Karin McQuillin.

And while not adventure stories, for exquisite local detail, read the Inspector Çetin Ikmen novels by Barbra Nadel, the Commissario Guido Brunetti tales by Donna Leon, and the Aimee Leduc Investigations by Cara Black.

All good reads.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
What about Captain W.E. Johns' Biggles novels? The classic British hero who had wartime and peacetime adventures all over the world.

My dad was a big fan of Biggles from a young age, and he still had some of his old books. If he hadn't encouraged me to read them, I would have done so anyway, just from the looking at the great artwork on the dust jackets!
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
We should also add Frank Buck's stories collected in Bring 'em Back Alive! Yes, it's the source material for the tv show of the same name.

A couple more:

Death in the Dark Continent by Peter H. Capstick. In fact, all of his books are good reads.
The Man-eaters of Tsavo by John Henry Patterson
The Man-eaters of Kuamon by Jim Corbett
Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer by Tim Jeal


Collectively non-fiction, but they're all rousing reads.
 

adventure_al

New member
Just to let you all know I finished Inca Gold and have powered through alot of Cusslers other adventure novels. They are the 'popcorn movies' of reading. Adventures very inkeeping with the indy style.

Inca Gold has so far been one of my favs but all the Dirk Pitt and Kurt Austin stories from the 'NUMA files' are great fun.
 

Col. Detritch

New member
Matthew Reilly is very tallented at adventure, very gripping!

I'm not sure if this counts but Ian Fleming's James Bond. They are more an espionage series but Live and Let Die, just to name one, had a fair amount of adventure in it- Bloody Morgan's Treasure, Bloody Morgan's Island. And it had action scenes that could fit into Indy like a warehouse showdown and being dragged across the coral reefs!

Plus it's a must read for Indy fans because Bond created Indy in a way!:hat:
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
I was rearranging my library earlier, and came across a few books that I felt should be on this list. While most know of Bartle Bull's Africa Trilogy -- A Cafe on the Nile, White Rhino Hotel, The Devil's Oasis -- he started a second trilogy (?) that bears mentioning.

Shanghai Station sees Alexander Karlov, the only son of the noble soldier, Count Karlov, helping his mother and sister flee the Russian Revolution and escaping across the country via the Trans-Siberian Railroad. From Vladivostok he heads to Shanghai where his father is fighting the Communists. The train is attacked, and Alexander helps fight off the attackers, but is wounded in the fight. Friends and foes abound in Shanghai, and adventures are to be had!

The action picks up again in China Star. Picking up again in Paris four years later, with Alexander searching for his sister, the plot whisks along from Paris to Cairo to Ceylon and finally to Shanghai! There's plenty of two-fisted action and derring do to whet the appetite of any Indy fan.

There are two other books I'd like to add to this list as well. The first is Safari: A Chronicle of Adventure. Also written by Mr. Bull, he quite comprehensively covers the history of the safari from its earliest days right up through the glory years of the early 20th Century. It's definitely worth picking up.

Bartle B. Bull is the son of Bartle Bull, and makes his living as a journalist and author. While primarily known for his articles on the Middle East and foreign affairs, he has penned an intriguing account of his exploration of Mongolia's Lake Baikal, Around the Sacred Sea: Mongolia and Lake Baikal on Horseback.

Douglas Preston is half of the writing team behind Relic, Reliquary, and Riptide among others, he has penned several books on his own. The Codex is the closest of them all to Indy, but Tyrannosaur Canyon and The Royal Road - El Camino Real from Mexico City to Santa Fe are equally intriguing.

The_Founding_of_Santa_Fe_statue.jpg
 

inky_skin

Active member
- The Captain Alatriste Series by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
- The Flashman Series by George MacDonald Fraser
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
inky_skin said:
- The Captain Alatriste Series by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

Seconded. Anything Senor Perez-Reverte has written is worth picking up, but these are definitely quality. For those of you who haven't read them, you can think of it like a Spanish version of The Three Musketeers. Originally published in Spain over a decade (?) ago, they're finally being released here. The newest, Pirates of the Levant, will be published this September. This should be plenty of time to finish the first novel, Captain Alatriste.

*Our European friends might be pleased to know of a movie version of the series featuring Viggo Mortenson as the eponymous Alatriste. Having never seen it, I can't recommend it. However, Viggo does the entire thing in Spanish. That alone makes it worth picking up.

Somebody mentioned Michael Chabon earlier in this thread, and I've been meaning to mention: Gentlemen of the Road. It's a rather slim novel compared to his other works, but it's a classic tale of adventure that recreates 10th-century Khazaria, the fabled kingdom of wild red-haired Jews on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, in this sprightly historical adventure. Zelikman and Amram, respectively a gawky Frank and a gigantic Abyssinian, make their living by means of confidence tricks, doctoring, bodyguarding and the occasional bit of skullduggery along the Silk Road. The unlikely duo find themselves caught up in larger events when they befriend Filaq, the headstrong and unlikable heir to the recently deposed war king of the Khazars. Their attempts to restore Filaq to the throne make for a terrifically entertaining modern pulp adventure replete with marauding armies, drunken Vikings, beautiful prostitutes, rampaging elephants and mildly telegraphed plot points that aren't as they seem. Chabon has a wonderful time writing intentionally purple prose and playing with conventions that were most popular in the days of Rudyard Kipling and Talbot Mundy.

I also wanted to recommend that everybody find a copy of Norman Sherry's Conrad's Eastern World & Conrad's Western World. By themselves they're a testament to the largesse of Conrad's imagination. They equally shine as pieces of literary detective work. Sherry exhaustively researches Conrad's life, and how the "active years" as a British merchant seaman contributed to his fiction.
 

adventure_al

New member
Recently looking for authors of adventure books in addition to Clive Cussler to pad out my reading material.

James Rollins sounds interesting, he was involved with KOTCS. He contributed the good bits before Lucas botched it up with his nonsense (i'd imagine! :p)

Anyone read his books? Excavation and Sandstorm sound particularly good.

Also Matthew Reilly is well known for his fast paced adventure novels. As an aside he also own the actual golden idol prop from Raiders.

Seven Ancient Wonders feat. Jack West looks good. Can anyone confirm?

Also if this sounds good I'd strongly recommend Cussler's 'Inca Gold' and 'Serpent'.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
adventure_al said:
Recently looking for authors of adventure books in addition to Clive Cussler to pad out my reading material.

James Rollins sounds interesting, he was involved with KOTCS. He contributed the good bits before Lucas botched it up with his nonsense (i'd imagine! :p)

Anyone read his books? Excavation and Sandstorm sound particularly good.

Also Matthew Reilly is well known for his fast paced adventure novels. As an aside he also own the actual golden idol prop from Raiders.

Seven Ancient Wonders feat. Jack West looks good. Can anyone confirm?

Also if this sounds good I'd strongly recommend Cussler's 'Inca Gold' and 'Serpent'.

Rollins' novelization of KOTCS is very good - it reads better than the film plays.

Wilbur Smith wrote cracking adventure stories, and I've been meaning to go back a re-read them again.
 

adventure_al

New member
Montana Smith said:
Rollins' novelization of KOTCS is very good - it reads better than the film plays.

Yes I believe he was commissioned to contribute to KOTCS script so I imagine it would before Lucas and co got their paws on it.

Are there any particular titles you would recommend from W.Smith?
 

Montana Smith

Active member
adventure_al said:
Yes I believe he was commissioned to contribute to KOTCS script so I imagine it would before Lucas and co got their paws on it.

Are there any particular titles you would recommend from W.Smith?

Smith wrote so many books. He was born in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), and a lot of his novels are centred on Africa - some historical and some contemporary. It's hard remembering titles now as it's a long time since I read any.

Shout at the Devil and Gold Mine became movies.

I think it would be safe to start with his earlier books.

His web page may help:

http://www.wilbursmithbooks.com/home/index.html

Here's his complete bibliography with book summaries:

http://www.wilbursmithbooks.com/novels/bibliography.html

(Seeing all those titles is making me eager to start reading them again!)
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
adventure_al said:
Also Matthew Reilly is well known for his fast paced adventure novels. As an aside he also own the actual golden idol prop from Raiders.

Seven Ancient Wonders feat. Jack West looks good. Can anyone confirm?
I'd love to, but I really can't. Far too outlandish.

I mean, I don't mind a bit of wackiness now and then, but Reilly takes it up to eleven. I won't go into details but I felt like I was reading a saturday morning cartoon dressed as an adventure novel aimed for mature tastes.

I like Cussler and sure, he can also dabble in light fantasy at times, but Reilly starts wading in while continuing to pretend his feet are still dry. Pass.
 

adventure_al

New member
Finn said:
I'd love to, but I really can't. Far too outlandish.

I mean, I don't mind a bit of wackiness now and then, but Reilly takes it up to eleven. I won't go into details but I felt like I was reading a saturday morning cartoon dressed as an adventure novel aimed for mature tastes.

I like Cussler and sure, he can also dabble in light fantasy at times, but Reilly starts wading in while continuing to pretend his feet are still dry. Pass.

Ahh that a real pity. I think I might give one of the books a try from the library then before jumping in.
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
adventure_al said:
Ahh that a real pity. I think I might give one of the books a try from the library then before jumping in.
If you enjoyed the silver screen version of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, then Reilly's storytelling might be up your alley. After all, we have varying degrees of tolerance for camp. I admit, I've only read the Seven Wonders, but judging by the synopses of his other works, I'd say he isn't getting better.

Perhaps not a master akin to Smith or Cussler, but Paul Sussman might be worth a look, if you weren't aware of him already.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
adventure_al said:
Are there any particular titles you would recommend from W.Smith?
I've only read a few Wilbur Smith books but they were definitely enjoyable:

"When the Lion Feeds"
"The Sound of Thunder"
"Shout at the Devil" (The movie version is so-so)
"The Dark of the Sun" (The movie version ROCKS! Al, check out this thread: Dark of the Sun)

Recently bought a new one, "The Triumph of the Sun" (published in 2005), but haven't read it yet.
 
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