Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, participants are encouraged to list their favourite ten books that feature travel in them. While this guiding topic could reference a lot of different things, I’m choosing to interpret it as books where the participants are required to go on long journeys away from home, possibly in a quest-like manner, or novels where the act of traveling is essential to the plot. As such, my list is filled with a fair amount of fantasy and science fiction, with a few other interesting entries as well. I actually came up with quite a few potential choices for this list, but I was eventually able to whittle it down into a compelling Top Ten list alongside my usual generous Honourable Mentions section. So let us see what made the cut.
Honourable Mentions:
A classic young adult fantasy tale where the protagonist travels far from home to discover his destiny.
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Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio
Vast intergalactic journeys are the order of the day in this brilliant science fiction read.
An awesome collection of connected tales, where the two protagonists journey all over the Warhammer Fantasy world looking for trouble.
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler
One of the funnier entries on this list. How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying was a great book that saw a young woman repeatedly journey across a fantasy land to become the next dark lord.
Top Ten List:
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
A very easy place to start is with the works of J. R. R. Tolkien whose books were all about epic quests and long journeys. While all three books in The Lord of the Rings trilogy would have worked here, I’m going with the original classic, The Hobbit, that saw a very brave hobbit journey across Middle Earth on a grand adventure.
Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
From Tolkien to Pratchett, I’m starting this list off with some real fantasy fiction heavyweights. Terry Pratchett was another author whose stories often featured grand quests across the titular Discworld, even though his protagonists were often a lot more reluctant to go on them. There were quite a few different Discworld books I could have featured here (as well as some of Pratchett’s standalone novels like Strata or The Carpet People), however, I’m going to go with one of my favourites, Witches Abroad, which fits the travel theme extremely well. Following three of Pratchett’s witch protagonists as they go on an extended holiday to a fairy-tale plagued city, Witches Abroad is a very funny read and one of the better Discworld books.
Hawk Quest by Robert Lyndon
Moving outside of fantasy fiction for a bit we have the epic historical fiction novel Hawk Quest by Robert Lyndon. A massive adventure novel, Hawk Quest follows an eclectic group of protagonists in the 11th century as they transport rare hawks to the Holy Land to serve as ransom for an imprisoned knight. Requiring a trek across medieval Europe, Hawk Quest is a brilliant novel that is all about travelling impossible distances.
Magician by Raymond E. Feist
I just had to feature the outstanding classic fantasy read Magician by Raymond E. Feist on this list, which sees all its protagonists embark on great adventures across Feist’s fantasy realms. All the key characters engage in some massive travels in this novel via ship, horseback and more, including the main protagonist who journeys to a whole other fantasy dimension and back again, just to hammer home how important travel is for this outstanding read.
Artifact Space by Miles Cameron
To mix things up a bit I had to include the cool science fiction novel, Artifact Space by Miles Cameron. While quite a few of Cameron’s books features lengthy quests or travelling great distances (such as his novel Dark Forge), I decided to go with Artifact Space as it probably features the furthest distance travelled as the protagonist embarks on a massive trade ship going to the edge of known human space. An ambitious and compelling read, Artifact Space is an excellent novel where the protagonists end up going so very far away from home.
Streams of Silver by R. A. Salvatore
Another author whose books often feature grand journeys is legendary fantasy writer R. A. Salvatore. I was honestly spoiled for choice when it came to Salvatore’s books, as so many are travel-focused, but in the end, I went with Streams of Silver. The second book in the Icewind Dale trilogy, Streams of Silver sees Salvatore’s entertaining party of protagonists leave on a quest to recover the legendary Mithril Halls, traversing all manner of fantasy landscape along the way. A classic fantasy adventure with a ton of travel, Streams of Silver is a very worthy addition to this list.
For something a little different I decided to include the cool thriller Bullet Train by Japanese author Kōtarō Isaka. Set aboard a moving bullet train, this fun book sees several dangerous killers attempt to outfox each other before the train arrives at its final deadly destination. I think the constant moving train and the ticking clock as it gets closer to the end of the line qualify this thriller nicely as a book containing travel, and I honestly had a ton of fun getting through both the Bullet Train novel, and its entertaining movie adaptation.
The Bone Ships by R. J. Barker
Nothing says epic travel more than a group of condemned criminals navigating a ship made of bone across a deadly ocean to hunt down a sea dragon. The always impressive R. J. Barker makes this insane concept work extremely well with some of the very best fantasy nautical scenes you are likely to read. A truly incredible novel that you will not be able to put down.
The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden
Going back to history we have the fantastic read The Falcon of Sparta from amazing author Conn Iggulden. Loosely based on the Anabasis by Xenophon, The Falcon of Sparta follows ten thousand Greek mercenaries and camp followers who attempt to escape Persia by land back to Greece following the Battle of Cunaxa. An awesome book that makes use of one of history’s most unlikely journeys.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The final book I want to feature on this list is the complex space adventure Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Following a lone scientist sent to another star system to find a way to stop the sun from dimming, Project Hail Mary features a darker, yet highly compelling take on a travel narrative that is extremely impressive and addictive. A truly exceptional read, this was a great novel to end this list on, and I cannot recommend it enough.
And that’s the end of this latest Top Ten list. As you can see, I’ve had the pleasure of reading some really great books that feature amazing travel elements, and this Top Ten list is only just scratching the surface of the novels I could talk about. I’m pretty happy with how this latest list turned out and I look forward to seeing what other travel-focused books people want to recommend in the comments below.
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