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

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

Sorry ... me again. Cooper's Dark is Rising sequence had lots of examples, if I understand you correctly. The Drew children are all pretty normal, and stay that way. They are normal human foils to those who are chosen. Their humanity gives them strength, and also puts them at risk. But they are all central characters who have to consciously deal with the fact that they don't have those powers. Magic happens around them, and to them, but their roles are mostly reactive.

In that same vein, how would you categorise the children of this world in The Chronicles of Narnia (i.e., leaving out Narnians like Cor in The Horse and His Boy and Caspian)? I can see the argument for the Pevensies being chosen, but really, their coming is foretold more than that they are 'chosen' (unless you want to talk theology!). But if the Pevensies are, I think it's clear that Eustace is not, at least, not in Dawn Treader.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

Re: the Dark is Rising: yes, that's an interesting example because the Drew children are mundane. And I think the "unchosen" aspect adds weight to that choice that Will Stanton gets to make at the end. They are not given that choice.

[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."