I would love to see a "chosen one" or "I volunteer as tribute" type of protagonist who is middle-aged or elderly. We can't let teenagers have all the cathartic fantasy.
That said — now that I'm over thirty I'm sort of disillusioned with that trope in general, of a single individual being the only one brave enough to stand up and yadda yadda, so:
I would also love to see people (of any age) saving the world in a more realistic and attainable way than literal fighting and blowing things up and killing dictators. How do you save the world when you have just enough hope for the future that you don't want to give up your own future?
Any genre is great but obviously most of this is going to fit into some form of speculative fiction.
by blessings-of-rathma
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This sounds like Kings of the Wyld. Although if you’re looking for an intensely dark and serious read, then KotW isn’t for you. It’s a great adventure focused on a band of middle aged men.
*The Curse of Chalion* by Lois McMaster Bujold. MC is a 35 year old man, who seems older, ill-used and broken. He wants nothing more than to be invisible, but circumstances force him to step up and become involved in a terrifying prophecy that has little to do with war or battle.
Anil’s Ghost, Michael Ondaatje
The Earthsea books, Ursula K LeGuin. There are six of them, and they follow a couple of characters from their teens to old age. While the first couple fit (ahem. established) some chosen one teenager saved the world tropes the series as a whole does not, and all of the books are a lot more than that.
Science fiction okay?
Old man’s war