81 books like On Stranger Tides

Dragon riders! Heroic quests! A flawed hero! Schools of magic!

The Earthsea trilogy has to be considered, alongside Lord of the Rings, as a template-setter for all the fantasy epics that have followed. What I loved about it, instantly, was the contrast in style to Tolkien’s book. Tolkien’s writing is ornate, his story epic. Leguin’s books, however, are short and lean with prose like a polished gem.

It inspired the style I aspire to in my own writing: slim, elegant prose, not a wasted word. And characters with flaws. In this first book, we follow Ged, a new student at a school of wizardry. In a rash action born of ego and power-greed, Ged unleashes a dark spirit, then must undo the wrong he’s done.

In my humble opinion, this is the greatest adventure tale in the English language!

Robert Louis Stevenson practically invented pirates for the modern world, particularly his chief antagonist, the crippled but formidable Long John Silver. Highly intelligent, cunning, crafty, ruthless, yet somehow appealing, Silver set the standard for all pirate heroes to come.

Whenever I get bogged down studying pirates, I turn to Treasure Island to remember what it is to enjoy my subject!

The spirit of Peter Pan is something I’ve always admired since I first remember seeing the 1953 Disney film as a boy, and then later reading JM Barrie’s classic novel in young adulthood. He’s a boy that lives every day for adventure, and I feel that is a great way to approach life. The quality of the writing is both poetic and dark for a children’s story, and explores themes that are still relevant today, such as freedom, choice, power, and the innate human desire to overcome circumstances and break free from limiting beliefs. It’s such an incredible world and character, and has greatly inspired my life and career. I love it!

If there’s anything I like as much as pirates, it’s heist stories. The excellent follow-up to the amazing Lies of Locke Lamora, Red Seas rang every one of my bells by taking our favorite thieving bastards Locke and Jean to sea, under the command of a strong, brilliant female captain, Zamira Drakasha. And she’s not just a woman pirate – she’s a middle-aged, Black single mother, running her ship and being the best pirate any denizen of the high seas could aspire to be. Lynch caught a good bit of flack for this character, but I was delighted. You will be, too.

This may be a strange pick for some, but it is one of my favourite stories. It's something I grew up with and is very influential and inspirational to me.

The crew of the Going Merry become like family, not just on the pages but also personally. Ask anyone who loves One Piece, and they will tell you that they feel attached to the characters as if they're real. You get to see them overcoming adversity and loss, and with the help of their found family, they keep moving towards their dreams over and over again.

The author creates a world where it feels like anything can happen and yet still remains grounded in that world. Given a chance, I would go there in a heartbeat, provided I can join the crew of the future Pirate King.

The Liveship Traders books explore the roles of women in arguably more depth than previous and subsequent books within Hobb’s massive Realm of the Elderlings series. In Ship of Magic, we are introduced to multiple characters including female protagonists Althea and Malta, two members of the Vestrit family who, throughout this series, try to establish their place in a society that very firmly places women within restricted roles. Hobb is a master at character work, and following the stories of these two young women is a journey in itself. We see them evolve, grow, and, ultimately, overcome the oppressions placed upon them by those around them. In the trilogy as a whole, Hobb explores these issues alongside historic abuse and trauma, mental health, and equality. An excellent exploration of feminist issues.  

I’ve been a fan of Anne Bonney (one of the most famous female pirates in history) since I was a kid. She strapped on a sword and went to sea at a time when women were expected to marry young and die in childbirth, so a story that sees her surviving the gallows was naturally going to appeal to me. There’s an ancient society of assassins fighting an age-old war, and a risky ocean voyage to rescue a kidnapped child and claim a legendary treasure hidden in a lost city of bones somewhere on the coast of Africa. Is it any wonder I was hooked? This is the third book in Belcher’s Golgotha series, but I think you could read it alone and enjoy the adventure.

This one’s a little different – pirates sail the clouds instead of the ocean. In a world where Haiti won its freedom at a devastating cost, a young Black woman wants to earn a place on an airship, but can’t seem to find any way to prove her worth to the sky pirates she longs to join. Until she learns about a weapon called the Black God’s Drums, that someone plans to use to wipe New Orleans off the map. Add in the whispers of an orisha with its own agenda and a possible romantic attraction to the peg-legged Captain Ann-Marie, and you’ve got everything a pirate might want.

Long John Silver isn’t a novel but a graphic novel series.

Set twenty years after Treasure Island, and featuring the man himself, what follows is a dark, adventurous tale, an expedition to find a lost city of riches deep in the Amazon. For a series with relatively brief entries, the story takes its time, setting up sharp characters, a moody, tense atmosphere, and laying the seeds for future rivalries and betrayals.

The artwork follows these moods, rich or muted, sparse or dense as needs be, and some of the larger panels are truly impressive.
For an ominous, well-paced adventure, focused on its character work and simmering tensions, look no further than Long John Silver. Particularly recommended for fans of the superlative pirate show Black Sails (itself a pseudo-prequel to Treasure Island).

Due to the rarity of pirate fantasy novels out there (that is, if we aren’t including romance novels, which others well might), I’m going to cheat a little bit with this (instead of picking something more well-known like the superlative Liveship Traders trilogy by Robin Hobb).

There are no pirates in Cradle of Sea and Soil; I would instead describe it an indigenous Caribbean fantasy with a beautifully and uniquely defined colour-based magic system and exciting, monstrous elements of Lovecraftian horror.

I’m recommending this novel partly because it’s a wonderful story, partly because indigenous Caribbean-inspired fantasy is even rarer than pirate fantasy, but also, in the context of this list, to be a “pirate in the Caribbean” asks questions about foundations: that maybe the stories rest not just on the nature of the setting itself, but are tied up (though usually unacknowledged) with the existence (or once existence) of indigenous… show more.