Bittercon: "I'm So Special"

[intertext]

For those on my flist not able to join oursin and brisingamen at Wiscon, or who did not go and have fun at Kalamazoo (or even those who did!) but who would like to participate in a Con panel, there is lively discussion at papersky, sartorias and katenepveu and others coordinated in the community bittercon. Here's my panel topic:

"I'm So Special" - Wish Fulfillment Fantasy and Science Fiction

From Harry Potter to Heroes, there's a whole sub-genre of SF in which the "outsider" suddenly discovers that he or she is not an outsider but a member of some elite class of beings (wizard, superhero, Herald). There is a sub-genre of this trope in which the person becomes special by being CHOSEN by some kind of sentient animal - think particularly of the works of Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffrey.

My question is not so much about the popularity of such a class of novels - I think the attraction is fairly obvious - but whether any of these authors, or others, have dealt with the notion of being the one NOT chosen. J K Rowling never really allows her characters to interact with "normal" Muggles, only the dreadful members of Harry's family - I'd love to read something from the perspective of such a character. There are several Pern novels in which some of the suspense is derived from the viewpoint character not being chosen by a dragon when expected to be so, but I believe that all of them end up with that character being chosen in the end.

I've often thought of writing something called "The Unchosen" from the perspective of someone in that position who feels, perhaps, bitter (hey - Bittercon!) and excluded. Do any works exist in which the main character is "normal" within a society such as I've described and comes to terms with it?

A related question is that these, with the possible exception of Harry Potter, seem to fall into the category of "guilty pleasure" reading - basically not terribly good books that are nevertheless fun escapism. Are there any "good" works, by which I mean books that you don't have to apologize for reading, that fall under this category? And if not, why not?

Comments

[intertext.livejournal.com]

I'm not a huge fan of Mieville, but have seen that book in the shops and thought it looked interesting.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

That sounds absolutely perfect - exactly the sort of thing I was wanting. What is the name of the series?

[diony.livejournal.com]

The Twelve Kingdoms. All of the anime is out on DVD with English subtitles, and the first of the novels is available in translation.

The series starts pretty slowly and I was tempted to give up a few times, but I hung in there through the sloggy bits and was amply, amply rewarded.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I don't let my copy out of my house.

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

Not a book, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer has the Chosen/not-Chosen tension. And since Buffy has a habit of dying, triggering a new Slayer, and then coming back from the dead, you have that added twist.

But don't ask me to name particular episodes...

[ginger-blue.livejournal.com]

Oh, I *adore* Twelve Kingdoms-gorgeous, gorgeous anime. Taiki is absolutely fascinating in this context, too, as both a Chosen one, and in the position of having choose someone else. And there are social pressures that the adults around him bring to bear (mostly without knowing it) in a process that, as a child and a newcomer to the world, doesn't make a lot of sense to him.

Mild spoilers (you already know this by the time this character's arc starts):

And then there's whatever happens to him in between the end of his arc and where we pick up the story with Youko. Whatever happened there to take him back out of the world of the 12 Kingdoms to Japan, being a Chosen One dropped back into his former life has clearly not been a happy experience.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

There's a Samuel Delany novella called "The Star Pit" which is about pretty much exactly this. There are these people called "Golden" who are wonderful and special and can go out into hyperspace without cracking up, and then there's the protagonist of the story, who would have really liked to be one.

There's also, weirdly, Tolkien's incredibly sad poem "The Last Ship" in which a human girl watched the last elf ship leaving Middle Earth and is invited to join them:

"Firiel looked from the river bank, one step daring
Then deep in clay her feet sank, and she halted, staring.
Slowly the elven ship went by, whispering through the water.
"I cannot come!" they heard her cry. "I was born Earth's daughter."

That -- the whole poem, which is in The Adventures of Tom Bombadill -- I think goes right at the heart of being unchosen.

[calimac.livejournal.com]

Related to this, there's an interesting subgenre of stories about the people living just outside of fairy tales and fantasy, trying to figure out what's going on. deliasherman's The Porcelain Dove and sartorais's "Mom and Dad on the Home Front" are the prime exemplars.

[delurker.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you read fanfic at all, but if you're open to fanfic, I think you'll enjoy Dudley Dursley and the Hogwarts Letter (http://community.livejournal.com/remix_redux/58321.html) by kindkit, which is an AU (alternate universe) in which Dudley is a muggle living with the Potters in a household of wizards. It's all about not being chosen, so quite appropriate to this post. :)

[intertext.livejournal.com]

Oh, gosh, yes - I just got goose-bumps thinking about it!

[intertext.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'd thought of Buffy. And of course, Joss Whedon, as he is wont to do, to some extent upsets the whole concept in the very last episode. I won't be more specific in case there's anyone for whom that might be a spoiler.

The Buffyverse - Angel included - plays interestingly with the insider/outsider idea, in that there's a whole group on the "inside" - the Scoobies, in the case of BVS and Angel and his cohorts and adversaries, in the other - for whom vampires and demons are part of the normal world, but every now and then they come into contact with a person or group for whom such things seem to be completely alien.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean! I have a copy of the hardcover original of The Throme of the Erril of Sherril that is a treasured item.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

I haven't read much fanfic, but that sounds interesting - thanks!

[delurker.livejournal.com]

One of the fun things about fanfic is the ability to play with stuff like this. :)

I wonder if there aren't many sf/f books specifically about being non-chosen because it's such a common feature of life? I think one may find more non-chosen-y books in YA fiction, perhaps.

[kate_nepveu]

This is a great topic, and I wish I could contribute more than a single link to a short story:

http://nielsenhayden.com/return.html

*goes away to ponder some more*

[madrobins]

The Buffyverse has Xander Harris (and later, Dawn, who may have a supernatural origin but--other than keeping her eyes open when her sister's in a fight--doesn't have any special powers) who are the not-Chosen. The episode in which Dawn thinks she might be a potential slayer and learns that she is not is particularly on point for this topic (Xander's speech to Dawn at the end, particularly), but it's Xander himself--who is not superpowered, who is "The Glorified Bricklayer," who really becomes a hero. No magic, no superpowers, not a vamp or a slayer or a computer whiz. Just a decent human being who sees what's going on around him and keeps stepping up to the challenge. "Hey! I've clocked field time!"

[intertext.livejournal.com]

That's a great story! Thank you - it hits the spot, so to speak. I was also reminded of a story by papersky that I know I've read somewhere online but couldn't find, which is appropriate, if a little tangential to this topic. It's about someone who has visited a Narnia or a Fionavar and come back and is dealing with reality again.

not to be too obscure or anything

[solarbird]

she eventually comes to the realisation that, no, she really isn't the Chosen One and would be much happier if she went back home and made friends and generally tried to be a reasonable human being. This is depicted as the hard-won result of painful personal growth and absolutely a victory for her.
In a context I can't really talk about for reasons that would make sense if I could go into detail I can't, I have seen people in real life come to a strikingly analogous realisation. And what's interesting and relevant was that in this case, as in the anime you describe, it was very much a case of personal growth and was rather a personal victory. It didn't make anyone feel better because they thought they were, say, losing a fifth wheel; everyone was happy and congratulatory because one individual's particular truth had been found.

So linking to another previous commenter's thought, here's a case where you can spend a lot of time on that - and possibly on telling that story - and not have it be depressing at all. It certainly wasn't in this real-life example.

[kate_nepveu]

*racks brain*

Ah!

"Relentlessly Mundane":

http://www.strangehorizons.com/2000/20001023/relentlessly_mundane.shtml

Can never think of the end of Fionavar, etc., without thinking of it.

[perkinwarbeck2.livejournal.com]

Nor me, which may have done Ysabel no favors.

It's not being unchosen, though, it's about having been chosen once and wanting to be chosen again.

[ysabel.livejournal.com]

Heck, even after he hooked up with you-know-who!

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

*snerk*

[simonator.livejournal.com]

Arguably, the general 'Xander problem is that his character wasn't very consistantly written. He was always as brave or cowardly, as smart or dumb as the next gag required.

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

I think there's a couple of consistencies -- Xander's strange attraction to the wrong women and his tendency to act in what he sees as Buffy's best interests. Even his constancy, which is his strongest characteristic up through talking Willow back from the edge of apocalypse, goes away when it comes to Anya. But you're right -- in general, Xander is really just the constant foil.

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you might think that. I couldn't possibly comment!