Adventure fiction is a subgenre of literature featuring thrilling stories of daring journeys. They often pit protagonists against the environment and other humans, with strong action and chase sequences. Characters tend to be simple, with little evolution, and villains tend to get their comeuppance. Adventure fiction dates back to ancient times, with famous examples including Homer’s “Odyssey” and Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island.” Women writers have also contributed to the genre. Adventure fiction captivates with its fast pace and perpetual peril.
Adventure fiction is a literary subgenre that features thrilling stories of daring and risk-filled journeys. Being fiction, it means that short stories, whether long novels or short stories published in anthologies and magazines, are purely fictional. They form an important part of children’s fiction.
Stories in adventure fiction tend to have strong themes that pit a person or group of people against the environment and other humans. The key protagonist is constantly in danger and fights for survival. They often feature chase sequences and strong action. Such stories tend not to be ultra-violent or gory, but are seen as good, clean, and fun stories.
Characters in adventure stories tend to be simple with little evolution. Nice Guys hold to strong moral codes and demonstrate good leadership qualities. Villains are sneaky or misguided and tend to get the right sweets at the end of the story. Such characters tend to be secondary to the main storyline.
Different genres of fiction such as science fiction, spy novels, and fantasy tend to overlap with adventure fiction. Spy fiction that minimizes intrigue and maximizes action can be referred to as adventure fiction. Most adventure stories have realistic or semi-realistic settings, distinguishing them from science fiction with its imaginary futures and from fantasy with its magical realism or secondary world settings.
Adventure fiction dates back thousands of years, to the earliest written materials. One of the first such stories was Homer’s “Odyssey”. In it, the central hero, Odysseus, spends 10 years trying to get home to find his wife, Penelope. On the way to Ithaca, he encounters all sorts of peoples, dangers and monsters. Another example is “Aethiopica” by Heliodorus, in which the central hero is chased and almost killed by his father without him realizing who he is.
Such stories developed during the Middle Ages due to two types of narratives. First came the era of Norse sagas, inspired by “Beowulf” to tell the real, semi-real and mythological audacity of various Vikings as in “Egils Saga”. The Age of Sagas – AD 930 to 1030 – was followed by the Age of Medieval Romances, including tales of Robin Hood and King Arthur. The latter reached its peak in the 15th century with Sir Thomas Malory’s “Le Morte D’Arthur”.
The real flowering of adventure fiction came in the 1700s and 1800s with writers like Sir Walter Scott and Victor Hugo. One of the most famous stories is Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island,” which features pirates and hidden gold. The most famous writer of adventure fiction is the Frenchman Jules Verne. His novels, such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Around the World in Eighty Days have inspired countless films.
In the beginning there were few such female writers and it was assumed that girls were not interested. Over time, this idea has been completely disproved. Girls enjoy this fiction and many, like Baroness Orczy and Leigh Brackett, have taken to writing. Much women’s adventure fiction has returned to its medieval roots and can be found in pulp romance novels.
Adventure fiction captivates with its simplicity and fast pace. The action rarely stops and the protagonists are kept in perpetual peril. Readers simply want to know what happens next.
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