Young Wataru flees his messed-up life to navigate the magical world of Vision, a land filled with creatures both fierce and friendly. His ultimate destination is the Tower of Destiny where a goddess of fate awaits. Only when he has finished his journey and collected five elusive gemstones will he possess the Demon's Bane—the key that will grant him his most heartfelt wish...the wish to bring his family back together again!

Brave Story was originally serialized in various newspapers from November 11, 1999 to February 13, 2001. It was later published by Kadokawa Shoten in two hardcover volumes on March 3, 2003 and in a one volume collector's edition on April 7, 2003. To generate interest in Gonzos' animated film, the novel was re-published in two new editions: a three volume edition on May 25, 2006, and a four volume edition under the light novel label Sneaker Bunko on June 1, 2006. The light novels were illustrated by Kenji Tsuruta.

The novel was published in English by VIZ Media under the Haikasoru imprint in one volume. The hardcover edition was released on August 14, 2007 while the paperback edition was released on November 17, 2009.

Brave Story was adapted into three video games which all released on July 7, 2006: Brave Story: Wataru no Bouken for the Playstation 2, Brave Story: Boku no Kioku to Negai for the Nintendo DS, and Brave Story: Aratanaru Tabibito for the Playstation Portable (the latter was localized in North America as Brave Story: New Traveler).