It could be easy to assume that fantasy and science fiction are a young person’s game. Most readers first encounter speculative fiction early — through fairy tales and fables, comic books and anime, stories about dragons and wizarding schools. Many of the touchstone stories of the genre star young characters who are fit, strong and possess far more daring than experience. But magicians grow up, heroes get old, and those of us who’ve been reading about fantastical worlds and faraway planets for decades eventually start to notice the dearth of main characters in their 40s, 50s and beyond.
Age can bring wisdom, confidence, emotional maturity and deeper relationships. It can also carry loss, regret and lingering wounds, both seen and unseen. All of that narrative complexity is fertile ground for storytellers. Here are 10 great reads that prove you don’t have to be young to save the world.
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
by Shannon Chakraborty
Amina al-Sirafi might be my favorite middle-aged heroine in recent literature. A legendary pirate turned retired single mother, she’s pulled back into the swashbuckling life for one last job with a personal connection to her past. I’m on the record already as a fan of this novel and have been eagerly awaiting the sequel, “The Tapestry of Fate,” which comes out May 12. What I appreciate most about Amina is her inner conflict, one familiar to many women: She’s great at her job, but leading her crew into dangerous, enormously lucrative ventures takes her away from parenting. Work-life balance is hard, even on the medieval Indian Ocean. Read our review.
Kings of the Wyld
by Nicholas Eames
At first, Eames’s debut novel appears to be a hilarious mash-up of Dungeons & Dragons and classic rock. But it is also a remarkably heartfelt story, largely because of its sensitive main character. Clay “Slowhand” Cooper is the former rock star frontman of a mercenary group who put his youthful, skull-bashing ways behind him in favor of a quiet life with his wife and daughter. But when his old bandmate needs help, Clay shows up in a big way. His colorful cast of comrades reminds the reader that no matter how old you get, there’s no replacing your original ride-or-dies.
Luna: New Moon
by Ian McDonald
It will come as no surprise to anyone who’s read my books that I love a mafia saga, and McDonald’s is one of my favorites. The Moon colony that he depicts with stark, evocative prose is ruled by a quintet of ruthless families, the Five Dragons. Among their many members, one woman stands out: Adriana, the matriarch of the Corta family, a Brazilian immigrant who built their mining business from nothing and, in her twilight years, strives to ensure the survival of her legacy. The flashback sequences that reveal the brutal choices Adriana made in her ascent to power are among the most compelling parts of the novel, threading a poignant, ultimately devastating narrative across generations.
Apprehension
by Mary Robinette Kowal
A family vacation to an alien planet goes horribly wrong when a child is kidnapped, and his grandmother Bonnyjean — a surgeon with PTSD and a bad hip — will do anything to get him back. Kowal balances the action-packed plot with Bonnyjean’s raw emotional journey; the military veteran is grieving the recent loss of her son and battling her own fear and physical limitations. But the way she goes after those who threaten her family had me imagining Liam Neeson’s famous line in “Taken” (“I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”) uttered with a woman’s sweet Southern drawl.
The Bone Maker
by Sarah Beth Durst
Durst has written several great fantasy novels with young heroines (“The Queen of Blood,” “Race the Sands”). But what happens to those plucky saviors after the fighting is done? This stand-alone epic finds out. Twenty-five years after the five Heroes of Kos saved the world from an evil magician — and lost one of their number in the process — the warriors are reunited when their leader, Kreya, tries to resurrect her dead husband using the very bone magic abused by their old enemy.
The Last Astronaut
by David Wellington
After a tragic, failed mission to Mars, the astronaut Sally Jansen has lived in disgrace, working in salvage. She’s called back into service when NASA discovers a mysterious alien object approaching Earth with unknown intentions. Jensen is a questionable choice to lead a crew: older but not necessarily wiser, haunted by her past and grasping at one last shot at redemption. Wellington employs a future historian framing device to set up a Crichton-esque thriller about first contact that descends into cosmic horror.
Remnant Population
by Elizabeth Moon
When her planetary colony is shut down, Ofelia stays behind as the last shuttle leaves and finally achieves #lifegoals: a peaceful retirement tending her garden without a soul around to bother her. Well, except for the aliens, that is. Ofelia is the opposite of your typical first contact protagonist: She’s not an astronaut or scientist, and has no interest in making history. She’s a cranky, 70-year-old woman seeking freedom from societal constraints and learning about herself in later life — a perspective that Moon uses to great effect to subvert the genre’s usual tropes.
The Keeper’s Six
by Kate Elliott
It’s not often that you read about a Jewish grandmother saving her kidnapped adult son from a dragon lord. Esther is a member of a Hex — a crew of six magically skilled individuals who can traverse the Beyond that links worlds. She’s also the reason her Hex has been banned from interdimensional travel, which is kind of a sore spot when she asks them to help rescue her kid. Elliott packs as much wildly inventive world-building into this novella as you might find in some entire series. And Esther is the kind of heroine the genre could use more of: principled, confident, caring and someone you do not want to mess with.
Leviathan Wakes
by James S.A. Corey
You might know “The Expanse” as a beloved sci-fi television show. But a key advantage to experiencing Corey’s space opera series via the original novels (starting with “Leviathan Wakes”) is the interior perspective of Detective Joe Miller. The cynical, lonely, emotionally damaged cop on a midlife quest for purpose isn’t a new archetype, but when it’s done as well as it is here, it’s impossible to look away. Miller’s voice imbues the books with a noir tone while providing a needed contrast to the idealistic Jim Holden, the captain of an ice mining ship and Miller’s unlikely ally in his search for a missing young woman at the center of an interplanetary conspiracy.
Legend
by David Gemmell
Published in 1984, “Legend” is the oldest title on this list, making it a fitting final recommendation. The plot is simple but compelling: Small army must defend itself against enormous invading army. Gemmell wrote the first draft of this debut novel in a frenzied sprint, believing that he had a short time left to live. His diagnosis with terminal cancer turned out to be a mistake, and he went on to write more than 30 works of heroic fantasy before his death in 2006. The fact that the grizzled, war-weary, 60-something Druss — a noble warrior who rises to the occasion in his people’s hour of need — was the character that launched Gemmell’s prolific career seems an appropriate reminder that, at any age, there are still adventures to be had.
The post In These Books, You Don’t Have to Be Young to Save the World appeared first on New York Times.
