Books like “The Lost City of Z”

What to read after “The Lost City of Z” by David Grann: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
The Arctic Fury
Greer Macallister · 2020
Similar plot moves: “Missing Person” and “Quest”
Virginia Reeve is hired to lead a dozen women into the Arctic in search of a lost expedition. When only some of them come back, she is tried for murder in Boston. The courtroom testimony and the journey north slowly reveal what happened out on the ice.
2
The Revenant
Michael Punke · 2002
Similar plot moves: “Quest” and “Survival”
- Quest
- Survival
Frontiersman Hugh Glass is mauled by a bear and left for dead by his companions, who take his rifle and supplies. He crawls out of the wilderness and sets out on a long journey to find the men who abandoned him.
3
The Alice Network
Kate Quinn · 2017
Similar plot moves: “Missing Person”
- Missing Person
In 1947, pregnant and unmarried Charlie follows a lead about her missing cousin to a ruined woman in London. Their search draws on the story of Eve, a spy who ran a network in occupied France during the First World War, and the betrayals that broke it.
4
Lonesome Dove
Larry McMurtry · 1985
Similar plot moves: “Quest” and “Survival”
- Quest
- Survival
Two former Texas Rangers drive a herd of cattle north to Montana, leading a ragged crew across rivers, drought and hostile country. The long journey tests the old friendship of the two men and the loyalties of everyone who follows them.
5
The City of Brass
S. A. Chakraborty · 2017
Similar plot moves: “Quest” and “Survival”
- Quest
- Survival
Nahri has survived in eighteenth-century Cairo by faking healings and stealing what she can. A careless summoning calls a djinn warrior to her side and drags her to Daevabad, a city of magic and old feuds, where her true blood makes her a threat to everyone around her.
6
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
Alfred Lansing · 1959
Same genre: “Narrative nonfiction”
- Survival
In 1914 Ernest Shackleton sets out to cross Antarctica; in 1915 his ship is crushed by the ice and the crew is left stranded. This account follows their months on drifting floes and the desperate open-boat journey he makes to seek rescue.
7
The Terror
Dan Simmons · 2007
Similar plot moves: “Quest” and “Survival”
- Quest
- Survival
In 1845 two Royal Navy ships sail to find the Northwest Passage and vanish into the Arctic ice. As the crews endure cold, scurvy and starvation, they are stalked across the frozen waste by a creature that should not exist.
8
The Wager
David Grann · 2023
Same genre: “Narrative nonfiction”
- Survival
In 1740 a British warship hunting a Spanish treasure galleon is wrecked off Patagonia. Months later two groups of survivors reach South America with opposing stories, and a court martial must decide which men were heroes and which were mutineers.
9
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Mark Haddon · 2003
Similar plot moves: “Missing Person”
- Missing Person
Fifteen-year-old Christopher discovers the neighbour's dog stabbed to death and sets out to solve the mystery in the style of his favourite detective stories. His investigation uncovers hidden truths about his own family and forces him into a world he finds overwhelming.
10
All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr · 2014
Similar plot moves: “Survival”
- Survival
During the German occupation of France, a blind girl and her father flee Paris for the walled city of Saint-Malo, carrying a valuable jewel. In Germany, an orphan with a gift for radio repairs is drawn into the war machine. Their separate paths move slowly toward the same besieged town in August 1944.
11
Angelfall
Susan Ee · 2011
Similar plot moves: “Quest” and “Survival”
- Quest
- Survival
Angels have destroyed the modern world, and seventeen-year-old Penryn is trying to keep her mother and sister alive. When soldiers take her sister, Penryn captures a wounded angel and offers to help him in exchange for a rescue, an alliance that grows into something neither expected.
12
The Long Ships
Frans G. Bengtsson · 1941
Similar plot moves: “Survival”
- Survival
The Viking Red Orm sails from his Scandinavian home in the late tenth century and is carried through raids, courts and distant seas, from Andalusia to the Byzantine guard. A picaresque saga of raids, treasure and shifting faith, told with dry humour and a wide view of the Viking world.