As a writer, I try to target my work at the right demographic. That's why I find it odd that 50 year old readers are placed into the same target demographic as 14 year olds. Novels like Mistborn, The Runelords, and Wizard's First Rule are dubbed “adult fantasy” and marketed quite differently from young adult novels, as evident in choice of cover art, acceptable length, and categorical placement in bookstores and websites--even though many teenagers read them. I haven't done an empirical study of this, but it seems that the “adult fantasy” and “adult science fiction” genres attract just as many teenagers as young adult novels do. I remember reading those same kinds of books in high school. Why aren't some of them marketed as young adult?
In my attempt to write a marketable YA novel, I ended up with my latest work, Poisonhead, a YA dystopian cyberpunk story. Many authors are writing incredible YA novels, but most new titles that I've seen in the past several years have been either paranormal romance or post-apocalyptic fiction (sometimes labeled dystopian). Urban fantasy settings are immensely popular for teen novels. While I've always enjoyed epic fantasy novels, I've hesitated to write one for a YA audience because it doesn't seem that anybody markets epics as YA. I don't want to lose my adult audience, but I'd also like to appeal to the vast teenage audience. Why aren't we seeing YA epics? Is it a matter of the writer, or are we talking about two different types of novels aimed at an overlapping age group?
It could be a matter of setting complexity, as epic fantasy settings are often much more complicated than urban fantasy or science fiction. Tolkien's groundbreaking Lord of the Rings series developed out of an entire mythos that he created, complete with its own history, geography, cultures, languages, cuisine, and music. As a result, EF stories tend to have steep learning curves for new readers. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series is famous (or infamous) for its detailed descriptions and gargantuan cast of characters. Steven Erikson's Malazan: Book of the Fallen series throws the reader right into the middle of a war, giving clues along the way about the world and the characters, but still providing one of the steepest learning curves in fiction. And Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive promises to reach a comparable level of complexity, with several magic systems, several main viewpoint characters, and a Book One of 1000 pages. Political machinations, complex magic systems, a large cast of characters, and intricate plots all contribute to this distinctive style--one that resonates with some teenage readers, but not others.
Additionally, in their effort to be comprehensive, epic fantasies are often far darker than their post-apocalyptic or urban fantasy counterparts, containing mature content such as violence, betrayal, sexual situations, and language. Anyone who thought that Mockingjay was dark or depressing should read a page or two out of A Game of Thrones. George R. R. Martin dominates the extreme wing of edgy fantasy novels, while other authors like R. A. Salvatore write a great deal of action violence, and authors like Jacqueline Carey write stories with extreme sexual content (how much these qualify as EF is debatable, but you get the point). Although young adult novels have taken a turn toward darker and edgier, writers of “adult” fantasy novels tend to delve into more mature themes, or treat them in a familiar fashion, while teen-oriented YA novels might take one element (for example, the impact of sexuality on teenagers in McCafferty's novel Bumped) and weave that into the plot and character arcs. Slaughter and incest can be normal to an adult EF character, depending on the setting; YA characters are expected to react more like the reader would. And since we've established that epic fantasies are marketed to the “adult” readership, those that deal with mature themes like YA stories can sometimes feel out of place.
In another era, perhaps there was a middle ground between the young adult and epic fantasy markets. The Belgariad series by David Eddings (published in the 80s) could be seen as YA epic fantasy, a bildungsroman about a teenage boy named Garion who journeys across a mythical land, discovers magical powers, and fights a dark lord to save his people. The five books in the series are relatively short and simple by today's standards of epic fantasy (250-400 pages), and Garion grows up and learns various lessons about responsibility and friendship like we'd expect in a young adult novel.
Another example, though, is a series published two decades later: Harry Potter. While the story ostensibly takes place in the real world, the Hogwarts environment and high magic content makes it feel like an epic fantasy. Harry starts out as a young boy, learns about his powers, battles a dark lord, learns the value of friendship and valuable lessons about growing up, and fights to save the world. While the stakes don't become epic until maybe the 3rd or 4th book, there is a respectable cast of characters and a magic system that accompanies the extensive world building (even though it's built from mythology cliches, the world building is still extensive). And most of the books are written to a teenage audience, with familiar aspects like school, classes, bullies, family problems, and dances.
I'm sure there are other examples out there, but it seems that there are many elements of epic fantasy that appeal to a different audience than YA (even Sanderson's Alcatraz series, a sort of middle grade epic fantasy, is targeted at a different audience from his “adult” books). EF demands intricate secondary world building, high stakes, and enough characters to provide a grand, sweeping feel to the story. YA requires simpler world building, a very personal journey for the protagonist, and less characters to detract from his or her story. EF readers want to be taken to another world, which is why many EF writers create secondary worlds. YA readers tend to prefer more familiar settings, which is why paranormal romance and high school scenarios predominate. Many EF readers fall into the “adult” age range (mainly 18-24 year olds); YA readers tend to be teenagers (13-17 year olds). EF readers tend to invest a great deal of time reading, and enjoy complex worlds and intricate plots; the YA readership includes many young or casual readers who prefer shorter, character-focused stories (like coming of age or teen romance).
In conclusion, I guess you could hit both target audiences by writing medium-length novels that focus on a small group of characters from different walks of life in a fantastic setting that is familiar enough to give casual readers a shallow learning curve. Alternately, you could write a YA novel with a slightly more complicated magic system, or set in a secondary fantasy world, but with the streamlined cast of characters and plot focus typical of YA. This would attract more EF readers without driving away too many casual readers. Another approach would be to craft an EF novel but write from the viewpoint of a character who is, like the reader, uninitiated in the magic or some of the customs of the world. By introducing the story this way, you might attract casual readers while still maintaining the intricacies and richness of a fully-developed EF setting.
Then again, you could always just write two different series. Or just write what feels right for the story you want to tell and worry about how to market it afterward. There are so many exceptions to these rules, and so many successful novels that blur the lines, that the generalizations should only be taken as loose guidelines anyway. But as someone who has made quite a few mistakes in pitching and marketing my novels (like pitching a biopunk series as epic fantasy), I like to have reference points and a framework of standards to look at. Classification isn't about limiting what you write or about categorizing readers; it's about getting your stories to the right people who will be interested in that kind of story. Well-written stories attract their own audience, and readers might enjoy stories across varying levels of complexity, content, and target age. But I feel that by knowing your stories and knowing your audience, you can effectively and efficiently target the most likely fans of your work.
Who knows? Maybe there is a place for YA epics in the current market. There's only one way to find out.
