43 Novels set in Indonesia

Alien Bodies is an original novel written by Lawrence Miles and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Eighth Doctor and Sam. This story marks the first appearance of Faction Paradox, a time travelling Gallifreyan voodoo cult. The Faction's story arc begins here, and concludes in The Ancestor Cell.

Atheis is a 1949 Indonesian novel written by Achdiat Karta Mihardja and published by Balai Pustaka. The novel, using three narrative voices, details the rise and fall of Hasan, a young Muslim who is raised to be religious but winds up doubting his faith after dealings with his Marxist–Leninist childhood friend and an anarcho-nihilist writer.

Beat Not the Bones is a 1952 suspense novel by Charlotte Jay which won the inaugural Edgar award for best novel.

Belenggoe is a novel by Indonesian author Armijn Pane. The novel follows the love triangle between a doctor, his wife, and his childhood friend, which eventually causes each of the three characters to lose the ones they love. Originally published by the literary magazine Poedjangga Baroe in three instalments from April to June 1940, it was the magazine's only published novel. It was also the first Indonesian psychological novel.

Black Sun, Red Moon is the first novel by British author Rory Marron. It is published in two parts, with the second part titled Merdeka Rising.

Cannibal Adventure is a 1972 children's novel by Willard Price featuring his "Adventure" series characters, Hal and Roger Hunt. It depicts an expedition to New Guinea in search of some exotic creatures as Komodo dragons, bandicoots and dinosaur lizards.

Child of All Nations is the second book in Pramoedya Ananta Toer's epic quartet called Buru Quartet, first published by Hasta Mitra in 1980. Child of All Nations continues the story of the lives of the main character, Minke, and his mother in law, Nyai Ontosoroh. By describing the lives of these two people who live in the Dutch controlled islands of Java, Pramoedya is able to discuss many aspects of life in a colonized nation. Child of All Nations explores the social hierarchy in a colonized nation by giving glimpses of how the oppressed colonized peoples, such as the Javanese farmers, are required to be submissive to their occupiers, the Dutch. That wealthy, educated Javanese like Minke and Nyai were still considered inferior to the Dutch due to their Native birth status and frequently simply the color of their skin. The main theme of the novel is, as the title suggests, that the world is becoming more integrated as revealed in the life of the main character Minke, the self-proclaimed "child of all nations" 1. Minke speaks French, Dutch, Malay, and both high and low Javanese. He writes for a newspaper published in Dutch and has to come to terms with being a 'native' in a European controlled world. His worldview is jaded by the fact that he is wealthy and educated, and therefore closer to the Dutch than other Javanese; however, Minke comes to realize the ethical implications of the injustices being done to his people. His life is caught between two worlds, which the novel follows as he tries to understand who he really is, his role in the Dutch-occupied society, and his duty to his people.

The Climate of Courage is a 1954 novel by Australian writer Jon Cleary. It was his fifth published novel. It is set during World War II and involves a group of Australian soldiers who have returned from service in the Middle East.

Code of Honor is a techno-thriller novel, written by Marc Cameron and published on November 19, 2019. It is his third book in the Jack Ryan series.

Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah is the 1938 debut novel of the Indonesian author Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah (1908–1981). Written while the author worked in Medan as the editor of an Islamic weekly magazine, the novel follows the doomed romance of a young Minang couple from different social backgrounds. Generally praised for its simple yet eloquent diction, the novel has been twice adapted into film, first in 1977 and then in 2011.

Dian jang Ta' Koendjoeng Padam is a 1932 novel by Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana. It was published by Balai Pustaka.

Footsteps is the third novel in the Buru Quartet tetralogy by the Indonesian author Pramoedya Ananta Toer. The tetralogy fictionalizes the life of Tirto Adhi Soerjo, an Indonesian nobleman and pioneering journalist. This installment covers the life of Minke – the first-person narrator and protagonist, based on Tirto Adhi Soerjo – after his move from Surabaya to Batavia, the capital of Dutch East Indies. The original Indonesian edition was published in 1985 and an English translation by Max Lane was published in 1990.

Harimau! Harimau! is an Indonesian novel written by Mochtar Lubis and originally published in 1975. Written in a Madiun prison as a response to Indonesians following President Sukarno's leadership without question, it tells the story of seven dammar collectors who are attacked by a tiger on their way back to their village and are unable to be saved by their charismatic leader. The book was critically acclaimed, receiving the Best Book award from the Indonesian Department of Education and Culture. It has been translated into English, Dutch and Mandarin.

The Hidden Force is a 1900 novel by the Dutch writer Louis Couperus. The narrative is set on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies. The book was adapted into a 1974 Dutch TV serial. In 2010, a feature-film adaptation was announced as under development with Paul Verhoeven as director.

In Too Deep is the sixth book in The 39 Clues series. It was written by Jude Watson and released on November 3, 2009. The story is set in Australia and Indonesia.

Jalan Tak Ada Ujung is an Indonesian novel by Mochtar Lubis first published by Balai Pustaka in 1952. It takes place during the Indonesian war of independence and tells the story of Guru Isa, a schoolteacher who assists the guerrilla freedom fighters yet lives in fear.

Journey to the End of the Whale (2005) is a novel by John David Morley, a book that almost killed its author in the making.

Kalau Ta' Oentoeng is a 1933 novel written by Sariamin Ismail under the pseudonym Selasih. It was the first Indonesian novel written by a woman. Written in a flowing style heavily dependent on letters, the novel tells the story of two childhood friends who fall in love but cannot be together. It was reportedly based on the author's own experiences. Although readings have generally focused on the novel's depiction of an "inexorable fate", feminist and postcolonial analyses have also been done.

Kubah is an Indonesian novel written by Ahmad Tohari. It follows a poor man named Karman who becomes a member of the Indonesian Communist Party, only to find himself a victim of the ongoing political struggles in 1950s Indonesia. After the Party's destruction he spends twelve years as a prisoner at Buru before returning to his hometown and becoming a devout Muslim.

Layar Terkembang is an Indonesian novel by Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana. Published in 1936 or 1937 by Balai Pustaka, it tells the story of two sisters and their relationship with a medical student. It has been noted as emphasizing the need for Indonesians to adopt Western values in order to modernize the country.

Lord Jim is a novel by Joseph Conrad originally published as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine from October 1899 to November 1900. An early and primary event in the story is the abandonment of a passenger ship in distress by its crew, including a young British seaman named Jim. He is publicly censured for this action and the novel follows his later attempts at coming to terms with himself and his past.

Map of the Invisible World is the second novel by Tash Aw and was released in 2009. It is about two brothers, Adam and Johan, who were abandoned by their mother as children, and later separated when they were adopted by different families in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Max Havelaar; or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company is an 1860 novel by Multatuli, which played a key role in shaping and modifying Dutch colonial policy in the Dutch East Indies in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. In the novel, the protagonist, Max Havelaar, tries to battle against a corrupt government system in Java, which was then a Dutch colony. The novel is also famous for its opening line: "Ik ben makelaar in koffie".

North from Thursday is a 1960 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary. It is set in New Guinea and concerns the eruption of a volcano, forcing a group of survivors to flee across the country. The story is based on the 1951 eruption of Mount Lamington.

Oeroeg is the first novel by Hella Haasse. First published anonymously in 1948, it has become one of the best-known Dutch novels and a staple of literary education for many Dutch school children. The novel, a Bildungsroman, is set in the Dutch East Indies, and tells the story of an anonymous narrator growing up on a plantation in the Dutch colony West Java. His childhood friend is a boy of the same age, but of native descent. As the narrator grows up he finds himself becoming estranged from his friend, as a result of the political and racial circumstances of colonial life. After having served in the army during World War II, he returns to his native land, only to be told that this is not where he belongs, and that he must leave.

An Outcast of the Islands is the second novel by Joseph Conrad, published in 1896, inspired by Conrad's experience as mate of a steamer, the Vidar.

Pertemuan Jodoh is an Indonesian novel by Abdul Muis originally published in 1932. It tells the story of two students who are driven apart by their class differences, but eventually marry.

Power and Empire is a political thriller novel, written by Marc Cameron and released on November 28, 2017. Set in the Tom Clancy universe, President Jack Ryan and The Campus must prevent a secret cabal heightening the tensions between the United States and China from causing a violent coup in the Chinese government. Power and Empire is Cameron's first book in the Jack Ryan series, succeeding Mark Greaney. It debuted at number six on the New York Times bestseller list.

The Redundancy of Courage is a novel by Timothy Mo published in 1991. It is set in the fictitious country of Danu in Southeast Asia, which is based on East Timor. It is narrated by Adolph Ng, an ethnic Chinese businessman educated in Canada. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction.

Salah Asuhan is an Indonesian novel by Abdul Muis originally published in 1928 by Balai Pustaka. It is widely considered one of the best examples of early modern Indonesian literature.

Saman is an Indonesian novel by Ayu Utami published in 1998. It is Utami's first novel, and depicts the lives of four sexually-liberated female friends, and a former Catholic priest, Saman, for whom the book is named. Written in seven to eight months while Utami was unemployed, Saman sold over 100,000 copies and ignited a new literary movement known as sastra wangi that opened the doors to an influx of sexually-themed literary works by young Indonesian women.

The Seed and the Sower is a book by South African writer Laurens van der Post, consisting of three interrelated stories blended into a novel, first published in 1963. The novel was filmed in 1983 as Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, directed by Nagisa Oshima and starring David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Takeshi Kitano.

Sengsara Membawa Nikmat is an Indonesian novel written by Tulis Sutan Sati. It was published in 1929 by Balai Pustaka. It tells the story of Midun, the son of a farmer, who experiences many trials before finally living happily with his new wife. It has been noted as one of Sati's most interesting works.

Senja di Jakarta is an Indonesian novel written by Mochtar Lubis and first published in English by Hutchinson & Co. in 1963, with a translation by Claire Holt. It was later published in Indonesian in 1970.

Sitti Nurbaya: Kasih Tak Sampai is an Indonesian novel by Marah Rusli. It was published by Balai Pustaka, the state-owned publisher and literary bureau of the Dutch East Indies, in 1922. The author was influenced by the cultures of the west Sumatran Minangkabau and the Dutch colonials, who had controlled Indonesia in various forms since the 17th century. Another influence may have been a negative experience within the author's family; after he had chosen a Sundanese woman to be his wife, Rusli's family brought him back to Padang and forced him to marry a Minangkabau woman chosen for him.

Tarzan and the Foreign Legion is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the twenty-second in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. The book, written June–September 1944 while Burroughs was living in Honolulu and published in 1947, was the last new work by Burroughs to be published during his life. The novel is set during World War II in Sumatra, Dutch East Indies. The term "foreign legion" does not refer to the French Foreign Legion, but is the name given in the book to a small international force fighting the Empire of Japan.

The Ten Thousand Things is a novel by the writer Maria Dermout. The story is a rich tapestry of family life against the exotic, tropical background of the Molucca Islands of Indonesia. Although never explicitly stated, the main setting is probably Ambon Island. The story is structured along geographical themes with four major divisions: the Island itself, the Inner Bay, the Outer Bay, and again the Island. Dermout's omniscient narrator is attempting to make sense of the whole generational saga by carefully reflecting on the wonder of this world while revealing some of the horrible evils that the characters commit. After the publication of the English translation by Hans Koning, Time magazine listed it as one of the best books of 1958.

Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck is an Indonesian serial and later novel by Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah published in 1938. It follows the failed love between Zainuddin, a mixed-race man, and Hayati, a pure Minang woman.

This Earth of Mankind is the first book in Pramoedya Ananta Toer's epic quartet called Buru Quartet, first published by Hasta Mitra in 1980. The story is set at the end of the Dutch colonial rule and was written while Pramoedya was imprisoned on the political island prison of Buru in eastern Indonesia. The story was first narrated verbally to Pramoedya's fellow prisoners in 1973 because he did not get permission to write. The story spread through all the inmates until 1975 when Pramoedya was finally granted permission to write the detailed story.

Tuan Direktur is a 1939 novel by the Indonesian Muslim cleric and writer Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah (Hamka). Originally published as a serial in Hamka's newspaper Pedoman Masjarakat, it follows a man from Banjarmasin who goes to Surabaya, becomes rich, but ultimately is driven to insanity. The novel has been seen as a critique of materialism, arrogance, and superstition.

The Twenty-One Balloons is a novel by William Pène du Bois, published in 1947 by the Viking Press and awarded the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1948. The story is about a retired schoolteacher whose ill-fated balloon trip leads him to discover an island full of great wealth and fantastic inventions. The events and ideas are based both on scientific fact and imagination, and the descriptions are accompanied by illustrations by du Bois.

Victory is a psychological novel by Joseph Conrad first published in 1915, through which Conrad achieved "popular success." The New York Times, however, called it "an uneven book" and "more open to criticism than most of Mr. Conrad's best work."

The Year of Living Dangerously is a 1978 novel by Christopher Koch in which a male Australian journalist, a female British diplomat, and a Chinese-Australian male dwarf interact in Indonesia in the summer and autumn of 1965. Set primarily in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta, it also describes a partly fictionalized version of the events leading up to the coup attempt by the Communist Party of Indonesia on September 30, 1965.