Protagonists in this age range made up 236 out of the 298 listings, or 79% of the total. By far, the largest category was that of adult. I began with distinct categories, each covering about a decade of life, but I soon found that most adult characters could not be defined more narrowly than simply 'adult,' so I ended by combining my analysis into three broad age categories: 1) teenage or younger, 2) adult (20s-50s), and 3) older adult (60+). Age is sometimes not specifically given, so I looked for big-picture identifiers like life stages to try to tell what age range characters might belong to. In an examination of all winners and nominees, I took note of the gender and age of protagonists. Most years see four to six novels nominated and one winner, although in the early years nominees are not listed and some years two novels might share the award. The Hugo was first awarded in 1953 but retrospective awards have been given for 1954 (which was skipped originally), 1951, and 1946, and so the awards considered range from 1946 to 2013. This apparent lack of old people in science fiction is borne out by a look at the winners and nominees for the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

This may be true for some readers, but it ignores readers who come to the genre after this age, readers who grow alongside the genre, and readers who may find it easier to empathize with protagonists who are fundamentally different from themselves. If this is true, it might also help explain why there are so few older protagonists in science fiction since readers come to the genre ready to identify with younger protagonists and might have more difficulty preemptively identifying with older protagonists. Peter Graham has said that 'the golden age of science fiction is twelve' (13), assuming, perhaps, that twelve is a golden age because it is such a formative age for readers. Furthermore, there has long been a sense that the genre is geared toward adolescents (perhaps particularly adolescent boys). On television, there are some older central characters within the Star Trek franchise and on Battlestar Galactica, but few female characters who are retirement age and older (which will be my focus in this essay). One significant exception is Cocoon (1985), which stars a cast of older actors and takes concerns of ageing seriously. There are a few instances of science fiction film and television where age is thematically significant or where there are older protagonists, but these are rare as well. Few representations of old age spring to mind within the genre, particularly within written works of science fiction. Discussions of the politics of science fiction literature often consider gender, sexuality, race, class, and, more recently, disability age, however, is far less present within science fiction and science fiction criticism.

Remnant population by elizabeth moon