Top 5 Tuesday – Tropes I Want More Of

A weekly meme hosted by Bionic Book Worm where we list 5 books for the given topic. We all love lists, right?

These are tropes that I really enjoy when they are done well, things I often even look for or get excited about. I found I had Tough Traveling features for most of them, so went ahead and linked them so if you want more details or examples for any, feel free to go check them out. Also, I had to change it to a Top 6 because I had one too many and just couldn’t cut any of them. I realized most of them are from A Song of Ice and Fire, and honestly, it would be quite easy to use all examples from that series as it has all of my favorite tropes, but I decided to keep a couple of others in there for a bit of variety.

Girl Dressed as Boy

I don’t know why I love this trope so much, but I do. I guess seeing a woman prove herself as just as capable as men in a male dominant society/role by passing as one herself. Plus, deception can lead to all kinds of fun and potential conflicts, story lines (especially if romance gets thrown into the mix). I mean, what’s not to love about seeing Arya pose as Arry

Forbidden Love

OK, if this one is done well, and doesn’t come across as insta-love, I love it. While Cersei and Jaime are far from my favorite forbidden love couple to route for, they do provide a ton of (some what uncomfortable/cringe-worthy) entertainment

For more examples, check out my Tough Traveling post on Forbidden Love

Orphans

Yeah, sorry protagonists, but I seem to enjoy you more when you’ve been left all alone in the world and have to fend for yourself. It tends to give more leeway on what a character can do once you get those pesky rule enforcing parental figures that help secure food and shelter out of the way. I mean really, what kind of fun stories would Locke have with his parents keeping him off the streets? Or Kvothe, what would he have accomplished if his parents were still around? Sure, he’d have had lots of good stories of traveling and performing with them, but would that be as fun to read? Sorry guys, you’re probably more interesting sans parents.

For more examples, check out my Tough Traveling post on Orphans

Musicians/Bards

I’m not sure why I find musicians/bards so enjoyable, maybe because they bring something positive to the story outside of just wit or strength. They can help people unite and come together in some way. Or in some cases, their music can serve as a form of magic, like Rojer from the Demon Cycle books. Though not all bards are well loved. There is Marillion who I think united people against him with his songs:

For more examples, check out my Tough Traveling post on Musicians/Bards

Snarky Sidekicks

Who doesn’t love a side of snark with their characters? They do a great job of bringing some levity to what might otherwise be a dark or grim moment, or keep the main character a bit more levelheaded by slamming them with a healthy dose of snark. But really, no matter what reasons I might think up, in reality its the humor they bring that makes me love them (snark is one of my favorite forms of humor after all.

For more examples, check out my Tough Traveling post on Snarky Sidekicks

Assassins

Yeah, assassins are bad. Whatever. Reading about assassins is amazingly fun though. Something about the level of stealth and quiet deadliness of them, plus the fact that many of them can be easily overlooked gives a sense of real power to them.

Check out my Tough Traveling post for Assassins

What about you? Do you love or hate these tropes? What are your favorites?