Hitting the Road with Aliens, Elves and Monsters or, Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror On the Road

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Join Douglas Adams's hapless hero Arthur Dent as he travels the galaxy with his alien pal Ford Prefect, getting into horrible messes and generally wreaking hilarious havoc. Dent is grabbed from Earth moments before a cosmic construction team obliterates the planet to build a freeway. Filled with witty satire and unusual characters, including Marvin the paranoid android, this is a must-read for all fans of British humor.

The Anvil of the World by Kage Baker
Former assassin Smith, of the Children of the Sun people, is looking forward to his retirement and his task of overseeing an endangered sea caravan, but danger follows as he tries to escape his past life. Also try Baker’s The Company Series, beginning with In the Garden of Eden.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
In a dystopian 21st-century California, a land of walled enclaves and drug-crazed arsonists, 18-year-old Lauren Olamina discovers a new way of looking at a hopeless world. When circumstances cut her adrift from the only community she knows, she takes to the road, attempting to put her ideals into practice. Also try the award-winning sequel: Parable of the Talents.

Sir Apropos of Nothing by Peter David
Apropos springs from his mother's womb with a full set of teeth, ready to bite anyone who gets in the way of his survival in this heroic fantasy satire. Apropos is a rogue, a rascal, a scoundrel and a cheat. When he travels to the court of King Runcible to find his father, seek retribution and line his pockets, he meets up with murderous unicorns, homicidal warrior kings and a psychotic arsonist who is also a princess. Also try The Woad to Wuin.

Spirit Gate by Kate Elliot
In the land of the Hundred, eagle-mounted Reeves act as guardians of the peace for their people until the murder of one Reeve and the mutilation of her eagle signal the beginning of a secret war against an unknown and malevolent foe. Far to the south, a young woman’s unexpected marriage to the captain of an occupying army begins a journey that leads them toward their destiny in the land of Reeves and giant eagles.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
On the plane ride home for his wife’s funeral, after several years in prison, Shadow meets the enigmatic Mr.Wednesday, who offers him a job. Shadow accepts and along the way journeys across the landscape of America meeting the all but forgotten gods from the “Old Countries” who have come to America over the past centuries. But Shadow soon discovers that Mr. Wednesday is far more dangerous than he could ever have imagined, and Shadow is now caught in up a war for the very soul of America. Also try Stardust.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman
This timeless tale pits country against country, good against evil, love against hate. From the Cliffs of Insanity through the Fire Swamp and down into the Zoo of Death, this incredible journey and brilliant tale is peppered with strange beasties monstrous and gentle and memorable surprises both terrible and sublime.

Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind
A mysterious woman named Kahlan appears in Richard Cypher's forest sanctuary and seeks Richard’s help... and more. In their darkest hour, hunted relentlessly as they journey out of the Westland and across the Midlands, tormented by treachery and loss, Kahlan calls upon Richard to reach beyond his sword – to invoke within himself something more noble. Also try the rest of the Sword of Truth series, which continues with Stone of Tears.

The Number of the Beast by Robert Heinlein
When two male and two female supremely sensual and overly intelligent humans find themselves under attack from aliens who want their awesome quantum breakthrough, they take to the skies and zoom into the cosmos and across multiple universes on a rocket roller coaster ride of adventure and danger, ecstasy and peril.

Society of S by Susan Hubbard
Thirteen-year-old half-vampire Ariella struggles with the realities of her condition. Ari runs away from home on a picaresque journey to find her mother, the one person Ari believes holds the key to her true identity. As she hitchhikes her way through the country, Ari discovers much about herself but nearly loses her life in the process.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Roland, the last gunslinger in a world that has “moved on,” tracks an enigmatic Man in Black on his quest toward a forbidding dark tower. The series sees Roland and his fellow travelers continuing their journey through imaginative landscapes, over astounding obstacles, and meet with and confront a unique and fully drawn cast of characters, both human and nonhuman. The Dark Tower Series continues with The Drawing of the Three.

The Burning by Bentley Little
Four strangers – a young college student, a single mother, a park ranger and a cross-country traveler – are drawn together when a train carrying an unimaginable evil preys on their darkest fears.

Destiny’s Road by Larry Niven
When young Jemmy Bloocher kills a caravan laborer in self-defense, he's forced to flee his sleepy hometown of Spiral Town and travel down the Road to find a new place for himself on the colony world called Destiny.

Darkness and Dawn by Andre Norton
Driven from his clan because of his mutant status, Fors and his feline companion journey to taboo northern lands; while Sander and Fanyl search for the Before People, who he believes have survived a great cataclysm.

The Rover by Mel Odom
A halfling’s boring life as a third-level assistant librarian is disrupted when he is shanghaied and sold into slavery in a distant land. From then on it's one adventure after another as he is adopted by a thieves' guild, pursued by assassins and made to do battle with a very significant dragon who may very well hold the fate of the world at his beck and call. Also try The Destruction of the Books.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons
On the world called Hyperion, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it and those who fear it. On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope – and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
Frodo the hobbit and his companions – a wizard, an elf, a dwarf, hobbits and men – set out to deliver the One Ring of Power to the dark land of Mordor in order to destroy the ring in the forge of its creation. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy continues with The Two Towers and The Return of the King; also try The Hobbit.

Gateways: A Repairman Jack Novel by Paul F. Wilson
After an accident that injures his father in Gateways, a senior community near the Everglades, Jack joins with his father's neighbor, Anya Mundy, to stop Semelee, a mysterious woman who controls creatures of the Everglades.