Pace, journeys and action: stories that never stop.
The Adventurer wants to move. You like stories that take off on the first page and don't stop: a treasure map, an impossible mountain, a race against the clock, a journey no one knows if they'll come back from. For you, reading is leaving home without getting off the sofa, and the further a book takes you, the better.
You value pace above all. Short chapters, quick decisions, characters who act instead of overthinking. You like brave heroes, but also the ones who make mistakes and have to get out of trouble with their wits. And if the story is based on real events, the excitement doubles.
Your shelf might mix swashbuckling classics, thrillers you read in one sitting, accounts of expeditions and historical novels full of battles and crossings. What they share is energy: books you read with your heart beating a little faster.
To get you moving, the selection comes in three stages: the adventure classics that blazed the trail, books a little further off the beaten path to keep up the pace, and a hidden gem or two found off the map.
This is a guide, not a label: you may recognise yourself in several profiles.
Where to start
Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson
It first appeared in instalments in a magazine for young readers.
Into Thin Air
Jon Krakauer
Krakauer was on Everest during the 1996 disaster he recounts.
Victus: The Fall of Barcelona
Albert Sánchez Piñol
It tells the story of the siege of Barcelona in 1714.
Books to start with
A selection from our catalogue, from much-loved classics to lesser-known reads.
A boy who works at his mother's inn stumbles on a map and soon finds himself sailing toward a distant island in search of a pirate's buried gold. Aboard the Hispaniola loyalties shift, and the charming one-legged cook Long John Silver proves as magnetic as he is unsettling. A brisk, salt-sprayed adventure that quietly asks what greed does to people.
A brash young Gascon rides into Paris hoping to join the King's Musketeers, and manages to pick fights with three of them before lunch. Athos, Porthos and Aramis become his inseparable companions in a whirl of duels, court intrigue and schemes spun by Cardinal Richelieu. Pure swashbuckling joy, witty and relentless, with the seventeenth century as its glittering stage.
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B
Jurassic ParkMichael Crichton
Jurassic ParkMichael Crichton
Jurassic Park
Michael Crichton
On an island off Costa Rica, a visionary entrepreneur has used genetic engineering to bring dinosaurs back and turn them into the ultimate theme park. A handful of experts arrive to sign off on the project, only to learn that nature refuses to be tamed. A breathless read that blends real science, chaos theory and relentless suspense.
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Middle road
B
Into Thin AirJon Krakauer
Into Thin AirJon Krakauer
Into Thin Air
Jon Krakauer
In spring 1996, journalist Jon Krakauer joined a guided Everest expedition on assignment and found himself caught up in one of the mountain's darkest seasons. His first-person account climbs from Kathmandu to the summit with gripping, breathless momentum. Along the way he asks, honestly and painfully, why so many people are willing to risk everything for the top of the world.
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B
The MartianAndy Weir
The MartianAndy Weir
The Martian
Andy Weir
An astronaut is left alone on Mars and must rely on wit, stubborn humour and hands-on science to stay alive. Every chapter brings a fresh problem to solve with whatever he can scrounge, told in a wry voice that hooks you immediately. A survival adventure that is as gripping as it is funny.
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B
Without RemorseTom Clancy
Without RemorseTom Clancy
Without Remorse
Tom Clancy
Early-seventies Baltimore: John Kelly, a former Navy SEAL still raw from loss, wages a one-man war on a drug ring just as the Pentagon wants him for a daring rescue mission deep in North Vietnam. This is the origin of the Ryanverse's famous Mr. Clark, told with Clancy's trademark technical realism and relentless suspense. A long, gritty read that lives in morally grey territory.
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Hidden gem
B
FalcóArturo Pérez-Reverte
FalcóArturo Pérez-Reverte
Falcó
Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Autumn 1936, with Spain at war: Lorenzo Falcó, a former arms dealer turned ruthless intelligence agent, is sent on an infiltration mission that could shift the course of the conflict. Pérez-Reverte delivers a lean, stylish spy novel in which loyalty is traded like currency and any ally may turn out to be the next threat.
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B
Victus: The Fall of BarcelonaAlbert Sánchez Piñol
Victus: The Fall of BarcelonaAlbert Sánchez Piñol
Victus: The Fall of Barcelona
Albert Sánchez Piñol
From Vienna, nearly a hundred years old, military engineer Martí Zuviria looks back on his life and his service under Villarroel in the War of the Spanish Succession. His sharp, irreverent voice carries us into the long siege of Barcelona in 1713-1714, among trenches, bastions and royal intrigue. A big, lively novel that blends adventure, humour and the harshness of war.
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B
RobopocalypseDaniel H. Wilson
RobopocalypseDaniel H. Wilson
Robopocalypse
Daniel H. Wilson
An artificial intelligence slips free of its makers, and the robots woven into everyday life turn against humankind. Written by an author with a doctorate in robotics, the novel draws on machines grounded in real research and races along like a thriller, a page-turner in the spirit of Michael Crichton.