How would you categorise The Wheel of Time ? Is it Young Adult Fantasy or Adult Fantasy ?

[Loose Theremin]

I would say that it's more on the Young Adult Fantasy side of the equation. Fairly straight forward good versus evil premise. Lots of young romance. Lots of interpersonal conflict. Nothing too heavy on the politics side. Arguably the most complex subject ( although controversial ) is the way that Robert Jordan portrays the male/female dynamic, or what used to be called " the battle of the sexes ".

Edited September 30 by Loose Theremin
Revision

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

It is classic fantasy. That the fantasy scene has arguably matured (or changed depending on your perspective) since WoT, does not in my opinion mean that this changes WoT to YA. 

 

Though I would have to question why anyone would care about an arbitrary label.

[Bodewhin]

As someone with experience in YA fic WOT would not be considered YA when published or now, period. 

 

But frankly, I have to agree with @HeavyHalfMoonBlade it's classic fantasy, but why this even matters is beyond my understanding. It changes nothing about the WOT. 

[WoTwasThat]

It’s not anymore YA than LOTR was. Which is to say, it isn’t YA.

 

Now, I would strongly argue that the production value of the show certainly looked YA. But that a production problem - not the content which we all know went much more risqué than the books. But again, the books just can’t possibly be labeled YA.

[Loose Theremin]

I'll respond here with what I found when I did a Google search on Young Adult literature:

 

KEY CHARACTERISTICS

 

Teenage Protagonist:

The main character is typically a teenager, usually between 15 and 18 years old, and the story is told from their perspective.

Coming-of-Age Story:

The plot centers on the transition from adolescence to adulthood, exploring themes of self-discovery, identity, and finding one's place in the world.

Relatable Themes:

YA literature delves into common adolescent experiences, including friendship, first love, navigating societal expectations, and challenging authority.

Emotional Intensity:

The genre aims to resonate with the intense and often turbulent emotions of the adolescent period, such as figuring out who you are and finding confidence in your true self. 

Straightforward Writing Style:

The language and narrative style are often direct, accessible, and designed to be relatable to a teenage audience.

Mature Content:

YA fiction may address mature topics like mental health, drug use, and sexuality, though usually with less explicit detail than adult literature.

Broad Appeal:

Despite being written for adolescents, YA books often have "crossover appeal," meaning they are enjoyed by a wide range of readers, including adult.

 

Well I would say that all of that fits The Wheel of Time like a glove.

 

[Mailman]

I tend to think of it as just fantasy, however I believe that you could also trace a progression throughout the series with it being far more applicable to place the first few books into a YA category as opposed to the later books.

 

I may be biased however as I read the first book when I was 12 I think.

[chiamac]

Not a huge reader, but I'd agree. Especially the first few books. More targeted towards, IMO, that younger high school reader as a take on a coming of age story. Then the books got expanded into whatever we call a fantasy political novel, but nothing is ever really graphic. So yeah, it's still something that's open to that younger reader. 

[Asthereal]

15 hours ago, Loose Theremin said:

I'll respond here with what I found when I did a Google search on Young Adult literature:

 

KEY CHARACTERISTICS

 

Teenage Protagonist:

The main character is typically a teenager, usually between 15 and 18 years old, and the story is told from their perspective.

Coming-of-Age Story:

The plot centers on the transition from adolescence to adulthood, exploring themes of self-discovery, identity, and finding one's place in the world.

Relatable Themes:

YA literature delves into common adolescent experiences, including friendship, first love, navigating societal expectations, and challenging authority.

Emotional Intensity:

The genre aims to resonate with the intense and often turbulent emotions of the adolescent period, such as figuring out who you are and finding confidence in your true self. 

Straightforward Writing Style:

The language and narrative style are often direct, accessible, and designed to be relatable to a teenage audience.

Mature Content:

YA fiction may address mature topics like mental health, drug use, and sexuality, though usually with less explicit detail than adult literature.

Broad Appeal:

Despite being written for adolescents, YA books often have "crossover appeal," meaning they are enjoyed by a wide range of readers, including adult.

 

Well I would say that all of that fits The Wheel of Time like a glove.

 

 

As someone who writes a bit, I feel like you're forgetting a few:

-No longer than 90k words per book - hard limit or you don't get published (unless your name is Rowling).
-No more than three viewpoint characters.

-No more than two major themes.

 

Young adult is meant for readers from 14-20 years old, which means it must be digestible for the average 14 year old. The Wheel of Time absolutely isn't. For me it was, I read LotR at that age, but the average 14 year old might actually struggle with the Hunger Games.

 

There's endless discussion on what consitutes YA fiction, but ultimately the publishers and book stores decide what to publish and where. Sanderson's Reckoners and Skyward books go into YA and the Cosmere stuff goes into adult fantasy simply because the industry wants it that way. They don't care about opinions or content matter. They care about what they can sell and to who they can sell it.

Edited October 1 by Asthereal

[WoTwasThat]

17 hours ago, Loose Theremin said:

I'll respond here with what I found when I did a Google search on Young Adult literature:

 

KEY CHARACTERISTICS

 

Teenage Protagonist:

The main character is typically a teenager, usually between 15 and 18 years old, and the story is told from their perspective.

Coming-of-Age Story:

The plot centers on the transition from adolescence to adulthood, exploring themes of self-discovery, identity, and finding one's place in the world.

Relatable Themes:

YA literature delves into common adolescent experiences, including friendship, first love, navigating societal expectations, and challenging authority.

Emotional Intensity:

The genre aims to resonate with the intense and often turbulent emotions of the adolescent period, such as figuring out who you are and finding confidence in your true self. 

Straightforward Writing Style:

The language and narrative style are often direct, accessible, and designed to be relatable to a teenage audience.

Mature Content:

YA fiction may address mature topics like mental health, drug use, and sexuality, though usually with less explicit detail than adult literature.

Broad Appeal:

Despite being written for adolescents, YA books often have "crossover appeal," meaning they are enjoyed by a wide range of readers, including adult.

 

Well I would say that all of that fits The Wheel of Time like a glove.

 

Some of those elements, yes. But definitely not “straightforward writing style.” And that one element is where the comparison falls apart.

 

Granted, I started reading WOT as a teenager. But I was an advanced reader. As I suspect many on this forum were/are. But if you were to compare the sheer wordiness and complexity of sentences in WOT against YA pulp like Twilight, Hunger Games, Maze Runner, even Harry Potter (although Potter is a rung above), there simply is no comparison. 
 

YA is designed to be accessible to younger audiences, and a big part of that is a much simpler writing style. I think a lot of it reads like moody dreck - Twilight is horrific and Hunger Games is not much better even though the story is - but I applaud anything that encourages kids to read.

Edited October 1 by WoTwasThat

[Tenobia si bashere kazadi]

According to google average reading age for a 14 year old 10-11, reading age for the WOT is 14 and above. So yeah the average 14year old would struggle

[Asthereal]

Wanna make it even worse?

I looked into it, and as it turns out, Sanderson's Skyward books get filed under adult in the UK, because there they felt that his name would sell more than the placement. They prioritized selling to his fans over selling to the main target demographic.
Also, Mistborn got filed under YA in Taiwan because the protagonist was of YA age, plus it came out a few weeks before the Hunger Games, and because of this, in Taiwan Mistborn actually became what the Hunger Games is in the USA and Europe.

 

It's all a big mess, and in the end everybody just does what they think will sell the most copies. 

Edited November 10 by Asthereal

[chiamac]

2 hours ago, Asthereal said:

It's all a big mess, and in the end everybody just does what they think will sell the most copies. 

 

I watched a lot of his talks and lectures online a few months ago. It was interesting getting his perspective as a very successful author, we're about the same age, and he seems pretty personable. 

Anyway, I think he basically said as much as far as it being about marketing. There is more to it as far as writing style and stuff, but if it's on the border it can go both ways. Which makes sense, authors, publishers, stores need to make money.