On subverting prophecies and The Chosen One

I’m not saying I can’t enjoy a book with a prophecy, just that it seems a) rather overdone, and b) kinda predestination-ish, and I have trouble on both grounds. Also books with prophecies lean heavily toward The Chosen One trope, which is objectionable because really, the message that you can only achieve great things if you are Born Special is pretty limiting.

On that topic, remember when Cordelia told someone … Mark, maybe? … that since people aren’t perfect, it follows that all great deeds are accomplished by imperfect people, so not being flawless doesn’t excuse you from trying to achieve great things. Something like that. She was a lot more pithy and succinct, I’m sure. But that philosophy is about the opposite of The Chosen One, right?

So of course I was thinking about this because of The Wings of Fire series by Tui Sutherland and the way she drove a stake through the heart of the prophecy trope. And then I ran into this post over at By Singing Light: Not the Chosen One

At this point, the Chosen One trope has become both a huge cultural force and almost a parody of itself.

So true! Anyway, Maureen then highlights a handful of titles where the author is doing interesting things with The Chosen One trope. Of which I’ve read only, oh, call it one and a half (I loved NIMONA, but must admit I really didn’t get into Un Lun Dun).

But check out the post! I have several of these on my TBR pile, and all of them shuffled a bit closer to the top because I enjoy it when an author subverts The Chosen One idea.