10 Books: Adventure Novels

Adventure novels are good for any occasion, normally written as children’s texts, they are perfect for going on a ride when you don’t want to leave your home. Since I was a child, I’ve always loved various adventure books no matter where they are from or what they are about - they can be as magical as ever, or they can be realist as hell. Adventure novels were most famous during the late 19th and early 20th century when children had little less to do than play with wooden toys and outside in their gardens. In order to present children with great reading material and stories that they could act out with their friends, read at bedtime and enjoy throughout the cold winters when they couldn’t go outdoors - authors penned children’s novels. Throughout the 20th century, the children’s literature grew and grew until it got a resurgence with the release of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” in 1996. Then, children’s literature got the kick it needed and became one of the biggest selling genres of the next twenty years. What I want to have a look at today is which novels you should be reading in order to learn more about children’s literature and where it came from. So let us go through ten big books of children’s literature. The more we know about what we read as children, the more we can know about why we read as adults.

The List

10. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Part of the Sci-Fi generation of adventure novels, it became one of the biggest cultural phenomenons of cinema when adapted for the big screen. Centring on a world in which dinosaurs are an attraction on an island, made and adopted by scientists, this book explores impossibilities and adventures that everyone has only dreamed of - a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

9. The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas

One of the greatest and most famous adventure stories ever told about three men who take up arms to protect and serve. “The Three Musketeers” is a beloved story that has been adapted for screen many, many times, even by Disney when they did their Mickey Mouse version of the novel. Followed by the sequel “20 Years After” the book has become one of the most famous stories ever told of any genre.

8. The Island of Dr. Moreau by HG Wells

One of my personal favourite books of all time, “The Island of Dr. Moreau” is one of the world’s greatest Sci-Fi/Adventure stories about a man called Edward who comes to an island after being saved by a mysterious man. On the island, he discovers wild things and has even wilder adventures. It is a brilliant story of violence and answers the question of what humanity really means. Just don’t judge a book by its movie please - especially this one.

7. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne

One of the most beloved adventure stories on the planet, “Around the World in 80 Days” is well-known even if you haven’t read the book. But if you’re like me and it was one of your childhood favourites, then you’d know exactly how magical this story is. Phinneas Fogg goes on a trip across the world in a hot air balloon and encounters many dangers and people after making a wager with another character. In this adventurous and brilliant race there is an amazing story that has become more famous than the concept itself.

6. Peter Pan by JM Barrie

One of my personal favourite childhood novels of all time, Peter Pan was the ultimate character of magic and wonder when I was a child. JM Barrie’s books on this eternal kid have been turned into multiple films many many times but then again, nothing compares to the experience of the book and the play script. Even JM Barrie’s life was made into a film - but really, the book is amazing from start to finish. I just cannot describe it.

5. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

This book is one of the greatest and well-known stories of children’s literature and adventure fiction of all time. It is about a young orphan who mixes with a strange crowd. From characters such as the infamous Bill Sykes, the brilliantly nefarious Artful Dodger and the machiavellian but conflicted Fagin - this book has a cast as famous as its story and has a story as big as its heart. It’s one of the greatest books ever written.

4. Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Pretty much the pinnacle of adventure literature, JRR Tolkien was the first and best of his kind and started what has become a cultural revolution and a Medievalist Renaissance. From him we got not only his prequel “The Hobbit” but other authors like George RR Martin coming out with his “Game of Thrones” book and then an entire series in both paperback and television. Lord of the Rings is one of those books you read as a child and you absolutely fall in love with - the magical creatures and the different worlds that are all compiled within this brilliant superpower of a novel.

3. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

One of the great adventure novels especially for children, Lewis Carroll wrote one of the most mathematically intelligent books in human history. About a girl who falls down a rabbit hole, Alice sub-genre fiction is still being written today with people like Christina Henry amongst only some of the masses and masses who have made it their own dark underworld. Disney’s cartoon film on perpetrated a mass of people wanting to read the book and sooner or later it made its way into modern culture even in the forms of teapots and dresses. It is a phenomenon.

2. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

As a teen, I read “Moby Dick” which is a magical tale of difference and antagonism upon the sea. One of the greatest sea adventures of all time, it is about a man called Ishmael and his turbulent journeys and near-death experiences upon a ship captained by the villainous Ahab. Featuring an incredible and interesting cast including Queeqeg and others, the sorrow we feel for the whale is only exemplified by the greatness of the tragedy and the thoughtlessness of the men who, in most respects, care not for the whale or it’s wellbeing. It is a moral adventure as well as a nautical one.

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

This was one of my personal favourite texts as a child and seriously, it is the greatest adventure novel ever written because it’s just one big adventure. Which child would not love a journey up the Mississippi River with swashbuckling misunderstandings and some real conflicting characters? Absolutely no child could not enjoy that. It’s not just about journeys though, it’s also an adventure in identity and history and America - it’s all about the essence of the old America and the search for a home.