Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works. It was created and is run by Pages Unbound. Learn about the weekly prompts and how to participate by visiting their Fantasy with Friends blog post.
Fantasy With Friends Weekly Question
Is there a common trope or concept you see in children’s fantasy stories that you think would be fun to see more of in adult fantasy?
While I rarely read children’s fantasy stories, one trope comes to mind that I think I enjoy more than, perhaps, a lot of others in the blogisphere? (I don’t know, you tell me!) I happen to like the Chosen One trope. I think we see more of it in children’s/middle grade/YA stories because it’s a good mechanism for coming of age discovery. Percy Jackson comes to mind as does Harry Potter and Pahua and the Soul Stealer (if I’m remembering it correctly). It can come with a lot of angst and frustration.
Done right, though, I think it could work in adult fantasy books, too. I can do without the hormonal angst. But I think the Chosen One provides a lot of avenues for world, lore, and character building, whatever the age of the character(s). There are plenty of incidences in real life when adults find out things about themselves or their family’s past, so why not also be the Chosen One?