Can't find this type of book

More sci fi than fantasy (I enjoyed it)
The Trove by Tobias S Buckell
jamesdavisnicoll.com

Hearts as Black as Coal

Tobias S. Buckell’s 2018 The Trove is a standalone SF adventure novel. Interstellar travel has not eliminated social stratification. Earth is home to oligarchs whose wealth is hard to measure. In contrast, the wealth of Jane Hawkins and her two mothers, Sadayya and Tia, is very easy to...
jamesdavisnicoll.com jamesdavisnicoll.com
 
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Bran Mak Morn Legion From the Shadow
Vince W said:
If you like a bit of pulp then there were several Indiana Jones novels.
Bantam Books
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James Rollins did the novelization of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Also Steve Perry wrote Indiana Jones and The Army of the Dead which is set during World War II 1943 .
 
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Thanks for the further suggestions. I've already read the first Ketty Jay book, and though it was OK, it didn't really grab me.

Talking about the Lost World, I remember a Trigan Empire adventure (comic strip syndicated in magazines) when I was growing up, in which two opposing countries (good and bad) discover that a previously lost valley has just been opened up by an earthquake. The Trigans send a diplomatic mission, the Catons send a military force. In the valley filled with prehistoric monsters, the two forces come into conflict. The Catons capture the Trigans, but gradually the Catons fall prey to monsters etc (partly thanks to the captured Trigans' cleverness) until the forces are more even. Then they discover the lost city, where they are all captured, and I can't remember what happens after that (except magic, and a supposedly young priestess who turns out to be an old woman in a mask).

That's what I wanted. That.

Culhwch said:
Seems like there's a real gap in the market here, HB. Forget reading - get writing!
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I've tried that before. I think gaps in markets often exist because there isn't the interest.
 
Ok so - friends exploring and finding artifacts:

Terry Brooks Riftwar and Serpentwar Saga
Maggie Furey Artifacts of Power
Elizabeth Hayden Symphony of Ages

I would say the Hayden story fits best - lots of cool ideas and a very original world with interesting lore.

There also might be some Gemmell stories that fit with this but they tend towards being more militaristic / violent.

Hope this helps - if not you may have to go and find an old fashioned "turn to page 134" adventure books! :)
 
HareBrain said:
Talking about the Lost World, I remember a Trigan Empire adventure (comic strip syndicated in magazines) when I was growing up, in which two opposing countries (good and bad) discover that a previously lost valley has just been opened up by an earthquake. The Trigans send a diplomatic mission, the Catons send a military force. In the valley filled with prehistoric monsters, the two forces come into conflict. The Catons capture the Trigans, but gradually the Catons fall prey to monsters etc (partly thanks to the captured Trigans' cleverness) until the forces are more even. Then they discover the lost city, where they are all captured, and I can't remember what happens after that (except magic, and a supposedly young priestess who turns out to be an old woman in a mask).

That's what I wanted. That.
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See how Peter Richard Haddon is doing, that might help
 
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I know he's sometimes considered the Dan Brown of SFF by genre devotees, but Michael Crichton's Congo and Sphere sound like they might work. Researchers trying to make sense of the inexplicable.
 
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vanye said:
I think the author of those is Raymond Feist. Terry Brooks is the one with all the faux Middle Earth stuff I think.
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Yeah you're entirely right and I do know this having read most of Feist and Brooks! - Ive just finished a house move and my brain got confuzzled. Brooks is all the Shannara stuff. I prefer Feist but Brooks is a really nice guy - seen him in some interviews and his involvement with the Shannara TV show. Nice guy by all accounts.
 
I liked the Landover books, all can be read on their own. Also The Word and Void are worth a read.

Sword of Shannara, is entertaining and light, you don't need to read the rest. I thought the books improved as the series went on.

Brooks I find light and enjoyable, I do think it was clever the way he tied in the Word and Void with Shannara. For years I never realised the Word and Void was a prequel to Shannara.
 
I second Nixie - I think Brooks has grown as a writer as time has gone on. Brooks is the first to admit that Sword of Shannara is very derivitive of Tolkien - Brooks has claimed consistently that to him Shannara is an homage to LOTR.

The Word and the Void stuff is actually really good and the whole Four Lands and Shannara being a consistent world was great (the reveal in the TV show is in like the first episode and can even be seen in the trailer) but in the boos it is much less overt.
 
Hi HB! Late to the party, but I have a book to suggest (though there are stakes at the beginning). I think it fits much of what you're looking for, though (maybe??).

I've become a big fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky; loved his Children of Time. I'm halfway through Redemption's Blade, After the War Book 1, and I'm really enjoying it. It's an easy read, with likeable characters ... epic quest kind of thing, but tells the very interesting story (IMO) of what happens with the heroes and monsters after the great battle has been fought, and the Evil One defeated. I'm really digging this, and I pretty much stopped reading this type of book 20 years ago. It's not TLOTRs, but is a good, modern take on the genre.

Also, a weird suggestion ... have you considered travel books? A person or group of people goes out to find themselves, or the spirit of their native land, or some such? I read Blue Highways, A journey into America recently, and really enjoyed it. Fewer monsters, less treasure than many of the books suggested, but still had a person setting out on adventures, and seeking something. There must be many other similar books that might be of interest (though again, a weird sort of suggestion). CC

edit to fix a typo :) (I think it's still not correct; this is why I don't write.)
 
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I recently picked up the Ben Bova's Sam Gunn Omnibus and though it is a series of shorts, I think it fits the bill. Most of his adventures start in one direction and the veer off into something a bit unexpected.
 
V. late to the party but...

Jen Williams - The Copper Cat is exactly what you want but I didn't get on with it. The Ninth Rain is also pretty similar and I got on with that very well. In fact, I have a copy you can borrow next you're in London.
David Eddings - The Elenium - Knightly adventure kinda done as a buddy cop movie.
Michael J. Sullivan - Ririya Chronicles - yet to really get into them myself, but I have a lot of friends who swear by them
Joseph Brassey - Skyfarer. Complete JRPG worship by way of every group of misfits on a ship story ever. I found it a bit clunky, but very much what you're looking for otherwise.
Rachel Aaron - The Spirit Thief. Light hearted, kinda comedic in places, lots of heists and adventures - again, I didn't quite get on with it, its prose grated, but maybe worth a peek on a kindle sample.
Nicholas Eames - Kings of the Wyld. Did I really get all the way through this thread without seeing this? This is a near dead on hit for the request providing you get on with his storytelling style.
Barry Hughart - Bridge of Birds. Jovial, humourous, very much friends on an adventure.

Most of them aren't in search of fame and fortune, but averting catastrophe, but fit other than that. And I think the number of options I could think of shows there is a market, although its mostly a mid-list market.

Also, if you don't mind getting this in webcomic form, The Order of the Stick is *exactly* what you want, free, and amazing.
 
The Big Peat said:
Also, if you don't mind getting this in webcomic form, The Order of the Stick is *exactly* what you want, free, and amazing.
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It was. I blasted through it at the time I discovered it. But for the last two or three (or four or five?) years, I've gone back to it every couple of months and found three new pages that each advance the story about 2.5mm.

But the early stuff does fit the bill, you're right. Have also added a couple of the others to my TBR.
 
HareBrain said:
It was. I blasted through it at the time I discovered it. But for the last two or three (or four or five?) years, I've gone back to it every couple of months and found three new pages that each advance the story about 2.5mm.

But the early stuff does fit the bill, you're right. Have also added a couple of the others to my TBR.
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I would like to argue with this but can't. Never ever really found anything like it (save the short run and now defunct Keychain of Creation)
 
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