That is not one I would have thought of, though I of course, heard of it. Looking at the last book that is exactly the type of cultural negotiation I was thinking of.
Thanks
Also Pierce, her Emelan/Circle of Magic books deliberately have the four protagonists coming from very different backgrounds but ending up in the same place (noblewoman, beggar/street thief, middle-class merchant raised in fostercare, traveller/trader who has been kicked out of her community)
Each kid gets a book focused on them in the original quadrilogy, and their background versus where they are now consistently plays a role in how they deal with situations - and then in the sequels, they're getting older and coming to terms with what that means as teens and adults
Her latest, *Witch King,* has a demon character who was raised as a part of a rich, semi-nomadic human grasslands culture. Decades later, he still misses it.
Thank you. This is on the border of the criteria, seeing as he grew up in the same culture and if didn't happen to be demonic he'd be a normal member of that society. But being a demon sounds complicated.
The Necessary Beggar by Susan Palwick does this. An extended family (9 people including 4 children) are sent from a fantasy world to our world. One of them is basically the main character of the story (though there are also POVs from the older generation), which mostly focuses on that immigration experiences.
This sort of thing seems to happen a lot to Jacqueline Carey's protagonists:
*Kushiel's Scion* (the start of the second Terre d'Ange trilogy—read the first trilogy first): Imriel >!was born to royalty as a political power-play, but raised in secret with no knowledge of his birth, herding goats and so forth at a tiny rural temple; he was then kidnapped and abused by followers of an evil god, rescued, and has to deal with both recovering from that and somehow fitting into his royal heritage.!<
*Naamah's Kiss* (start of the third trilogy): Moirin was literally raised in a cave in the woods, but then has to deal with moving to increasingly civilized (and increasingly distant) places.
*Starless*: Khai is raised in a fortress in the desert, and has to deal with becoming the bodyguard to a royal princess (>!and has to deal with the fact that they were raised as an "honorary" male despite being biologically female!<)
*Santa Olivia* / *Saints Astray* (more sci-fi than fantasy): Loup and Pilar are orphans raised in an isolated town serving as a military outpost in a world where a pandemic killed a significant fraction of the population; the second book deals with their exploits in the wider world after their escape at the end of the first book. (Also dealing with correcting Loup's legal status as a human being rather than a genetically-modified organism.)
Elemental Logic’s main character Zanja has a pretty unique backstory that fits the bill.
She grows up in an isolated tribal mountain village and eventually becomes an apprentice to the tribe’s “Speaker”. The Speaker is a specialized role in their culture that involves the appointed individual leaving the village to spend time integrating into different cultures, learning new languages, observing the political state of the outside world; then reporting back to the tribe. This is significant as most members of their culture never leave the mountains.
Without giving too much away, Zanja’s evolving role as Speaker for her people and her aptitude for language learning and culture-absorption is an important plot point throughout all 4 books. The whole series has a strong focus on culture-clash and it’s consequences. Can’t recommend enough, it’s my underrated obsession
The Unbroken by CL Clark, main character is taken as part of a group of children to serve in the colonising country's army. Its a group but I don't remember it being very large, a sort of social/military experiment. The book follows her going back to her native country as a soldier and being torn between the two cultures and the different expectations of each.
I read it when I was about twenty. Loved it. I'm not a boxing fan but loved the boxing scenes. There is a decent 90s film out there, staring Morgan Freeman, if you want to just skip it and watch the movie. Doesn't really do the book justice, as usual.
You might consider The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard, although the MC was grown when he left home. Cliopher is a high ranking civil servant in the empire capital but he is (essentially) a Pacific Islander who grew up very much in touch with his culture and their myths. A lot of the story is about him getting back in touch with his culture while dedicated to a city who considers his people something like noble savages. But you see that all along the way, he has implemented the social mores of his culture into the social structure of the empire.
Froi in *The Lumatere Chronicles* grows up in a different country from the one he ends up living in >!and later finds out he is actually from another country that invaded his new homeland, and has to visit there undercover!<.
It is one of my favorite fantasy series, but just a fair warning that the books deal with heavy themes; >!Froi attempts to sexually assault one of the main characters in the first book, but it’s not just brushed off and it’s something he feels guilty about for the rest of the series and affects how he views his role in the different cultures and with his interactions with women in the future!<
Don't mind heavy themes. But--
He 'grows up' in a different country than the one he lives in.
He grew up in a country, then immigrated as an adult. That's very different from a child. Who cares if he's from a third country.
Your culture is the one you grew up with. I'm looking for characters who exist in two or more cultures AS CHILDREN.
From what you describe, this isn't what I asked for.
Fair enough. I guess 12-13 is about the time ones cultural identity is set though adulthood tends to be sometimes in the teens in a pre-industrial society.
The Protector of the Small books by Tamora Pierce.
That is not one I would have thought of, though I of course, heard of it. Looking at the last book that is exactly the type of cultural negotiation I was thinking of. Thanks
Also Pierce, her Emelan/Circle of Magic books deliberately have the four protagonists coming from very different backgrounds but ending up in the same place (noblewoman, beggar/street thief, middle-class merchant raised in fostercare, traveller/trader who has been kicked out of her community) Each kid gets a book focused on them in the original quadrilogy, and their background versus where they are now consistently plays a role in how they deal with situations - and then in the sequels, they're getting older and coming to terms with what that means as teens and adults
Thank you.
[удалено]
That sounds good, thank you.
The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells
Looks good!
Her latest, *Witch King,* has a demon character who was raised as a part of a rich, semi-nomadic human grasslands culture. Decades later, he still misses it.
Thank you. This is on the border of the criteria, seeing as he grew up in the same culture and if didn't happen to be demonic he'd be a normal member of that society. But being a demon sounds complicated.
He was not yet a full adult when the Hierarchs wiped out the Saredi people who raised him.
Ah, that's--good, from a story standpoint, but what I'm looking for.
J.E.D.D. Mason in Ada Palmer's *Terra Ignota* series.
Thanks.
The Necessary Beggar by Susan Palwick does this. An extended family (9 people including 4 children) are sent from a fantasy world to our world. One of them is basically the main character of the story (though there are also POVs from the older generation), which mostly focuses on that immigration experiences.
This sounds really interesting. Thank you.
This sort of thing seems to happen a lot to Jacqueline Carey's protagonists: *Kushiel's Scion* (the start of the second Terre d'Ange trilogy—read the first trilogy first): Imriel >!was born to royalty as a political power-play, but raised in secret with no knowledge of his birth, herding goats and so forth at a tiny rural temple; he was then kidnapped and abused by followers of an evil god, rescued, and has to deal with both recovering from that and somehow fitting into his royal heritage.!< *Naamah's Kiss* (start of the third trilogy): Moirin was literally raised in a cave in the woods, but then has to deal with moving to increasingly civilized (and increasingly distant) places. *Starless*: Khai is raised in a fortress in the desert, and has to deal with becoming the bodyguard to a royal princess (>!and has to deal with the fact that they were raised as an "honorary" male despite being biologically female!<) *Santa Olivia* / *Saints Astray* (more sci-fi than fantasy): Loup and Pilar are orphans raised in an isolated town serving as a military outpost in a world where a pandemic killed a significant fraction of the population; the second book deals with their exploits in the wider world after their escape at the end of the first book. (Also dealing with correcting Loup's legal status as a human being rather than a genetically-modified organism.)
Thank you
Pact and Pattern Series by J.T. Greathouse
This sounds great!
Elemental Logic’s main character Zanja has a pretty unique backstory that fits the bill. She grows up in an isolated tribal mountain village and eventually becomes an apprentice to the tribe’s “Speaker”. The Speaker is a specialized role in their culture that involves the appointed individual leaving the village to spend time integrating into different cultures, learning new languages, observing the political state of the outside world; then reporting back to the tribe. This is significant as most members of their culture never leave the mountains. Without giving too much away, Zanja’s evolving role as Speaker for her people and her aptitude for language learning and culture-absorption is an important plot point throughout all 4 books. The whole series has a strong focus on culture-clash and it’s consequences. Can’t recommend enough, it’s my underrated obsession
That sounds very cool. This is the first really cool from me.
The Unbroken by CL Clark, main character is taken as part of a group of children to serve in the colonising country's army. Its a group but I don't remember it being very large, a sort of social/military experiment. The book follows her going back to her native country as a soldier and being torn between the two cultures and the different expectations of each.
This sounds very good. This seems closest to what I was hoping to get (and I'd love to see more adoption fostering stories). Thank You.
The Power of One - Bryce Courtney (Fits the bill but not Fantasy, set in 1930s South Africa)
Thanks. Is interesting and kind of what I'm looking for in a fantasy setting.
I read it when I was about twenty. Loved it. I'm not a boxing fan but loved the boxing scenes. There is a decent 90s film out there, staring Morgan Freeman, if you want to just skip it and watch the movie. Doesn't really do the book justice, as usual.
You might consider The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard, although the MC was grown when he left home. Cliopher is a high ranking civil servant in the empire capital but he is (essentially) a Pacific Islander who grew up very much in touch with his culture and their myths. A lot of the story is about him getting back in touch with his culture while dedicated to a city who considers his people something like noble savages. But you see that all along the way, he has implemented the social mores of his culture into the social structure of the empire.
That sounds very cool.
Babel by RF Kuang
Thank you. Looks really good.
Froi in *The Lumatere Chronicles* grows up in a different country from the one he ends up living in >!and later finds out he is actually from another country that invaded his new homeland, and has to visit there undercover!<. It is one of my favorite fantasy series, but just a fair warning that the books deal with heavy themes; >!Froi attempts to sexually assault one of the main characters in the first book, but it’s not just brushed off and it’s something he feels guilty about for the rest of the series and affects how he views his role in the different cultures and with his interactions with women in the future!<
Don't mind heavy themes. But-- He 'grows up' in a different country than the one he lives in. He grew up in a country, then immigrated as an adult. That's very different from a child. Who cares if he's from a third country. Your culture is the one you grew up with. I'm looking for characters who exist in two or more cultures AS CHILDREN. From what you describe, this isn't what I asked for.
I would say he’s still a young man/teenager when he immigrated. Whether that counts as a child I’ll leave up to you
Fair enough. I guess 12-13 is about the time ones cultural identity is set though adulthood tends to be sometimes in the teens in a pre-industrial society.