30 Days of Genre - Day 18

Day 18 – Favourite protagonist.

Ooh, this is a tricky one. No one character immediately jumps out as absolute favourite so... contenders:

Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden. He has a talking skull for a friend, he animated a dinosaur skeleton and rode it into battle, he has an army of pizza loving faeries at his command and despite being surrounded by powerful enemies always manages to cludge together something to save the day. Except the leching over the nubile apprentice gets a tad squicky... so not a runaway win there.

Kate Elliott's Marit, from Shadow Gate (book 2 of the Crossroads trilogy)
Because being assassinated hasn't stopped her getting up and kicking ass. (Erm, does that count as a spoiler?)

Mirabel Stonefist from Elizabeth Moon's stories of the Ladies Aid & Armor Society (as found in assorted Chicks anthologies) - because she's a fun warrior lady.

Terry Pratchett's Granny Weatherwax (for all the reasons mentioned in the Favourite Character post)

Stephen Hunt's Amelia Harsh - a tomb raider done steampunk style! So soooo awesome!

30 Days of Genre - Day 17

Annnnd, we're back again...

So - Day 17 - Favourite antagonist

Gotta be Pratchett's Lord Havelock Vetinari, whose machinations shape an entire city.



Although, I'm not sure he technically counts as an antagonist, because, yes, he constantly challenges assorted protagonists and he is considered the primary threat in Ankh Morpork, but, ultimately, his deeds stablise the city and give positive opportunities to assorted characters.

Nevertheless, this is a man so terrifying that the mere sight of him was enough to make a previous patrician die of fright and, let's face it, the guy's a sneaky genius, and, just, well, quite cool!

30 Days of Genre - Day 2

Right then, today's 30 Days of Genre -

Day 2 – Your favourite character.

Oh, this is a tricky one. Think I'm going to cheat and split it into comics and books.

So, comics is easy... Jenny Sparks from Stormwatch/The Authority, Warren Ellis era.


She's an ass-kicking 100 year old super-heroine who doesn't take nonsense from anyone, has spent a century romping around the world and hanging with notable historical peeps both real and fictional, and she sacrificed her life to save the world by electrocuting God.

Random quotes -

Sparks: "We are the Authority. Behave."
Known bad-ass Midnighter:
"Is it wrong for me to find that woman utterly terrifying."

As far as books go, oooh, choices...

Charles de Lint's Crow Girls? Neil Gaiman's Marquis de Carabis? Juliet E. McKenna's Halice? Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift?



Better be the classic: Terry Pratchett's Granny Weatherwax - the best witch in, on or under the Discworld.

Feared and respected by, oh, pretty much everyone, she's survived confrontations with Death, elves, vampires and wizards, usually by her skillful application of headology.
Also, she has an interesting approach to her place in the universe.

"Granny's implicit belief that everything should get out of her way extended to other witches, very tall trees and , on occasion, mountains."

(Don't forget to check out more 30 Days of Genre at Floor to Ceiling Books!)