Action/Adventure Aficionados discussion

Mark's words on the Introduction Thread, "So when would you all consider to be the glory days of action fiction? I find I enjoy books written from the late 50s to early 80s best. Technological advancement was exploding but there was no internet hacking or touchscreens or other ultra-tech (unless it was sci-fi). I'm reading Heilein's Starship Troopers and it's a blast, literally.

That's a great question for those of us who like the "old school" action adventures.

So, what do you think of when you think of "Old School Action Adventure?

For me, I'd say it's the work of Alistair MacLean and runs through, including books by Desmond Bagley and Robert Ludlum. I'd also include books by guys like C.S. Forrester and his protoge' Dudley Pope.

Definitely Alistair MacLean and his ilk...fond memories from trips to the library during my teenage years (in the mid-90s - I'm not that old :-P). I dunno, I found myself gravitating towards those 60s and 70s action yarns more than the ultra-slick modern technothrillers... Maybe the writing style still had a bit more flair than the more efficient modern prose, maybe there was less foul language and explicit sex, maybe the emphasis was on grit and sweat and engineering rather than sci-fi technology and cyberwarfare...

One major distinction between "classic" action stories and the modern breeds is the shift in focus from Europe/Axis of Evil/Communist/Fascist/whatever-ist to the Middle East and terrorism. A gripping story is a gripping story regardless of setting and flavor of bad guy, but I don't find the Islamic terrorism angle as captivating as, say, a Russian cartel trafficking in stolen warheads. Maybe because there was a bit more a classical espionage feel to those stories, whereas with a lot modern books dealing with Middle Eastern terrorists, it's more military-focused and tech-heavy.

I'll read anything that's good though, but as far as I can tell, the 60s and 70s had it going on across the board (movies, books, music). I had to grow up with Nirvana, Eminem, and Limp Bizkit. Oh well.

Yes, I like the distinction between "Cold War" books and those written afterwards. To me, the "cold war" books are "Old School." Old school is good for me.

I grew up though short, but self-glorified rein of "Rock-Opera" Styx, Queen, Rush etc. I also had a time where I went' Country. I like all kinds of music, but not all of any catagory of music.

Same for boks I imagine.

I also find those who manage to build up a "Super-Villain" organization like in the James Rollins "Sigma Force" books are more able to capture that "Cold War" essence I like so much too.

I, Curmudgeon wrote: "Yes, I like the distinction between "Cold War" books and those written afterwards. To me, the "cold war" books are "Old School." Old school is good for me.

I grew up though short, but self-glo..."

I'm old school and cold war all the way. Fleming, Maclean were highlights in my early reading years.

I can't believe the Rush mention too! One of my absolute, long-standing favourites. I love how these guys have a devoted fan base that has lasted decades. Only thing is, my other half won't let me listen to them when she's in the house.

Best, Chris

I find that epic, bombastic heavy metal music augments whatever action book I'm reading, kind of like a violent soundtrack for the mayhem I see in my head. I was reading Starship Troopers today and I threw on some Big Pun (a late-90's hip-hop icon for those who may not know). After thirty seconds I switched on some German heavy metal with a death-march beat. Unquestionably more appropriate.

I'm definitely newer to this genre, so I am not qualified to comment. I am excited to see what others have to say.

I'm just rambling here, so bear with me. I'd say the 60s through 80s are the glory days of "SPY" or "ESPIONAGE" fiction rather than strictly action fiction, and the modern era, beginning with the golden days of Dirk Pitt novels by Cussler in the late 80's through 2000s that started a whole new trend of action adventure novels from the likes of Rollins, Reilly, Berry and so on, had began the glory days of pure "ACTION" fiction; specially after the release of Da Vinci Code we saw the rise of a new wave of action-conspiracy-suspense novels. Plus the post-9/11 era gave the writers a new villain to focus on to, which was sorely missing since the fall of USSR, and pumped new life to the military/espionage action series like Mitch Rapp (Vince Flynn), Gabriel Allon (Daniel Silva), or even John Corey (Nelson DeMille). And in recent years there's a rise of another type of action novels, the techno/militaristic series with a bit of an out-there/supernatural/sci-fi/fantastical elements thrown in.... namely Jonathan Maberry's Joe Ledger books, almost all the works of Jeremy Robinson, Greig Beck's Alex Hunter series, Larry Correia's MHI series, or David Lynn Golemon's Event Group etc etc.

These all just my opinion, that we are living the glory days of pure cinematic "ACTION" fiction... Even the espionage spy novels are much more action/militaristic-heavy now than the intelligence/mind game-heavy cold war era novels (Le Carre, Deighton, Maclean, Forsyth, Follett etc). Which era of fiction is actually greater quality-wise, regardless of the genre, is entirely a different question :)

Rizwan wrote: "I'm just rambling here, so bear with me. I'd say the 60s through 80s are the glory days of "SPY" or "ESPIONAGE" fiction rather than strictly action fiction, and the modern era, beginning with the g..."

Rizwan makes some very good points here.

Joe wrote: "Rizwan wrote: "I'm just rambling here, so bear with me. I'd say the 60s through 80s are the glory days of "SPY" or "ESPIONAGE" fiction rather than strictly action fiction, and the modern era, begin..."

Thanks Joe!

I dare say the best is yet to come for action and adventure. We've got a million young, recent vets going to college right now. All with fantastic tales to tale!

While I certainly appreciate the classic pulp fiction that paved the way, for me the glory days were the 1980s. And one of the authors who made it glorious, IMO, was Len Levinson. The first post on my new site/blog (http://virtualpulppress.siterubix.com) was dedicated to him. Through the world-shrinking Internet I've actually become correspondents with him, Jim Morris, Jerry Ahern (briefly, before he passed) and some other authors of the books I read in those days. I'm probably going to post a Levinson essay for Veteran's Day, and of course I'll be blogging about a lot of his books in the future, since I've read so many of them.

Anyway, the bulk of my action-adventure paperbacks are from that decade.

I don't know if they were the glory days of Action Fiction or if it was just the relative glamour of the books compared to people's everyday existence but I think Ludlum and Lustbader's books in the 70's and 80's had a pretty big impact. They seemed to be a step-change in terms of their omnipresence in shops etc from the thrillers that preceded them such as 'Day of the Jackal'.

I think part of the appeal was that readers did not have as much access to international travel while the protagonists and story moved from country to country painting these exotic pictures of places and cultures the readers would never experience.

I'm still a big fan of David Morrell. Brotherhood of the Rose, Desperate Measures, The Fraternity of the Stone, The Fifth Procession, and The League of the Night and Fog are some of my favorites.

I would also add Jack Higgins. I'm reading On Dangerous Ground now.

I. Curmudgeon wrote: "For me, I'd say it's the work of Alistair MacLean and runs through, including books by Desmond Bagley and Robert Ludlum. I'd also include books by guys ..."

I'm not familiar with any of these authors except Ludlum. Have to check them out.

Desmond Bagley try The Tightrope Men / The Enemy or The Tightrope Men / The Enemy. Loved both of those.

For Alistair Maclean... pick one, most of them are good. Breakheart Pass is an unusual and enjoyable western. The Guns of Navarone is a classic, as is Where Eagles Dare and Ice Station Zebra ; The Guns Of Navarone ; Where Eagles Dare. I even liked Circus though others might not have.

I like Alistair MacLean but his work began to fade badly in the 1970s when he was--by his own admission--just writing for the money. Before that his work is in the vein of a couple of great Scottish adventure novelists, John Buchan and Hammond Innes. I think that the best days of action fiction stretch from the early 1900s, when Erskine Childers wrote Riddle of the Sands, through the 1930s when Geoffrey Household was at his best (see the incredible Rogue Male) to about the 1980s. I can't connect to the current high-tech adventure genre, which seems to lack so much of the personal element of earlier adventure fiction.

Edward wrote: "I like Alistair MacLean but his work began to fade badly in the 1970s when he was--by his own admission--just writing for the money. Before that his work is in the vein of a couple o..."

That's a very interesting idea. If we go back to 1900, that brings The Assassination Bureau, Ltd by Jack London into play as well as The Star Rover. The Assassination Bureau was turned into a reasonably fun movie for the Era staring Oliver Reed and Dianna Rigg. It was definitely action adventure.

When I hear that term, my first thoughts are Alastair MacLean, Desmond Bagley and Hammond Innes. Almost everything they wrote would fall into that category from my point of view. There are other authors who wrote some books I would consider 'classic' action/adventure, Wilbur Smith, for example, whose The Eye of the Tiger would definitely go there, but many others did not. Geoffrey Jenkins is another, perhaps lesser known South African author, his The River of Diamonds I remember as being particularly good.

I think there are any number of outstanding current authors as well, many writing the military/black ops type novels as well as any number of exceptional sci-fi and fantasy authors. I don't think we will run out of good authors in this field anytime soon, thankfully.

Whenever a discussion turns to the halcyon days of action-adventure, I automatically think of the '80s and the explosion of "guys with guns" series such as The Executioner, Phoenix Force, Able Team, and the plethora of other similarly-minded but less-known books like Eagle Team, Killsquad, and SOBs (Soldiers of Barrabas).

Surely, it is the period from around the mid-1960s to the late 1970s. All the biggest names in the genre were at their peak. Competition between them--to produce top-quality works--was fierce.

Moreover, key elements which make good thrillers (politics, air travel, technology) were all in a brief, fulsome moment before the point of over-saturation occurred and whereupon Clancy and Cussler took over.

I've talked about this on Goodreads before somewhere..yes, here: http://tinyurl.com/nqt6jrq

(about 1/3 of the way down the page, message 69, my review of Frederic Forsyth).

I too like the Jack Higgins novels especially the ones with Nazis in them.

Also enjoyed the Ira Levin novels also.

I cut my action book chops on the likes of Tom Clancy - Jack Ryan, Richard Marcinko - Rogue Warrior, and Clive Cussler - Dirk Pitt. They got repetitive...so I'm back to science ficton, but the mil Sci Fi is still my fave: Heinlein, Steakly, Haldeman, and Scalzi.

I'm glad I came upon this thread. All my favorite authors are listed here. I hope the glory days of classic action-adventure aren't over. It would be nice to see a resurgence of the genre.

I'm lucky, I'm living the glory days. I never read actions books when I was younger. Now it's mostly what I read.

Maybe I'm nuts, but I think the glory days of Action/Adventure are just starting. I'm a big fan of current authors like Lee Child and Daniel Silva and James Rollins and Lance Charnes. With the cold war over, and the terrorist genre stale, authors have to be more creative -- and that's leading to better books every day.

Peace, Seeley

I asked on another thread for recommendations of action series I hadn't read (I gave a list of series I had read) - no one mentioned Rollins, so I will add him to my list of series to check out, thanks.

I think we're "still" in them, it's just that different eras tend to zero in on different types. The "pulp" era was great and I still love a lot of those stories. I read the spy-fi books back in the 60s, the straight up actioners like Don Pendelton in the '70s. The '80s had a good mix of political with military coming back. Now we have a wide range of action books, the ex-military heroes, the political thrillers, the science fiction, the urban fantasy crossovers to action.

I think the middle 20th century to present may be the glory days of action fiction.