This content contains affiliate links. When you purchase through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Backpacking Fantasy is for all the heroes who travel light. Adventurers who travel with nothing but a backpack, duffel bag or tote bag carry everything they need. They decide to save the world with their only friends, some snacks and a spare pair of socks and I commend them for their minimalist lifestyle.
Backpacking fantasy books, as Wyngraf puts it, are fantasy books in which adventurers travel through the wilderness to achieve goals rather than find a home or community. Essentially, in backpacking fantasy books, group members bond on the go while overcoming the challenges of the natural space, learning more about themselves, each other, and the world along the way.
The structure is very typical of a traditional fantasy tabletop role-playing game à la Dungeons and Dragons. The plot structure allows for self-discovery outside of traditional socio-cultural structures.
In the tradition of medieval Breton lais or French poems, young knights had to venture out into the outdoors to learn about life beyond the court so they could return to their kingdoms strengthened and better equipped to deal with the unknown. Often they would encounter magic, fairies, or moments of adventure or fate that would change their view of the world forever.
What I’m saying is that backpack fantasy books have been around longer than there’s been a name for the subgenre. This is simply a quick and easy list of unusual backpack fantasy recommendations to expand your shelf and your horizons.
The best fantasy backpack books
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
Marra was the third-born princess raised in a convent. Out of sight and out of mind – no one expected the almost-nun to go and save her sister from her abusive husband. The man is a prince, and to free her sister, Marra must complete three impossible tasks. In return, she is given the tools to kill a prince and the unlikeliest of allies. A bone hound, a former knight, a demon-possessed chicken, and Marra might just travel across a kingdom and save a princess.
“The Spear Cuts Through the Water” by Simon Jimenez
Though the royal family has oppressed both its citizens and the god imprisoned beneath their palace for centuries, one guardian and one outcast have the chance to change everything. When Jun and Keema free the god, she takes them on a pilgrimage that could end the royal family’s rule once and for all. This queer epic fantasy novel challenges established systems of power, explores the power of the natural world, and asks us all to think about what we owe each other.
Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
The journey of an epic InuYasha-style high fantasy trilogy for young adults begins with a single step. Every thousand years, the Kami Dragon reappears, and the person in possession of the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers is granted one wish. The dragon returns, and Yumeko, the half-kitsune, half-human orphan raised among monks, has the scroll. Enemies have already burned down her home and killed the monks who raised her. Now she must travel the land and keep the scroll safe and secret at all costs. She even makes a dangerous deal with a mysterious samurai to gain protection. The fate of the world rests on Yumeko’s journey, but with demons and assassins hot on her heels, her success is far from assured.
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
Romance lovers will be delighted by Cinnamon’s chaotic journey in the first book of the Mead breakdowns Series. The spice merchant Cinnamon avoids great adventures, but when she meets a demon while drunk on the way home, she protects herself with cinnamon and frees the dragon shifter from a curse. Now the demon she freed wants her to travel through the kingdom to defeat the evil witch and free the demons under her influence. Of course he also wants to marry Cinn, but he can do several things at once.
The Lights of Ystrac Forest by Alexandra Rowland
The sacred forest of Ystrac, god of the hunt and the wilderness, fills all who pass through it with wild fear. Only the lanterns guarded by priests of Talesyn, god of poets, dispel the fear. Devoted to Ystrac, Aneth guides travelers such as the Talesyn priest Corentin along the road and accepts the fear of the forest. Determined to light the flame of a lantern, Corentin must face the challenges of Ystrac’s forest in Rowland’s atmospheric novella.
This is going to be fun by EB Asher (September 10, 2024)
Saving the kingdom from villains ruined the lives of every adventurer involved. Galwell the Great, his sister Elowen, their best friend Beatrice, and ex-bandit Clare became heroes, but no one thought Galwell would sacrifice himself to save the world. A decade later, Elowen lives alone in a nightmare forest, Beatrice is newly divorced, Clare is the kingdom’s hero, and former villain Vandra works for the queen. But when they receive the queen’s wedding invitation – and a subsequent mission to save her husband – they can’t say no. While they may no longer be the heroes they once were, they may find love – and fame – along the way.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
Xingyin’s mother raised her on the moon, hidden from the Heavenly Emperor, until the day her magic flared up and revealed her existence to him. Now she must leave her mother, her home, and everything she’s ever known behind and make her way to the Heavenly Kingdom in disguise. Xingyin even manages to train alongside the Emperor’s son and develop feelings for the prince. But when her mother’s life is threatened, she must complete a dangerous quest, challenge the Heavenly Emperor, and restore balance to the world.
The High Mountain Court by AK Mulford
The debut romance novel, The Five Crowns of Okrith, is a near-perfect fantasy book for backpackers. At 19, Remy is one of the last living red witches in Okrith. She would have spent the rest of her life in hiding, working in a tavern, if Prince Hale of the Eastern Kingdom and his fairy warriors had never found her. The prince wants to end the war with the Northern Court and needs Remy’s help to do so. Together they will embark on a journey through the kingdoms to save everyone in the kingdom, including themselves.
I’m excited to send you on your way with these backpacking fantasy recommendations. Sometimes all you need is a little magic, some friends, and nature to turn your life around. If you’re looking for books in other related subgenres, try these fantasy books inspired by mythologies from around the world, these excellent epic fantasy debuts, or these must-read historical fantasy books.
