: Re: In a series of books, what happens after the coming of age? I'm writing a novel focusing on a single character POV. For many aspects, it can be considered a coming of age story; along with

@Sarah872

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It's rare, but not unheard of for a series to shift genres as it progresses --with Harry Potter perhaps being the most notable example. As the protagonists grow up, the style and content of the books shift to follow them. Far from being a detriment, this was arguably a key reason for the series' success. And, of course, we're used to seeing this in more autobiographically based fiction, such as the Little House series, which follows Laura from young childhood to adulthood.

With that said, there are challenges with doing this. I was a big fan of Anne McCaffery's Dragonsinger trilogy growing up, but found the shift from the more innocent, juvenile tone of the first book to the the more older teen-oriented themes of the sequels to be a bit rocky. Similarly, Virginia Hamilton's Justice trilogy, which genre-shifts from contemporary realism to science fantasy, struggled to find an audience, despite the author's fame. One solution I've seen used by authors such as Garth Nix, Diana Wynne Jones and L. Frank Baum is to keep the setting, and the coming-of-age themes, but to shift the focus to a new protagonist. C.S. Lewis also did this with the Narnia chronicles.

If you do want to follow the same protagonist forward, however, I think it's not a breach of promise to chart a new structure in the sequels, as long as it isn't too jarring a disconnect. In other words, each book can be a (somewhat!) new contract with the reader.

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