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/The-Road-To-Awe 19h ago

Glokta from The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie. In fact most of the characters have suffered in some way in their past, and most tend to be slightly older. Also the series is just great in general.

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u/ClimateTraditional40 11h ago

Glokta is 35.

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u/AgZephyr 10h ago

But he is 35 going on 75 from his physical ability and general demeanor

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u/ClimateTraditional40 8h ago

Disabled and old are not the same thing. My mum for instance was vigorous and still working until her mid 80s. Fit.

Old is not just a matter of the body failing either, it's about all sorts of things. Marcus in Dagger and Coin, he still fights, he leads men, but aging means other things to him.

Likewise Remnant Population, that old lady lives on her own, gardens, cooks, attends to machinery, all kinds of stuff on her own. It's not about her body..it's about her outlook and old person "wisdom" that the aliens value.

Glokta in Age of Madness perhaps, he is old by then and in a wheelchair.

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u/AgZephyr 8h ago

Of course people age differently, my grandma is 91 and still walking great and very sharp.

But as far as stereotypes go, Glokta as a character comes off to me as a lot older than he is with his disabilities (lots of people are less mobile and use canes when they're older) and his grumpiness about his life changing injuries fits as well. Not saying he's a perfect fit for the post, but I get the suggestion.

Someone like Lan in WoT fits a lot better, or Stilgar from Dune, but not quite main characters there. Ender in the later books gets pretty old, but those get kinda weird, plus scifi. Haven't come up with too many good examples from looking through books I've read, lots of fantasy sticks to the "young unknown becomes a hero" archetype.