What Are Some of the Most Exciting Archaeological Fiction Books?
Posted on 30th of October, 2019

Answers

Finally, my time to shine! I grew up with Indiana Jones, King Solomon's Mines, Romancing The Stone, The Jewel of the Nile, and other archaeological themed movies, so naturally my reading taste veers towards this genre as well. Here are some of my recent favorites as well as some of my all time favorites. If you haven't read the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Series yet, then I recommend starting at the beginning with Artifact by Gigi Pandian. It's about a historian named Jaya Jones who receives a package with a jewel-encrusted artifact sent to her by an ex-boyfriend. When she finds out that he died in an accident in the Highlands of Scotland on the say day as sending her the package, she knows something is afoot.

James Rollins is another author who knows how to write compelling adventures and one of my favorites is called Sandstorm. It starts off with an explosion at a London museum and a search for why it happened. This turns into a quest to Ubar, which is a supposedly lost city that was buried deep beneath the sands of the Arabian desert.

For something a little different, but still relevant to the theme you are looking for, I would also recommend a book called The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook. It's more of a historical mystery I suppose, but the story is good and had me with my nose deep in the book until late at night.
I remember reading a very good book about an archaeologist a few years back, so it took a bit of Googling for me to discover what it was called. The name of the book is Shadowy Horses and it was written by Susanna Kearsley. The lead is an archaeologist named Verity Grey, who has a particular interest in the Scottish Borderlands and its dark legends. It's basically about this seemingly invincible Roman that just mysteriously vanished in the area when they went to fight the Northern tribes. The book does contain some romance, so watch out if that is not your thing, but I really enjoyed it and the attention to detail is incredible.
I can't say that I usually read books related to archeology or archaeologists, but one that I read recently, which absolutely drew me in is The Source. It is written by James Michener and it is more of a historical novel than anything else, so I'm not sure if it would be suitable for people who enjoy the action and shenanigans of Indiana Jones. The Source uses the setting of an archaeological dig site where three archaeologists from different religions are working. However, the story also shifts in perspective to different historical areas which focuses on the people who lived on the site in the past. It goes back all the way to Stone Age times as well as the Bronze Age, and so on. It is a very thought provoking book and reading about the different cultures over the years is fascinating, but I think the pace of the story may be a little slow for readers who want constant action to keep them interested.

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