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 latest Top Ten Tuesday, participants are tasked with listing their top books that have some sort of water theme to them. I decided to make my list simple by listing those books whose titles are related to water in some way and I was very flexible in what qualified, with bodies of water, water features, things people do in water and even things that exist on water, such as boats, making the cut. The only real limitation I put on myself was keeping this list to one entry per author, which honestly was not that problematic. Despite that, I struggled to come up with a full list as water related terms apparently do not show up in the titles of many books I read. I was eventually able to pull together a descent list, and I liked how it turned out, especially as each of them are excellent books with amazing titles.
Honourable Mentions:
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
Queen of Storms by Raymond E. Feist
This one was a bit of a stretch, but Queen of Storms was the name of a ship in the book so I felt that it qualified for this list.
The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman
A fantastic nautical-based fantasy novel, which required the protagonists to travel across an enemy-filled ocean to get to a mythical island.
The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst
Top Ten Tuesday:
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
A classic fantasy novel that features some of the best nautical sequences you are likely to read.
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Probably one of my all-time favourite horror books, Into the Drowning Deeps sees a group of scientists face deadly marine monsters in the dark and treacherous ocean.
The Bone Ships by R. J. Barker
Another outstanding fantasy novel set on the open seas, The Bone Ships was an exceptional read that followed a group of condemned sailors adventuring on a boat made of dragon bone. I honestly could have feature the entire Tide Child trilogy on this list (Call of the Bone Ships and The Bone Ship’s Wake), but The Bone Ships was the awesome first entry that perfectly sets up this epic series.
Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 23: Bridge of Tears by Stan Sakai
This entry from one of my favourite comic series was a bit of a stretch, but I think the combination of bridge and tears fits the theme of this list well and it is a very outstanding comic.
The Drowning Girls by Veronica Lando
One of the more recent entries on this list, The Drowning Girls is an outstanding novel that sees an Australian fishing town endure a mysterious set of drownings with a sacrificial edge to them.
The Voyage of the Forgotten by Nick Martell
The third and final book in the incredible Legacy of the Mercenary Kings series, the title refers to a treacherous sea voyage the protagonists undertake to reclaim a character’s memories. The title is again a bit of a stretch, but I decided to leave it in, especially as the more nautical themed plot was very different from the city-based first two books, The Kingdom of Liars and The Two-Faced Queen. Plus, this is a brilliant read that perfectly wraps up an exceptional trilogy.
River of Gold by Anthony Riches
An excellent historical fiction read that saw a Roman regiment travel along a river into the depths of Africa.
Star Wars: Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith: The Burning Seas by Charles Soule
Darth Vader invades an ocean planet looking for Jedi and all hell breaks loose, need I say more?
Streams of Silver by R. A. Salvatore
A classic fantasy novel from the legendary R. A. Salvatore. The streams in the title was technically referring to veins of ore, however, I am still including it here.
Black River by Matthew Spencer
The final entry is an outstanding and powerful Australian crime fiction debut that takes place along the shores a river running through Sydney. Tight, intense and deeply enjoyable, this is a brilliant read.
Well, that is the end of this list. As you can see there are some fantastic novels out there that uses water-based terms in their titles, and there honestly some very interesting usages for it throughout fiction. All the above novels are wonderful and highly recommended reads, and I had an incredible time reading them. Let me know which books with water-based phrases or terms in the title you have enjoyed the most in the comments.
The Unseen Library 