I admit it. I’m like a magpie. I’m attracted to the new, the striking, the hey-cool! in the books I read. A never-been-done-before premise. An inventive world stuffed full of details. An awesome magic system. Lyrical prose. A well-turned phrase. Oh, I like high-concept too. “Polynesian flying robots battle Mesoamerican martial artists in an alternative nineteenth century world where most of Europe was destroyed by a meteorite”? I’m SOOO there.
But I’ve been going through my reviews lately and I realized that the stories that stay with me, the ones I *love* as opposed to just *admire*, the ones whose authors I stalk and whose sequels I impatiently await, are the ones whose characters come alive for me. I’ve read books by authors whose prose sparkled like the jewels in Ali Baba’s cave, but I cannot remember the name of a single character. Books whose narrative voice was witty and wonderful, but whose characters were mere cardboard cutouts. Books with worlds I could have never imagined–worlds that were unusual and worked–but whose characters were so bland or unlikeable I couldn’t stick with the story. These are the books that push my hey-cool! buttons but didn’t touch my heart.
Because really what stay with me after I’ve put the book down are the characters. If they are well-done, if they are compelling and sympathetic, if I’m emotionally involved in them, then I’ll come back for more. Characters steal my heart, not clever prose or well-built worlds.
As a writer, I focus a LOT of worldbuiling. Partly because I write fantasy, partly because my stories end up demanding it, and partly because I consider this to be a weak spot of mine. Now, with this revelation from my reader-brain, I’m thinking I need to put my characters under the microscope a bit more.
Who are some of your favorite characters, and why?
My favorite characters (not to give names here, for a moment) are the ones that breathe for me. They are the product of their world and they shape their world. To me, I cannot worldbuild until I have a character (preferably several). Then, I dissect them. I figure out where their beliefs intersect with the world and then why they believe, speak, act the way they do, and that in turn tells me about how society interacts, how it treats different segments of society, where my characters fit into everything, where they understand themselves to fit into everything…
To me, story is character and character is world. A world is the product of a set of rules and a lot of characters: no more, no less. Girl, you couldn’t have spoken closer to my heart.
As for my favorite book characters? Anne of Green Gables, Fiona Galbraith in English Tea and Bagpipes (even though I didn’t actually care for the story all that much), Celeste Galbraith in Fresh Highland Heir, Alanna in the Song of the Lioness Quartet, Gen in The Thief, James, Nathaniel, and Keturah in The Brother’s Keeper, Francher in “Captivity” by Zenna Henderson, the prince in “Darkness Box” in The Wind’s Twelve Quarters and Tenar in Ursula LeGuinn’s other books, Tabris in The Guardian, Khay and Joseph in Terri Fivash’s Joseph.
These are the ones off the top of my head. Funny some of the ones that pop up for me, but those are the characters that really stuck with me. My only favorite book that doesn’t have any particular favorite character was Dream Voyagers by T. Davis Bunn. But he does ensemble casts. They’re all so well-drawn and setting is such a character that the individuals don’t stick out quite so much.
Some of my favorites are: Sophie and Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle; Gen and Irene from MWT’s Thief books; Death, Vimes, Susan and the Archchancellor from the Discworld series; Vin from the Mistborn books; a number from Georgette Heyer novels; Dante, Ilario, Portier and Anne from the Collegia Magica books…
My favorite characters are the ones who seem ‘real’. After reading the book I feel as if I’m having to say goodbye to friends – long before I’m ready to 🙂
It’s usually why I go back and reread a book. My comfort reading books have characters who I feel comfortable with.
And although my own characters may not be written very well or convincingly, in my head they are characters I love – which is why I’ve put so much effort into Mystery in Morocco.
Thanks for that piece of insight!
Yes, totally… my comfort books are those with characters I enjoy spending time with, characters who make me laugh, cry, feel with them.
Interesting piece, and I couldn’t agree more. High concept might look nice in a blurb, but if you don’t care about any of the characters inside that would, then it’s nothing but window-dressing. Rafe and Izzy, for example, are wonderfully drawn, strong characters with real and individual personalities… but I think I might have said that to you before :p
Characters like Fitz and Nighteyes in Robin Hobb’s books kept me coming back for more, no matter how many books she wrote!
Hear, hear about Fitz and Nighteyes; and the Fool. Even Fennel has a personality. I love Fennel. So very cat-ish 🙂
Oh, I can’t believe I forgot to mention the Fool!
He’s not as concrete as Fitz. I’m not sure how she got him to be such a strong character and yet so ambiguous. Perhaps it’s Fitz’s reaction to the Fool?
My favorite secondary character in that series was Verity. I just am a sucker for decent guys who take their responsibilities seriously. Though… poor Fitz. So young and yet so much heartbreak. 🙁
Surprise the wife time: I actually like Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. I think it’s because he’s the sort of character I can identify with, and whom I’d look up to at the same time. In a society of people where appearance is everything, he focuses instead on actually doing the right thing and trying to protect those he cares about–even at the expense of his own reputation. That’s pretty rare, even today.
*nod* Yeah, I like guys who do the right thing. I like the steady reliable non-super hero sort. Like Brant, Rafe, and Duncan (from the new WIP).
Of course, I married that sort of guy, too. 😉
Which makes me think of Knightley in Emma. LOVE him.
Haven’t read Emma in a while, but I really like Frederick Wentworth from Persuasion.
I have to agree, I cannot read something unless the characters engage me.
I love the Children of the Earth series by Jean M. Auel. I read Valley of Horses first and was completely blown away by the character of Ayla. She’s definitely one of my favourite characters ever.
Another character I have very much enjoyed reading about is Harper Connolly from the series of the same name by Charlaine Harris. The plots are good, too, but Harper’s quirky, no-nonsense personality is the draw.
Another character that captured my imagination (and remains in my mind to this day) was in the first book I read when I moved from the children’s section of the library to the Young Adult section. I was about 11 or 12. The book was called Mara, Daughter of the Nile and it was set in Ancient Egypt. In one scene she mocks a merchant who won’t sell her a loaf of bread, then proceeds to charm him while eating his bread right in front of him and without paying. 🙂
Yes, characters are the important part of a story for me. And after that, the plot had better be worthy of them!