The Thirty-Nine Steps vs The three hostages: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Hannay, Richard Hannay, Intelligence service, Missing persons, Great Britain, Spy Fiction

The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan · 1915 ★★★★☆ 3.6 104 pages · ≈ 1 h 56 m · Challenging

Richard Hannay has just returned to England after years in South Africa and is thoroughly bored with his life in London. But then a murder is committed in his flat, just days after a chance encounter with an American…

1 film adaptation

Textbooks for foreign speakers Fugitives from justice Secret societies World War I

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The three hostages John Buchan · 1924 ★★★★☆ 3.8 292 pages · ≈ 5 h 24 m · Challenging

Major General Sir Richard Hannay thought that his life of adventure and danger was behind him with the end of the Great War. He was wrong. When an old colleague comes asking for help, Hannay has to come out of…

Adventure

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Side by side

The verdict

Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
The Thirty-Nine Steps is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 5 for The three hostages.
The Thirty-Nine Steps has the widest readership — 48698 ratings behind its score.

How to choose

Want a one-evening read? The Thirty-Nine Steps ≈ 1h vs 5h for The three hostages Want the crowd-tested pick? The Thirty-Nine Steps 48698 ratings vs 1368 for The three hostages

Scores by source

	The Thirty-Nine Steps	The three hostages
Goodreads	3.6 (48698)	3.8 (1368)
Hardcover	4.0 (1)	4.0 (4)
Apple Books	4.0 (492)	4.0 (8)

Reception

	The Thirty-Nine Steps	The three hostages
Ratings	48698	1368
Editions	881	204
Film adaptations	1	1
Want to read	25610	1262
Reading it now	2384	103
Written reviews	4315	137
Wikipedia attention	9861	526
Pages	104	292

Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: The Thirty-Nine Steps or The three hostages?

The three hostages has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The three hostages 3.8/5, The Thirty-Nine Steps 3.6/5).

Which is shorter to read: The Thirty-Nine Steps or The three hostages?

The Thirty-Nine Steps is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Thirty-Nine Steps (104 pages, ≈ 1 h 56 m); The three hostages (292 pages, ≈ 5 h 24 m).

Which is harder to read: The Thirty-Nine Steps or The three hostages?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Thirty-Nine Steps: Challenging; The three hostages: Challenging.

Have both books been made into films?

The Thirty-Nine Steps: 4 film adaptations; The three hostages: no film adaptation on record.