Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with Daniel Meyer

Daniel Meyer tried his hand at a few careers, but fearing they were too realistic and achievable, he became a fantasy writer instead. Now he spends his days writing stories about magic and explosions. He is a lover of Eighties rock, an occasional kilt-wearer, and a supporter of raccoons. He lives in Missouri, where, as ever, he’s working on his next novel.

His debut novel Credible Threats, book one of the Sam Adams series, is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BDW5KGZN

https://www.danielmeyerauthor.com/

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My Top 5 Desert Island Books

By Daniel Meyer

The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell

Most of Cornwell’s bibliography ranges from good to great, but The Winter King, book one of the Warlord Chronicles trilogy, is on a whole different level. Set in Dark Age Britain, the book combines Arthurian myth, history, and Cornwell’s considerable imagination to create what’s easily my favorite retelling of the King Arthur legend. The book follows Derfel, a minor figure from the King Arthur tales, from a naïve teenager to a powerful warrior fighting for Arthur in his desperate effort to unite the petty kingdoms of the British against the invading Saxons. His plans go haywire, as they’re wont to do, and Derfel, Arthur, and their allies go to war, fighting ruthless enemies and their own demons, culminating in a desperate, last-ditch battle against impossible odds. Simultaneously brutal and bewitching, The Winter King sucks the reader into a time period just as alien and fascinating as any fantasy world, a land of warring kingdoms, ruthless monarchs, battles, feasting halls, and magic. The depiction of magic is one of its strong suits: while the book takes place in our real world, the characters all believe in magic and the supernatural, and act accordingly. I particularly liked the concept of a ghost fence, an ostensibly magical barrier made from human skulls, meant to strike down any enemy that attempts to cross it. (If you want to know whether it works, you’ll have to read the book.) And you gotta love Cornwell’s sheer audacity for opening with the phrase “Once upon a time.”

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Now this one takes me back.

I first read The Hunger Games when I was freshly out of high school; it had seemed like something that would appeal to me, and after months of putting it off for some arcane reason, I bought the book and wasn’t disappointed. Like the bottom dropping out of a rollercoaster, it scooped me up and dragged me on a wild ride, before dumping me at the finish line with my mind boggled.

Equal parts vulnerable and ferocious, self-interested and heroic, immediately capturing the reader’s sympathy, Katniss Everdeen would be welcome company on a desert island; perhaps her battle to survive would give me some inspiration to build rafts and pick coconuts, or whatever it is people do when they’re stranded on a desert island. Though hopefully my own adventure wouldn’t involve people trying to kill me, unlike hers. It’s an emotional, exciting read, and witnessing the hype around it in real time was a ton of fun.

And while it’s by no means a light and fluffy book, it’s something of a comfort read nonetheless, when I revisit the characters and become invested all over again, just like when I read it the first time. I suppose it just goes to show that a favorite book can be like an old friend, and who wouldn’t appreciate having an old friend on a desert island?

Robert the Bruce by Ronald McNair Scott

If I’m going to be stuck on a desert island, I’d never want to do it without some nonfiction, and nonfiction doesn’t come much better than this biography of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. There are so many historical eras that fascinate me, and out of all of them, I suspect Medieval Scotland is my favorite. As the book opens, Robert Bruce is a young nobleman who’s one of several with a claim to the Scottish throne. His loyalties are torn between the Scots and the English, and once he finally makes his choice, he’s forced to battle impossible odds to even stay alive, let alone sit the throne. If that description sounds like some Ridley Scott historical epic, that’s intentional, because that’s exactly how the book reads. You’ll meet other fascinating figures as well, like Edward Longshanks, the Hammer of the Scots, Isabella MacDuff, who defied her husband to side with Robert Bruce, and James “The Black” Douglas, a knight turned guerilla fighter whose swashbuckling adventures threaten to steal the whole show.

With more knights, battles, castles, and cliffhangers than you can swing a sword at, this book catapults the reader into a savage but fascinating era, and it’s the perfect antidote to the claim that history is boring.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

File this one under “needs no introduction.”

First of all, it’s nice and thick, and a good doorstopper is a necessity for desert island reading. And there’s simply no way I could languish on a desert island without taking some fantasy along, and what better to take along than the first book of my favorite fantasy series?

It’s become so recognizable these days that people more or less take it for granted, but it bears repeating: these books are terrific, with George R.R. Martin weaving such a powerful spell that the fact I’d had some of its biggest twists spoiled by the TV series doing nothing to keep me from being on the edge of my seat the first time I read it.

In case you’ve been sitting out of pop culture for the last decade or so (and given that I haven’t listened to popular music since I graduated high school—is Flo Rida still around?— I’m in no position to judge), it goes like this: the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros are in a state of uneasy peace, but the death (was it murder?) of the Hand of the King pushes the houses of Stark and Lannister to the brink of civil war. In the meantime, a young girl across the sea dreams of returning home to restore her dynasty to power, and in the far north, an ancient evil stirs that none of them are prepared for.

George R.R. Martin does a lot of things well, characters, lore, and so on, but for me, this series has always had an intangible extra something that I can’t put into words but has kept my attention more than any other fantasy epic I’ve come across.

The Barsoom Trilogy by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Okay, so I’ve fudged a little by including this one; it actually encompasses three books, A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, and The Warlord of Mars, but since my copy is an omnibus including all three, I thought I could get away with it. The stories, loosely interconnected, follow earthling John Carter as he’s transported to Mars under mysterious circumstances and starts battling pretty much everyone he meets. And though he begins as a loner, he ultimately finds himself with a motley crew of allies who are likeable characters in their own right. (Special mention goes to Woola, John Carter’s beastly and adorable companion.)

Though dated in many respects, the John Carter books are likely to be of interest to SFF fans, if for no other reason than to realize how much influence they had on the stories we enjoy today. And the depiction of Mars—Barsoom to its inhabitants—is fascinating. Disparate tribes and city-states fight for power and resources in a decaying world, Barsoom a shadow of its former glory, with medieval and futuristic technology coexisting side by side. Jam-packed with monsters, swordfights, airship battles, gladiator duels, and more, you’re never more than a few pages away from some new escapade, and its themes of exploring a hostile environment and rip-roaring adventure would make it an excellent desert island read.

Be sure to check out Meyer’s Credible Threats!

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