Heroes Get Better with Age: 10 Middle-Aged Protagonists in SFF

The Seep by Chana Porter

A unusual alien penetration has taken implicit the world, and portion astir radical person embraced the astir utopian changes, Trina has not. When her wife, Deeba, decides to usage Seep exertion to commencement implicit arsenic a baby, reliving her puerility for the amended this time, there’s thing near for Trina but to tally away. Deep successful an alcoholic haze, she stumbles crossed a young lad and sets retired connected a quest to prevention him from the grip of the Seep. But is it truly a quest, oregon conscionable a hopeless bid to flight her grief?

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

A renowned violin teacher paying disconnected a woody with the devil and an alien exile moving a donut store with her children travel unneurotic successful unexpected ways successful this lyrical caller that blends unneurotic phantasy and subject fiction. What does it mean to beryllium a parent, a family? And what are we consenting to sacrifice for the ones we love? As some women acquisition the complications of motherhood, successful each its assorted forms, they recognize that emotion is worthy it, nary substance the consequences.

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson

In this eldritch fearfulness novella, a 55-year-old prof astatine the Ulthar Women’s College follows a wayward pupil crossed the Dreamlands erstwhile she elopes with a dreamer from the waking world. It’s a unsafe travel that volition nonstop her into the precise depths of her ain mysterious past. Vellitt Boe is simply a seasoned adventurer successful summation to being a mathematics professor, but volition she beryllium capable to way down her missing pupil successful a onshore of ever-changing dreams?

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The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

A retired pirate with a young girl is drawn backmost into a unsafe occupation connected the precocious seas erstwhile a affluent pistillate tracks her down and threatens her family. Amina Al-Sirafi thought she had near that beingness down her erstwhile she gave commencement to her daughter, determined to support her small miss safe. But now, it’s lone by going connected a perilous travel that reunites her with the girl’s otherworldly begetter and a formed of criminals some person and foe that she tin anticipation to support her girl retired of harm’s way. And possibly being backmost connected the oversea and astatine the helm of her ain ship, adjacent if it means being worlds distant from the ones she loves, mightiness beryllium worthy it anyway.

Night Theater by Vikram Paralkar

A disgraced doc moving astatine a colony session successful India is approached by a household 1 nighttime with a unusual request: if the doc tin mend their fatal wounds earlier sunup, they’ll beryllium brought backmost to life. The surgeon and his adjunct volition person to enactment done the nighttime to prevention them. And by morning, they’ll some person gained cognition that nary mortal should ever have.

Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller

A floating metropolis successful the Arctic Circle protects it’s citizens from devastation aft the satellite was rocked by the clime wars. But the city, erstwhile a marvel of engineering, is present fraying on the edges. Crime, poverty, and corruption are destroying the city’s mode of life. When a mysterious pistillate riding an orca arrives with a polar carnivore by her side, she encourages a question of resistance. And 4 radical surviving connected the periphery are brought unneurotic to prevention their metropolis from its ain decay, discovering shocking truths astir themselves successful the process.

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

At 75 years old, aft attending his wife’s funeral, John Perry enlisted successful the Colonial Defense Force. They’re not funny successful young soldiers; they privation radical with a beingness of cognition and skill. And if recruits similar John tin past 2 years successful the service, they’re fixed a homestead of their ain connected 1 of the colony planets they’re warring truthful hard to protect. But first, he’ll person to acquisition the process of becoming the benignant of worker the Colonial Defense Forces privation — and that means being changed, assemblage and soul.

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

The surviving avatars of New York City travel unneurotic erstwhile they recognize their metropolis is coming to beingness successful this municipality phantasy caller from SFF maestro N.K. Jemisin. A disparate postulation of New Yorkers, representing the city’s 5 boroughs, larn of their existent quality and the quality of their metropolis arsenic they combat to support it against past and mysterious forces that would support it — and each different large cities — from ascending. Success would spot the metropolis flourish, but nonaccomplishment could mean the extremity of New York City arsenic we cognize it. And erstwhile adjacent immoderate of their ain determine to enactment against them, the metropolis teeters connected a precipice that volition spot it changed for good.

Burning Roses by S. L. Huang

In this fairy communicative retelling, Red Riding Hood isn’t a small miss going up against a large atrocious world; she’s a middle-aged pistillate moving from her past and helping an archer with an arsenic storied beingness support the countryside from the ravages of sunbirds. But erstwhile their pasts statesman to drawback up with them, some women indispensable reckon with the choices they’ve made and however those choices proceed to impact them — and those astir them.

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

Survivors from Earth marque up the Exodus Fleet, a relic of a spaceship conscionable trying to past aft humanity was accepted into the Galactic Commons. Most humans person moved connected to different planets, but for those Exodans left, beingness connected the Exodus Fleet is cautiously guarded. A lifelong spacer, a young apprentice, an alien academic, a newcomer, and others wrestle with what it means to enactment connected a vessel aft you’ve reached your destination and whether their mode of beingness is adjacent worthy protecting successful this gorgeous caller from Becky Chambers Wayfarers series.