Human mind is destined to have a hunger for adventure. The lives of most people, no matter whether now or 300 hundred years ago, often develop a very repetitive routine which can only result in one thing – we are bored and unsatisfied.
Adventure books are one of the ways to fix that, allowing us (and especially the younger generations) to take our minds off, travel to distant lands and enjoy various adventures, fight mighty beasts or even save the world.
I will be more than happy to share some adventure books for young adults, 5 pieces, to be more precise. Let’s get started, shall we?
1. How to Train Your Dragon by C. Cowell
Christopher Columbus is the famous man who is most often credited for discovering America. As time goes on, more and more people know that he wasn’t the first European lad who set foot on this brand new continent; Vikings from Iceland have outrun him by nearly 400 years.
And it were similar Vikings, the strong, proud and fierce Nordic nation, that were chosen by C. Cowell as main protagonists of her series of adventure books. The second important part of this series are is dragons of all shapes and sizes, the mightiest of magical creatures.
The main protagonist, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is a son of the local Viking chief and possesses unusual qualities for a Viking – he is intelligent, incredibly thin and above all, can speak the language of the Dragons, the Dragonese.
First book of the series depict how the Viking boys go through a traditional ceremony – taming their first dragon. Unfortunately, it goes a bit ill, Hiccup ends up with a weird Dragon, then a grand thread appears… you’ll have to read the rest for yourselves though.
2. Winnetou by K. May
Men ought to be inevitably bound to their honor. It is a quality that sorts children from men. Wild West in the 19th century used to be a place where you had to rely on yourself, your horse and – honor.
K. May, a German writer, created a fictional figure of Winnetou, a noble Indian who often proved against the general beliefs of Indians being a “second rate people” with displaying great conscience, dignity and many other virtues.
Winnetou, along with Old Shatterhand (a personalization of May himself), went through many adventures and always assisted those in need, regardless of the color of their skin. He was well aware of the inevitable extinction of his nation, but faced it with the most stately way possible.
I would like to especially stress my personal recommendation for the Winnetou series, because honor is fading from our world and it desperately needs to return – and Winnetou can set a shining example to the young generation.
3. Atlantis Found by C. Cussler
The Lost City of Atlantis has been part of our mythology for a very long time. There have always been some suspicions that we are not the first kind of humans who dominate our planet, the Stargate franchise (Stargate Atlantis) comes to mind on a first glance.
C. Cussler also chose to base his story on this famous myth. The story begins by apparently completely unrelated events of a comet hitting Earth nearly 10,000 years ago and a weird discovery of a derelict vessel found in 1770. Yet, we are quickly taken into our era, where Dirk Pitt, a boss of a special US agency focused on sea special projects, finds two weird crystal skulls.
The things get even more weird when Dirk is apparently not the only one with huge interest in these skulls. Slowly, an ancient tale of a prosperous nation wiped out by a disastrous encounter of Earth and a cosmic body is revealed and believe me, you don’t want me to ruin the surprise for you!
4. The Mysterious Island by J. Verne
Books written by Verne have an undeniable magic hidden beneath their pages. He is one of the ingenious writers around, capable of creating fantasy world common for all boys alike and his books have already passed the test of time; because the Mysterious Island, the Steel City or the tales about Captain Nemo are far from being the youngest.
The Mysterious Island takes place during the American Civil War in 1867. Five northern prisoners of war takes their chance and escape using a balloon. Unfortunately, extremely poor conditions will force their unintended landing on an island far away from any form of civilization.
They do their best to survive, most of the credit goes to Cyrus Smith, a brilliant engineer. Although the men (and one boy actually) do their best, they often experience mysterious help in their struggle – but that is for you to decypher.
5. Discworld Series by T. Pratchett
The last piece of our young adult’s puzzle is the gigantic work of Sir Terry Pratchett, a famous English writer. Discworld is a fantasy universe based on a flat world balancing on the back of four elephants. Pratchett took his inspiration from several other works, including LOTR or Shakespeare.
The Discworld consists of nearly 40 books, all of which are roughly set in the same universe, but some of them create a larger sequel (it is very similar to the concept of Feist’s Riftwar Cycle and his Midkemia world).
You can bet that all of these books are filled with fantasy, magic, adventures and creatures almost beyond imagination. I have yet to read all of these books, but the first few sequels (Rincewind and Death) have definitely caught my attention.
Conclusion
Don’t get confused by the name of the article; adventure books are more that fitting for adult people as well. We all need and desire some relief from our daily lives and adventure books are just one of the marvelous ways how to take our mind somewhere else. I’m convinced you’ve enjoyed my list and…
Thank you for reading!
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Chronicles of Narnia would have fit in with this group well
I know you are trying not to repeat yourself though and I think I remember you already mentioning it a couple of posts ago, I’m just pointing out the fun fact <3
I thoroughly enjoyed the Discworld Series. Have you considered including The Wheels of Time?
I’ve never heard of Winnetou before, sounds like something I should try.
I was wondering what should I give my 14 years old nephew for his birthday and you helped me out a lot, thanks!
All the books are very interesting..I love to read but I don’t have much time to do this hobby,but i’m looking forward to read these books.The book “How to Train Your Dragon”,if i remember it right,i watched a movie untitled “how to train your dragon toothless”,I really want to read it,I want to compare and to know what the book and movie differ.Thanks a lot for the great review.:-)
Finally someone who’s given me a decent advice on what to read, thank you Ondrej!
Albeit there are quite a few books you have omitted (Verne, Asimov and so on), it’s still a nice list.
Great job with the list, I’ve read all of these pieces and they’re all above average.
Thanks!
Karl May is my favorite writer. I read Winnetou over and over again. It is the greatest adventure book I have ever read. Can you imagine how cool the way he wrote this story without being in the places he wrote about and there was no internet that he could use to do a quick research. super awesome.