Fantasy Novels in the Wilderness

The best (and worst) book genres for solo camping

If you spend time perusing online backpacking forums, you’ve likely read a heated debate or two about carrying a book as a luxury item. Some argue from purely a grams and ounces perspective—if you want entertainment, it better be downloaded onto your phone because otherwise it’s just unnecessary weight on your back. Others see books as antithetical to the (supposed) goal of communing with nature while in the backcountry. Then there are people like me who rarely step out their front door without bringing along a book for emotional support.

Lunch and a book overlooking Washington Harbor while waiting for the Voyageur II ferry to pick me up from Isle Royale National Park

Getting an e-reader was a game changer for my backpacking trips. For a six ounce weight penalty, I could either carry a single, thin paperback or hundreds of e-books. I’m a fast reader, so I made the obvious choice.

The less obvious decision is what books to borrow from the library before any given trip. What will I be in the mood for when I’m away from WiFi and have to rely on a previously downloaded selection of reading material? There’s a fine balance between “entertaining enough to distract me from the rustling animal noises outside my tent” and “so engrossing that I’m going to stay up til 3 am to finish and then have deep regrets when I need to hike fifteen miles on no sleep.”

I’ve discovered that the best books for solo camping and backpacking aren’t necessarily the titles that I reach for when I’m reading from the comfort of my couch. I loved Lauren Groff’s The Vaster Wilds, but you couldn’t pay me to read that in the backcountry. When only a thin layer of mesh and silnylon separates me from the elements and local wildlife, reading the harrowing tale of a starving woman (barely) surviving in the woods is not a recipe for a good night of sleep.

Reading while cooking dinner at Siskiwit Bay campground at Isle Royale National Park

Regardless of whether I’m camping solo or in a group, I won’t read horror, true crime, thrillers, non-cozy mysteries, or anything with a plot that might involve someone being murdered in the outdoors. This includes all novels innocuously titled The Hike, which overwhelmingly seem to feature someone meeting their untimely end on a trail.¹ A quick rule of thumb is to ask myself, “Will this give me nightmares?” If I pause even briefly when answering, that’s not a book I’m going to read on an outdoor expedition.

Fantasy and romantasy² novels are usually safe to read. Since they take place in a world markedly different from our own, the threats on the page don’t translate to real life anxiety. A dragon isn’t going to burn a hole through my tent and a hex isn’t going to turn me into a frog. In that same vein, alternate histories typically are fine because the book world isn’t our world. These genres also tend to be fast-paced and plot-driven, which means I can follow along without exerting too much brainpower—a must after a long day on trail.

However, that leaves a lot of other book genres unaccounted for and as much as I enjoy a good fantasy story, too many in a row can get repetitive. I need options and variety! To give a sense of my reading pace, during a 9 day solo trip where I hiked and camped my way along Minnesota’s North Shore and then backpacked 40+ miles on Isle Royale, I read seven and a half books. If I’m not hiking or staring out at the water, I’m probably reading.

Still reading the next morning over breakfast at Siskiwit Bay campground at Isle Royale National Park

As much as I enjoy literary fiction at home, that’s a no for camping. I’m typically tired, itchy from mosquito bites, and a little dehydrated, so beautiful prose and complex themes will not be properly appreciated. The whole genre can sit on the sidelines, along with any plots that feature (non-comedic) family drama, main characters struggling with feelings of failure, or anything else that encourages the reader to reflect and wallow in their feelings for awhile. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (one of my favorites) and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (not one of my favorites) can both stay at home. I’m perfectly capable of spiraling into big emotions while alone on trail without the help of a best-selling author, thank you very much!

I want a lighthearted and fun adventure on a spaceship! A cozy mystery featuring an elderly woman with a pair of binoculars who accidentally stumbles into the middle of a heist! Maybe even a trope-filled romance where I can’t stop rolling my eyes and yelling at the characters to just communicate clearly!

I don’t want a book with endnotes (what a nightmare on an e-reader), a character list so dense that I need flashcards to keep them straight in my mind, or references to historical events that I might need to Google. That final criterion knocks most nonfiction off my backcountry TBR pile³. Reading Rainy Lake House by Theodore Catton took me double the time I expected because I kept opening Wikipedia and Google Maps to (try to) connect 19th century fort names to 21st century city names. Much harder to do when your internet connection is unstable or nonexistent!

Solo camping at Amnicon Falls State Park with a book, a beer, and a campfire

So what are some good candidates for a solo outdoor adventure? Here are a few titles that meet my criteria and that I would recommend even for frontcountry reading:

Science Fiction: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Fantasy: The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Contemporary Romantasy: Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper
Cozy Mystery: Shady Hollow by Juneau Black

Happy reading and happy camping!

Reading with a backdrop of Grand Portage Bay on Minnesota’s North Shore

1. The Hike by Susi Holliday features four hikers going up a mountain and only two coming back down. The Hike by Lucy Clarke features a (serial?) killer on the trail where four friends have gone out for a hike. The Hike by Drew Magary features a hiker who runs into a pair of murderers and then in an attempt to run away, falls into a fantasy world of monsters and demons. I have read none of these and will not read any of them unless it is winter and I am safely snowed into my living room. And maybe not even then.

2. Romantasy novels feature a romance plot set in a fantasy world.

3. A TBR pile, or a to-be-read pile, is the stack of books—either physical or digital—that you have on deck. Some people consider every unread book they own to be on their TBR list.