The 50 best adventure books to read
The best adventure books ranked: classic adventure novels, survival stories and true tales of exploration. A top 50 with short reviews and where to read.
Adventure books take you to the edge of the map. This list mixes classic novels such as Treasure Island and The Count of Monte Cristo with survival stories, polar expeditions and mountain disasters that are true, so you can choose between invented perils and real ones.
These are editorial picks, ranked for readability and lasting appeal, and nobody pays to be on the list. Not sure where to start? Try the book finder and get three picks for your mood.
Top 50 adventure books, ranked
-
The Hobbit
A hobbit joins a party of dwarves to reclaim a lost treasure.
- Cozy
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Fellowship of the Ring
A small group sets out to destroy a ring of terrible power.
- Inspiring
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Count of Monte Cristo
A wrongly imprisoned sailor escapes and plans an elaborate revenge.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Treasure Island
A boy finds a treasure map and sails with pirates to a remote island.
- Gripping
- Cozy
Where to read
-
The Three Musketeers
A young Gascon joins the king's musketeers in 17th-century France.
- Gripping
- Funny
Where to read
-
Around the World in Eighty Days
A gentleman bets he can circle the globe in eighty days.
- Funny
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Journey to the Center of the Earth
A professor and his nephew descend into a volcano and find a hidden world.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Call of the Wild
A sled dog is taken from his comfortable home to the Yukon gold rush.
- Gripping
- Moving
Where to read
-
Hatchet
A boy survives alone in the Canadian wilderness.
- Gripping
- Inspiring
Where to read
-
Robinson Crusoe
A sailor is shipwrecked and spends years alone on a remote island.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Into Thin Air
A deadly day on Mount Everest.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Endurance
Shackleton's incredible voyage.
- Gripping
- Inspiring
Where to read
-
Kon-Tiki
A raft voyage across the Pacific.
- Gripping
- Inspiring
Where to read
-
The Lost City of Z
A tale of deadly obsession in the Amazon.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Life of Pi
A boy survives a shipwreck on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.
- Thoughtful
- Inspiring
Where to read
-
The Alchemist
A shepherd's journey to follow his dreams.
- Inspiring
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
The Martian
An astronaut stranded on Mars uses science and humour to stay alive.
- Funny
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Jurassic Park
A theme park of cloned dinosaurs goes catastrophically wrong.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
A boy discovers he is the son of a Greek god.
- Funny
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Moby-Dick
Captain Ahab's obsessive hunt for a white whale.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Princess Bride
A fairy tale of true love and high adventure.
- Funny
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Odyssey
Odysseus spends ten years trying to get home after the Trojan War.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
The Old Man and the Sea
An aging fisherman battles a giant marlin.
- Thoughtful
- Inspiring
Where to read
-
Lord of the Flies
Boys stranded on an island descend into savagery.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
A boy and an escaped slave travel down the Mississippi.
- Funny
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
A mischievous boy grows up along the Mississippi.
- Funny
- Cozy
Where to read
-
Kidnapped
A young man is kidnapped and flees across Scotland.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
King Solomon's Mines
Explorers search Africa for a lost treasure.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Prisoner of Zenda
An Englishman impersonates a king in a plot to save the throne.
- Gripping
- Funny
Where to read
-
The Scarlet Pimpernel
A mysterious hero rescues aristocrats from the guillotine.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Captain Nemo takes his guests on a submarine voyage.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
White Fang
A wolf-dog's journey from the wild to a loving home.
- Gripping
- Moving
Where to read
-
The Jungle Book
Mowgli is raised by wolves in the Indian jungle.
- Gripping
- Cozy
Where to read
-
Kim
An orphan in British India becomes a spy and follows a Tibetan lama.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Sahara
Dirk Pitt races across Africa to stop a global disaster.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Perfect Storm
A fishing boat is lost in a historic storm in the North Atlantic.
- Gripping
- Moving
Where to read
-
The Worst Journey in the World
An account of Scott's Antarctic expedition.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
The Terror
Two ships are trapped in the Arctic ice and stalked by something.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Touching the Void
A climber survives a fall in the Andes after his partner cuts the rope.
- Gripping
- Inspiring
Where to read
-
The Wager
A British warship is wrecked off Patagonia and the survivors turn on each other.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Alive
Survivors of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes fight to stay alive.
- Gripping
- Inspiring
Where to read
-
Seven Years in Tibet
An Austrian mountaineer escapes to Tibet and meets the young Dalai Lama.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Papillon
A convict's repeated escapes from a French penal colony.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Shantaram
An escaped convict builds a new life in Bombay.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
The Man Who Would Be King
Two adventurers set out to become kings in Kafiristan.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Island of the Blue Dolphins
A girl survives alone on an island for years.
- Gripping
- Inspiring
Where to read
-
Brian's Winter
Brian must survive the Canadian winter after all.
- Gripping
- Inspiring
Where to read
-
Swiss Family Robinson
A shipwrecked family builds a new life on a tropical island.
- Cozy
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Sea-Wolf
A shipwreck survivor is held captive aboard a brutal sealing schooner.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Sharpe's Rifles
Richard Sharpe fights through the Peninsular War.
- Gripping
Where to read
Each link opens that store’s search for the book. Availability and prices vary by store and country. We may earn a commission from some stores, which never changes the ranking.
Types of adventure books
Looking for something more specific? These are the main kinds of adventure, with the sort of story or subject each one covers.
Classic adventure novels
Pirates, musketeers and explorers.
Survival stories
Wilderness, shipwreck and endurance.
Mountaineering
High-altitude climbs and what they cost.
Polar exploration
Ice, cold and the limits of leadership.
Sea stories
Voyages, whales and naval battles.
Adventure for young readers
Fast, clear and exciting.
Want to write and publish your own adventure book?
Many readers of this page are also writers. The stores in the lists above are where readers find books, while Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, IngramSpark, Lulu and Draft2Digital are the tools authors use to publish and distribute a book to those stores. You can also publish to Barnes & Noble Press and Google Play Books directly.
Our free KDP calculators help with print cost, royalties and cover size, and our publishing services can take care of setup for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best adventure book for adults?
The Count of Monte Cristo, Into Thin Air and The Martian are favourites among adult readers. All three are on this list.
Are true adventure books included?
Yes. Several of the 50 books are true stories of survival, expedition and exploration.
Where can I read or buy the best adventure books?
Each of the 50 books has links to Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble and Google Play Books. Authors who want to publish their own adventure book can start with our free guides to Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu and Draft2Digital.
Not sure what to read next?
Pick a genre and a mood and the book finder will suggest three books to try.