Indy-esque books.

[otto rahn]

If you like "Doc Savage" you might try "Thunder Jim Wade", both the original stories by Henry Kuttner (reprinted by Altus Press) and "The New Adventures Of Thunder Jim Wade" by Andrew Salmon and others (from Pro Se press as "pulp obscura").

[Dr.Sartorius]

Lost Horizon

[deepermagic]

Originally Posted by The Drifter

Well these WERE written in the 1930s and are pulp, or purple prose.
All written by Robert E. Howard.

The Conan Tales.
Solomon Kane Tales.
Bran Mak Mourn Tales
King Kull Tales.

One of the most Indy-esque characters from Robert E. Howard is El Borak. Same time period, most of the action takes place in the Middle East. There's only one story (that I can recall) that has any real supernatural flavor to it, and it's still pretty light. But on the whole, the tales are extremely enjoyable (and characteristically R.E.H.) and most definitely have influenced Indiana Jones in some ways.

[indytim]

I was looking for pulpy action-adventure books myself a few years ago and have since read quite a few although they have all been set in modern times so lack the romance of the Indiana Jones era:

1) Uncharted - The Fourth Labyrinth (Video Game Novel) by Christopher Golden: I was really looking forward to reading this book, being a huge fan of the games, but finished it feeling somewhat disappointed. To explain, I was expecting an exciting page-turner full of wit, romance, and daring-do but what I got was a rather dull tale that I was glad to reach the end of. The strength of the Uncharted games lies in their almost perfect mix of action, adventure, and mystery ... something that personally I found sadly lacking in this book.

2) The Jack West Junior trilogy by Matthew Reilly: The trilogy of Jack West Junior novels (Seven Ancient Wonders, The Six Sacred Stones, The Five Greatest Warriors) blatantly 'borrows' from Indiana Jones in its storytelling and narrative pacing but they are all the better for it. I found this series to be exciting pageturners full of enjoyable characters hunting for ancient treasures and would recommend them. Matthew Reilly has recently released the fourth book in this series although I'll admit to not enjoying it anywhere near as much as the originals, especially as it was unnecessary as the third book reached a satisfactory conclusion for the characters.

3) The 'Wilde Chase' series by Andy McDermott: I've read the first eight books in this series. These are really trashy action-adventure books but enjoyable. I actually rolled my eyes more than once before I'd finished chapter one of the first book but once I got comfortable with the writing style (the author won't be winning the Nobel Prize for Literature anytime soon!) I have found them to be quite entertaining. The television show 'Hooten & the Lady' owes a lot to this series of books.

There is also a series of books that are published under the heading 'Dane Maddock Adventures' by David Wood that look like they're very 'Indiana Jones like' although again are set in modern times.

If you fancied ready comic books or graphic novels then The Rocketeer ticks a lot of boxes.

[Z dweller]

Originally Posted by indytim

The Jack West Junior trilogy by Matthew Reilly: The trilogy of Jack West Junior novels (Seven Ancient Wonders, The Six Sacred Stones, The Five Greatest Warriors) blatantly 'borrows' from Indiana Jones in its storytelling and narrative pacing but they are all the better for it. I found this series to be exciting pageturners full of enjoyable characters hunting for ancient treasures and would recommend them.

I only read "The Six Sacred Stones" in this trilogy, and thought it was ok - although the Indy rip-off factor is so blatant it's almost tongue-in-cheek.

Reilly acknowledges this openly, there's even a submarine in the novel named Indian Raider, but at that stage, why not just write an Indy book?

I prefer his earliers novels, particularly "Ice Station" and "Temple".

[JasonMa]

One aspect I've always liked about Indy is the overlap with the "golden age of travel", especially the clipper ships across the Pacific. I've found some great histories of the era (China's Wings is one of the best history books I've read in the last couple of years) but I haven't found much fiction set around that concept. Think Disney's Tailspin but adult fiction.

[Z dweller]

I highly recommend the two main books about Percy Fawcett's adventures in the Amazon.

Expedition Fawcett which is based on the colonel's own diaries, redacted by his son, and The Lost City of Z by David Grann.

Better than any novel, 'cuz it really happened...