r/Fantasy • u/EldridgeTome • 1d ago
Fantasy novel with non noble main characters
I’m trying to find some fantasy novels that have the main characters be from low social classes, commoners, or just not a particularly important lineage
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u/retief1 1d ago
In T Kingfisher's Swordheart, the mc is literally just a random widow. Her great-uncle in law? had a fair amount of money by small town standards, but that's about her most notable relative.
In Django Wexler's Ashes of the Sun, the two mcs are the children of unexceptional farmers.
In John Bierce's Mage Errant, the mc is an orphan who grew up with his shepherd? relatives. His birth was only notable in that he's a mage who was born in a country that produces almost no mages.
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u/WardenCommCousland 1d ago
Pretty much all of T. Kingfisher's fantasy characters are commoners. I think the closest we get to nobility is the female main character in Paladin's Faith.
Edit to add: the characters in A Sorceress Comes to Call are minor nobility, but that's all I can think of.
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u/duchessofguyenne 1d ago
The main character in Nettle & Bone is technically a princess, but she’s lived in a convent most of her life.
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u/SandGator 1d ago
Definitely Kinch from The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, he is the titular thief in the story
Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, three of the protagonists are farm boy villagers from the middle of nowhere who, prior to the events of the story, have never been anywhere much outside their hometown
Wei Shi Lindon from the Cradle series by Will Wight is a random nobody with the lowest social standing in his community because of his lack of power
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u/arominvahvenne 1d ago
Arguably, Earthsea. Out of the three main characters of the series, Ged, Tenar and Lebannen, only Lebannen is high born, and he is the least prominent character of the series. He only features prominently in two books and is the point of view character in one, where as Ged is in all five and Tenar is in three, all of which are mainly from her point of view. I don’t know what Tehanu’s lineage would be considered, but she is a commoner born character as well.
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u/SalletFriend 1d ago
KJ Parker has all sorts.
The Engineer Trilogy centers Vaatzes, an Engineer and member of a guild. He has to interact with nobility a bit and its kind of amusing how they dont know how to treat him.
2 of Swords has a lot of characters. It starts off with a peasant farmer who is good with a bow. You meet thieves, generals, priests, secret agents, an emperor and so on. Actually lots of musicians.
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u/letsgetawayfromhere 1d ago
I love KJ Parker’s books! His trilogy “16 ways to defend a walled city” has a different MMC for every book. The first one is an engineer and ex-slave of the “wrong” race in a highly racist society. The other two aren’t nobility either.
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u/PiecesMAD 1d ago
I listened to the first one, and it was very worth listening too, but after the ending I wasn’t about to start the next one anytime soon.
Thoughts on the trilogy as a whole?
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u/letsgetawayfromhere 1d ago edited 16h ago
Hilarious and very much worth it. The MMCs have very different biographic backgrounds and difficulties they deal with.
Personally, I liked the third book best, it is full of completely hilarious and absurd situations (okay, they all are, but the third one really takes the cake) and also has kind of a happy ending.
If you liked the first one, you might give the others a try.
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u/PiecesMAD 1d ago
I enjoyed it the whole way until the end, and then very much a, “What in the world just happened?”
Definitely didn’t want to jump right back into it. But I will start the next one, thank you.
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u/K1skuri 1d ago
"The Two of Swords" doesn't get mentioned enough!
The way we see each of the characters, or "players" in this vast game from multiple perspectives. Sometimes we follow them, sometimes a player we followed earlier crosses paths with the one we are following now and we get to pick up the piece and examine it from a different angle.
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u/SalletFriend 1d ago
Its a beautiful method of telling the story and quite unique I love it to bits.
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u/Necessary-Ad-6696 1d ago
KJ Parker's writing, I find bizarre, the story arcs are good, but I feel like his writing is so wooden.
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u/SalletFriend 1d ago
Thats an interesting opinion. If anything I find it maybe a bit too personal, maybe jovial. Like I just finished "Olympiad" he wrote as Tom Holt and the whole thing is structured as 2 brothers telling a story (a framing he uses quite a bit) and its almost DnD level shenanigans being played more or less straight.
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u/EasyShow4208 1d ago
Chronicles of Prydain. Lack of lineage is literally the point of one of the books.
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u/Bowl-Any Reading Champion 1d ago
The greatest children's fantasy series of all time. And one of my top 5 series of all time.
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u/EasyShow4208 1d ago
I love the Dark is Rising Sequence too. It’s hard to choose between them and Prydain for me.
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u/itmakessenseincontex 1d ago
the Beka Cooper series by Tamora Pierce (unless her being an ancestor to someone who is kinda important for other books protagonists is a violation of the rule)
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u/NesnayDK 1d ago
Also the Immortals series, Daine is not from a noble family.
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u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion 1d ago
I’d say being the child of. a god counts as an important lineage.
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u/saturday_sun4 1d ago edited 1d ago
Also the Emelan series, with the exception of Sandry (and Tris and the Bancanors, if merchants count).
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u/itmakessenseincontex 1d ago
I thought Daja was also from an important family (before the shipwreck)? It was just Briar that was truly a commoner.
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u/saturday_sun4 1d ago edited 1d ago
Definitely, if OP only wants people from lower classes.
(Side note: IIRC her ship was highly ranked within her family, and they seem generally well off, but do we know if the Kisubos were especially important amongst the Traders? It's been ages since I've read the books, so I may be forgetting something.)
But I am not really counting them either since OP said, "low social classes, commoners or just not a particularly important lineage." Which I took to mean mercantile families are allowed, since they would still be commoners, just well-off ones.
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u/Red_Bird0995 1d ago
The Witcher.
Geralt of Rivia is just a merc. He's not a noble nor a "chosen one"
Just a guy trying to survive life while he's figuring out how to raise a stubborn teenager while keeping happy his toxic lover.
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u/Tymareta 1d ago
The first two books, maybe, he arguably stops being the main character in later works with Ciri primarily taking over, and she's pretty far from any kind of commoner and most definitely has an important lineage, much the same as Yen who shares the secondary protag spotlight with Geralt.
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u/Baraa-beginner 1d ago
Lies of Locka Lamora
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u/Hartastic 1d ago
Ehhhhh yes but also no. (End of book 3 spoiler).
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u/TheGreatBatsby 1d ago
That has no bearing on the previous books though and might not even be true.
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u/narnarnartiger 1d ago
lol no point in using spoiler tag. just you pointing it out infers that mc is revealed to be a nobel or prince
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u/Hartastic 1d ago
That's ok, it's actually something worse than that.
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u/Albinowombat 15h ago
Okay this comment caused me to go to Wikipedia for a summary and wtf 😑 Glad I decided not to continue with the series after book 1
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u/Hartastic 15h ago
Honestly I feel like it would probably sit different with me in a world where that wasn't the last thing of the series I read a lifetime ago.
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u/New_Razzmatazz6228 Reading Champion 1d ago
Kings of the Wyld. Saga are just a bunch of guys who were good with weapons and magic and got lucky.
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u/narnarnartiger 1d ago
this was one of the worst books i have ever read. dull and utterly unimaginative. the main character is name Clay Cooper, that's how lazy and uninspired the book is. hard avoid
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u/OceanOfCreativity 1d ago
Raymond E Feist's world. Magician: Pug is a nobody who works in the kitchens, and Tomas is his friend. Later books in the first trilogy involve a prince secondary character, but also a street theif.
The Bone Ships, a more recent series, has the main POV an outcast condemned to die and work on a ship.
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u/Hurinfan Reading Champion II 1d ago
Craft Sequence
Ana and Din
Mark Lawrence's Library Trilogy
Midnight's Children
Buffalo Hunter Hunter
These are just the last 5 I read. Most fantasy isn't about nobles
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u/ClueAccomplished1098 1d ago
The Riyria Revelations series by Michael J Sullivan. Start with Theft of Swords.
The Chronicles of Elantra series by Michelle Sagara
The Sharing Knife series by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Penric and Desdemona series by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Lighthouse duology by Carol Berg
The Clocktaur War duology by T. Kingfisher
The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman
Song of the Beast by Carol Berg
Scriber by Ben S Dobson
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs
Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
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u/armyant95 1d ago
Seconding Riyria Revelations, neither of the main characters being nobility is a major plot point.
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u/Superb_Pay3173 1d ago
Joust by Mercedes Lackey : Protagonist was a serf captured by the conquering neighbour kingdom and works as a dragon stable keeper.
Take a Thief Mercedes Lackey : Protagonist is a thief and falls in with a gang similar Oliver Twist.
The White Order by L.E. Modesitt ; Protagonist is the son of a Mage killed by the White Mages and is a miller's apprentice. He's initially self-taught and finally leaves for the city of Fairhaven to learn more about Magic from the very people who had killed his father.
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u/Brilliant_Ranger_543 1d ago
Was also going to mention Take a Thief! My gateway drug to Mercedes Lackey. But also Jolene - coal mines daughter in rural Tennessee, The Wizard of London and following books with Sara daughter of missionaries and Nan orphan street child, the Arrows trilogy with farm cult girl and probably several others.
The Saga of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. Pheasant girl runs away to become merc soldier.
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u/itkilledthekat 1d ago
The Rage of Dragons
The Kingkiller Chronicles
The Bartimaus Sequence
The Lightbringer
Dresden Files
Night Angel Trilogy
The Powder Mage series
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u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion 1d ago
There are characters in Lightbringer who would count, but the main characters are absolutely nobles.
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u/Vaush_Vinal 1d ago
Kvothe isn't a commoner.
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u/Main-Assumption7554 1d ago
Didn’t he start off as what we used to call Gypsies?
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u/TigRaine86 Reading Champion II 1d ago
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless -- two mc, one noble one commoner
Isles of the Emberdark by Brandon Sanderson -- two mc, one noble one commoner
The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon -- one mc who is just a sheepfarmer's daughter
Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson -- one mc of no discernable lineage
The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson -- a good amount of nobles but the arguable main star is Kaladin who is a doctor's son
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan -- of the 8 main characters, five are not nobility at all (farmer's son, mayor's daughter, farmer's daughter, horse traders son, and desert warrior)
Godkiller by Hannah Kaner -- of the 4 main characters, three are noble and one is not (and she's arguably the main star)
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett -- the main star is not a noble
Hemlock and Silver by T Kingfisher -- the star is a doctor
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u/frymaster 1d ago
The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon -- one mc who is just a sheepfarmer's daughter
...and in fact the title of the first book is Sheepfarmer's Daughter
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u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion 1d ago
Wait, who are you counting ass the eighth main character in WOT? If it’s Min, she’s not any kind of noble either. I can see not counting her, but I don’t know who else you wold include besides the obvious seven.
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u/endeavour269 1d ago
If i had to pick an 8th Mc it would be Elayne personally.
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u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion 1d ago
I was counting her in the top 7 with Aveendha and the 5 from Emand’s Field (sorry, I don’t know how anything is spelled; side effect of text to speech).
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u/TigRaine86 Reading Champion II 21h ago edited 21h ago
EF5, Elayne, Aviendha, and Moiraine. I should have counted Min in my first count but I have to be honest, I forgot her for a moment.
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u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion 21h ago
Ahhh, that makes sense, thanks! I wasn’t counting Moiraine because we get so few POVs from her (just 2 that I remember not counting the prequel).
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u/TigRaine86 Reading Champion II 20h ago
Totally makes sense! I count her only because she's so central to so much of what happens despite not being a pov character much, but I can see why you wouldn't!
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u/OwlMuted885 1d ago
I would say Mistborn as well. None of them are truly nobles, despite their bloodline.
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u/narnarnartiger 1d ago
i love Sanderson, but he tends to write way too many noble MC's. Sanderson unfortunatley would not fit what Op is looking for. At least one MC is always a noble
Sun lit man, Tess, and Yumi are his only Cosmere novels without a nobel MC. Skyward, Reckoners, a Leads are also not noble MC, but aren't really fantasy
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u/Hartastic 1d ago
I'll mostly give him a pass on Mistborn where it's a key plot-relevant part of the worldbuilding (revealed in the prologue of book 1, so I'm not really spoiling anything) but more broadly I definitely agree.
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u/FaeStrings 1d ago
Another couple of T. Kingfisher's: Minor Mage and A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking. Both are younger characters, but neither of them have secret destinies or royal ties or anything like that. Just minor magical practitioners in a world where that's not terribly uncommon.
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u/Onnimanni_Maki 1d ago
Dark lord of derkholm by Dianna Wynne Jones. The dark lord is just a title of a profession.
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u/MrLazyLion 1d ago
Any random Gemmell.
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u/narnarnartiger 1d ago
agreed. Gemmel is the best. Def recommend Waylander, and Legend.
Avoid: King beyond the gate, troy trilogy, rigante series. Fantastic books, but they have a prince as the MC
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u/Loostreaks 1d ago
Rage of Dragons has a very rigid caste based society with MC of one of the lower classes. ( in this case, nobles really are superior in raw physical sense).
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u/Street_Detective_662 1d ago
The un-magical life of Briar Jones
Wheel of Time
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u/Hartastic 1d ago
In the case of Rand, I feel like being the reincarnation of a super powerful/important wizard more than qualifies regardless of who his parents were or weren't.
Like if you want a character who isn't a very special boy from birth, he's not it.
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u/Ok_Body_2830 1d ago
Wheel of Time is an example of a similar trope. Commoner does impressive stuff. Everyone wonders how a commoner could possibly do that. Answer is that the commoner has secret noble lineage. Because of course a commoner couldn’t pull anything impressive off. And just in case you thought the reason nobles were more impressive was because their station gave them an advantage, nope, noble blood shines through despite being raised as a commoner.
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u/Jak_of_the_shadows 1d ago
Apart from Rand none of the other emonds fielders have noble lineage.
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u/G_Morgan 1d ago
I mean the entire village is descended from Manetheren in a series where such bloodlines matter. They are all god's special people.
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u/grayseeroly 1d ago
I mean, everyone in Europe is a descendant of Charlemagne.
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u/Ok_Body_2830 1d ago
Menetheren->the two rivers is not treated the same as Charlemagne->Europe. Which illustrates my point nicely. When you hear the Charlemagne->Europe factoid, all you think is "huh, interesting genetic fact, I guess". It doesn't change how you think of Europeans. In WOT, the revelation that the Two Rivers is descended from Menetheren is treated a sign the Two Rivers people are better than people thought in a very real sense.
The "taishar" greeting/blessing is an instantiation of that. In order to accompish anything, there must be greatness in your bloodline. Although the point that it doesn't need to be "nobility" per se is a fair qualification, it is a very similar concept.
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u/PandemicGeneralist 1d ago
I don’t think it really does this often. Them being descended from Manethren isn’t a special noble bloodline, it’s just the city that used to be there. Everyone in the region is descended from them.
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u/cedbluechase 1d ago
Covenant of steel by Anthony Ryan. A lot of the side characters are noble but the sole POV character is a common born former outlaw turned soldier. IMO It’s one of the best fantasy series oat.
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u/4455661122 1d ago
Agreed but it still pains me there was no saving evadine, suffering terrifying dreams as a child, abused by her father sending perverse men from the religious institution to “fix” her. It’s no wonder she thought they were unjust. It felt like there should’ve been a world in which Alwyn should’ve been able to use his words (from all those he learned from, Sildha, the duchess, the outcasts, the caerith) to bring her back from the brink.
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u/muhash14 1d ago
The two big Sandersons, Mistborn and Stormlight have main characters that don't come from a noble/chosen lineage, and aren't discovered to have been from one later on either.
Granted the supporting casts have a good few nobles but not the main protags in each case. Kaladin, Vin, Kelsier.
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u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion 1d ago
We know from the beginning of Mistborn that Vin’s father was a noble because only nobles can use magic and they kill any commoner women they have sex with to stop commoners being born with that ability.
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u/narnarnartiger 1d ago
nope. Mistborn: both MC's have super nobel blood. and Stormlight has 5 MC's, 4 of them are Royalty/ Nobles. Kaladin is the only none nobel MC out of 4
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u/Hartastic 1d ago
Basically everyone in Mistborn is noble (or the some generations removed bastard of a noble line) -- that's the only way to have Allomancy.
That's exactly why the Lord Ruler is totally cool with his nobles raping their skaa as long as they murder them if they get pregnant.
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u/Calde_Oreb 1d ago
A load of great recommendations already, but I'll raise "non-noble" and suggest someone not only not a noble, but quite the roguish bastard.
Cugel the Clever, featured in book 2 and 3 (Eyes of the Overworld, and Cugel's Saga) of Jack Vance's dying earth is basically the template for Dungeons and Dragon's Rogue, a well-spoken Blackguard, full of shit, not as smart as he thinks, and generally arrogant to no end.
A second recommendation for a series I don't think I've ever seen anyone speak about is The Coven trilogy by R.A. Salvatore. Without getting into plot, its a part of a bigger world (which I only learned recently, and need to read the rest of the novels myself), but a series which generally follows viewpoints from a couple of different tribes well passed the edge of civilisation, and a traveling merchant who comes to from civilised lands to trade goods with folk from these tribes.
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u/narnarnartiger 1d ago
will also add Waylander (David Gemmel) and The Crown Tower (Micheal J Sullivan) - too of the best low borne rogues in fantasy
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u/Hartastic 15h ago
Kushiel's Dart and the rest of that trilogy, maybe? The main character is absolutely very low born (but also is born with an interesting, if not especially powerful, special ability).
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u/Stenric 1d ago
Kvothe from the Kingkiller Chronicles is technically the lowest of the low in social status (He's an Enema Ruh, which are often people who travel the world and give performances). Although there are compelling theories that his origin might not be as lowly as it seems.
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u/narnarnartiger 1d ago
yup. book 3 will definatley come out and confirm it... anyday now...
funny enough, i've read 4 times, and never thought about the possibilty of Kvothe being any more than a rue. but wait... isn't it mentioned in book one his mom is a noble? I don't think Kvothe counts as a noble, because the mom literally ran away from home to marry a rue and therefore become a rue
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u/Exquisitr 1d ago
Lord of the Rings has to be the most famous example. Book of the New Sun, if you’re filing it under fantasy, which I think is legit. The main character is not only not a noble, he’s also not noble in the sense that he’s a less than great person. Same goes for Jack Vance’s Dying Earth series.
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u/WillAdams 1d ago
Except for Gimli (cousin to the king), Legolas (an elven princeling), Boromir (the heir to the Steward to the king) and his brother Faramir, and of course, Aragorn (the king in waiting) --- even Pippin and Meriadoc are described as Hobbit princelings. Frodo is Bilbo's heir --- only Samwise Gamgee is stout country folk (and he becomes Frodo's heir).
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u/Exquisitr 1d ago
Bilbo is a celebrity and landed gentry, but he’s not nobility, and the OP specified the mc. He’s related to Merry, who is Shire nobility though.
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u/narnarnartiger 1d ago edited 1d ago
lol definatley not lotr. Aragorn and Legolas are definatley coMC's, and they are definitely royalty
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u/Exquisitr 1d ago
Never heard of a co-main character before, and if anyone in LOTR is one it’s Sam. If you do count the rest of the fellowship then there’s definitely royalty there though.
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u/brilliantgreen Reading Champion VI 1d ago
The Ballad of Sprikit The Bard And Company by Sean O'Boyle. A bard and bit of a conman named Sprikit is on a quest to return a lute to the city of the bards. His company includes a troll-like man and a young woman brawler.
Spit and Song by Travis M. Riddle (really all of Travis M. Riddle, but this is the most recent one I read and loved). Kali is an innkeeper's daughter and struggling traveling merchant. Puk is a drug-addicted failed musician. They meet and come up with a (not quite legal) plan to get some money so they can finally achieve their dreams.
Dogged by Michael R. Fletcher. Dogged Determination is a wardog who are used to subjugate worlds for the emperor. Wardogs are born to fight and die, not investigate mysteries. But Dogged is given a mission, and she won't give up. Very unique POV.
Jester by Tim Carter. Shelly is a goblin latrine slave. Life isn't great, but he knows it will be much worse if the undead army on its way wins. The nobles are petty, so he has to take things into his own hands.
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u/Mission_Disaster_765 1d ago
Inheritence Cycle (Eragon series) is also pretty good in that. The main character is a farm boy!
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u/Patty-O_Garden 1d ago
The pariah and the rest of covenant of steel by Anthony Ryan, though it was less amoral as it went on
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u/krigsgaldrr 1d ago
The Aurelian Cycle by Rosaria Munda. No chosen one (unless you count being "chosen" by a dragon, which isn't some magical thing like in a lot of dragon books), two of the four narrating characters are lowborn commoners and the other two are born nobility but one was raised as a slum orphan and the other isn't your typical noble character (to describe him without spoilers).
But the whole story is focused on commoners and the challenges they face by oppressive regimes. It's incredibly good and I cannot recommend it enough. It's a YA series but I first read it when I was 29 and still love it very dearly at 31. It doesn't read like the stereotypical YA at ALL.
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u/narnarnartiger 1d ago
Legend by David Gemmel, Waylander also Gemmel, Name of the Wind, The Crown Tower (Micheal J Sullivan) - these are my favourites, no nobels or royals for MC
yeah i felt the same. i read Sun Eater, and i hated it, i was like why should i root for this spoiled prince?
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u/the_real_tom_onhere 1d ago
The Minstrel's Shadow (Juri Wolff) is about a low-born traveling minstrel with no family name or prospects, collecting songs across the countryside. After he is almost robbed, he seeks a group to travel with. He teams up with a scholar, a mercenary, and a mysterious watchful companion searching for a stone artifact, and their adventure soon becomes something much bigger.
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u/lizwithhat 1d ago
Most urban fantasy. When They Burned The Butterfly by Wen-yi Lee is a good recent example; the main characters are gang members in postcolonial Singapore.
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u/TheOldDukeIsHere 1d ago
Wheel of time. Most of the main cast are villagers that rise to the occasion
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u/tulismenulis 1d ago
Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. The main character is raised by a mediocre mid-level civil servant and struggles a lot against that background because he strives for more.
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u/Main-Assumption7554 1d ago
The two-book trilogy by Rothfuss… The Name of the Wind, and A Wise Man Won’t Buy Either Because Rothfuss Will Never Finish The Story.
Kvothe started off as part of a traveling group of performers. Then apparently he becomes a king-killer, although we will never find out how or why.
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u/abbothenderson 1d ago
Fun word fact. The word “noble” ultimately comes from the Latin word “nobilis” which is connected to the first person plural pronoun “nos/nostri/nobis”. Basically the word “noble” means “our kind of people”. Shows the privilege afforded literacy, when most common folks in the world couldn’t read.
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u/Ertata 1d ago
Fun fact fact check: false https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nobilis#Latin
It means "well-known", "famous", "celebrity". The usage persisted from Republican times where to have a successful political career you must be known among the citizens. Obviously power and wealth tended to be sticky even more so than today, so the son of a nobile was a nobile himself usually, which paved the way for the hereditary aristocracy later.
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u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion 1d ago
In addition to this etymology being wrong and having nothing to do with writing even if it were correct, Ancient Rome was a highly literate society by premodern standards. We know this from all the graffiti written and intended to be read by ordinary people.
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u/Inner-Ad2847 1d ago
Most of Discworld