Action & Adventure Stories

If pirates, jousting and horseback chases no longer appeal to you, you're too old or too boring. Adventure stories fell out of vogue among 20th century literary types who thought serious fiction had to be boring and depressing, but to those born with fire in their bones, adventure stories are deeply serious.

Not serious like existentialism or keeping a stiff upper lip, but serious like Robin Hood—devoted to protecting the downtrodden, committed to Maid Marian, sworn to fight injustice as long as a soul is in his body, always laughing and ready for a fight or a feast.

G. K. Chesterton wrote adventure stories because they best expressed the eternal joy that supported his generous frame. For those raised on Modern Adventure Stories, joy may seem an inappropriate word for an increasingly dark genre, but the fault lies with those who think adventures are forays into evil rather than romps with Gilbert Keith.

There's nothing evil about a good adventure. There may be bad guys (there ought to be), but if the Good Guy does his job there'll be more of his exploits to talk about than theirs. Because, should he be doing his job, the Hero will be sword-fighting, being clever, wooing, chasing and laughing to the detriment of his enemies on every page.

Average people don't have the adventures Heroes in Books have—they have the adventures of Modern Men in Books. But the way through the prosaic troubles of life isn't to immerse yourself in them, it's to let the Good Guys show The Way Out of Problems, and do your best to imitate them when you meet the less dramatic, but no less real, dangers of everyday existence.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Parent Categories
Action & Adventure Stories
101 Items found Print
Active Filters: 11th grade (Ages 16-17), Trade Paperback
Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Conan Doyle
from Penguin Classics
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.20
Around the World in Eighty Days
by Jules Verne, George M. Towle (Translator)
from Bantam Books
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.95 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Around the World in Eighty Days
by Jules Verne, translated by William Butcher
Reprint from Oxford University
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.95
Betrayal
by Douglas Bond
from P&R Publishing
for 7th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Blue at the Mizzen
Aubrey/Maturin #20
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Brendan Voyage
Modern Library Exploration
by Tim Severin
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.00
Brethren
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.75 $9.00 (1 in stock)
By the Pricking of My Thumbs
A Tommy and Tuppence Mystery #4
by Agatha Christie
Reissue, 2012 from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Conspiracy of Kings
by Megan Whalen Turner
Reprint from Greenwillow Books
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas, translation by Robin Buss
from Modern Library
Realistic Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Cruise of the Arctic Star
by Scott O'Dell
from Beautiful Feet Books
for 6th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$13.95
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #39
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reprint from William Morrow & Company
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.99
Day They Came to Arrest the Book
by Nat Hentoff
from Laurel-Leaf Books
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Death in the Clouds
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #12
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Death Walk
by Walt Morey
1st edition from Blue Heron Publishing
for 10th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Disappeared
by Francisco X. Stork
from Arthur A. Levine Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$10.99
Dumb Witness
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #16
by Agatha Christie
Reprint from William Morrow & Company
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.99
Endless Knot
Song of Albion #3
by Stephen R. Lawhead
2nd edition from Thomas Nelson Publishers
Celtic Fantasy for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.00
Endurance
by Alfred Lansing
from Tyndale House
for 9th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$16.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Far Pavilions
by M. M. Kaye
from St. Martin's Griffin
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe
from Tyndale House
for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
Flames of Rome
by Paul L. Maier
2nd edition from Kregel Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Fortune of War
Aubrey/Maturin #6
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley
from Penguin Putnam
Horror for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.00
Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley, edited with an introduction and notes by M. K. Joseph
from Oxford University
Horror for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Golden Ocean
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Great Adventurers of the Twentieth Century
by Ron Tagliapietra
from Bob Jones University Press
Biography Anthologies for 8th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$12.95
Guns of Navarone
by Alastair MacLean
Reprint from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
H.M.S. Surprise
Aubrey/Maturin #3
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Hitch
by Jeanette Ingold
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 10th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Hunted and Harried
by R. M. Ballantyne
from Inheritance Publications
Action/Adventure for 8th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
If We Survive
by Andrew Klavan
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 8th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$14.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Journey of Souls
by C. D. Baker
from Preston Speed
for 7th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
King of Attolia
by Megan Whalen Turner
Reprint from Greenwillow Books
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
King Solomon's Mines
by H. Rider Haggard
125th anniversary edition from Great Light Publications
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
King Solomon's Mines, Allan Quatermain and She
by H. Rider Haggard
from Dover Publications
Action/Adventure for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.95
Lady of Blossholme
by H. Rider Haggard
Centennial Edition from Great Light Publications
for 7th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Last Cavalier
by Alexandre Dumas
from Pegasus Books
Historical Romance for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper
Reprint from Penguin Classics
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$13.00
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower
by C. S. Forester (based on the works of), C. Northcote Parkinson
from Sutton Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lorna Doone
by R. D. Blackmore
from Oxford University
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$13.95
Lost World
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
from Modern Library
for 9th grade-adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.40
Louise de la Valliere
Alexandre Dumas Collection #4
by Alexandre Dumas
from Oxford University
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$15.95
Lysbeth
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.75 $9.00 (2 in stock)
Man in the Brown Suit
A Colonel Race Mystery #1
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Man in the Iron Mask
Alexandre Dumas Collection #5
by Alexandre Dumas
from Oxford University
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.95
Master and Commander
Aubrey/Maturin #1
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Master and Commander
Aubrey/Maturin #1
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Master of Ballantrae
Penguin Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Master of Ballantrae
Penguin Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Midshipman Bolitho
by Alexander Kent
from McBooks Press
for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Out of the Silent Planet
Space Trilogy Book 1
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Science Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00
Outlaws of Sherwood
by Robin McKinley
from ACE Publishing
for 8th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.00
Outlaws of the Pacific Northwest
by Bill Gulick
from Caxton Press
for 7th-Adult
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
Pearl Maiden
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.75 $9.00 (2 in stock)
Penrod and Sam
by Booth Tarkington
from Indiana University Press
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Perelandra
Space Trilogy Book 2
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Science Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Pilgrim's Progress in Today's English
by John Bunyan
from Moody Press
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.99
Pioneers
Leatherstocking Tales #4
by James Fenimore Cooper
Reprint from Penguin Classics
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$15.00
Plain Tales from the Hills
by Rudyard Kipling
Reissue from Oxford University
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.95
Post Captain
Aubrey/Maturin #2
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Princess Bride
by William Goldman
from Harvest Books
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$18.00
Prisoner of Zenda
Penguin Classics
by Anthony Hope
1st edition from Oxford University
Adventure/Political Satire for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.95
Queen of Attolia
by Megan Whalen Turner
Reissue from Greenwillow Books
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$11.99
Return of the Thief
Queen's Thief #6
by Megan Whalen Turner
from Greenwich House
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Riders of the Purple Sage
by Zane Grey
from Dover Publications
Westerns for 8th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.00
Riders of the Purple Sage
by Zane Grey
from Penguin Books
Westerns for 8th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Riders of the Purple Sage
by Zane Grey
from Oxford University
Westerns for 8th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Rising Tide
by Jeff Shaara
from Ballantine Books
Historical Non-fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$10.00
Robinson Crusoe (adapted)
by Anne T. White (retells Daniel Defoe's classic), illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky
from Golden Books
for 6th-12th grade
in Adapted or Abridged (Location: SER-ABR)
Saga of Eric Brighteyes
by H. Rider Haggard
1st edition from Leaves of Gold Press
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$29.95
Saga of Eric Brighteyes
by H. Rider Haggard
1st edition from Newcastle Publishing Co
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Scarlet
The King Raven Trilogy Book 2
by Stephen R. Lawhead
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Scorpion
Tumbleweed Series
by Will James
from Mountain Press
for 8th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Sea-Hawk
by Rafael Sabatini
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Historical Romance for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$23.95
Secret of Chimneys
A Superintendent Battle Mystery #1
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon
by Larry Millett
from Penguin Classics
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
by Anonymous, edited by J.R.R. Tolkien, E.V. Gordon, and Norman Davis
2nd edition from Oxford University
for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight / Pearl / Sir Orfeo
by Anonymous, J. R. R. Tolkien (Translator)
from Mariner Books
Medieval Fairy Tale/Poetry for 8th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.99
Sufferings in Africa
by Capt. James Riley
from Skyhorse Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Surgeon's Mate
Aubrey/Maturin #7
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Taken at the Flood
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #27
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Tale of the Cid: and Other Stories of Knights and Chivalry
by Andrew Lang
from Dover Publications
for 6th-Adult
$9.95
Tales of Real Survival
Usborne Reader's Library
by Paul Dowswell
from Usborne
for 6th-12th grade
in Modern History (Location: HISW-MOD)
$5.40 (1 in stock)
The Martian
by Andy Weir
Reprint from Broadway Books
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
They Came to Baghdad
by Agatha Christie
2011 Reissue from HarperCollins
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Thick as Thieves
by Megan Whalen Turner
from Greenwillow Books
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
Thief
by Megan Whalen Turner
Reissue from Greenwillow Books
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.99
Three Musketeers
Alexandre Dumas Collection #1
by Alexandre Dumas
from Oxford University
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$12.95
Tuck
The King Raven Trilogy Book 3
by Stephen R. Lawhead
Reprint from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Twenty Years After
Alexandre Dumas Collection #2
by Alexandre Dumas
Reissue from Oxford University
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.95
Two Towers
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Film cover art from Mariner Books
for 8th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Under Dog and Other Stories
by Agatha Christie
2012 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Vicomte de Bragelonne
Alexandre Dumas Collection #3
by Alexandre Dumas
from Oxford University
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$15.95
Watership Down
by Richard Adams
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Animal Fiction for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
Wee Willie Winkie
by Rudyard Kipling
from Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Westward Ho!
by Charles Kingsley
from Beautiful Feet Books
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
12