give me pulp adventure!

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I have a yen right now for good pulp adventure fantasy. Things in the vein of Indiana Jones (the good films) or The Mummy. Things with ancient ruins and ancienter curses, heroic heroes and heroicer heroines, exotic settings, whip-cracking action, and the like. Books, movies, graphic novels — I don’t much mind what form it comes in. Slight preference for modern renditions of the genre, since I like actual characterization and female characters who aren’t just there to scream and get into trouble.

Recommend to me!

0 Responses to “give me pulp adventure!”

  1. lanerobins

    If you like YA books, I thought Airborn by Kenneth Oppel was scads of fun. Airships, lost adventurers, undiscovered monsters, pirates, and a hero and heroine who were a lot of fun.

  2. emrowan

    Have you read the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan books? The first in the series is THE LIGHTNING THIEF. Greek mythology in a contemporary setting, with great heroes, heroines, and action.

  3. aliettedb

    I’ve heard good things about
    Stephen Hunt’s “The Kingdom Beyond the Waves”, though I haven’t read it myself.

    • hawkwing_lb

      Seconded. I am about a third of the way in, and it’s definitely interesting.

      It has archaeology! Well, archaeologists looting, at least.

  4. rj_anderson

    I got an enormous kick out of Larklight and Starcross by Philip Reeve, set in an alternate universe where England has colonized space. It’s basically a middle-grade spoof of Victorian/Edwardian children’s pulp adventures, with sly asides to (and by) the illustrator and RPF-ish appearances by people like Intrepid Explorer Sir Richard Burton. Also of interest may be Reeve’s decidedly grimmer and more teen-oriented Hungry City Chronicles beginning with MORTAL ENGINES, though now that I’ve made those recommendations I’ve realized that they’re much more steampunk than the kind of archaeological/exploration fantasy you seem to be looking for — ah, well.

    I also second the recommendation for Airborn and its sequels Skybreaker and Starclimber, but again… zeppelins and alternate universe Victoriana, rather than Indy robbing temples.

    I kind of want to throw in a recommendation for Elizabeth E. Wein here, who is reminiscent of Dunnett by way of Megan Whalen Turner, doing Arthurian historical spy dramas in ancient Ethiopia. Start with THE SUNBIRD and then read THE LION HUNTER and THE EMPTY KINGDOM, or if you’re feeling ambitious you could go back further in the series and track down the very first book in which we meet Telemakos, which is A COALITION OF LIONS. (Or go back even further to THE WINTER PRINCE, which is about Mordred, but that’s hard to find these days. You can order copies of WP and COL from , though, if you ask — that’s how I got mine.)

  5. sarcastibich

    older movie from the early/mid ’80s called Jake Speed has exactly the kind of vibe you are going for. You can find it on Netflix, which is where Mike found it and shared it with me.

  6. dawn_metcalf

    Girl Genius by Phil & Kaja Folio. Totally.

    (You wouldn’t think it to look at it, but look again! Steampunk plus ancient civ plus kick-brain females plus exotic magic plus mystery plus intrigue plus…)

  7. lordlothair

    League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a pesonal favorite of mine, and the movie isn’t that bad if you expect and accept the schticky nature of it.

    As far as movie type things… There are many of them… but ones that are actually good get harder and harder to find. They did the National Treasure movies… which were pretty bad. In theory the Da Vinci Code is similar in nature, but not as pulp as you are talking about. The Lara Croft movies would fall into that vein. Jewel of the Nile and Romancing the Stone both pop up in my mind, but might be lacking the female protrayal you want.

    There were a few Allan Quatermain movies back in the 80’s with Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone… but I don’t remember the actual titles.

    You could go way back and watch the African Queen for your 50’s fix.

    Taking it a little more comic book would give you the Shadow, the Phantom, the Rocketeer, and Sky Captain. Of course all of those owe their nature to pulp comic books and the wonder that is Captain Midnight… good luck finding it, but it was one of the first really “well” made pulp comic movies. I think it was done right around WWII.

    Off the top of my head, that’s all I’ve got. I’ll fire a few more out if media is what you are looking for. I’ll let the experts handle the books for you.

  8. fritz_bogott

    Tales of the Otori

    If you haven’t read them already: Tales of the Otori, by Lian Hearn.

  9. dark_towhead

    I’ve only started reading thriller writer James Rollins, but his novels Black Order and Excavation are delightful pulp adventures.

  10. jesterjoker

    How about ‘Romancing the Stone’ and ‘The Jewel of the Nile’?

  11. kitsunealyc

    I hope you’re still in this mood in mid-February, which is my finishing goal for the first draft of Dragons of Heaven.

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