Fantasy Books That Use or Flip the Dead Parents Trope

Fantasy and young adult books feature an abundance of orphans, and for good reason! Without parents in the picture, the protagonist is freed up to go on solo adventures and has to figure things out on their own. The suffering and grief they go through also forces them through a crucible of transformation. Often, the death of a parent sets the protagonist and the villain on a collision course. These are all reasons to love the dead parents trope.
I’m an avid reader (and writer) of young adult fantasy, so I like lots of books where the protagonists are orphans or have absent parents. I’m going to start my recommendations there, giving you suggestions for books you might fall in love with.
But I’ll also cover other books that flip the trope on its head and feature living and involved parents. Cause let’s face it, reading books with the same old ingredients can get as tiresome as leftover stew.
Fantasy Books with the Dead/Absent Parents
1. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Dashti is a mucker from the steppes, but when her momma dies, she becomes a lady’s maid. Unfortunately, her first day on the job sees her locked in a tower with her mistress for seven years, with rats, bad grain, and darkness to contend with. Escape only leads to more complications, a long journey, and the threat of war. But her mother taught her the healing songs. Dashti sings for clear thoughts, sings for courage, sings her sorrow, and sings to defeat a nefarious enemy.
Audience: Young Adult
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
A flash of green light, a flying motorcycle, a child left on a doorstep with a note to his aunt and uncle. Harry Potter is “the boy who lived,” and from the beginning, he’s set on a collision course with evil, murdering Lord Voldemort… who (spoilers) isn’t quite dead. And while Harry may only be eleven, he knows what’s at stake better than anyone when it comes to the dark lord who murdered his parents. And if that means he has to face him as best he can on his own, he will.
Audience: Middle Grade to Young Adult

3. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
It’s WWII, Professor Kirke is quite busy, their parents aren’t around, and there’s nothing to do on rainy days but play hide and seek and bumble into strange wardrobes. Soon, the Pevensie children are crunching through snow in their wool coats, caught up in a war between Aslan and the White Witch in the magical land of Narnia.
Audience: Middle Grade
4. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Don’t trust a fairy to think through how the “gift” of having to obey could be a tiny bit compromising. Unfortunately, Ella of Frell has to obey any command anyone gives her, even if it plants her in the middle of a street with a carriage coming full tilt. And once her mother dies, there’s no one to stand between Ella and all the people who want to take advantage of her… or the prince she’s falling in love with.
Audience: Middle Grade
5. Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith
On his deathbed, Meliara’s father bids her and her brother to free Remalna from its evil king. Never mind that he’s leaving them as an orphaned count and countess in a backwater principality. Or that Mel has spent most of her life running barefoot in the woods among the magical Hillfolk and can barely manage sums. But she’s as spunky as they come, and she leaps into the fray with all the stubbornness and heart she can muster… and leads the king’s soldiers on a chase from one side of the country to the other.
Audience: Young Adult

6. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
Orphan Elisabeth was raised in a magical library where the books are classified according to the level of danger they pose—and locked up accordingly. But someone is damaging grimoires and turning them into monsters, and the only person who can help her defeat them is a sorcerer she’s convinced is evil.
Audience: Young Adult
7. Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
Artemisia was raised by the Gray Sisters, an order of nuns that helps keep the dead from coming back as vengeful spirits. But when her convent is attacked, Artemisia turns to the only weapon that can help: an ancient spirit called the revenant. But once it’s freed from its relic, the revenant proves dangerous, snide, and difficult to control.
Audience: Young Adult
8. Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
Alcatraz Smedry was raised in the foster system, accidentally breaking everything around him in spectacular ways. But one day, his long-lost grandfather shows up, and Alcatraz discovers that breaking everything is his magical talent… and it’s time to go to war against the evil librarians of the world.
Audience: Middle Grade

9. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Orphaned Vin was partially raised by her brother but has had to fend for herself in the underbelly of Luthadel City. She has no idea that she is a Mistborn, a person who can magically “burn” metals and use their powers. Not, at least, until she falls in with a group of schemers determined to bring down the immortal Lord Ruler.
Audience: Adult
10. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Lazlo Strange is an orphan of unknown origin who was raised by monks and dreams of finding the lost city of Weep. One day, he’s sent on an errand to an incredible library, and never goes back. He spends all his time with his nose buried in a book, dreaming of Weep. But one day everything changes and he gets the chance to travel to the city he’s been obsessed with since he was a child. And perhaps, along the way, he’ll become the adventurer he always wanted, and fall in love.
Audience: Young Adult with explicit scenes
Books with Present/Involved Parents
11. On the Edge of a Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson
This middle-grade book follows the adventures of Janner, Kalmer, and Leeli Igiby, who live in the world of Aerwiar, complete with toothy cows, sea dragons, and a mystery only they can unravel. Their mother and grandfather provide helpful guidance and protection along the way.
Audience: Middle Grade
12. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Blue Sargent grew up in a house full of clairvoyants. She can’t see into the future herself, but she’s been told over and over that if she kisses her true love, he’ll die. So she’s promised herself and her mother that she’ll never kiss anyone. No matter what. But things get a bit tricky and strange when she sees the ghost of someone soon-to-be-dead. There are only two reasons she can see him. Either she’s his true love. Or she killed him.
Audience: Young Adult

Blue’s mom is not only present but a fully rounded character with a quirky personality, plenty of flaws, lots of warmth and love, and who occasionally helps out with the overarching conflict. I loved that about this book, as well as other books in the series.
13. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Wildchild Vasya grows up motherless, but with a father who loves and supports her and does his best to defend her, despite her constant balking against cultural norms. Vasya can see things others can’t. Spirits, little gods. But in her highly superstitious village, with a disturbed step-mother, and legends waking in the woods, it’s only a matter of time until she attracts antipathy.
Audience: Young Adult/Adult Crossover
14. The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw
Saaski is a changeling, one of the Folk who was switched with a human child at birth and raised by human foster parents. Only she can’t remember it. Her parents do the best they can for her, despite being bewildered by her strange ways. But Saaski can’t stay away from the alluring Moor, where she plays haunting tunes on a chanter. Until one day, she sees one of the little people and she starts to remember strange things.
Audience: Middle Grade

15. Enchantment by Orson Scott Card
When Ivan was ten years old, he stumbled into a clearing where he found a beautiful princess lying fast asleep on a pedestal. Something evil stirred, and sent him running, but now he’s a graduate student, is engaged to be married, and can’t get the image of the princess out of his head. So he goes back, and this time, he wakes the princess.
Ivan spends part of this portal fantasy book in medieval Russia, and the other part in present-day America, where his parents offer crucial support in the conflict.
Audience: Adult
Where to Go Next
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison is one of my favorite fantasy books and uses the dead parents trope masterfully. There is nothing trite or convenient about it. The death of Maia’s mother (and the aftermath) shaped his character in crucial ways. His grief and pain created a depth of compassion and empathy in him. But his loneliness and isolation also create dramatic internal tension that spills over into the external conflict.
If I could recommend only one book with the dead parents trope, The Goblin Emperor would be it! (One caveat: the world is complex and there are LOTS of strange names and forms of address. This can be disorienting at first, but I found the effort entirely worthwhile.) Read my full review here.
Looking for other ways to find books you’ll love? Check out my post on how to use fantasy subgenres to discover entirely new flavors of fantasy from the salt-sprinkled pages of nautical fantasy to the quiet tea-and-crumpets of cozies.
And if you love young adult series, sign up to get my list of 5 fantasy series I couldn’t stop reading. Several include orphaned or single-parent protagonists:
