YA fantasy books for older readers?

Still writing:

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (continued by Brandon Sanderson)

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King (I've only read the first one so I really don't know if it's finished or not)

Finished:

The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Mcguire

The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake

The Old Kingdom Trilogy (renamed Abhorsen Trilogy) by Garth Nix (well he's call some of this new books continuations of the series but they're not really)

Jonathan Strange & Mister Norrell by Susana Clarke

The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula K. Le Guin

Dracula by Bram Stoker (the original vampire stuff)

The Discworld series by Terry Practchett (again I haven't read all of them so I don't know)

Anyone of anyage can read any of Lewis Carroll's.

Absolutely avoid Brandon Sanderson (unless its the Wheel of Time, he's writing according to what the original author wishes), his books are full of Mary Sues and Marty Stues.

The Xanth series I thought wasn't quite worth the time. It was full of, what should I call it, "adolescent ***"?

The Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale feature an older protagonist. In the first book she's 16, but by the last book she's in her 20s. The books are, in order, The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Forest Born.

The Seven Realms series has a protagonist who's 16, and one who's 17. I know it's not quite in the age range you're looking or, but they're still excellent books. The series is written by Cinda Williams Chima, and the books are The Demon King, The Exiled Queen and the Gray Wolf Throne. A fourth book, The Crimson Crown, is coming in the fall.

Hope this helps!

Whoever said that there aren't YA books with older protagonists is simply wrong. Some of the most popular books are about older teens (16-20; I dunno about mid-late twenties though).

Check out

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

If you want a more adult book that has YA appeal and is about college students and that age, look for The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

And I'd add The Lord of the Rings to this list, too.

You can find a lot more YA book ideas at www.youngadultfantasy.com

Good luck!

YA books don't have adult protagonists - younger protagonists is one of the distinguishing features of the genre.

Honestly, probably not. By the time serious readers have got past 16, most of them are reading adult books anyway. There simply isn't that much of a market for YA books which are aimed at 16-18 year olds. You might find that later books in series have older protagonists, simply because they have aged through the series.

My book Flame of Surrender (The Ferryman and the Flame #1) features a female heroine that's 15 - 18 and a male protagonist that's 16-19.

About the book: A boy who follows death, a girl who could cause the apocalypse, an unrelenting foe, a mistake that will change everything . . . How far would you go to save everything you ever loved?

I hope this helps.

Namaste,

Rhi

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) by Rick Riordan is one of the more original fantasy books that I've come across in a while. It takes something that most people are interested in (mythology) and puts an updated fantasy spin on it. The premise is that the Greek gods are still active and up to their old tricks (including having children with mortals), and that our hero Percy is the child of one of these gods. Unfortunately, the gods' children don't have it easy and often have to fight off monsters that can sense their demi-god status. Because of this, there is a camp for them where they can receive special training that might just help to keep them alive.

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In The Chosen One of Allivar by E.W. Greenlee the protagonist is older than that. It's a fantasy trilogy similar to The Lord of the Rings. If you're interested there are book trailers available on YouTube. Enjoy!

The Xanth series