Can't find this type of book

[Boaz]

@HareBrain Watership Down. The Hobbit. The Body from Different Seasons. A Horse and His Boy. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

My first thought also was Dragonlance, which I would have assumed you'd read. You might try the Rose of the Prophet series by the same authors -- I loved it even more than Dragonlance, and it's a different sort of the same thing.

 

[Danny McG]

Ok you've reminded me of something I read and it's going to annoy me.
A group of friends (3 I think) decide to quit the nine to five and go exploring, they get pulled into a power battle, I can't remember if they came across a hidden civilisation or stumbled in the mist between worlds.

Thanks nixie, thanks a lot..

*Lies in bed staring at the ceiling at quarter to four in the morning*
"What is that story?"

 

[HareBrain]

Thanks all. Some of those suggestions I've already read, and some others I'll take a look at. It surprises me, though, that none of them seem to be the precise kind of thing I was thinking of, given the popularity of exploration-type videogames. That might be because they're a visual medium, which suits scenery, but they were popular even in the early days when graphics were nothing special.

It might be that the "find treasure map, go and have adventure" type thing is more in children's fiction rather than YA and up. The closest I've found was The Chronicles of Prydain, which is for kids (though I still mostly enjoyed them last year).

My first thought also was Dragonlance, which I would have assumed you'd read.

From what I've seen of them, they'd be like Feist's Magician, something I would have liked as a teenager but probably not now.

 

[nixie]

Old fashioned and doesn't tick all the boxes but it's still a book I'll go to when I want adventure. Dennis Wheatley' s The Forbidden Territory : three friends go deep into Russia to find a friend who's gone missing, the search for their friend and escape from Russia is very entertaining.

 

[Boneman]

Ender's Game...

 

[soulsinging]

I have a bad cold at the moment (and no, the main purpose of this thread isn't to generate sympathy, BUT IT COULDN'T HURT, RIGHT?) and I'd like nothing better than to curl up with a good book. But I have a hankering for a particular kind of book, and I can't seem to find any.

A likeable band of characters set out on an adventure with probably not much initial motivation deeper than to travel, explore and make their fortune (to use that old-fashioned phrase). Interpersonal relationships favour humour over angst. Probably none of the characters is especially significant in terms of prophecies etc, or the lost children of royalty. As the adventure goes on, it no doubt gets more significant in terms of the fate of the world etc, but that emerges organically rather than being flagged up at the start.

This basic format, with an emphasis on fun and exploration, might seem familiar to those who played D&D as teenagers or played certain JRPG videogames (I'm thinking in particular of Grandia). But I can't find it in book form, either adult or YA. The Wheel of Time might be close-ish, but is way too long and complex and prophecy-driven. The Chronicles of Prydain are probably closest in terms of tone, but the target audience is too young.

Any ideas?

This sounds like the Dragonlance Chronicles to me.

 

[soulsinging]

Thanks all. I was thinking more of the JRPG/D&D thing of going exploring exotic landscapes, digging around in ancient ruins, awakening terrible evils, running away etc.

I did once have a look at the first book, but didn't get on with what I read. That might have been my mood at the time, though. I'll have another look.

This is definitely the Dragonlance Chronicles. Adventures through abandoned ancient ruins, sneaking about dragon's lairs, mysterious elven forests, ancient castles with inexplicable/forgotten defenses... and not a prophecy or forgotten noble in sight really.

I'd also agree with Wooding's Ketty Jay books, and Six of Crows and its sequel.

Also, Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World. Great fun.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Hmmmm... sort of ish (in the sense it’s a gang of adventurers and their goal is to get home but in doing so they have to wander around the new world lost) is Joel Rosenberg’s Guardians of the Flame series - especially the first book. It’s horrendously tropey in places (he wouldn’t get away with it now) but as a portal D&D adventure it’s good fun.

 

[HareBrain]

Thanks again everyone. I've gone on to something else now.

Getting into Dragonlance, with all those books to read, is an appealing idea, and have had another look at it, but it just doesn't work for me. Nor did Six of Crows in the end. I've just got too picky.

Also, Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World. Great fun.

Funnily enough, I think this would be closest to what I was after, if it were fantasy. (Same with King Solomon's Mines, etc.)

 

[vanye]

You‘ve probably already read it a couple of times, but still: Treasure Island.

And I hope your cold has had the decency by now to go look for some other host. No sense outstaying ones welcome ...

 

[Dave]

You‘ve probably already read it a couple of times, but still: Treasure Island.

That's perfect!

 

[HareBrain]

And I hope your cold has had the decency by now to go look for some other host.

I've done my best to make introductions ...

 

[HareBrain]

That's perfect!

Yes, a fantasy version of Treasure Island would have fitted the bill. I did actually mention it in post #10.

And I might read it again soon.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Yes, a fantasy version of Treasure Island would have fitted the bill.

This makes me think you might like The Redwolf Conspiracy. Been a long time since I read it, and don't remember well enough to know if it might fit what you are looking for, but you could look up some of the reviews.

At least it has lots of adventure and a long sea voyage to exotic places.

 

[HareBrain]

This makes me think you might like The Redwolf Conspiracy.

Yes, I've read the whole four-book series. I did enjoy it, though it's quite long and I'd hesitate before embarking again.

 

[soulsinging]

Thanks again everyone. I've gone on to something else now.

Getting into Dragonlance, with all those books to read, is an appealing idea, and have had another look at it, but it just doesn't work for me. Nor did Six of Crows in the end. I've just got too picky.

Funnily enough, I think this would be closest to what I was after, if it were fantasy. (Same with King Solomon's Mines, etc.)

Yeah, unfortunately I've never found anything quite like the Lost World. Shame about Dragonlance. The Ketty Jay books mentioned above may fit the bill... raggedy band of scoundrels investigating ancient ruins looking for loot.

 

[Overread]

I'd recommend Gotrek & Felix: The First Omnibus (ebook) or if you want print (might have to hunt for it ) start with Trollslayer.

It's the adventures of a mighty (and grumpy) Dwarf Slayer and his companion, a human dodging the law who's looking to write the dwarf's saga as an epic tale so that he might be remembered. Meanwhile Gotrek the dwarf has only one quest, to find his doom and die a worthy death, though it seems that for some adventurers its a lot harder to die than one might think!

You've got a collection of stories and short stories which detail their adventures. The full stories are a linear series of adventures whilst the short stories interspace them; sometimes being set between books or during long pauses in the storyline. Some are quite significant events, others are pure and simple questing adventures.

It's all set in the grim dark world of Warhammer, though the books are easily descriptive enough to keep up with what is going on without needing any great understanding of the setting at all.

 

[williamjm]

You‘ve probably already read it a couple of times, but still: Treasure Island.

For Treasure Island-like fantasy stories I think Tim Powers' On Stranger Tides would be the closest I could think of.

Yeah, unfortunately I've never found anything quite like the Lost World.

I read Adrian Tchaikovsky's For Love of Distant Shores last year, which did feel very inspired by the likes of Conan Doyle, Haggard and Verne. Although it's set in his Shadows of the Apt world, I think it can be read safely without having read any of the rest of the series.

 

[vanye]

The Ketty Jay books mentioned above may fit the bill... raggedy band of scoundrels investigating ancient ruins looking for loot.

Yes, one of the very few steampunk stories I liked. Actually I like this one so much that I‘ve kept the last book unread on my TBR shelf so the story does not end too soon - if that makes any sense at all?