Rarely are gamers and readers two different people. Both dive headfirst into sprawling worlds, hunt for hidden lore, and occasionally rage-quit when the final boss (or chapter) shows no mercy. Whether you’re pressing X to climb a crumbling ruin or flipping pages to uncover a secret society, the thrill is the same: escape, immersion, and a good story worth the grind.
It’s time to swap side quests for side chapters! We’re pairing recommended reads for your favorite big-budget video games. So set down the controller and pick up a bookmark for these literary counterparts waiting to respawn your imagination.
Achievement unlocked: New Chapter Started.
The Last of Us: Part 1 & 2
[Recommended Read] The Remaining Series by D. J. Molles
If ever a game proved that fungi and infection could ruin your day — and your world — it’s The Last of Us. Equal parts survival horror and emotional gut-punch, the series follows unlikely companions navigating a post-pandemic America where humanity’s worst monsters aren’t always the mindless zombies sprouting spores. Beloved for its wrenching storytelling, grounded characters, and “make every bullet count” tension, it’s less about mowing down zombies and more about what it means to survive when everything you love is already lost.
D. J. Molles’s The Remaining series, which trades cordyceps for a government-engineered infection apocalypse but keeps the survivalist grit cranked up to fifteen, follows Captain Lee Harden, a lone secret soldier tasked with restoring order after society collapses — except “order” is hard to come by when the infected are swarming, you’re dying of dehydration, and trust is in shorter supply than canned beans. Like Joel and Ellie’s saga in The Last of Us, these books are as much about human relationships under pressure as they are about action-packed escapes from zombies (and humans).
With this pairing, you still get the same tension, the same tough moral choices, and the same haunting reminder that the scariest apocalypse is the one that feels eerily almost possible. Fans of The Last of Us will find The Remaining to be a natural checkpoint on their survival-fiction journey — no biology degree required.
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
[Recommended Read] The Nightrunner Series by Lynn Flewelling
Few games scratch the itch for epic role-playing adventure quite like Skyrim. It’s the land of dragons, weaponized shouts, and side quests so plentiful you forget you were supposed to save the world. With sprawling landscapes, ancient ruins, and more guild politics than you can shake a Daedric artifact at, it is beloved for letting players forge their own legend in a living, breathing realm.
Lynn Flewelling’s Nightrunner series, beginning with Luck in the Shadows, brings that same heady cocktail of magic, intrigue, and swashbuckling camaraderie to the page. The series follows Seregil, a roguish spy with secrets of his own, and Alec, his reluctant protégé (and lover), as they tumble into a world of espionage, ancient prophecies, and shadowy conspiracies. Like Skyrim, Flewelling’s novels offer a richly built world teeming with guilds, hidden lore, and the occasional dragon-level danger — all threaded through with humor, heart, and high-stakes adventure.
Pairing Skyrim with the Nightrunner books is like moving from open-world exploration to a campaign penned by your favorite dungeon master. Both promise the thrill of blades and sorcery, sneaky pursuits, and the satisfaction of watching unlikely heroes grow into legends. For fans who want to keep adventuring long after the last shout fades, this series is a natural fast travel destination.
The Tomb Raider Series
[Recommended Read 1] King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard
From crumbling temples to death-defying leaps, the Tomb Raider series is gaming’s ultimate crash course in archaeology-with-attitude. Lara Croft digs up the past and blows the dust off ancient legends — all while dodging booby traps and taking down baddies — and somehow manages to look impossibly composed while dangling from a ledge by her fingertips. The games thrive on that intoxicating blend of exploration, danger, and “just one more shiny before dinner.”
H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines, the Victorian adventure novel that practically drew the blueprint for every treasure-hunting escapade to follow, is packed with hidden maps, lost civilizations, perilous landscapes, and explorers whose stiff upper lips are tested by more than the African sun. Reading it alongside Lara’s adventures feels like peeking into her literary ancestry — the DNA of pulp exploration, complete with deadly secrets and ancient gold.
[Recommended Read 2] The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
And if Haddard isn’t wild enough for you, there’s always Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World to add to the mix. Professor Challenger leads an expedition to a remote South American plateau, where dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures still roam the Earth. The group, including skeptical journalist Malone and cautious Professor Summerlee, faces hostile natives, giant reptiles, and the thrill of scientific discovery. It’s part scientific romance, part adventure romp, and basically proof that Doyle wanted to throw Sherlock’s magnifying glass away sometimes and chase more fantastical realms.
Pairing the books with this A-listing game is like equipping a torch in one hand and a stack of novels in the other: you’ll get all the danger, discovery, and daring-do of Lara’s pixelated journeys, but filtered through the classic lens of high adventure that inspired her creation. Dinosaurs + ancient plateaus + Victorian explorers = proto-Tomb Raider energy at its finest!
The Uncharted Series
[Recommended Read] The Lost City of Z by David Grann
Tomb Raider is not the only archaeology-with-acrobatics game, by the way. Uncharted follows Nathan Drake, a treasure-hunting scoundrel who quips and shoots his way through collapsing ruins, tangled jungle chases, and ancient puzzles that seem suspiciously well-maintained for their age. Beloved for its cinematic flair, brilliant dialogue exchanges, and globe-trotting pulp spirit, the series is equal parts Indiana Jones homage and crash course in “maybe don’t trust the guy with the shiny artifact.”
David Grann’s The Lost City of Z swaps pixels for perilous reality, chronicling the true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett’s obsessive search for a mythical Amazonian city. Unlike Drake, Fawcett didn’t have quick-time events or infinite reloads to save him — his journey ended in mystery, vanishing into the jungle with only rumors left behind. The book is a history, biography, and survival tale all rolled into one, showing how an obsession with lost treasure can be as deadly as it is alluring.
Pairing the two is great for those who watch Drake stumble upon the remains of some unfortunate soul, then realize the “game over” screen was very real for real-life explorers of the past. Fans of Uncharted will find The Lost City of Z the perfect nonfiction counterpart: less quippy one-liners, but just as much danger and obsession — and just as many maps.
The Halo Games
[Recommended Read 1] Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund
Sometimes the fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of a very quiet soldier and a very sassy AI. From the tragic stand on Reach to the Flood’s nightmare fuel to the Banished’s rise in Infinite, the Halo franchise delivers firefights by dropping players into an expansive military sci-fi saga full of sacrifice, strategy, and stars worth dying for. But what about the gaps in the storyline? Luckily, the bookshelf has you covered with just as many plasma burns as the battlefield.
The Fall of Reach is essential canon, as it tells the story of how John-117 became the Master Chief, following the brutal origins of the Spartan-II program and the desperate defense of Reach. While the game Halo: Reach dramatizes the planet’s last stand, Nylund’s novel fills in the emotional and strategic backbone, making the game feel like the inevitable — but no less devastating — final chapter.
[Recommended Read 2] Halo: First Strike by Eric Nylund
If you’ve ever finished Halo: Combat Evolved and immediately thought, “Wait, how did Chief get from that exploding ringworld to the start of Halo 2?” — this book is your missing cutscene. Nylund once again stitches the gap in the storyline with a high-stakes story of regrouping, tactical improvisation, and barely escaping annihilation. It’s the connective tissue that makes the transition between games hit harder than a Needler round to the unarmored chest.
[Recommended Read 3] Halo: Shadows of Reach by Troy Denning
Fast-forward to the lead-up to Halo Infinite, and Blue Team is back on the ground where it all began: Reach. Denning’s novel sends Chief and his Spartan brothers into dangerous territory on a mission that bristles with both nostalgia and new threats. It’s a direct prequel to the latest game, giving you the context that makes Infinite’s stakes feel even higher.
Together, these novels let you experience Halo not just as a series of games, but as a fully fleshed-out epic of resilience, sacrifice, and humanity clinging to hope among the stars.
Achievement unlocked: Lore Master.
The Assassin’s Creed Games
Leap of faith? How about a leap of fiction? The Assassin’s Creed games thrive on blending parkour, hidden blades, and history’s juiciest conspiracy theories into stealth-action smoothies. Sliding down ancient pyramids, taking a stroll through early days Havana, wreaking havoc on the streets of Victorian London — the series is as much about storytelling as it is about synchronized viewpoints, and the shelves are stocked with graphic novels that extend the adventure.
These reads show that the Creed isn’t bound by centuries or consoles — it’s a narrative playground spanning eras, styles, and shadows. For gamers craving more conspiracies between their respawns, these books keep the Brotherhood alive long after the credits roll.
[Recommended Reading 1] Assassin’s Creed: Awakening by Takashi Yano, Illustrated by Kenzi Oiwa (Titan Comics)
This manga-turned-comic adaptation of Black Flag delivers all the high-seas swagger of Edward Kenway’s piratical escapades. Expect assassins in the rigging, Templars scheming on the shore, and enough naval battles to make Jack Sparrow jealous. If you loved the salt spray and swordplay of Black Flag, this is the companion piece to keep the cannons firing.
[Recommended Reading 2] Assassin’s Creed: Reflections by Ian Edginton, Sunsetagain (Cover Art), and Valeria Favoccia (Artist)
Think of this anthology as an Animus greatest-hits collection. Each issue zooms in on an iconic Assassin — Ezio, Altaïr, Edward, Connor, etc. — and adds extra depth and intrigue to their stories. Perfect for players who want to replay the classics in bite-sized chapters without committing to another hundred hours of free-running across rooftops.
[Recommended Reading 3] Assassin’s Creed: Bloodstone
This one shakes up the formula by diving into the Cold War, shifting from hidden blades in the Renaissance to covert ops in Vietnam. It’s darker, grittier, and loaded with espionage, giving fans who love the series’ “other side of history” angle something fresh to sync with. If you thought the Templar conflict was only about popes and pirates, Bloodstone proves otherwise.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order / Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
[Recommended Reading] Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order: Dark Temple by Matthew Rosenberg, Paolo Villanelli (Illustrator, Artist), Marco Checchetto (Cover Art), and Ruairi Coleman (Artist)
The Jedi games drop players into the boots of Cal Kestis, a Padawan on the run after Order 66, blending cinematic combat with exploration-heavy quests through ancient temples and half-buried lore. It’s a saga that balances galaxy-shaking stakes with powerful, character-driven moments — plus a lot of stormtroopers meeting the business end of a saber.
The perfect companion is Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order: Dark Temple, a prequel comic mini-series that shifts the focus to Jedi Master Eno Cordova and his Padawan Cere Junda, set before the events of the game. Archaeology, philosophy, and impending doom — oh, my! Their mission to investigate a mysterious ancient temple bleeds directly into Cal’s later journey. For gamers, it’s like unlocking a bonus cutscene: you understand your mentors more deeply, the temples feel more important, and the Force feels even more lived-in.
Pairing the two is like queuing up a lore-rich prologue before pressing “Start Game.” You’ll get the thrill of combat and survival in the games, but the comic adds context, depth, and emotional weight to the Jedi legacy Cal inherits.
The Fable Series
[Recommended Reading] Fairytale by Stephen King
The Fable series was gaming’s cheeky answer to the question: what if fairy tales came with moral meters? These whimsical RPGs let you choose whether to be a benevolent hero, a cackling villain, or someone in between — all while juggling witty dialogue, quirky townsfolk, and the occasional chicken-kicking contest. Beneath the humor, though, lies a sprawling world where choices matter and legends linger.
Stephen King’s Fairy Tale takes that same sense of folklore-meets-fate and spins it into a darkly enchanting epic. A grieving teenager stumbles into a hidden world called Empis, where crumbling kingdoms, twisted creatures, and long-forgotten curses await. Much like Fable, it mixes wonder with shadows: one minute you’re marveling at fantastical landscapes and myths come to life, the next you’re reminded that fairy tales aren’t always written with happy endings in mind.
Pairing the two is like stepping through a magic door — you never quite know whether you’ll find a moral lesson, a monster, or both. Fans of Fable’s charm, humor, and branching paths will feel right at home wandering through King’s darker, weightier fairy tale. After all, whether you’re in Albion or Empis, every choice has unforeseen consequences, and every promising story hides copious amounts of danger in its happily-ever-after.
Roll Credits
The thrill of adventure doesn’t have to end when you set down the controller. Whether you’re dodging spores, raiding tombs, or shouting dragons out of the sky, there’s a bookshelf full of stories waiting to be your next quest. Books and games aren’t rivals; they’re party members in the same campaign. The next time your console needs to cool off, let your imagination keep grinding XP in prose. After all, a good book is the ultimate side quest — one that never glitches, autosaves, and rewards you with treasure far beyond loot drops.
Achievement unlocked: Well-Read Hero.
Check out a few of my other favorite books by reading my article Love From One Elder Editor: A Few of My Favorite Reads.
Browse our bookshelf on bookshop.org to discover more sci-fi and dystopian novels.
