The Adventure Zone Bookshelf

What started out as a goofy, joke-laden narrative involving goblins gerblins, plant sex, boy detectives, and a wizard named Brian, grew over the years into something greater: a story about family, friendship, love, and tragedy, its world-ending stakes trumped only by its intimate, emotional ones, as “Tres Horny Boys”—fighter Magnus Burnsides, wizard Taako, and cleric (question mark?) Merle Highchurch— found themselves not only in the center of a story that would reshape their lives and their universe, but all universes, including ours. And along the way, the story was shaped by the incredible community that arose around it, creating fanart and elaborate theories and headcannons that will ensure the story lives well beyond its recent conclusion—the first story arc, known as Balance, ended a few weeks back with episode 69 (nice). It has also grown into new mediums: next summer, First Second will release a graphic novel adaptation of the first Balance campaign, The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins.
Impossibly, The Adventure Zone satisfies our craving for fantasy, science fiction, horror, romance, and more, and we’d be hard-pressed to imagine the geek whose heart it wouldn’t melt into a sticky puddle (maaaaybe hardcore D&D rules nerds). It touches on so many books on our shelves, in fact, that we began to ponder what modern SFF books we might find on the shelves at the Bureau of Balance. You can consider it a list of recommended reading for fans of The Adventure Zone podcast. Warning: if you haven’t listened, there are spoilers for a few major TAZ story reveals below (though they probably won’t make much sense out of context).
Note: All fanart includes links to the artist responsible.
[caption id="attachment_20168" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Magnus” by Coffeepotcat[/caption]
Magnus: Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee
This rough and buff boy is all about the fight. Magnus Burnsides, with Steven the Fish at his side, his huge heart, his love of battle, and his interest in tactics, weaponry, and the greater good would make Yoon Ha Lee’s Ninefox Gambit a perfect match. While I can’t see Magnus siding totally with Shuos Jedao’s ruthless thinking, the heart, the hope in the fight, the burning desire to do whatever it takes to protect others, and keep the whole intact, would be right up Magnus’s alley.
[caption id="attachment_20157" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Taako” by Gravity-Chan[/caption]
Taako: The Craft Sequence, by Max Gladstone
Taako from TV is a godless, irreverent wizard who cooks and is currently dating a bounty hunter of the dead. If that doesn’t already belong in Gladstone’s Craft universe, then I don’t know what does. Taako is nothing but wit and bluster trying his best to hide a fragile heart, which didn’t get any easier when he regained his memories of a supposedly lost sister. But bad odds have never been enough to deter Taako. Though he’d prefer to be out here, Taako’s resilience, huge heart, and tactical unpredictability would make him a fan of anyone in Gladstone’s Craft Universe.
[caption id="attachment_20158" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Merle Highchurch” by MinteaArts[/caption]
Merle: Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman
Merle Highchurch has a funny relationship with gods, even for a cleric. Though he treats some with reverence, he treats a lot like a middle manager at a 9-5 job. His casual treatment of the divine, but his tender nature towards others makes me think he’d get a real hoot out of Gaiman’s Anansi Boys, whose own struggles with divinity, while serious, are never without a wink and a smile.
[caption id="attachment_20159" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Madam Director” by kupieckorzenny[/caption]
Lucretia: The Traitor Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson
This was a tough one. Lucretia is not a villain, and never was, and the same could be said of Baru Cormorant. Both look to secure their futures, both are obsessed with the greater good or greater goal, and both are loathe to hurt others, even though they must. However, more importantly, both do what needs to be done to achieve their ends. While we did see Lucretia’s end, Baru’s is far from over, and I think Lucretia would hope for at least a little bit of a happy ending.
[caption id="attachment_20160" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Lup” by LaBrujaDibuja[/caption]
Lup: Amberlough, by Lara Elena Donnelly
Lup would take one look at that fiery cover with Cordelia and Aristide, and snatch it up, most likely without paying for it, (sorry, Lara). The story of revolution, of putting your heart on the line for the person you love, or the city you live in, and the flight from hellish forces looking to impose their order on the world, I imagine Lup’s fire would burn even brighter to read this tale of resistance.
[caption id="attachment_20161" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Davenport” by Lovely[/caption]
Davenport: The Daedalus Incident, by Michael J. Martinez
Davenport, the greatest starship captain who’s ever lived, would be absolutely thrilled with this adventure through the void of space, and the sailing on the high seas of Michael J. Martinez’s first novel. While the Starblaster (still can’t believe they called it that), is known for piloting among the multiverse, I think Davenport would get a kick out of the adventures between planets, and the cooperation, or fighting, between navies in the sky.
[caption id="attachment_20163" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Barry Bluejeans” by Earth Prince Wu[/caption]
Barry Bluejeans: An Unkindness of Magicians, by Kat Howard
Barry Bluejeans, the denim warrior, has a huge heart, but make no mistake: he’s got power at his fingertips, and between his cunning, and his willingness to do the right thing, Barry is no slouch. In Howard’s newest novel, I think he’d find some kindred spirits, whose own magic is beautiful and brutal, and on top of it, I think Barry would find the arguments about the ethics and responsibility of magic to be most engrossing.
[caption id="attachment_20162" align="alignleft" width="150"] “I love this good detective boy” by Larndraws[/caption]
Angus: The Harry Potter series, by J. K. Rowling
Oh, Ango. Our dearest, littlest sheriff of magic. Our sweet, magical boy. If there’s any series he’d love, aside from his Caleb Cleveland novels, it would be Harry Potter. A story of a young boy, forced to grow up and account for himself, learning magic in the company of good, if very strange friends, as they race desperately to save the world from sure destruction from a malevolent force? I can almost hear him saying, “It’s like staring into a mirror, sirs!”
[caption id="attachment_20240" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Cary & Killian” by Drulidoodles[/caption]
Killian: Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
Killian is a wonderful mix of brutality and sweetness. Though she originally tries to murder our magic boys, she ends up coming around and joining forces with them. Hell, she introduces them to the Bureau of Balance and their lives’ mission! Mandel’s journey across a post-apocalyptic landscape limping back toward joy would be a great tale for Killian, who understands all too well that sometimes force is called for, but just as often, there is cause to enjoy life, and find the joy in it.
Cary: The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch
Everyone’s favorite proud dragonborn, and the other half of Magnus’s BFF necklace set, Cary is a knife-wielding rogue with sweet flips in her back pocket, and a love of her girlfriend Killian. If there’s anyone who’d appreciate the hijinks, subterfuge, hilarity, theatre, and downright violence of The Gentleman Bastards, it’s Cary. Maybe she’ll even teach Magnus how to disguise himself afterward (though, let’s be real, Magnus could craft the perfect disguise and would still just shout, “I RUSH IN.”)
[caption id="attachment_20241" align="alignleft" width="150"] “N03113” by Caucasian Edamame[/caption]
N03113: A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers
Don’t let her southern twang confuse you; N03113 would just as soon blow you away with her war cannons as she would tell you about her life back home. A young woman who died in the destruction of Phandalin, her soul found purchase in a new body at Lucas’s lab. Becky Chambers’s story of an artificial intelligence confined in a new form, with new systems of perception, of thought, of society, who finds friends and learns to live in their new body and world, would definitely appeal to the third member of Team Sweet Flips.
[caption id="attachment_20242" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Johann” by Softmunch[/caption]
Johann: The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
All Johann wants to do is make music and to be remembered. And if there’s anything Rothfuss’ Kvothe fears, it’s being forgotten (at least as much as he fears being remembered, anyway). Though he doesn’t have a Voidfish to feed his work to, Kvothe’s tale of adventure, magic, and the pursuit of vengeance leaves him a thing of legends, and stories accumulate around him like autumn leaves in the breeze. Johann, who tends to the Voidfish, who must willingly let go of his legacy, would take great pleasure in reading about a fellow bard who does go on to be remembered as one of the greatest of his age, whether he wants to be or not.
[caption id="attachment_20243" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Kravitz” by Chaotic Composition[/caption]
Kravitz: Mort, by Terry Pratchett
Serving as bounty hunter for the goddess of death is a taxing job, and if Kravtiz is to be believed, he never gets much of a break. But here and there, between assignments and movie nights at Taako’s, we think Kravitz would find this tale of an apprentice to the laconic Death of Pratchett’s universe a fun, riveting tale. We don’t know if his boss would enjoy it, but hey, even Death has to have a sense of humor, right? Right?
[caption id="attachment_20244" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Magic Brian” by CareyDraws[/caption]
Magic Brian: The Dagger and the Coin Series, by Daniel Abraham
We don’t have much to go on here, but if there’s anything a dark elf with a propensity for a German accent and a love of enormous spiders would like, it’s the story of a spider goddess trying to come back and destroy the world. He could even read it with his spider, Spider Brian. Or maybe he’d prefer one of these?
[caption id="attachment_20245" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Lucas” by Liz Parlett[/caption]
Lucas: Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
Ah, Lucas. While he comes around in the end, when we first meet him, he has pulled a classic Frankenstein move, tampering with science (or in this case, science-y magic) he doesn’t know anything about, and it results in disaster. What follows is a crystal caper, as Tres Horny Boys do their best to keep the planet from crystallizing, even as they try to solve Lucas’s family problems. Maybe by reading this, Lucas will think twice before trying to resurrect anyone. Again.
[caption id="attachment_20246" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Hurley & Sloane” by CareyDraws[/caption]
Hurley and Sloane: Runtime, by S. B. Divya
These two ladies may love each other, but they also love to live on the edge, if their battlewagon shenanigans are any indication. S. B. Divya’s story of a cybernetically enhanced Tour de France (minus the bikes) would be right up their alley, and would probably give them way too many ideas. The idea of people in exoskeletons empowering their biological facilities as they race across continents would undeniably make Hurley and Sloane very happy, especially once they figured out how to stage their own races.
[caption id="attachment_20249" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Roswell” by Gearfish[/caption]
Roswell: Shadowshaper, by Daniel José Older
This one almost writes itself: a force of nature, made of clay, who comes to life and takes the form of a guardian in order to protect a young community and the young woman at the heart of it? Roswell would certainly find resonance with Daniel Jose Older’s Shadowshaper, in which a young woman named Sierra and her community learn to access the abilities passed on to them from generations before, and use the art and vibrant heart of their community to protect themselves from the threats that surround it. I think Roswell would like that.
[caption id="attachment_20248" align="alignleft" width="150"] “Fisher” by Ink, Oh My![/caption]
Fisher and Junior: The Fairyland Series, by Catherynne Valente
This choice was made with the assumption that whatever these two jelly babies read will in turn be rebroadcast to the world, to all worlds, to all planes beyond this one. If any series is going to be implanted into the minds of everyone who has ever lived, to sit inside their minds and hearts like it’s always been there, it should be Catherynne Valente’s Fairyland, a five book epic journey through a magical realm, in whicha young woman named September grows, changes, has her heart broken and mended, and learns how to make friends, break bread, stand up for herself, defend those she loves, learns to love those she cares for, and even to love those she does not care for. If any book series can make a person better by the sheer act of reading it, it is this one. Fisher and Junior would not only love the strange creatures, the wild magics, the bright parties, the mysterious Underworld, and the calamitous Moon, they would love the fact that, in the end, they’re about a human learning to love creatures so different from herself, and think of Magnus.
We were going to suggest Diana Wynne Jones’ Dogsbody for Magnus, but we all know there are no dogs on the moon.