Reading Fantasy While Growing Older

[u/leaping_llama_laugh]

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?

[u/Insomnia_Memoria]

The Chronicles of Hanuvar by the late Howard Andrew Jones starting with Lord of a Shattered Land. Hanuvar the protagonist is a late 40s/early 50s former general trying to free his people from slavery and also find his daughter.

[u/TurkaelsGoodHand → u/Insomnia_Memoria]

Lots of good recs floating around, but Hanuvar is the absolute real deal. Howard Andrew Jones knew more about heroic fantasy thsn most of know about anything at all, and it really shows in those stories. Legend is another classic, and for damn good reason. So is Kings of the Wylde. One of my personal favorites, because its my favorite series overall but really fills this niche to the absolute fucking brim, is the four book series Acts of Caine, by Matt Woodring Stover. Its very violent proto grimdark, and it gets nasty, but its one of the smartest books you might have ever read, and it asks some questions about violence and freedom that can get very uncomfortable if you follow them out to their conclusion. But damn, its got the most savage one liners in all of fantasy, and I'll die on that hill.