Okay, if there's a way to do poles, I don't know of it. So I'm just going to ask the question, and then I really want to hear what y'all think.

There have been a lot of fantasy stories lately in which the main character is a fidgety, over-eager farm boy--Eragon and Luke Skywalker, for example. Now, I want to know if most readers are getting tired of that stereotype, or if they think there's room for more. Is it becoming cliche, or not?

I think it is definitely becoming a cliche.  That and the "poor neglected orphan girl" storyline as well!

There have been a lot of fantasy stories lately.....Luke Skywalker, for example.

Um, Star Wars came out  in '77. Not sure what your definition of "lately" is?

It's been a cliche for a loooooong time... it's kind of a staple of the genre.  The oldest I can think of off hand are Tolkien's hobbits, but I'm sure there are older examples.

Hrm... I never thought of the hobbits as farm boys.  Got to remember though, not too long ago, this was a farming society.  The "farm boy" coming from dirt, rises above adversity and becomes the "hero".  Totally cliche yet it still tugs at the heart.  I think we subconciously relate to that farm boy more than we'd like to admit.

I didn't really have a definition of lately--just that I keep finding new ones. I agree with PaulH and Michael. In my opinion, the farm boy is a symbol of the 'ordinary work-a-day kid.' There's nothing special about him (that we see at first), and he's not rich and famous. He's just a regular guy.

Even though it's used a lot, I still like it a lot. Kind of like the, 'child goes to live in a big spooky house,' kind of story. I have read a dozen of those, butI still love 'em.

Yeah, sometimes the cliches stick around because they work! :-)

Trying to recall the earliest "farm boy goes to space" that I read, and the earliest I can recall is "Bill, The Galactic Hero".  I also thought of "Starman Jones", but I think he just loved in the boonies, and wasn't really a farmer.    There was also "Farmer In The Sky", but the boy went to space to become a farmer.  Same for a short story abpout a family that homesteads in the asteriod belt  (anyone recall the title or author of the short story).

It's a classic plot device, no doubt about it.  But there's always room for a well-written story.   My favorite version of the story is Elizabeth Moon's The Sheepherder's Daughter (Deed of Paksenarrion)

Tracy I love Paks and I can't wait for the new book(s) to come out!!! It will be a joy to revisit.

New books???!  Oh, I hadn't heard!  Thanks Michael.

I haven't been following Elizabeth Moon's new releases closely because most of her sci-fi doesn't really appeal to me (although I loved The Speed of Dark).  But a new book set in Paks' world is worth watching for.

I think the farm boy protagonist/hero is a variation of a much broader "rags-to-riches", or "ordinary schmoe makes it big" theme that has been in literature forever, not just fantasy (Oliver Twist comes to mind).  It rings true and works for a lot of people because most of us are ordinary people, or maybe even poor, downtrodden people who dream of succeeding big somehow.
  It may be a little cliche, but it still works, especially with YA and kids' books.  Take Harry Potter for example - not a farm boy, but a poor mistreated orphan who becomes the hero.

JB has struck the nail on the head. It gets past literature, or course.

Sunday morning found him, beneath the red light at her door/ With a bullet in his side he cried, Have you seen Mable Joy?/ Stunned and shaken someone answered, She don't live here no more./ She left this town four years ago. Said she was looking for/ Some Georgia farm boy.

(Mickey Newberry)