Who Dares Wins Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Count of Monte Cristo

Published in 1844, "The Count of Monte Cristo" ("Le Comte de Monte-Cristo" in French) is an undisputed classic of adventure fiction, and one of Alexandre Dumas père's most enduringly popular works. Like other books mentioned in this quiz, it is a historical novel, set during the era of the Bourbon Restoration (1815-1839) that followed Napoleon Bonaparte's reign.

At the beginning of the story, 19-year-old Edmond Dantès is the first mate of a merchant ship: he seems to be headed for professional as well as personal success, with his impending marriage to his fiancée Mercedès. Unfortunately, due to the machinations of a jealous rival and his associates, he is accused of treason as a supporter of Napoleon, and ends up spending 14 years imprisoned in a forbidding fortress. There he befriends a fellow prisoner, the Abbé Faria, who reveals to him the hiding place of the treasure that will change Edmond's life.

The former idealistic young man - now wealthy, but embittered and obsessed with revenge - purchases the title of Count of Monte Cristo (the island off the coast of Tuscany where the treasure was hidden), and eventually returns to France to wreak havoc on the lives of the men who ruined him. However, his desire for revenge does not completely destroy Edmond's humanity - as illustrated in the novel's hopeful (albeit somewhat bittersweet) ending.

Answer: The Odyssey

Although the presence of an epic poem dating from thousands of years ago in a quiz mostly dedicated to novels written in the 19th and early 20th century may be surprising, Homer's "Odyssey" can be in many ways considered the blueprint for modern adventure fiction. Like in many of the novels that appear in this quiz, travel and constant danger are at the heart of Odysseus' riveting tale. In addition, like many of the heroes of more recent tales, Odysseus often conceals his true identity.

Even though supernatural help (in particular the goddess Athena's) is instrumental to Odysseus' survival, the hero also uses his renowned wits to get out of life-threatening situations - such as in his well-known encounters with the cyclops Polyphemus and the Sirens. As in many modern adventure tales, romance is also a key component of the "Odyssey", with the hero's rugged good looks and charismatic personality attracting the attention of goddesses and mortal women alike.

In later literature, Odysseus has become a byword for adventuring and thirst for knowledge - as in Dante's portrayal of the hero in Canto XXVI of the "Inferno", or Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Ulysses" (1842). Some of the stories of another early classic of adventure fiction - the Middle Eastern cycle of Sinbad the Sailor - were inspired by various episodes of the "Odyssey".

Answer: Kim

Published in 1901, "Kim" is the last of the four novels written by Nobel Prize winner Rudyard Kipling. Like much of its author's work, it is set in India, in the final years of the 19th century; its plot combines elements of adventure novel, coming-of-age novel, and spy story.

Though white, the son of destitute Irish parents, Kim is so immersed in the culture of India that few of those who meet him realize he is not native. Living as a beggar on the streets of Lahore (now in Pakistan), he becomes the disciple of Teshoo Lama, a former Buddhist abbot from Tibet, and follows him on his quest for the legendary "River of the Arrow". During their journey through the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, Kim is made aware of the Great Game - the rivalry pitting the British Empire against the Russian Empire over possession of Afghanistan and other territories in South and Central Asia. Separated from the Lama, he is sent to an English school in Lucknow, where he also receives training as a spy, proving an apt pupil with his social adaptability and ability to move between two worlds. After three years, he rejoins the Lama, and they resume their journey, heading towards the Himalayas.

Since its publication, "Kim" has become a classic of children's literature, and has also left its mark on recent history: notorious British double agent Harold Adrian Russell Philby - also born in British India - was nicknamed Kim as a child, and adopted the name as his own.

Answer: Around the World in Eighty Days

Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days" ("Le tour du monde en quatre-vingt jours", 1872) is one of those books that will regularly (and deservedly) appear in lists of adventure fiction classics. The novel contains all the elements of the quintessential adventure tale, and also involves a fair bit of character development as far as its protagonist is concerned.

A quiet, unassuming bachelor with a meticulously organized daily life, London-based gentleman Phileas Fogg turns into an adventurer to pursue the reckless wager that gives the novel its title. The fast-paced plot takes him and his French valet Passepartout from London to Asia and North America, crossing both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, and surviving various dangers. Fogg's transformation is highlighted by the duo's heroic rescue of Aouda, an Indian princess about to be burned on her deceased husband's pyre - regardless of the ensuing loss of precious time. This episode reveals the heart beating beneath Phileas Fogg's icy exterior.

Verne was inspired to write "Around the World in Eighty Days" by the technological advances that, in the second half of the 19th century, had revolutionized travel and made possible a journey such as the one narrated in the book. One of the novel's many adaptations, the 1956 film starring David Niven as Phileas Fogg, won three Academy Awards, including one for Best Picture.

Answer: The Tigers of Mompracem

Born in Verona in 1862, Italian writer Emilio Salgari was an extremely prolific author of adventure novels that have been translated in many languages, and are now considered undisputed classics of the genre. "The Tigers of Mompracem" ("Le tigri di Mompracem", 1900) was the first book of Salgari's "Indo-Malay cycle", a series of adventure novels set in Southeast Asia and India in the mid-19th century. The character of Sandokan, a prince from the island of Borneo turned pirate, is introduced in this novel. The cycle includes 11 volumes - the last of which was published in 1913, two years after its author's tragic death by suicide.

Sandokan, nicknamed the "Tiger of Malaysia", was probably named after Sandakan, a coastal city in Malaysia's state of Sabah. A strikingly handsome man in his early thirties, with long black hair and flashing black eyes, he is the son of a ruler whose whole family was slaughtered by the British East India Company. Vowing revenge against the English, Sandokan assembles a band of pirates (the titular "tigers of Mompracem") who follow him with absolute loyalty. Albeit a formidable pirate, Sandokan is also a noble-hearted, generous man, who forms strong friendships - notably with his "white brother", Portuguese adventurer Yanez de Gomera, and Indian hunter Tremal-Naik - and rewards loyalty and courage. In "The Tigers of Mompracem", he also appears as a romantic hero, winning the love of the beautiful and brave Marianna Guillonk, the "Pearl of Labuan".

In the popular Italian TV mini-series based on "The Tigers of Mompracem" (1976), Sandokan was portrayed by Indian actor Kabir Bedi - who is also known for appearing in the James Bond film "Octopussy" (1983).

Answer: King Solomon's Mines

One of the likely sources for the popular film character of Indiana Jones, big-game hunter Allan Quatermain is the protagonist of a series of adventure novels written by English writer H. Rider Haggard between 1885 and 1924. The first of these novels, by far the most famous, is "King Solomon's Mines" - which also enjoys the distinction of being one of the first adventure novels set in Africa, and the initiator of the popular "lost world" subgenre of adventure and science fiction.

Though born in England, Quatermain (who is also the story's narrator) is portrayed as a restless man who finds city life unbearable, and prefers to conduct an adventurous existence in Africa, where he hunts big game for a living. In "King Solomon's Mines", he is already 55 years old, and widowed twice, with a son, Harry. In fact, providing for him is the main reason for Allan to embark on the dangerous expedition proposed to him by English nobleman Sir Henry Curtis, whose brother has mysteriously disappeared while searching for the fabled titular mines in Africa's unexplored interior. During their potentially deadly journey, the party come upon the hidden valley of Kukuanaland, and find themselves embroiled in a power struggle between a tyrannical ruler and the valley's rightful king.

Quatermain's story continues in the novel that bears his name (published in 1887); the other novels in the series are all prequels. Though very successful, "King Solomon's Mines" was overshadowed by Rider Haggard's most popular work, "She" (1887), a fantasy adventure also set in Africa.

Answer: Ivanhoe

Published in 1820, Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe: A Romance" was the first of its author's "Waverley" novels to be set outside Scotland and in a more distant past - late 12th-century England, after the failure of the Third Crusade. Though primarily mentioned as one of the earliest historical novels in Western literature, the novel - like the medieval romances that influenced its content - also doubles up as an adventure tale, with disguises, surprise revelations, daring escapes, kidnappings, and rescues.

Sir Wilfrid of Ivanhoe, the son of Saxon lord Cedric of Rotherwood, is a loyal follower of Norman king Richard I. In love with Lady Rowena, his father's ward, he is disinherited by his father - who is planning to marry Rowena to another Saxon nobleman. Torn between his loyalty to his king, whom he has followed to the Holy Land, and his attachment to his family - a struggle that clearly surfaces in his first "official" appearance during a tournament - Ivanhoe is portrayed as a handsome, valiant knight in his mid-twenties. His essential goodness, however, is marred by his prejudices against Jews, which impact his interaction with the novel's other main female character - the beautiful Rebecca, who falls in love with him.

Though the novel is titled after its protagonist, its large cast of characters (which includes an appearance by Robin of Locksley, also known as Robin Hood) is essential to the development of the plot. Like other literary classics, "Ivanhoe" has been adapted many times for both the big and the small screen, as well as in opera form.

Answer: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym

"The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket" (1838) is the only complete novel published by Edgar Allan Poe. Like "Moby-Dick", another classic American novel with a strong adventure element, the story begins in the whaling town of Nantucket (Massachusetts). Though starting out as a conventional tale of adventure at sea, it becomes increasingly less realistic as its author's trademark "weirdness" emerges.

Presented as a true story of exploration, and based on various travel journals, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" is narrated in the first person by the title character, who has often been interpreted as the author's alter-ego. Fascinated by his best friend Augustus's tales of a sailor's life, the reckless Arthur stows away with his dog on a whaling ship owned by his friend's father. Onboard the ship, a mutiny erupts, resulting in the death of half the crew. A series of rather gruesome events (which include an episode of cannibalism) ensues, though Arthur manages to escape with his life and board another ship headed for Antarctica - where things take a decidedly strange turn.

Though unfavourably received at the time of publication, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" has been praised by a number of later authors, and has proved influential on the work of authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle and H.P. Lovecraft, as well as the previously-mentioned Melville.

Answer: The Black Arrow

Though not as well known as "Treasure Island", "The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses" (1888) is one of Robert Louis Stevenson's most significant works of fiction. Though sharply criticized by its own author, in recent times the novel has been viewed in a more positive light.

On the tumultuous historical backdrop of the War of the Two Roses, orphaned Richard (Dick) Shelton - in his teens at the beginning of the story - learns that his father was murdered by Dick's guardian, Sir Daniel Brackley. His love interest, Joanna Sedley, is an orphaned heiress whom Sir Daniel has kidnapped. The titular black arrow is the weapon of choice and calling card of a band of outlaws, whose help is instrumental for Dick to free Joanna from Sir Daniel's clutches. In the course of the story, the prickly, reckless boy matures into a humbler, more thoughtful young man, who earns his knighthood and eventually wins Joanna's hand.

Stevenson based "The Black Arrow" on a series of documents known as "The Paston Letters", a collection of letters exchanged by members of the Norfolk-based Paston family that provides invaluable information on life in England at the time of the War of the Two Roses. Though most of the characters in the novel are fictional, the future king Richard III - called Richard Crookback - plays a prominent role in the plot.

Answer: The Scarlet Pimpernel

Though unlikely to win any prizes for literary quality or historical accuracy, there is no denying that "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (1905) has been enormously influential on 20th-century adventure fiction. Written by Emma Orczy, a Hungarian baroness in exile, the novel (originally a stage play) is the first in a series whose hero is a dandyish English baronet, Sir Percy Blakeney.

The story is set in 1792, during the Reign of Terror that followed the early stages of the French Revolution. Though coming across as mainly interested in his appearance and clothing, Percy leads a double life. As the Scarlet Pimpernel - named after the small wildflower that is his calling card - his mission is rescuing aristocrats who have been sentenced to death by guillotine. Assisted by a band of other gentlemen, Percy employs his considerable skills as a swordsman and master of disguise to foil the attempts of the revolutionaries to execute all the aristocrats they can lay their hands on. Such are the Pimpernel's exploits that Percy's French wife Marguerite finds herself intrigued by him - not realizing that he and her husband are one and the same.

As pointed out by iconic writer and Marvel co-creator Stan Lee, "The Scarlet Pimpernel" has also influenced the development of comic-book superheroes such as Batman and Superman - who, like Sir Percy Blakeney, cultivate a secret identity. Of the book's many adaptations, the best known is probably the 1934 film starring Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon.