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

[simonator.livejournal.com]

But part of the whole "chosen one" meme is crypto-puberty. The ugly-duckling story is enduring because to some extant, we all go through it. Not every adult is demonstrably "special," but we are all unique and vastly changed since our childhood. For a story of a "non-chosen" one to resonate we would have to see them come out of the other side of the selection process changed. And not merely bitter about not being chosen, but noticeably more adult and improved.

Learning what is is that we're not good at is still learning, albiet of a fairly unpleasent kind. Somebody once said of their elite school experience that it was humbling to discover that one was in the bottom 20% of the top 2%. And yet that is still growth, and need not be an unrelenting depression-fest.

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

OMG, this made me cry.

[snakey.livejournal.com]

Will didn't really get a choice, if I remember correctly - Bran did, inasmuch as he had a choice whether to go with his father or go back home and forget everything. Will was stuck being "the watchman" whether he liked it or not....

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

Even worse, or better? The Drews forget all that has happened; Will stays on alone.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's right. I had forgotten that it was Bran who had that choice. I always thought the "forget everything" bit was terrible, and hard for Will. Like the last line of The Homeward Bounders: "You won't believe how lonely you get."

[kate_nepveu]

I would say, about being chosen and then choosing.

But yes, it's tangential here but still in the same family.

As for _Ysabel_, there were at least two other major things that I had problems with; what you allude to was such a surprise to me that I didn't know what to think of it then, and now my reaction is more intellectual than emotional. I believe I've seen at least one review opining that one's reaction to the entire book will be colored by one's reaction to that, though.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Isn't that a different topic, though? It's a good one too, but I think the idea of being Chosen and turning it down is a different experience than never being Chosen at all.

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

You're right, but my point is that I'm not sure Carrot ever knows he's chosen -- and he doesn't really turn it down.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Good point.

No apologies

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

All the children's stories in which the protagonist is touched by faerie ("real" or merely implied)--charmed even--but has to give it up.

My favorite is "The Changeling" by Zilpha Keatly Snyder.

As "simonator" points out, the ordinary ugly duckling, who grows up to find strength and hope in ordinary things is a staple: fantastic elements are laginappe. The classic of the genre is the sweetly hilarious Less Than Zero.

Stories of extraordinary people who "come into their own" from obscure, even vile (for Henry the Vth values of "vile") beginnings are the stuff of nonfiction biographies, never mind novels. They can be anti-heroes (Nixon) or heroes (Lincoln) but their stories make for compelling reading.

I suspect that the wish-fufillment aspect is like heavy cream: served up straight with a large dollop of sugar it can be a nauseating compound (but still alluring to one v. v. hungry for that sort of story) - but, say as part of a savory recipe for herb-infused custard with tangy tomato-mushroom sauce (I've been re-reading my Trattoria Cookbook again. Sorry.) - it's a fine example of the artist's craft.

Or so it seems to me, at any rate.

Re: No apologies

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

*nodding*

(Only...why do I suddenly crave a snack?)