ARRT Adventure Genre Study

The ARRT Genre Study Group studied the Adventure genre from 1998-1999.

Adventure Characteristics
Hero--likable; usually male; follows own moral code, sometimes outside the law; uses ingenuity to extricate himself and others from dangerous situations
No strong, lasting, mutual relationships with women.
Physical action. Characters placed in extreme situations.
Gives the impression of fast pacing. May start slow but pacing often builds at the end. Actions
pull reader along and into story. Story generally builds to culminating event; pace quickens as read.
Violence, often graphically described.
Setting, usually "elsewhere," underlines sense of danger and obstacles to be overcome.

Military Adventure
Instead of single hero, there may be a community of men. (However, there is usually an identifiable lead character.)
More realistic characters and plots, often featuring real people and historical events. Characters seem more real even if involved in extraordinary activities.
Often strong secondary characters.
Strong survival theme as characters in military situations spend more time in immediate peril of their lives.
Plots may be episodic or show characters working toward a specific goal. Often long build up and details of military operation with action- packed ending.
Often series featuring recurring characters.

20th Century Military Adventure
20th century military adventure differs in some respects from other adventures we’ve read.
Instead of a single hero, there may be a community of men. However, there is usually an indentifiable lead character.|
There may be individual heroism, but basically this is a group ( like police procedural vs. private investigator.
Less sense of justice done; can’t be certain happy ending because war we know what happened.
"War is hell" theme makes bleaker
More realistic characters and plots
More real people and historical events
Lots of secondary characters
Women idealized and still fill negligible roles
Still sense of nobility, moral code, idealism
Survival theme still strong
Violence in battle
In some, physical action described; in other, we don’t see it happen
Some books have goal (Higgins, MacLean), others show slice of life, what like to be in military
Based on what we read--British titles tend to be more realistic and American more Cussler-like, more outlandish (see summary of difference below)
Career military vs. volunteers
Some may be more historical fiction rather than adventure; just because they are military stories does not make them all adventure.

Differences in 20^th century military adventure novels by American and British authors:

American:
Acts independently
Lone star hero
Pragmatism
Ingenuity
Adventure is a way of life
Plot often outlandish
Don’t have respect for authority
Never doubt selves and actions

British:
Duty given more weight
Group of men and 1 leader
Doing the " right thing"
Ingenuity
Ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances
Plot more realistic
Worry about doing right thing

19th Century Military Adventure
Appeal
Not contemporary problems (not like Elmore Leonard)
Usually series character, who start at lower levels and move up
Dependent on money from prizes; need money for commissions, then uniforms and food; uniquely British arrangement.
Community of men, tho some women on ships and/or camp followers.
Characters may have life partners, but women are secondary. Career over wives; women accept this arrangement. (May accompany husbands or wait at home)
Stories feel authentic; reader involved in characters and stories
Characters in true physical danger, life and death situations. Put in dangerous environment; constantly need to be alert. (In mystery, grave personal danger for 1 person. In adventure, danger is a way of life and characters live by a code of honor and preparedness that allows them to meet danger any time. In mystery, seek out danger, here always in dangerous situation on boat or battlefield).
Protagonist/hero doesn’t always get credit for actions.
Profile of average 19th century military adventure reader:
Likes military, historical, strategy detail
Reads for formula
Crossover with other historical readers? If enough detail, etc. perhaps with westerns as similar

Exotic Adventure
Set in exotic locates. Setting and sense of place emphasize danger and adventure elements
Feeling of justice done at end; good triumphs over evil.
Seldom secondary characters of any substance.
Characters and plots often rather cartoonish, including fantastic elements.
Plot lines often out-of-the ordinary. They usually don’t deal with real-life issues but focus on life and death issues involving danger and escape.
Characters often black and white, stereotypical rather than realistic.

Authors
Clive Cussler:
There has been a change in his books from early to later, although exotic settings seem consistent throughout. The later titles are bigger books, full of more extra stuff, interesting details related to place and plot. They have more characters as well. Subplots have become stranger in more recent titles.

Although he writes bigger books now with multiple plots lines, we agreed they are genuinely intriguing; we want to continue reading to find out what happens. Spoke last meeting about his lack of interesting women and generally flat characterizations, except for Dirk Pitt, who is now trademarked.

These may be good YA reads, not much sex, cinematic adventure elements. However, YA’s seem not to read them.

H. Rider Haggard:
Classic adventure writer carries the "community of men" element to an extreme in King Solomon’s Mine (1896), in which he has only 1 woman character and she’s killed. She (1897) has a very powerful woman, "She Who Must Be Obeyed," but she’s also evil, and the men are the good guys.

Contains adventure elements: likable hero, good versus evil, lots of violent death. Action in these books is less dominant; more is left to the reader’s imagination.

These may still appeal to readers of adventure, particularly to fans of George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman series.

Wilbur Smith:
Smith proved more problematical. Some of us read novels that clearly qualify as adventure. (For example, The Sunbird, another adventure involving ancient civilization and treasure, like King Solomon’s Mine). Others found his books too political and too problem-oriented to qualify as adventure. Not to mention generally unsatisfying and unsatisfactory.

Setting is important in all Smith’s books, and it’s usually southern Africa, an area not many writers focus on. But he also deals with political aspects of whites in Africa. Women are seldom important. Not all protagonists were likable, and the heroes were always as ingenuous, nor all plots adventurous. His books seem more realistic, or at least to deal with more real problems.

There might be individual titles we would suggest for adventure fans, but certainly not all his work.

Hammond Innes:
Another problematical author. His books, too, are often more realistic and feature an ordinary guy who falls into an evil plot and has to set all right. There isn’t as much physical action as one finds in Cussler. These are more like Nevil Shute’s novels or perhaps even some Alistair MacLean.

They do feature exotic setting, interesting details—archaeology, finance—and usually boats or action on water. Hero is ingenious, follows a moral code, and is involved in physical action/violence. Women are lesser characters.

What sets Innes (and Shute) apart is a more intellectual/cerebral approach to the adventure genre. They’re the thinking man’s adventure, paralleling the contrast between thriller writers Ludlum and LeCarre, for example. More elegantly written, more demanding reading. That there is not a series character also sets these apart.

Additional comments on Shute and Innes. Shute and Innes have a different world-view. They see the world as a place that can be made better. There is an underlying morality in their books, a feeling that problems can be fixed. Books are more thoughtful. Ingenuity and activity in Cussler save the day; in these there is more thoughtfulness to characters and situations.

Eric Lustbader (aka von Lustbader):
Readers were more satisfied with those novels featuring Nicholas Linear (aka Bruce Willis); these seem to fit the profile better than Lustbader’s other novels. Bigger-than- life- characters (hero and villians), lots of women in sexually explicit scenes, much violence. However, Linear also spouts haikus (and reminds some of us of Trevanian’s Shibumi). For action readers who like the eastern locales and philosophy, and the stereotypical bad guys (in at least one of the titles read, these were Japanese, who are very bright and advanced but basically evil).

Gerald A. Browne:
Softer adventure, more like Sidney Sheldon and Nora Roberts and Stuart Woods, with a blend of adventure, mystery, romance, and suspense. These feature exotic locations and usually involve jewels (diamonds, pearls, emeralds, etc.) These are as likely to be read by women as men, and women characters fare better in Browne’s novels; they are stronger and more important. Characters are real people not superhuman but likable, in unusual situations. There is less violence and it is not as graphically describes. Fast paced because of physical action. Lots of dialog, sense of movement of plot.

James Clavell:
Writes stories with a lot of political and cultural detail. Also much adventure, but they certainly aren’t faced paced. The television versions may fit our destination of adventure better than the novels. These have the characteristics of adventure novels, except for the pacing, although fans may claim they move at a fairly rapid pace because they are pulled in by the story.

Gary Jennings:
Also writes more leisurely paced adventure. Lots of details—but are they accurate, since settings are little known places and times? Complex characters, better written, stronger women. Is this a different kind of adventure novel?

Readers of both Clavell and Jennings may like Dorothy Dunnett’s multi-volume series ( that combine adventure, romance, history) as well as Michener and Jakes.

Readers might enjoy:
Clavell and Jennings (history, culture details)
Cussler and Lustbader (political implications,violence)
Browne, Roberts, and Sheldon (mystery, romance, suspense elements)
Innes, Shute and MacLean (period pieces, more cerebral)

Technothrillers
Prey on paranoia whether its Cold War or now, terrorism--do liberals read these?--very conservative bent
Hero has a moral code (but not necessarily the same as the establishment)
Likable hero--maybe not to women, but definitely to men
Women are stereotyped--stand by their man, goody two shoes
Physical action--yes! fast pacing
Violence not described or dwelled on, violence against technology, not people
No community of men--more of a "team" ( as in sports) working together, but there’s on super hero
Technology is the star--not what happens but what could happen
Episodic, strong survival
Coonts, Clancy, Thomas--series writers

Authors
Tom Clancy:
Author produced mixed reactions among readers
Heavy on techno-details
"Big" stories-in length and scope
Man’s fantasy-best, fastest, biggest
Men grow up with model airplanes, putting on decals (details)-books feed this physical danger (usually) against things, not people
Women--no "relationships"; portrayed as bad or stereotypically good ( the "little woman," the sweetheart back home", "the nurse")
Clancy has moved from Cold War to environmental terrorists
Based on some rationale-farfetched…but could be true

Stephen Coonts:
Books written in series
Singular plot (Clancy had multiple plots)
Main character ( Jake) has a conscious, sense of nobility
Throws in every kind of transport (helicopters, aircraft carriers, submarines, etc.)
Indestructible characters
Anti-establishment
Uses "in" words, such as DEFCON One, and abbreviations
Adds information for the reader- refueling in the air written in detail

Dean Ing:
Lots of sexual innuendo--old men looking at strippers
Main character poorly written--"unattractive and creepy" to ARRT reader
Technology neat and very interesting
Confusing plot
Main character has superiority complex: "I know more than you and I’m right-so I’ll save you"
One of the main characters is a woman, MIT grad, but she knows nothing (a dimwit) and lets herself be overpowered and ruled by men

Dale Brown:
Takes old technology (B52s) and upgrades it to current uses-this would appeal to older readers
Vocabulary very old-fashioned--" Old Dog" and Dreamland" –also appeal to WW11 vets
Action more important than characters
Plane itself is a character

Joe Weber:
Glossary in back--technological vocabulary is very confusing
Outrageous plot--reminds one ARRT reader of Clive Cussler
Plot jumps around--one page chapters--designed for the TV channel surfers
Lots of politics

Craig Thomas:
Less technology
British author

Westerns
Characterizations
Hero: usually loner who moves on (doesn’t stay to start a family)
Strong, silent type
Similarity to medieval knight who rides in to save day and leaves
Also like hard-boiled private eye, with few close companions
Sometimes "honorable thief" character
Surprisingly uses strategy more often than guns; good guys turn to guns and violence only as last resort
Occasionally sidekick
Women: secondary in Westerns (may be more important in novels of West)
Fallen woman or woman with heart of gold
Rarely evil: civilizing force
Indians: range of treatment from stereotypical of Brand to more depth, balance and non-judgmental approach in L’Amour and others
Black and white characters, but lawmen could be bad guys
Mix of real and fictional characters
Storyline
Themes: redemptive power of west
Lack of law; people of moral standing may be on either side of "law" and they are the "good guys"
Survival in harsh landscape
Usually told 3^rd person
Frame
Extensive descriptions of landscape/terrrain
Setting primarily post civil war,pre 20^th century
Romance of west
Tone
Nostalgic, looking back at a time when this story was possible
Pacing
Short books (generally under 300 pp.) but not necessarily page turners

Medical Thrillers
Storyline
Plot focuses on newsworthy medical issues and plays upon fears of readers: this could happen to them
Typical themes:
    Conspiracy (big medicine, bad doctors after doctors and patients)
    David and Goliath (big medicine--HMO’s, drug companies, hospitals--against good doctor)
    Corruption on individual or system and coverup of problem (unearthed by good doctor to his
    peril) Readers trust own doctors but not the system
    Secrets, usually involving one of the above, uncovered by the good doctor who is then in trouble
Ethical issues considered; always black and white
Plots are far-fetched
Not much sex, although there may be a love interest
Plots may involve crusade against enemy author sees as bad: HMO’s ,etc.
Characterizations
Patient as victim; plays on readers fear that this could happen to any of us
Story told from point of vie of good doctor ,caught up in dangerous situation; always a maverick, outside the system. Identify with character
Characters black and white
Often strong female characters
Pacing
Typically fast; suspense/chase/danger elements make move quickly; main character often in peril
Frame
Abundance of medical detail but in the best, presented so it’s not too daunting if reader doesn’t have medical background
Behind the scenes look at the profession: here’s what they really do

Authors
Robin Cook:
Fast paced
Strong message/crusade—against HMO’s
Strong women
Focus on newsworthy issues: medical development. Build on current fears, such as biological terrorism
More readable than others in medical thrillers-fast-paced. Not too much medical detail
Average reader could appreciate fears
Plot 90%
Philosophical/ethical issues; doctors often target of bad guys ( HMO and hospitals and drug companies)
Doctors at mercy of health profession
Feed on lack of trust, fear of doctors, in plots

Michael Palmer:
Fast-paced
Mixed reviews: some liked plot of Miracle Cure others thought very slow
In both Palmer and Cook, Many bad doctors; conspiracy with big medicine against little guy

Neil Ravin:
More complicated books than those by Palmer and Cook
Plot deals with bad doctors
More complex, more elegantly written
Quick pacing but better developed characters; motivation more complex

Kathy Reichs:
Is this mystery or fiction? More like a police procedural than a straight mystery: investigation, lots of details; many police aspects.
Medical research secondary
Forensic evidence that supports police investigation
Parallel to Patricia Cornwell: troubled character, depressed, divorced; problems with police
Reader hit over head with red herrings

Patricia Cornwell:
Martha Stewart in autopsy room
Liked books and character early in series
Bright women; dumb, sinister men
Plot-always target of serial murderer
Romantic suspense/Clark elements: don’t know if lover is bad guy or good
Difference between series and stand-alones. Focus on characters in series, rather than on plot.
Does it always have to be a serial killer in Cornwell and Reichs?
Enough interesting things that can come out of one murder
Doesn't need to be serial killer in every book
With serial killer, don’t need to be as careful with plotting details, just through as number of bodies covers up discrepancies

Tess Gerritsen:
Sympathetic protagonist-female
Medical detail
Far-fetched plots with organ transplants and Russian mafia or contaminated water supply
More horror elements?
What makes medical horror, as opposed to these books? More supernatural elements; need to have special powers (perhaps as result of genetic experiment)
But there’s crossover with horror

Other medical books of interest that are not medical thrillers:

Anne Benson:
Plague tales and sequel
How does this fit?
14^th century 21st century stories
For readers of Connie Willis’ Doomsday Book
Bigger books and slower paced
Serious medical component but different from Cook , etc. Pacing slower and historical detail
Not for readers of medical thrillers but maybe for historical fiction readers or time travel readers

Caroline Roe:
Breach of Treason and Cure for a Charlaton
13^th century Spain
Jewish physician
Uses medical practices of the day
Again for historical fiction readers, not thriller
Kellerman doesn’t write medical thriller; medical details in case are interesting but not the point of the story.

Readers Advisory Tips

Forensic details in Cornwell and Reichs may be way to move those readers to medical thrillers.
Clancy readers might read these too if like all details (and don’t care if they’re medical)
Environmental/biological warfare stuff works for medical suspense readers if there’s enough medical detail.
Some readers love all the medical details; others are bogged down by them
Compared to legal thrillers these are scarier while deal with more personal situations, with which we readers identify
Legal can have too many terms and details as well Like finding similar authors for Turow; may need to cross genres and finds books that aren’t just medical thrillers

Since plots are based on topics in the news, do these date more quickly?

Good books will still be readable
There will always be a new plague, so can’t be too dated
But if tied very much to specific news item, dates; if more general, still a good read
Maybe they’ll be okay until that disease is cured
E.g. Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Coffin for Dimitrius--still very readable, classic espionage. If the situation created well, the plot transcends time and place

Changes in medical thrillers
More issue-oriented

New authors: Kathy Reichs, Tess Gerritsen, Leah Ruth Robinson; sometimes medical themes; Eileen Dreyer has doctor but more mystery. To write these, need more medical background so there’s a limited pool of authors necessity of keeping up with medical advances

Dr. TV shows--non-stop pacing in ER, Chicago Hope
Wouldn’t like to read about everyday life in hospital
TV shows character-based
Soaps set around hospital

Characteristics of Political/Financial Thrillers

Storyline
Usually more financial than political-some plots seem to include political overthrows or manipulation, but use technical means to accomplish-older "political" books (such as The Last Hurrah and Advise and Consent) are not thrillers, largely due to pacing and much stronger character development.

1. Typical themes

Political or international conspiracies-manipulation of world markets

Robin Hood--altruistic or ethical reasons for stealing

Conspiracy--"taking over" something

Greed and self-gain

Government control/paranoia and conspiracy

Old money vs. new money-good characters with traditional values vs. corrupt ones (nouveau riches) young person with ethics up against corruption of the system

In older ones, the president needs to be protected

In newer ones, everyone needs to be protected from the president

2. Characters

Very little character development-these are plot driven, not character driven books

Male fantasy characters--women are stereotypically drawn "Barbie with brains", or women act like men

Some of the newer ones have a stronger female characters, who are just as evil as the men in the story

Most protagonists are white, wealthy, manly" men
Lots of detail about clothing-power clothing, descriptions of tailoring brand names dropped

Crudity--locker room language and descriptions of sexual encounters

By and large, the characters are not appealing

Not much psychological motivation

Much more emphasis on the technical aspects of financial world than the

characters

Reader doesn’t really identify with any of the characters--"what happens" is

most important

Not much humor as a rule--most are pretty relentlessly grim

3. Pacing

Very fast paced-plot driven--pacing at the expense of character development
Slam-bang plot twists with much action and physically jeopardy e.g. "being eaten by sharks"
Reader can skim over detailed descriptions of technical financial manipulations without losing sense of story

4. Frame

Glitz and glamour settings

World of high finance, banking investments

Swiss bank accounts laundered money, books resolve around money and its manipulation

Capitalism as good OR capitalism as evil

Financial ones focus on greed, political ones focus of power

The authors (many of whom work or worked in finance) are writing their fantasy of what that work would be like if it were dangerous and exciting-when in actuality it’s probably pretty routine

Stephen Frey: The Takeover, The Vulture Club
Rich white manly men
Capitalism versus environmentalism (environmentalism is the positive value)
Political conspiracy, but politically "liberal" point of view of the author
Compared to John D. McDonald’s Travis McGee but with flat, cardboard characters
Guns and loose women
Lots of violence of an unsavory sort
Not really fast paced

Linda Davies: Nest of Vipers

Paul Erdman: Zero Coupon

David Ignatius: Bank of Fear
More sympathetic female character--she is heroic and likeable

Michael Thomas--Black Money

Christopher Reich--Numbered Account
Lots of detail

Jack Higgins: White House Connection
More political than some--Irish Republican Army and a feisty, elderly female " heroine"

David Baldacci: Absolute Power
President is a "bad" man

Sabin Willett: The Deal

James Grady: Thunder

Thomas Gifford: Saints Rest
More realistic than most of those discussed--his characters are not "Superman"

Jeffrey Archer: Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
More character development, more humor
A much older book, and probably a typical

Richard Condon: Prizzi’s Honor
More ironic, tongue in cheek

General observations about Financial/Political thrillers:

Most of these books are exceedingly plot driven--when doing readers’ advisory interview, make sure to ask patron if s/he wants plot or characters. By and large, you get one or the other in these books, but not both.
Some of the books take a strong "political" stand, which is markedly " right" or "left" of center. Readers with strong political views in either direction could find a book politically offensive.

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This page was last updated on 03/19/2007.