Fantasy and quest adventure books are timely reads while stuck at home.

Who doesn’t love fantasy adventure stories? They offer an escape from the mundane and perfunctory routines of our everyday lives. And in this time of pandemic where almost all of us are forced to stay at home, reading fantasy and quest adventure books could help us past the time, and even for just a few hours, get away from the realities of this global crisis. Here are five adventure books to read this month.

The Healing Bowl by Anita Fisk

The Healing Bowl by Anita Fisk

The Healing Bowl is a quest adventure book by Anita Fisk. The story is set in the modern-day United States. The Healing Bowl follows the adventures of Harley Delosian and his best friend T.J., seventh-graders at JFK Middle school. TJ always feels “fuzzy-headed” at the end of Ms. Clio’s class. At first, Harley doesn’t pay much attention to this but grew suspicious of after learning that another classmate, Sammy Crabtree, got injured while playing baseball. Harley and his friends discover that Ms. Clio may hold the key to Sammy’s recovery. Harley, along with his friends, then embark on an adventure that takes them to Ancient Greece. The Healing Bowl is praise for its easy reading, fresh storyline, and moral lessons by various book critics including Elizabeth Konel of the Tulsa Book Review and Jennifer Padgett of the Manhattan Book Review.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare 2009

Source: Amazon

The 2013 urban fantasy movie was based on a book by Cassandra Clare. The 2009 best-selling novel is book one of The Mortal Instruments book series. It follows the adventures of a fifteen-year-old girl named Clary Fray. Her adventure begins at the Pandemonium Club in New York. There she witnesses a murder committed by three teenagers with strange tattoos. Known as the Shadowhunters, these warriors are sworn to protect the world from demons, vampires, and werewolves. Clary finds herself being chased by demons as well. When her mother disappears, Clary decides to work with the Shadow Hunters and join the war that’s been raging between Shadowhunters and the evil forces of evil. Book One City of Bones is followed by the City of Ashes.

The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman 2017

Source: Amazon

Philip Pullman his famous for his trilogy His Dark Materials which include the best-selling novel Northern Lights (published as The Golden Compass in North America). In 2017, Pullman published another trilogy The Book of Dust. The series includes La Belle Sauvage (set 12 years before the events in the Nothern Lights), The Secret Commonwealth (set after the events of the original trilogy), and a third book currently in the works. The first book centers on the 11-year old Malcolm Polstead and a 15-year old Alice protecting the infant Lyra from against the evil villain Gerard Bonneville, an ally of the Consistorial Court of Discipline (CCD). The book ends with Lyra reuniting with her father Lord Asriel. The second book features a twenty-year-old Lyra. There is no title yet for the third book. 

Nonetheless, the series promises to be as thrilling and as magical as the first trilogy.

West of the Moon by Katherine Langrish

Source: Goodreads

Published in 2011, West of the Moon is a fantasy adventure that contains references from Norse Legends. It follows the adventure of Peer, an orphan living in a rundown mill in the shadow of Troll Fell. He befriends a beautiful and spirited girl named Hilde. Longing to get away for an adventure, the pair decided to board a Viking longship and set sail for Vinland- a mysterious place across the stormy sea. Their adventure takes them to different continents and encounters with shadowy creatures, dishonest sailors, and unforgettable heroes. Katherine Langrish’s West of the Moon is among the latest fantasy adventures that incorporate mythology in the storyline.

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff 2019

Source: Goodreads

It follows a band of unlikely heroes, graduating cadets of Aurora Academy. The book’s main character is a brilliant but hard-knock pupil named Tyler Jones. His squad is composed of a band of misfits and losers. During their first mission, they come in contact with a girl named Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley. She was trapped in a cryo-sleep for two centuries. The girl out of time could be the key to war millions of years in the making. Aurora Rising is both thrilling and at times hilarious. The book is the first of the Aurora Cycle. It is followed by the recently published Aurora Burning (2020).