I’ve talked, in brief, before on the character type I call the Happenstance Hero. It was when I was talking about tropes I like. However to reiterate, in short what the Happenstance Hero is, is as follows.
In novels there are Chosen Ones. These are characters selected by fate or by the people to save the world, whether they want to or not. These are the Katniss’ (Hunger Games) and the Anakin Skywalkers (Star Wars). There tends to be a prophecy, a need, some sort of decision that is outside the control of the characters.
Then there is the Happenstance Hero, which is a type of chosen one. This is a person who falls into becoming the hero of the series, not because of fate or destiny or because they were chosen, but because they fall into the role. This is Katsa (Graceling) and Falcio (The Greatcoats). They happen to become the hero and it could have been anyone but there is no fate that decides it. There is no great prophecy for them either and they happened upon it.
In the end, a Happenstance Heroes can become Chosen Ones and vice versa is true.
The best examples of this are Frodo and Sam from Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter from Harry Potter. Frodo and Sam are, or rather Frodo is, Chosen and then Happen to become heroes. Harry happens to fit the bill and so he is chosen. Now for Harry this may seem like he was Chosen and then Happened to be, but he was Chosen by his enemy, and it could have been him or Neville. In the end he Happened to become the hero because he was born on a date with specific conditions for his parents, and then he was Chosen.
The largest distinction I can give you between Chosen Ones and Happenstance Heroes, is that one happens by fate and the other happens by chance (respectively).
When Katniss’ sister’s name was chosen, she was destined to become a symbol.
When Mare found out she had powers she was destined to become a symbol.
When Anakin found out he had powers he was destined to fall and then rise again.
Katsa happened to help someone.
Falcio happened to meet the right person who cared.
The two are intertwined often enough, and you may be asking yourself, why is this so important for you to have a whole post about it.
Because I think the distinction is important. Not all Chosen Ones are the same and not all heroes are the same, so when I use the phrase, I wanted it to be easier to find for you all. That’s basically it.
This is a fate vs choice argument. Or a Destiny vs Chance, one. I like both character types, and characters can be multiple types, and sometimes I think it’s important to remember that.
– Secret Histories (4 books) – Part of the Lorien Legacies, so 2012
– The Negotiator (2 books) – Started in 2011 ?
– The Missing (5 books) – Started in 2010
Books read:9
Series Complete: 3 (i’m counting the Lorien Legacies and Secret Histories as one series here)
LOL I don’t know what else to say for this. Yay? I read more past series to completion this year? Not sure. Is that the correct response? Maybe lol. Who really knows. Not me. I can tell you that much.
I know, by this point you will have gotten 8 notifications for the 8 posts that I have already posted for the day. That means we are 1/3 of the way through the 24hours of posts that I will be giving you this year. However for now. I am going to wrap up this year, with the following:
The End And Other Beginnings (Stories From the Future) by Veronica Roth
Fierce Fairytales by Nikita Gill
Total: 9
February
The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown
Hidden by Helen Frost
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri
Grandmaster by David Klass
Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Love Boat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks (first 200 pages or so for a reread)
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Reread)
Total: 12
March
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore
The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore
The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore
The Revenge of Seven by Pittacus Lore
The Fate of Ten by Pittacus Lore
United as One by Pittacus Lore
The Legacies by Pittacus Lore
Secret Histories by Pittacus Lore
Hidden Enemy by Pittacus Lore
Rebel Allies by Pittacus Lore
Zero Hour by Pittacus Lore
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
Refugee by Alan Gratz
The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
Total: 15
April
Heart of Stone by C.E. Murphy
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibanez
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
Most Likely by Sarah Watson
The Hawkweed Legacy by Irena Brignull
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
The Rivers Between Us by Richard Peck
Wicked Fox by Kat Cho
Total: 12
May
A Game of Wings and Marks by Rebecca Crunden
Incarnation by Alice Hoffman
House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City 1) by Sarah J. Maas
All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban
The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
House of Cards by C.E. Murphy
Hands of Flame by C.E. Murphy
Total: 8
June
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
One Of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManns
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman
All For the Game by Nora Sakavic (reread) – The Foxhole Court – The Raven King – The King’s Men
Total: 13
July
The Enemy Series by Charlie Higson – The Enemy – The Dead – The Fear – The Sacrifice – The Fallen – The Hunted – The End
Everworld by K.A. Applegate – Search for Senna – Land of Loss – Enter the Enchanted – Realm of the Reaper – Discover the Destroyer – Fear the Fantastic – Gateway to the Gods – Brave the Betrayal – Inside the Illusion – Understand the Unknown – Mystify the Magician – Entertain the End
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Frost Bite by Richelle Mead
Shadow Kissed by Richelle Mead
Total: 26
August
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Rogue Princess by B.R. Myers
The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo
Seasons of the Storm by Elle Cosimano
Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki
Crownbreaker by Sebastien De Castell
Dead of the Night by Jonathan Maberry
The Always War by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
100 years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Slay by Brittney Morris
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Wave by Sonali Deraniuagala
Witchy by Ariel Slamet Ries
Total: 16
September
The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
Total: 3
October
Crave by Tracy Wolff
The Damned by Renee Ahdieh
The Eternal Kiss by Various Authors
City of Ghosts by V.E. Schwab
The Girl in the Locked Room by Mary Downing Hahn
Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L.J. Smith
Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion by L.J. Smith
Horrid by Katrina Leno
Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan
Seven Devils by Laura Lam
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Evernight by Claudia Gray
Stargazer by Claudia Gray
Afterlife by Claudia Gray
Hourglass by Claudia Gray
Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz
Revelations by Melissa de la Cruz
The Van Alan Legacy by Melissa de la Cruz
Misguided Angel by Melissa de la Cruz
Lost in Time by Melissa de la Cruz
Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz
Keys to the Repository by Melissa de la Cruz
Bloody Valentine by Melissa de la Cruz
Total: 24
November
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Andersen Fairy Tales
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Berne
The Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar
Total: 9
December
Bound by a Dragon by Linda K. Hopkins
Pursued by a Dragon by Linda K. Hopkins
Loved by a Dragon by Linda K. Hopkins
Dance with a Dragon by Linda K. Hopkins
Forever a Dragon by Linda K. Hopkins
Dune by Frank Herbert
Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard
The Book of Dragons (Compilation)
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Total: 9
Grand Total: 156
Comp Goal: 156 (YA)
Big Goal: 180
Completed Comp Goal: Y/N
And so here ends this challenge. We have more posts to come. See you soon.
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
“You hit like a flight attendant. I was in tougher scraps at Walmart Black Friday. ” – pg 54
” ‘It’s always fucking raining,’ I say to her. ‘ When does this stop?’ ‘Sometimes it seems like it never will,’ she says, and puts the car in drive. “But then, all at once, summer comes. Wait until you see how it feels.’ ” -pg 342
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
“To die would be an awfully big adventure.” – pg 102
Frankenstien by Mary Shelley
“We are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves — such as a friend out to be — do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures.” – pg 15
“The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine.” – pg 24
“The same lulling sounds acted as a lullaby t my too keen sensations: when I placed my head upon my pillow, sleep crept over me; I felt it as it came, and blessed the giver of oblivion.” – pg 81
“I am full of fears; for if I fail there, I am an outcast in the world forever.” – pg 118
“Are you mad, my friend? Or whither does your senseless curiosity lead you?” – pg 194
“Despondency rarely visits my heart; a high destiny seemed to bear me on until I fell, never, never again to rise.” – pg 196
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
“Isn’t it a beauty? Yes; splendid! Did you ever see such a binding? Doesn’t the book open easily? Yes; it stops open anywhere. But does it shut equally well? Yes; for the binding and the leaves are flush, all in a straight line, and no gaps or openings anywhere. And look at its back, after seven hundred years. Why, Bozerian, Closs, or Purgold might have been proud of such binding!” – pg 7
The Reader and Protagonist Definitely Have to Be in True Love by 颓 translated by reika
“When a reader likes a protagonist, does it need an explanation?” – Chapter 91
“How can you be sure … that you’re not in a novel?” – 96
Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard
“We are all god’s chosen, and we are all a god’s cursed.” – pg 468
ALRIGHT! Let’s start this count down off right! Heads up NOW. I am posting on post every hour to the start of the new year. If you want to unfollow me, do it now. I know most people will not see this until it is too late but I’m giving you fair warning.
Alright! Hello! Here is my FL box for November. I know. I should post this towards the end of the month, but I can’t be bothered, and you are deserving of getting this post now. ANYWAY Here you go.
Second box for today. I do cry that I still have not gotten my tarot cards for September, and am waiting for the new box subscription to drop. LOL I am about to go a full year into Fairy Loot and I do not regret it. I sometimes get some questionable things that I could care less about but HEY it’s okay. I’ll sell them one day. HAHA Anyway! box
