Wilderness Fiction

Shakespeare McNair has always been happiest when living on the fringes of the frontier, ever pushing the boundaries of exploration. When an old friend tells him of a valley undisturbed by the hand of man, he just cannot resist the temptation. And so he sets off to find it with Nate King, Nate's wife, and his own wife, Blue Water Woman.

When Nate King and his family hold a cabin raising for new neighbors in their remote valley, they come face-to-face with a new kind of enemy — one that strikes terror into their hearts.

The warrior was alone. After a bloody, unthinkable act, he'd been banished from his tribe. Now, he was forced to survive in the wilds by himself. If only he at least had a woman.... In a remote valley teeming with wildlife, he finds one. Desperate for companionship, regardless of the color of her skin, he takes her. But this woman's already been claimed. And her man, a wildcat named Zach King, won't let her go without a fight - to the death.

Nate King and his family are accustomed to dealing with the perils of the wild. It's the spread of civilization that sends them farther into the rugged Rocky Mountains to find a more secluded home. Along the way, fighting off attacks from rattlesnakes and wild buffalo, Nate becomes separated from the rest of the group. And only then does he realize that civilization isn't so ready to be left behind.

In the mid 1800s a group of settlers left St. Louis and headed to the wilderness of Missouri, 40 families disappeared never to be heard from again. Father Hogan knew the secret, and took it to his grave with him. Travel with these brave Irish families; discover the danger and magic that awaits them. Caught between old world beliefs, the civil war, and magic.

A plane crash at Mt. Hood in Oregon has occurred and two friends make their way back down the mountain to civilization. Their return, a happy one of course, but they themselves are not happy. What they thought was only a day turned out they were missing for two weeks.

In their desperate quest for power, the Wonders of the White Wilderness enter into deceptive alliance with more cities that are also very deceptive. One of the scoundrels lays his hands on an ancient scroll only to discover that evil cannot rule over good but the corruption in the city of Lars gives him no opportunity to give his counsels. The old wizard kindles the fire of battles: battles of the swords and battles for the corruption of the mind. Then, Vensiono must stand against the evils of the wizard before it is too late.

What are the politics of nature? Who owns it, where is it, what role does it play in our lives? Does it need to be tamed? Are we ourselves natural? In A Darker Wilderness, a constellation of luminary writers reflect on the significance of nature in their lived experience and on the role of nature in the lives of Black folks in the United States. Each of these essays engages with a single archival object, whether directly or obliquely, exploring stories spanning hundreds of years and thousands of miles, traveling from roots to space and finding rich Blackness everywhere.

Lee Graham is faced with the decision of remaining in his beloved city, whose pollution is toxic to his lungs, or taking up the offer of free land in a Michigan wilderness. The magazine that offers Lee the free land has one stipulation: he cannot step foot off of the designated area in the wilderness for an entire year without forfeiting the land.

William’s life had been tragically altered as a youth, now his life is about to change once again. William thought that he and his little brother could now live in relative peace, using their gifts in secret while working on the ranch they stumbled upon as children. However, his existence will become jeopardized, and he will have to find a way to make it through more tragedy. Zane was neglected by his father, pampered by his mother; the one connection he craved was with William, but the youth’s younger brother prevented it.

A young couple from Paris sets out on the adventure of a lifetime: a journey by sailboat around the tip of Cape Horn. But when they stop on a deserted island to explore the barren landscape, the unthinkable happens and they find themselves stranded. Unprepared to survive in the harsh conditions on the island, their only supplies from an abandoned research station, the two must depend on each other as they never have in their lives to hold on until rescue comes, if it ever arrives at all.

Eila Jacobsen is adrift, reeling from her father’s recent death and still suffering from the loss of her best friend. When invited to join a research trip to a remote part of Alaska, she takes the chance to refocus her life and perhaps unravel the mystery behind the dwindling caribou population. But as Eila buries herself in data, she stumbles across something remarkable. Concealed in the pages of her father’s journal is a discovery with life-changing possibilities. So why was it abandoned?

Because she is Jewish, 14 year-old Piri has been held prisoner in Nazi concentration camps for two years. She is freed when Bergen-Belsen is liberated, but she is very ill and has deep psychological scars. In a voice full of innocence and courage, Piri tells how she got through the first years after the Holocaust.

In the Wilderness is a poignant short novel that follows the story of a man who loses everything and finds himself wandering through the emotional wilderness of life. Set in California, this fictional tale explores themes of disappointment, betrayal, grief—and, ultimately, the rediscovery of purpose through faith.

A reluctant camper. A devoted single dad. A wildfire that changes everything. Reluctantly, Morgan Winters accepts an offer for an immersive camping trip meant to breathe life into her next novel—and save her struggling writing career. Though she’s lived in Colorado most of her life, she's never been a happy camper and dreads traveling to the Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains. One night alone in a tent is bad enough. Several nights? Unthinkable. Just the thought of all the dangers lurking in the wilderness makes her cringe. But unwilling to back down from a challenge, she summons all her courage.

Set in 1838, Wilderness of the Heart follows Clara Lawson, a young woman in her early twenties who is determined to escape the life her parents have laid out for her. Refusing to marry a man she doesn’t love and feeling suffocated by the confines of her family farm in Hudson, New York, Clara joins a wagon train heading west in search of independence and a new life.

Rome’s most decorated Centurion is given a secret mission to fulfill the Emperor's legacy, but a renegade General and the enemy's chief spy stand in his way. A Butcher’s Wilderness glimpses into the dark, cut-throat corruption of the Roman Empire at the height of its power. Its violence and deep superstition are seen through the eyes of Vederius Ligustus, a much-decorated yet deeply dark and troubled soldier, fiercely loyal to the army’s code of brotherhood.

After the death of their parents during the Hard Winter, Margaret and her sister have struggled to survive. Between her mother's dying wish that Margaret protect her sister, and the nagging sensation that they are not alone, guilt and worry are her constant companions. And if someone is following them, is their watcher friend or foe?

William Cole cannot forget the cruel burden he carries, not with the pock marks that serve as an outward reminder. Riddled with guilt, he assumed the solitary life of a long hunter, traveling into the wilds of Kentucky each year. But his quiet existence is changed in an instant when, sitting in a tavern, he overhears a man offering his daughter—and her virtue—to the winner of the next round of cards. William’s integrity and desire for redemption will not allow him to sit idly by while such an injustice occurs.

In How We Disappear, award-winning author Tara Lynn Masih offers listeners transporting and compelling stories of those taken, those missing, and those neither here nor gone—runaways, exiles, wanderers, ghosts, even the elusive Dame Agatha Christie. From the remote Siberian taiga to the harsh American frontier, from rural Long Island to postwar Belgium, Masih’s characters are diverse in identity and circumstance, defying the burden of erasure by disappearing into or emerging from physical and emotional landscapes.