SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

SciFi and Fantasy is full of many compelling characters. Who stands out for you?

For me, I will always love Ender from Ender's Game, Sam from The Lord of the Rings and Louis Wu and Speaker-to-Animals from Ringworld.

Your thoughts?

So many to choose from!

a)Raistlin, from Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance chronicles. Physically weak but mentally strong, the Archmage is easily the most compelling character in the series.

b)Morn Hyland, from Stephen Donaldson's Gap sequence. Takes so much crap in the series that you become physcially sick just reading about it. Hands down the toughest character I've ever read.

c) Leto II, from the Dune Chronicles. The God-Emperor of Dune dominates from book 3 on. All of Paul's strengths with none of the weakness. Manipulates galactic history after his death(!)

d) Danlo, from David Zindell's Requiem for Homo Sapiens. It's pretty rare to see a pacifist hero in Science Fiction. Danlo's triumph over his enemies without resorting to violence is really quite inspiring.

e) Sarah Kerrigan, from StarCraft (I know, it's not a book, but hey). Betrays her own betrayers, traps those who hunt her, and plays off her enemies against each other before finishing them off. Brilliant!

Raistlin most definitely.

Vanyel from Mercedes Lackey's Last Herald Mage. I understand him in a different way every time I see him. His failed struggle to control his own life is riveting.

Lyra from the His Dark Materials series.

Hermione from the Harry Potter series.

I was in second grade when I read "Dragons of an Autumn Twilight" for the first time. Tasslehoff Burrfoot was the character I identified with most easily, so there will always be a place for that daft Kender on my shelf of characters. I'll also probably have a soft spot for Drizzt from the Forgotten Realms, but who doesn't? He's the ultimate hero.

I love Sgt. Detritus of the Night Watch in Pratchett's Discworld series. It's been fun to watch him evolve from a Splatter (like a bouncer...but throws harder) to one of the night watch. Understated character. I also love how Pratchett handles Lord Vetinari.

Most of the crew from Spider Robinson's Callahan series is worth a mention.

Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Lord Morpheus, so complex, so intriguing. And Death, wotta babe.

Aahz the Pervect from Robert Aspirin's Myth series.

Hrmmm...Who else? The Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager. (State the nature of the emergency, please).

And last but not least: All four members of Red Dwarf. Especially the contrast between Rimmer and his alter-ego, "Ace" Rimmer.

Nice topic! Hard to Pick though. I can't say I have a favorite over all others, as each has they're different reasons I like them, but heres a few of my "Tops":

1) Matrim Cauthon, Jordan's Wheel of Time. Smart, witty, talented. Oh, and he can layout a battlefield better than anyone except for maybe Grand Admiral Thrawn.

2) Grand Admiral Thrawn, Zahn's Star Wars series. He sees through all of his enemies attempts to confuse him as though he had planned them himself.

3) Bannor of the Bloodguard, Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covanent. Two thousand year's of sleepless service, and even after that he decides to care for others over himself.

4) Saltheart Foamfollower, Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covanent. You will not find a better or more dedicated friend. A great legacy for the last of the Unhomed!

Hands down my favorite character is Miles Vorkosigan from his own series by Lois McMaster Bujold. In him she's created a truly fascinating character who over the course of the books, you truly understand what built and what drives him. He is endlessly fascinating.

2) Tyrion Lannister in George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. Maybe some of my Miles V. love spilled over on him, but they seem awfully similar (except Miles' family loves him). Truthfully, I could run a laundry list of great characters from this series.

3) I have to co-sign Ty's choice of Morn Hyland In Donaldson's Gap series. Seriously, the abuse, the will and then the utter triumph.

4)Quick Ben From Stephen Erickson's Malazan series. I am not even sure if he is major character, really, but he stands out in every scene. I always look forward to what else Quick Ben knows or what new impossible thing he's going to pull.

4) I have mad love for Senneth in Sharon Shinn's Mystic series. No real reason, just an unreasoning fan-girly girl-crush on her.

Top o' the list: Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, the 'little admiral' from many, many Lois McMaster Bujold books (and several others, but Miles really outshines them).

Jack Holoway, from the Fuzzy books. (And, heck, the rest of the crew, human and fuzzy.)

Bilbo Baggins.

Skywise from Elfquest.

Karl Zambendorf from Code of the Life-Maker.

Tiger and Del from Jennifer Roberson's series of the same name.

Silk from The Belgariad.

Athaclena from The Uplift War.

Schmendrik from The Last Unicorn.

Stepping outside of books...
James T. Kirk (of course!) and crew.

Roy Fokker from Robotech.

...and many more of course, but these definitely stand out.

~ Aras (from City of Pearl by Karen Traviss) - so charismatic and enigmatic, and very very Other.

~ Elspeth Gordie (from the Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody) - quiet and unassuming, you don't at first realise everyone around her sees her quite differently from how she sees herself. And she's a telepath, farseeker, coercer and can beastspeak.

~ Daemon (from The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop) - spends centuries as a bitter, cycnical slave only to have a child bring out his warmer side. Loyal to the end.

~ Rhiannon (from Rhiannon's Ride Trilogy by Kate Forsyth) - forthright, Other, wild and true.

~ Asher (from Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series by Karen Miller) - I didn't think this character would work at all, but he does. Has a real mouth on him, and a cheeky sense of humour. The whole "the fate of the land rests on the shoulders of an ignorant peasant" device gets stale quickly, but Asher revitalises it.

~ Annon and Riane (from the Pearl Saga by Eric van Lustbader) - a merging of a girl and a boy in the girl's body, it's a fascinating character who looks like Riane but has the consciousness of Annon, a tricky balance to achieve and a very original character.

D'oh, I forgot Lestat from the Anne Rice books. How could I forget Lestat?

Etienne Njagi Steward from Voice Of The Whirlwind - Anti-Hero, human, violent when needed, sneaky, smart, and most of all driven. A zen saint that you just need to follow along with. Too cool for school


Creideiki from Startide Rising - Strength for the crew, then overcoming a severe disability to save the day.

The whole Party from Chronicles. Awesome Characters...all of them.

Crowley from Good Omens

Druss from Legend

Zed from Sword of Truth series

Flinx from ALan Dean Foster's Commonwealth works

Lessa, F'lar and F'nor from Anne McCaffrey
Pug from Feist's books

Jaime from PC Hodgell's books

Mycraft Holmes from Heinlein's classic Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Menolly from Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey

Drizzt by RA Salvatore

Mat Cauthon from WOT

Frodo

Miles Vorkosigan and his mother by Lois McMaster Bujold

Bink from Source of Magic and Spell for Chameleon and Magician Humphrey by Piers Anthony

Retief

Dominic Flandry

Tarzan of the Apes

John Carter of Mars

Hiro from Snow Crash

Honor Harrington

Tavi from Cursor books by Jim Butcher

Harry Dresden from Jim Butcher's Dresden Files

Deth from the Harpist in the Wind

Pelman

Pyanfar Chanur from CJ Cherryh's Chanur books

and so many more

Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw from Asimov's Robot and Foundation series

Gandalf, of course!

Molly from so many Gibson works.

The Shrike from Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos.

Deadpan Ally and Jerry Wirerammer from Mindplayers by Pat Cadigan.

Sangamon Taylor from Zodiac by Neal Stephenson.

Sam, Frodo and Aragorn from LoTR

Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit

Seregil from the Nightrunner Series

Snape, and Dumbledore (after we know more about him) from Harry Potter

I am sure there are others but I'm blanking...

the female lead/sheep from The Android's Dream (can't remember her name)

another vote for Lyra from Dark Materials

Jonathan Strange from Strange/Norrell

and i am SURE i'm forgetting other excellent ones.

I love Vimes, Carrot, and Angua from Discworld. Oh, heck, I love everyone in Discworld. And almost everyone from Good Omens too.

Jilly Coppercorn from Charles de Lint's books.
Merry and Pippin
Nell from The Diamond Age
Tristram Thorne from Stardust
Shadow from American Gods

I should probably also add Ender from Ender's Game (which my mother just finished reading [listening to] for the first time).

Oh, I might not fit in here...Raistlin was my candidate for the "characters I loath" on the Books I Loath Group...He annoyed the life out of me all through the series. I read the first 10-12 books I think.

Tasslehoff Burrfoot was my favorite in the Dragonlance series. My cat got saddled with the name, but called Tas of course.

Legolas - LotR

I have always loved wizards... Merlin and Gandolf stand out the most. I love the book the Crystal Cave and Merlin's portrayal in the book, where he really does average things better than other people which is why it is magic. Good book!

Hmm, a worst characters in sci-fi and fantasy may be a good idea for a topic later...

I ahve a few...

This is a great idea!

Polgara the Sorceress
Tyrion Lannister
Jimmy the Hand
Pricilla Hutchins
Orphu the Morvec

I have to go along with Amy. Tasselhoff Burrfoot (Tas) of Dragonlance fame is my favorite,and Raistlin of same said Dragonlance, is my least favorite.

I have to put my thumbs up to the characters from discworld as well: really like Mort, Rincewind the wizard.

Phillip Lynx, or more commonly called Flinx, is by far my favorite character in the scifi world. Alan Dean Foster's Commonwealth world is very well defined and has many characters to keep you reading along.

A few other notables: Perrin Aybarra in The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, Pug in Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Saga, Skeeve of Robert Asprin's Myth Series, and Bean from Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game.

I really liked Anyanwu in "Wild Seed" by Octavia Butler. She's one of the strongest, most unique characters I've met in science fiction.

I also love Captain Morgan in Kage Baker's "The Company" series. He may be an AI, but he's got a great personality.

The entire Stark family, including Jon Snow, from George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Although I do find myself liking Jaime more and more as the series goes on and hating Cercei with equal fervor. Oh, yeah Tyrion Lannister, I liked from the start.

The entire Fellowship in LOTR. Of course Bilbo.

Honor Harrington kicks butt and takes names.

Hari Seldon

Lazarus Long

Louis Wu from The Ringworld series, although the Hindmost is in there too just because she's a conniving little three-legged shit.

Jessica Atreides
Duke Leto Atreides
Paul, of course
Gurney Halleck
the worms

John Carter
Dejah Thoris, had (have) a serious crush on her, boy.

Skeeve

Corwin and his brother Random.
Corwin's son Merlin.

Oh and a recent one for me is Vlad Taltos. Read the first three books in an omnibus and I'm hooked.

marvin the paranoid android?

SF: Signy Mallory, captain of ECS Norway in C.J. Cherryh's Downbelow Station

Fantasy: Croaker, physician and, later, captain of The Black Company (Glen Cook)

And, though he's technically neither SF nor fantasy: Stephen Maturin, the Aubrey/Maturin novels of Patrick O'Brian (he is a product of O'Brian's imagination)

Kerowyn from By the Sword for fantasy.

Aeron from The Copper Crown for SF/fantasy.

Spock for strictly SF.

The first that came to mind was Silk (Belgariad), but I think I must add Death and Granny Wetherwax (Discworld), Tom Bombadil (LotR), Professor Lupin (HP), Hari Seldon (Foundation), Lyra Silvertongue (Dark materials), Fuchur (Neverending Story) and the vampire Lestat

Oh, so tough to pick a single favorite! So, I'll name a few:

Liath and Sanglant from Kate Elliot's Crown of Stars series, ditto Lestat, Alaric Morgan from Katheryn Kurtz' Deryni Chronicles, T'pau from Star Trek, Spock, natch, Galadriel(I always thought she should've had a bigger part), Hermione Granger, Molly Weasley-what a mom!!

I love Molly Weasley!!!!!!

Here's a few of my favorites.
From Star Wars Han Solo, Chewy, C3PO, & R2D2. Darth Vader for villian.
Jack Waco & Maggie Wilson, from SENTI Book One of the Jackwill Chronicles (I have to like them. I created them.)
Killashandra Rea & Lars from the Crystal Singer.
Paul, Jessica,& Duke Leto Atreides from Dune.
The Doctor from Dr. Who.
G W Pickle

Hehehe, good way to get a plug in GW! I shoulda thought of that! Of course, the main characters Ashinji and Jelena from my own Griffin's Daughter series are my absolute favorites! And, Bunny, I bet GW means The Doctor as the character, and not a specific actor who played the role. Am I right, GW?

I used to think that about The Doctor until I met the internet :P I asked that question once to a fangirl and was given an essay on how each incarnation of The Doctor is a distinctly unique character because personality is subject to change along with the physical manifestation in return. I just sort of blinked and moved on at that point. @_@

HeyT,

Fangirl is right: Each Doctor is unique. My favorite has to be Tom Baker because he was the first incarnation I met but I also liked the last guy before BBC yanked the original series (darned if I can remember his name, though).

Of the new series, while the second Doctor is OK, I really wish Eccleston could have stayed on for a few more seasons.

lol I have an icon on LJ that says, "You never forget your first doctor." It's written over the image of the TARDIS!

Nine was "my first" so I was sad to see him go so soon.

Rachel Hael & Carnival from Scar Night

Another Vote for Matt from WOT

Snake Plisken from John Carpenters Escape From...
- I know he's not from a novel [he did have a short comic] but he's still sick.

Harry D'Amour - from 4 different Clive Barker novels, also brought to the big screen by Scott Bakula in Lord Of Illusions

Yes, you're right, the character of Dr. Who.
As to the plug, I actually do like the characters I create. This is the only one published for now.
Back to the Dr., before Tom Baker. I believe it was Collin Baker. Both had the same last name. My favorite episode was the 8 Doctors. I'm a big Who fan. I even have an authentic 14' Dr Who wool scarf.
G W Pickle

Well, if you're going to go into TV characters, I'm going to cast my vote for Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation. He's dreamy. ;)

Aaagh, no.

Oh, your fingers must have slipped! You obviously meant Mr. Spock or Captain Picard :-)

I give another vote for Flinx from Alan Dean Foster. He is my favorite character

In no particular order after that I go with:

Jaime from God Stalk
Honor Harrington from David Weber
Jewel Markess from Michelle West
Bink from Piers Anthony
Hosteen Storm from Andre Norton
Retief
Mat Cauthon and Rand from WOT
Anita Blake
Harry Dresden
Belgarath
Miles Vorkosigan
Pug
Tarzan
Pyanfur Chanur
Lessa and F'lar of Pern
Bazil Broketail

Sorry, Terence. Spock and Picard are girly men. Worf is the manliest man in the Star Trek universe.

ROFL!

I'd have to agree.

Picard says "Make it so" while Worf says "Today IS a good day to die!"

Spock would just sits back, raise an eyebrow languorously and entones "Fascinating."

I agree with those who said Miles from the Verkosigan novels. I can't wait for the next installment, which according to Bujold is coming soon.

If we go Trek, I have to say Captain James T. Kirk. The original and BEST captain of the Starship Enterprise, hands down.

And, of course, the Doctor from Doctor Who, probably the single greatest fictional character ever invented....

Sandi, I'm totally with you, girlfriend! I'd go a few rounds with Worf on the holodeck ANY time!! Grrrrrooowwww!!

I forgot about Pyanfar Chanur, the hani captain, a magnificent feline and one of C. J. Cherryh's best creations. Good choice, Jeffrey!

Hands off, Leslie! He's mine!

I list of my favorites that I do not think have been metioned yet:

Shadow - Neil Gaiman (American Gods)
Messrs. Croup and Vandemar (Neil Gaiman)(Neverwhre)
Hari Michelson/Caine - Matt Stover (Heroes Die)
Raven -Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash)
Agyar - Steven Brust (Agyar)
Takeshi Kovacs - Richard K Morgan
Ender Wiggins - Orson Scott Card
The Gunslinger - Stephen King
Richard Rahl - Terry Goodkind
Nick & Gillian - Chris Hinz (Liege-Killer)
Pukwudji - Charles de Lint (Moonheart)

And though already mentioned, I have to include both Tyrion Lannister from GRRM Song of Ice and Fire and Miles Vorkosigan from the Vorkosigan Saga.