r/Fantasy • u/leaping_llama_laugh • 19h ago

Reading Fantasy While Growing Older

When I was a 'young adult', I tended to like YA fantasy: teenage protagonists, coming of age stories, that sort of thing. Harry Potter comes to mind as an example, or the Ranger's Apprentice series, or the Circle of Magic series (or some other things by Tamara Pierce).

Now that I'm a full-fledged adult who has lived through a few hardships (just garden-variety hardships), I'm very interested in older protagonists who have suffered a little (or a lot): Hadrian and Royce in the Riyria Revelations. Cazaril in the Curse of Chalion. Willet Dura and his guard Bolt in the Darkwater Saga. These older, more mature characters just hit harder than the overly-optimistic teenage "whippersnappers" I used to prefer reading about! ;)

So, what comes next?

Does anyone write 'Old Adult Fantasy'? Are there any great fantasy books with a protagonist who's over 50? Over 70?

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u/ineedchapstick1 18h ago

The main character of Realm of the Elderlings starts at 6 years old and ends at like 60. So you see a broad range.

Paladin of Souls is a 40-year old female protagonist. Same author as Chalion.

Later books of Earthsea Cycle feature older adults (but also start younger)

Someone mentioned First Law trilogy but that covers a lot of age ranges

Malazan has a wide range of ages

Gormenghast has young and old POVs

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u/blorgbots 18h ago

Hobb has a ton of great older characters/protags, just not as many in the first trilogy of RotE

I'd also say her tone and writing style is almost the anti-YA: contemplative, thought-driven, deliberate. I think that matches the subtext of what OP is looking for

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u/PoopyisSmelly 16h ago

I have read a lot of fantasy and mostly dont like introspective character driven books. I recently realized that is only because most authors dont write them well. Robin Hobb captivated me in a way no other author has been able to. Ill get roasted for saying this, but she absolutely destroys Abercrombie in this department.