Adventure stories book series in reading order

by Enid Blyton

by Enid Blyton

by Elisabetta Dami

by Victor Appleton

by Kate Messner

by Helen Moss

by Elisabetta Dami

by Captain W.E. Johns

by Greg Farshtey

by Elisabetta Dami

by Chris Bradford

by Arthur Ransome

by Elisabetta Dami

by Elisabetta Dami

by Greg Farshtey

by Chris Bradford

by Ursula Vernon

by Jon Scieszka

by John Flanagan

by Chris Ryan

by Franklin W. Dixon

by Gabrielle Lord

by Victor Appleton

by Trenton Lee Stewart

by Shannon Hale

by Dan Gutman

by Curtis Jobling

by Lisa McMann

by H. Rider Haggard

Enid Blyton

957 books• 42 series

Enid Blyton (11 August 1897 to 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer and one of the best-selling authors of children's literature, with more than 600 million copies sold and translations into ninety languages. Blyton wrote on education, natural history, fantasy, mystery and biblical stories. Noddy, the Famous Five, the Secret Seven, the Five Find-Outers and Malory Towers are the best-remembered Blyton books, and St Clare's, Mary Mouse and Toyland Stories are also listed. The catalogue opens with The Enid Blyton Book of Fairies (1924), and The Naughtiest Girl in the School (1930) and The Adventures of the Wishing-Chair (1937) follow. Titles dated after Blyton's death also appear, up to Stories of Wonders and Wishes (2023).

Elisabetta Dami

309 books• 22 series

Elisabetta Dami, born 1 January 1958, is an Italian children's author known for the Geronimo Stilton book series. The catalogue credits Dami with 309 books from 1998 to 2026. Titles from 2000 include Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye, Attack Of The Bandit Cats and Four Mice Deep in the Jungle. Other listings include Geronimo Stilton: Thea Stilton, Mouseford Academy, Kingdom Of Fantasy, Geronimo Stilton Cavemice, Geronimo Stilton Spacemice and Creepella von Cacklefur. Subjects include mice, journalists, time travel and humorous stories. The Legend of Chocolate Hills (2026) is the newest title.

Tracey West, born October 1, 1965, is a children's author who writes for licensed series such as Pokémon and SpongeBob SquarePants. The catalogue lists 356 titles from 1988 to 2027, reaching Heart of the Ruby Dragon (2026), with Claw of the Diamond Dragon due in 2027. Named series include Pokémon chapter books, novelizations and readers, Naruto Chapter Books, LEGO Ninjago Reader, Bakugan Chapter Books, Pixie Tricks, Pet Vet Club and Scream Shop Pick Your Path. Dragon Masters and Heroes in Training appear as recurring lines. Ninja, dragons and plot-your-own stories appear among the subject headings.

James Patterson

510 books• 73 series

James Patterson, born on March 22, 1947, is an American writer whose catalogue here holds 514 books published from 1976 to 2027. The run opens with The Thomas Berryman Number (1976), and Along Came a Spider (1992) and Kiss the Girls (1995) follow later. Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, Witch & Wizard, NYPD Red, Private, Middle School and the Women's Murder Club are among the Patterson series, alongside standalone thrillers, non-fiction and romance. Marshall Karp shares the credit on 5 of the books. Patterson's sales exceed 425 million copies, and Patterson was the first person to sell one million e-books. Forbes ranked Patterson the highest-paid author in 2016, for a third year running, and the National Book Foundation gave Patterson the Literarian Award in November 2015. 27 Stars is scheduled for 2027.

Jerry Bruce Jenkins, born September 23, 1949, is an American writer who co-wrote the Left Behind series with Tim LaHaye. Jenkins also writes the novels based on The Chosen, the TV series about Jesus. Across more than 200 books, Jenkins covers biography, self-help, romance, mystery and young adult fiction, and 19 novels explore eschatological themes. The catalogue lists 207 books from The Night the Giant Rolled Over (1971) to The Battle for Heaven and Earth (2026). Series include Left Behind: The Kids, Red Rock Mysteries, Margo Mysteries and Wormling.

Carolyn Keene is a Stratemeyer Syndicate pen name, the credit on the Nancy Drew mysteries. Mildred Wirt Benson, one of the writers behind the name, used it from 1929 to 1953 and contributed to 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew books. The catalogue lists 647 Carolyn Keene books, beginning with The Secret of the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase and The Bungalow Mystery (all 1930) and reaching Vans & Villains (2026). Series include Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, Nancy Drew Files, Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, Nancy Drew Diaries, Nancy Drew: Girl Detective and Dana Girls Mystery Stories.

Clive Cussler

104 books• 9 series

Clive Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. Cussler founded and chaired the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), which has located more than 60 shipwreck sites. Cussler's thrillers, many of them featuring Dirk Pitt, reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than 20 times. The catalogue lists 105 books under Cussler's name, beginning with The Mediterranean Caper (1973), with The Serpent's Eye due in 2027. Robin Burcell shares credit on 6 of them, Jack Du Brul on 5 and Grant Blackwood on 3. Series include Dirk Pitt, NUMA Files, Oregon Files and Sea Hunters.

Gregory Todd Farshtey, born July 14, 1965, is an American writer known for the Bionicle novels (2003-2010), the Bionicle comics (2001-2010) and the Ninjago graphic novels. The catalogue counts 80 Farshtey books, from The River of God (1992) to Ghost Ninja (2015). Series include Bionicle Adventures, Bionicle Legends, LEGO Ninjago Graphic Novels, LEGO Ninjago Chapter Books, LEGO Legends of Chima: Chapter Books, LEGO Hero Factory: Secret Mission, Exo-force and Bloodshadows. Legends of Metru Nui (2004) and The Official Guide to Bionicle (2003) are among the titles, and subjects include LEGO toys, heroes, ninja and robots.

Franklin W. Dixon is the author name on the Hardy Boys books, and the catalogue lists 473 titles under the Dixon name from 1927 to 2023. The Tower Treasure, The House on the Cliff and The Secret of the Old Mill all date from 1927. Dixon series include Hardy Boys Casefiles, Hardy Boys Adventures, Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers, Hardy Boys: Secret Files and Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mystery, plus the Ted Scott Flying Stories. Undercover Bookworms (2023) is the newest title.

Rick Riordan

82 books• 19 series

Rick Riordan, born Richard Russell Riordan Jr. on June 5, 1964, is an American author. Riordan is best known for the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles, which take in Percy Jackson & the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, The Trials of Apollo and The Nico di Angelo Adventures. The catalogue holds 82 books from 1997 to 2026, opening with Big Red Tequila (1997) and reaching The Lightning Thief in 2005; the Tres Navarre and Kane Chronicles lines also feature. Riordan's books have been translated into 42 languages and have sold more than 30 million copies in the United States. 20th Century Fox filmed the first two Percy Jackson books, a project Riordan had no part in.

Gordon Korman

119 books• 22 series

Gordon Korman is a Canadian writer of children's and young adult fiction whose books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list. The catalogue holds 119 titles, from This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall! (1977) to Sleepless (2026). Subject tags cover schools, friendship, humorous stories, adventure, mystery and detective stories, and shipwrecks. Series headings include Swindle Mysteries, Masterminds, Everest, Dive, Titanic, Ungifted and the Monday Night Football Club. Gordon Korman remains actively publishing.

Victor Appleton is the name on the Tom Swift books, and the catalogue lists 161 titles under the Victor Appleton name from 1910 to 2023. Tom Swift and His Motor-Cycle, Tom Swift and His Motor-Boat, Tom Swift and His Airship and Tom Swift and His Submarine Boat all date from 1910, the start of the peak decade. The series credited to Appleton are Tom Swift I, Tom Swift Jr., Tom Swift III, Tom Swift IV, Tom Swift Invention, Tom Swift: Inventors' Academy and Tom Swift, Young Inventor, plus Don Sturdy and Moving Picture Boys. Subjects include inventors, robots, space flight, science fiction and children's adventure. Tom Swift and His Flying RaceYacht (2023) is the newest listed title.

Gary Paulsen

181 books• 17 series

Survival and outdoor adventure run through Gary Paulsen's writing for young readers. The catalogue holds 181 books, from Some Birds Don't Fly (1968) to Northwind (2022), at a median length of 105 pages. Brian Robeson, Francis Tucket, Duncan Culpepper, Murphy and the World of Adventure books head the series lines, with non-fiction and picture books alongside. No new Paulsen title has appeared since 2022.

Eoin Colfer

59 books• 18 series

Eoin Colfer, born 14 May 1965, is an Irish children's writer and a former primary school teacher, best known for the eleven Artemis Fowl fantasy novels. By 2013 the Artemis Fowl books had sold more than 21 million copies in 44 languages, and in a 2010 public poll readers chose Artemis Fowl as their favourite Puffin Books title. The novel Artemis Fowl (2001) was followed by The Arctic Incident (2002) and The Eternity Code (2003). Other series include the Fowl Twins, W.A.R.P., Benny Shaw and Plugged, with Benny and Omar (1998) among the early titles and Deerheart (2026) the newest. The listing also credits The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1996) to Colfer.

Tui T. Sutherland

58 books• 13 series

Tui T. Sutherland is an American children's author, born July 31, 1978, with more than 60 books written under Sutherland's own name and several pen names. Sutherland is best known for Wings of Fire, a series of dragon fantasy novels, and won $46,200 over three games on Jeopardy! in 2009. The catalogue lists 58 Sutherland books from Jewel Sticker Stories (2000) to The Hybrid Prince (2026), with Kari Sutherland credited on 2. Other listings include Pet Trouble, Avatars and Menagerie. Subjects include dragons, pets, dogs, prophecies and fantasy.

Tony Abbott, born in 1952, is an American author of children's books. His Secrets of Droon fantasy series runs to more than 40 titles and is his most widely read work; he also wrote Firegirl and The Copernicus Legacy. Abbott has sold over 12 million copies and been translated into Italian, Spanish, Korean, French, Japanese, Polish, Turkish and Russian. The 105 catalogued books span Danger Guys (1994) to Junk Boy (2020), aimed largely at grades 1 to 3.

D.J. MacHale

39 books• 10 series

Donald James MacHale, born March 11, 1956, is an American writer, director and executive producer. Television work includes Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Flight 29 Down and Seasonal Differences; in print, MacHale wrote the young adult series Pendragon and Morpheus Road. The catalogue holds 39 books from East of the Sun, West of the Moon (1991) to The Paper Trail (2025), with titles such as The Merchant of Death (2002), The Never War (2003) and Black Water (2004) along the way, and SYLO Chronicles among the later groupings. Stan Rogow is credited alongside MacHale on 6 books and Walter Sorrells on 5.

Adam Blade is the name used by a small collective of authors who write Beast Quest, along with Team Hero, Beast Quest: New Blood and Space Wars. Beast Quest has sold more than 11 million copies. The catalogue lists 288 Adam Blade books from 2007 to 2024, opening with titles such as Ferno The Fire Dragon, Sepron The Sea Serpent and Cypher the Mountain Giant (all 2007) and reaching Pirano the Water Dragon (2024). Monsters, quests, heroes and cyborgs appear in the subjects, along with the fictional characters Tom, Elenna and Max.

John Flanagan

37 books• 6 series

John Flanagan writes fantasy adventure for readers in grades 6 to 8. The Ruins of Gorlan (2004) opens Ranger's Apprentice, which extends into The Royal Ranger and The Early Years; the Brotherband Chronicles are a second series, and seafaring life and pirates sit in the subject tags. Thirty-eight titles are catalogued through Ambush at Sorato (2024). Apprentices, heroes, courage and friendship recur across the books.

Peter Lerangis

93 books• 27 series

Peter Lerangis, born Peter Duncan Lerangis in Brooklyn, New York, in 1955, is an American author of children's and young adult fiction. Lerangis is best known for the Seven Wonders series and for work on the 39 Clues series. Some catalogued titles, such as License to Drive (1988), appeared under the name A.L. Singer. Series include Abracadabra, Spy X, Drama Club, Max Tilt, Throwback, Antarctica and Cerulean. Subjects include adventure, fantasy, mystery, twins, dinosaurs, theater and Atlantis, and the newest title is Out of Time (2021).

Chris Bradford is an English author and black belt martial artist, best known for the Young Samurai children's series. Puffin published the first Young Samurai book, The Way of the Warrior, in 2008, and Disney bought the rights that year. Seven further books followed, and a ninth, The Return of the Warrior, marked the series' tenth anniversary in 2018. The Bodyguard series began in 2013 with Hostage, in which teenage bodyguard Connor Reeves protects the US president's daughter. Other series include Ninja, Virtual Kombat, Bulletcatcher and Soul Hunters, and Lunar (2023) is the newest title.

Erin Hunter is the name on 169 catalogued books, published from 2003 onward and filed as children's fantasy fiction. Into the Wild, Fire and Ice and Forest of Secrets (all 2003) are the earliest. Series listings include Warriors: The New Prophecy, Warriors: Power of Three, Warriors: Omen of the Stars, Warriors: Dawn of the Clans and Warriors: The Broken Code. Seekers, Survivors, Bravelands and Bamboo Kingdom also appear. Subjects include cats, feral cats, bears, dogs, adventure and manga. Darktail's Judgment (2026) is the newest, with False Dawn due in 2027.

Brandon Mull

35 books• 10 series

Brandon Mull, born November 8, 1974, is an American writer of children's fantasy. Fablehaven (2006) is the first catalogued book and the series most associated with Mull, along with Dragonwatch, The Candy Shop War, the Beyonders trilogy and Five Kingdoms, and Mull also launched the Spirit Animals series. The catalogue counts 35 books through Forbidden Mountain (2026). Tolkien, C. S. Lewis and J. K. Rowling are Mull's stated influences, and dragons, fairies and mythical creatures fill the subjects.

James Riley

16 books• 4 series

James Riley, born in 1977, writes fantasy for readers in grades 3 to 5. Story Thieves is the best known series, opening in 2015 and continuing through The Stolen Chapters (2016), Secret Origins (2017) and Pick the Plot (2018). Half Upon a Time (2010) opens the catalogue and its own trilogy, and the Revenge of Magic, Once Upon Another Time and The Dragon's Apprentice follow. Sixteen books are catalogued through 2025, with fairy tales, magic, monsters and books about books as recurring subjects.