Non-human protagonist - Good, bad, or up to the writing?
In a novel I plan on writing soon, the main protagonist (and indeed nearly everyone else in the story as well) is an elf. Humans are present, but they are far in the mountains, living in disorganized tribes, and barely ever mentioned.
Will my reader have trouble identifying with an elf at first, as opposed to a human?
It seems that in a lot of fantasy fiction containing humans and elves, the hero is always a human. As I see it, the reason is to help the reader identify with the hero. Even Frodo, who is technically a Hobbit, is not portrayed too differently from a human. He is short, but that is rarely mentioned as I recall.
My elf, on the other hand, can wield magic, looks different than a human, is skilled with the sword and bow, and is a lot more agile than a normal human.
Will having an elf-hero distance the reader? Or is how the reader sees my hero entirely up to my writing?
Note: I believe who the hero is doesn't determine how the reader sees him. I believe the writing decides that. I want to be sure though.
1 answer
Up to the writing. If you create characters with whom your audience can identify in some fashion, someone to root for, then their species doesn't matter.
Diane Duane has many non-human protagonists and hero characters in her various books: sentient fish and trees in her Young Wizards series, Romulans and Vulcans in her Star Trek books, a series about sentient magic-wielding cats — it's all possible.
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