I’m looking for someone to share in an adventure! If you’re ready for a high-stakes, high-action story that will keep you glued to the page, then you should consider checking out this week’s genre!
What are Adventure Stories and Why Do Readers Love Them?
Adventure stories are quite literally books that have an adventure or journey at the heart of them. These books often involve a hero (or heroine) exploring a hidden world, fighting a corrupt government, or going on some sort of quest. The adventure itself is the main part of the story. While these stories can encompass a wide array of settings, authors, and themes, they are most often historical tales written by male authors. But, as the genre continues to grow and adapt, we continue to see variations cropping up.
Readers of adventure stories enjoy the thrill of it all. These stories are fast-paced and exciting. We read them because we need to know what happens next. That’s where the fun comes in. What dangers will the hero face? What corruption, what secrets? And as the tensions continue to mount and the perils become more perilous, we as readers can’t help but wonder how the heck our hero will manage to get out of this next pickle. How thrilling!
Isn’t That Another Genre?
One of the tricky things about adventure stories is how well they blend into other genres. So, how do you determine whether or not it’s an adventure story or something else? The best way that I can think to describe it is to look at the core element of the story. For example, if the main appeal of the book is a sprawling kingdom full of elves and dwarves, then even if there’s an adventure, that’s Fantasy. If the story is set on a spaceship and features a melding of intergalactic cultures, then I would classify that as Science Fiction. And if the main character is a spy, that’s Espionage. But, at the same time, if these stories revolve around a central adventure…then they’re adventure stories, too, right?
I suppose the nature of genre is that it’s malleable and blends into other genres. But, by my definition, if I’m picking up the book because of the adventure, I consider it an adventure story. If I’m picking it up because of the setting, themes, atmosphere, etc. then it might belong to a different genre first. But, in the end, it really doesn’t matter how you classify it, as long as you enjoy it.
Choose Your Own Adventure
There are many different types of adventure stories. Here are a few subgenres that you might encounter:
- Swashbucklers: Features a dashing, roguish hero, sword-fighting, and romance
- Lost World: Dinosaurs still exist??
- Sea Stories: Adventures on the water, pirates, smugglers, etc.
- Choose-Your-Own-Adventure: You’re the hero! Decisions you make determines the ending
Related Genres
As I mentioned before, Adventure is a genre that plays well with others. And there are plenty of fun cross-overs for readers to enjoy. So, no matter what your preferences are, there’s totally an adventure story for you!
- Fantasy: Elves, dwarves, dragons, and wizards!
- Science Fiction: Travel into the depths of space!
- Apocalypse: The world has been destroyed, but there are still survivors
- Espionage: Spies!
Reading Recommendations
Captain Blood (Raphael Sabatini) After attending to an injured man, physician Peter Blood finds himself accused of treason, as his patient was a revolutionary. When his protests of innocence go unheard, Blood is convicted and shipped off to a penal colony in Barbados where he’s purchased as a slave by the cruel Colonel Bishop. Never abandoning the goal of freedom, Blood and his fellow slaves steal a Spanish pirate ship and become pirates themselves, and soon Blood’s name is one of the most feared of all the pirates in the Caribbean. But, Blood is far from satisfied. He has his freedom, he has the opportunity for revenge, and yet he still cannot shake his feelings for Colonel Bishop’s beautiful, but infuriating niece, Arabella.
The Scarlet Pimpernel (Baroness Orczy) Set during the height of the French Revolution, a mysterious figure has been helping French aristocrats to escape a grisly fate in the bloody embrace of Madam Guillotine. No one has been able to determine the true identity of the Englishman who has been sneaking the rich out of the country, right under the noses of the howling mob. All that’s known about him is his calling card, a drawing of a small, red flower known as a pimpernel. Meanwhile, in England, French-born Marguerite Blakeney wishes that her life was not quite so dull. Her husband is kind and reliable, but dull and foppish, unlike the dashing hero she has heard so much about. When an old friend from her past resurfaces and asks her help in tracking down the Pimpernel, Marguerite has no idea how close to home the repercussions will strike.
The Martian (Anthony Weir) Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive–and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills–and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit–he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox (Barry Hughart) This title is one of my favorites! Incorporating three books in one, this thrilling adventure set in Ancient China combines just the right blend of historical fiction and fantasy! The village of Ku-fu is stricken with a plague that targets only children between the ages of eight and thirteen, sending them into a coma. Number Ten Ox is selected from the rest of the villagers to go into the city and find a wise man who can cure the children. There he finds Master Li, a drunken scholar who accompanies Ox on a madcap adventure to find the great root of power and save the children. The following two books in this collection include more adventures featuring Master Li and Number Ten Ox, including rumors of a mad dictator raised from the dead and a mystery involving a vampiric ghoul and eight priceless birdcages.
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Shannon Chakraborty) Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates, she’s survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural. But when she’s tracked down by the obscenely wealthy mother of a former crewman, she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse: retrieve her comrade’s kidnapped daughter for a kingly sum. The chance to have one last adventure with her crew, do right by an old friend, and win a fortune that will secure her family’s future forever? It seems like such an obvious choice that it must be God’s will. Yet the deeper Amina dives, the more it becomes alarmingly clear there’s more to this job, and the girl’s disappearance, than she was led to believe. For there’s always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savor just a bit more power…and the price might be your very soul.
