Collecting Indiana Jones Books
Tracing the Life of George Lucas' Archeologist Adventurer
Early Books
Until 1990 an Indiana Jones bibliophile would have only three books in his collection. Each of these would be based on one of the three blockbuster movies created by George Lucas, Raiders of the Lost Ark, (1981), by Campbell Black, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) by James Kahn and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) by Rob MacGregor. The stories were also published by Random House for younger readers and contained colour scenes from the films.
Young Indy Books
In 1992 an Emmy winning television series introduced The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Intended as much to educate as entertain, the critically acclaimed series soon appeared as a series of young reader novels by Random House. The first book in the series was The Mummy's Curse, based on the first part of the pilot TV film The Curse of the Jackal. Seven more books would follow tracing Indy's life and would include Safari Sleuth and Race to Danger. The last five books dealt with Indy's services during the First World War and included Prisoner of War, Field of Death, Trek of Doom, The Secret Peace and Revolution. All of these books featured eight pages of black and white stills from the TV series and were written by
Predating the TV adaptations was another series of young reader books, also from Random House. The first of these was inspired by the flashback sequence of a young Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. This series of original novels was written by such authors as William McCay, Les Martin, J.N. Fox, Megan Stine and H. William Stine and included 14 books from Young Indiana Jones and the Plantation Treasure (1990) to Young Indiana Jones and the Pirates Loot (1994) spanning the years 1912 to 1914. An adult version of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles adaptations was published in 1991. Written by James Luceno it was apparently meant to be the first of a series as it was titled Book One: The Mata Hari Affair. Book two did not appear.
Adult Novels
The first in a successful series of books detailing more exciting adventures in the life of Indiana Jones was written by Rob MacGregor and published in 1991. Indiana Jones and the Peril of Delphi continued the biography of Indiana Jones from 1920, about where the TV series left off when it was cancelled. Following this novel was Indiana Jones and the Dance of the Giants and Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils. The next year, Indiana Jones and the Genesis Deluge, Indiana Jones and the Unicorn's Legacy and Indiana Jones and the Interior World were published. After six books the literary gauntlet was picked up first by Martin Caidin in 1993 with Indiana Jones and the Sky Pirates and a year later Indiana Jones and the White Witch and then by Max McCoy between 1995 and 1999 with Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone, Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs and Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth. The last book in this series was Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx, published in 1999 for a total of four books by McCoy. Much to the chagrin of Indy bibliophiles, another Indiana Jones adventure would not appear until 2008 with the novelization of the latest Lucasfilm movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. From beginning to end the books cover much of Indy's adventures from 1908 to 1957.
Availability
The entire series of Adult Novels was republished in 2008 in anticipation of the release of the fourth Indiana Jones film and is therefore readily available. The young reader books still appear from time to time on online auction sites at reasonable prices. The problem with these books is that while the stories are entertaining to all ages they were primarily read by children and not always treated as well as books should be treated. Therefore, it can sometimes be a challenge to find these books in pristine condition.
In addition to the books, other Indiana Jones collectibles, such as comic books and figures are also available.
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