Fantasy Book Club discussion

Since I am an older fantasy reader, I would love to find authors who focus on older than teenage heros. I love the character Seri and Karon in Carol Berg's books. I also enjoy when the character looks back in his older age and tells his story, such as Fitz in the Robin Hobb books. I am currently reading Curse of Chalion and like that Cazaril is telling the story. I am mostly finding teens coming of age. I would appreciate any suggestions.

The follow up as well--Paladin of Souls

The sequel to the book you're reading now is also very good and stars an even older heroine. Paladin of Souls

Tea with the Black Dragon is another one that I enjoyed. I don't remember exactly how old she is but it was at least 40-50.

If you like fairy tales or magical realism, there's The Snow Child (50's) and Some Kind Of Fairy Tale (30's?)

Then there's Last Call (late 30's?) and Neil Gaiman (Neverwhere and American Gods both in their 20's or so?) if you like the mythology/gods style Urban fantasy.

Most of Barbara Hambly's work that I've read so far. I particularly enjoyed Dragonsbane and The Ladies of Mandrigyn

A lot of the detective/noir style urban fantasy have adult characters.

A few more random suggestions:
The New Moon's Arms
Lifelode
Redemption in Indigo
Under Heaven
Perfect Circle
His Majesty's Dragon

Some others:

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (the two main characters are I think 50's and 20's/30's)
The Half-Made World (three main characters are maybe 30's?)
Fudoki (one 60-ish, one maybe 20's)
Bitter Greens (two middle-aged and one teen)
The Scar (one 40's, one maybe 30's)

And some favorites with protagonists in their 20s (for those who are just looking to avoid the teen thing):

Sunshine
Benighted
Deathless
Elfland

I think all the main characters in Kate Elliott's Crossroads Trilogy (first book Spirit Gate) are at least 20s too, and some middle-aged--that's the most typical epic fantasy I can think of without any major teen coming-of-age arc.

Maybe Chronicles of the Black Company?
Main char is middleaged I think, check it out (;

How about books with people aged 60+? I can think of at least two at the moment: Legend and Throne of the Crescent Moon. it was really refreshing to read about characters without teenage angst :)

In The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss the main character is looking back and telling his life story.

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks has two main characters, one a teen, the other a middle aged man.

If you like fairytale-like stories, Chalice deals with two older characters forced into leadership roles

If you like short stories, the Wizards anthology by Jack Dann is very good with characters of various ages.

Lastly, if you like fairy tales and want to venture into the graphic novel area, Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile is fantastic

Any of the guards/watchmen Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. Vimes is middle aged and some of the other characters are of the older persuasion.

The witches ones too, Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax are both pretty elderly:)

Thank you for your suggestions. I am looking forward to this week end to look into them. I am almost finished with the books I am reading and need new ones.

Patricia Briggs' Raven duology features a middle-aged protagonist, as does Jennifer Roberson's new series which starts with Karavans.

And thanks to those who made other suggestions. While I love a good coming-of-age tale, it's nice to read about people more like me for a change.

You might like Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet, which follows a man through his entire life. He's a child in the prologue, then a young man in the rest of book 1, and each book jumps around 15 years, with an epilogue where he's an old man. A fascinating study in how people age, and a cracking read in fantasy terms too. It's published now in two books, starting with Shadow and Betrayal.

This thread is a gold mine of great reading suggestions. I loved Redemption in Indigo and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I see a lot of stuff here I need to check out, including Long Price Quartet

Malcolm

If you're up for reading Indies, Riddle in Stone has a middle-aged librarian as the protagonist.

I can't really explain it or else I'll give away a really interesting part of the books, but C S Friedman's Magister's Trilogy is a fun series and kind of fits into what you're looking for(in a different sort of way, but I loved how she wrote this and I think it's neat).

Snap wrote: "Maybe Chronicles of the Black Company?
Main char is middleaged I think, check it out (;"

Actually this is one of the books I am currently reading. It is a little different from books I have read but I do like Croaker.

I read this for another group and really couldn't get on with it. I do agree though the main character is not a young'un.

Slightly more science fiction than fantasy, but Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon has an older female protagonist.

Soldier of the Mist based on Greek mythology and set during the time of Xerxes' invasion of Greece.

actually on that note The Odyssey. Odysseus is middle aged. They have been fighting in Troy for over 10 years by that point so he must be at least 30 minimum, I would say nearer 40.

While urban and not fantasy of a higher persuasion like the books of Hobb, you might enjoy American Gods or Neverwhere which both feature people in their 30's. The Joe Abercrombie First Law books also feature main characters with a higher age, I think Logan is in his late 30's early 40's.

Except the Queen by Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder. You have to give 'em a little while to let the age hit.

You might also like The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman, even though you can argue that her powers could as well be psionics and so very soft SF rather than fantasy.

The hero of Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed is old. And fat and out-of-shape and crotchety.

Eddie LaCrosse series starting with The Sword-Edged Blonde Main character Eddie LaCrosse is 35-40. It's an interesting mix of gritty fantasy with detective noir. Has slightly cynical/sarcastic tone more common for urban fantasy.

The Soprano Sorceress - the main character is a middle aged woman. I read the first two and I enjoyed them from what I remember.

Some great suggestions here! I enjoy YA but it is nice to have a change.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson has a number of major characters who are well into mature adulthood/middle age. (not counting the ones who are thousands of years old!)

A lot of good suggestions here. It's seems customary for fantasy heroes/heroines to be youths so that the quest is also a coming of age thing. Personally, I favour the Western approach where the protagonist is often older and more worldly wise, perhaps even on their last legs and looking for one last hurrah.

L.G. wrote: "It's seems customary for fantasy heroes/heroines to be youths so that the quest is also a coming of age thing."

Well, this has a lot of advantages. For instance, it allows your main character to go gallivanting off on the quest without raising the question of either what happens to spouse, children, employer/customers (depending on job) or how did this character get to this age without acquiring any responsibilities, and can he really be trusted with the fate of the world.

Sometimes authors can finesse that in a way that benefits the story.

Though back to nominations: that old classic Witch World by Andre Norton has a hero in his forties when it starts.

I totally agree....I am not a fan of teenagers honestly....When I write I like my characters to be in their 20's or older http://www.fantascize.com/content.php...

A classic of the genre, middle-aged, married hero with two children:

Lud-in-the-Mist

You could try out The Crown Conspiracy by Michael Sullivan.

The Aware is the first book in The Isles of Glory trilogy by Glenda Larke and that series might suit you too :)

I read that as readers in North America become older (baby boomers age) there will more demand for protagonists over the age of 30. I have definitely seen this in film and stumbled across a new genre "boomer lit" being requested by a couple of publishers.

I liked this fantasy book about a middle aged woman:

Ravenwood

Fab thread - thank you!

J.D. wrote: "If you're up for reading Indies, Riddle in Stone has a middle-aged librarian as the protagonist."

That's a good one! And absolutely Michael J. Sullivan Ryiria books starting with the Chronicles. And I would also suggest Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself, the protagonists are in their mid-twenties and thirties.
Thank you all for this thread!

Dave wrote: "I liked this fantasy book about a middle aged woman:

Ravenwood"

Ah, Dave, you beat me to it!

Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass series has a kickass heroine. Celaena Sardothien is a teenage assassin!

Out of interest what do you guys consider middle-aged here? I mean a lot of fantasy has heroes in their teens or early twenties, so even late twenties looks like it might fit the bill (relatively, speaking).

At the other extreme, how young can you be and still be middle-aged? The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman features a heroine who was a refugee from the Russian Revolution, albeit as a child, and is set in late 60s, early 70s New York City. (No dates given but the prices are a give-away.)

Mh, probably we are putting in the same group "grown-up" and "middle-aged". Reading Marilyn's request, I thought she meant characters who are adults, so no fantasy with a coming-of-age story, but not specifically characters who are middle-aged (say, over 40? After all, in terms of most fantasy books, you cannot really have too many old main characters due to physical limits. In daily speech, I refer to "middle-aged" after 50, to "old" after 70).
About old protagonists who recall the feats of their youth, the narrative may be from a the point of view of an aged character but nontheless the events of the story follow a younger self.
Where would you draw the line between adult and teenagers relating to your fantasy books? I would say mid-twenties or at any rate, I would consider "adult" a character that has a developed personality and experience to back his/her actions, has had failures and successes in life.
I noticed (thanks Janny!) that we have forgotten to mention here both books in current monthly discussion! To Ride Hell’s Chasm and The Whitefire Crossing have adult protagonists (I speak for Hell's Chasm, which I warmly recommend as a very rounded read, one of the main characters is well into middle-age).

I'd vote for Joe Abercrombie his first law books have many characters, but feature Logan Ninefingers who is no spring chicken. Red Country has an even older protag.

I'd second the too one of my favs. A few different POVs as the story goes on, but Croaker, certainly, is a seasoned old vet.

Alissa wrote: "Where would you draw the line between adult and teenagers relating to your fantasy books? I would say mid-twenties or at any rate, I would consider "adult" a character that has a developed personality and experience to back his/her actions, has had failures and successes in life."

I agree with that and would add no coming-of-age arc. Of course any good protagonist will grow during the course of the story (you're never too old for that, I hope), but young-seeming character arcs like discovering love/sexual attraction for the first time, or gaining independence from parental figures, or learning that sometimes things go wrong in the world, make a book seem more teen-oriented even if the character is in his/her 20s. Whereas if the character is 18 but has a lot of life experience and doesn't behave in stereotypically teenage ways, I'd call it adult.

In real life I wouldn't call anyone middle-aged unless they were at least 40, but in fantasy I think 30s suffices (usually it's set in the past, when expected lifespans would be shorter). These folks saying late 20s is middle age are scaring me, though!

HEY I'M 40+!!! :)

I think Emma nailed one of the things I absolutely look to avoid in fantasy these days - coming of age stories. I'm not saying I'll never read a good one again, but man am I tired of them.

It takes a skilled storyteller with a great plot to convince me that the only person in the whole damn world is a virginal budding swordsman with a heart of gold struggling to escape from the oppressions of society/parents/evil king who learns to trust himself, his power and his rally cool magic sword so he can save the kingdom and lose his virginity to the impossibly beautiful yet improbably also virginal princess who - natch - is also the greatest archer in the land.

And they're both 15.

Surrrreeee

Andre Norton's Witch World series mostly stars adults. Very little "coming of age" really happens in her series.

This series is older - it was started in the 1960s.

Edward, that was fun! I agree, it's the coming-of-age theme that estranges me, particularly if it's clichéd and utterly improbable. I agree that age standards in fantasy are different, but even in real life!
Anyway, calling late 20s "middle age" is stretching it, I understand the age issue is one's own age sensitive, but really, youthful exuberance is scaring! Or maybe teenage fantasy protagonists wise, 30 is already older that dirt.

Hmm. Witch World itself and the next book feature definitely middle-aged characters. The others tend toward early 20s at the latest.

Of course, in the era she has, that may mean having fought in wars and dealt with politics.

I'm not sure exactly how old Roland in the Dark Tower series is, but he always seemed middle-aged or old. It perhaps isn't pure fantasy, but I really enjoyed the series. The issues he deals with in the books seem to be targeted at a much older audience if nothing else.

Mary wrote: "Hmm. Witch World itself and the next book feature definitely middle-aged characters. The others tend toward early 20s at the latest.

Of course, in the era she has, that may mean ha..."

Correct.

Although a lot of her protagonists are younger than 30+ they are almost all "adults" in mindset. 99% of them are of marriageable age, have had some type of tragedy that ages them, have been trained to work/rule, etc, have been trained/fought in wars. I can only think of...two that start with "young" protagonists. Two out a series that long is not bad at all.

One of the final books - The Magestone - has a much older protagonist. It's been a year or so but IIRC she is in her 60's.

I was going through some older discussions and ran across this one. Man, I can really relate and thought it might be a nice conversation to bring up again. As an older adult I too feel that sometimes there are too many "coming-of-age" stories. I liked the suggestion made by L.G.....
Personally, I favour the Western approach where the protagonist is often older and more worldly wise, perhaps even on their last legs and looking for one last hurrah.