Gen-like characters in other books?

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I hope this doesn't count as off-topic, but what other book characters remind people of Eugenides? Yes, I'll admit it: I'm angling for book recommendations by way of hero recommendations, since if I love a hero, I will enjoy the book he's in, even if other aspects of it are not to my liking, and if I can't find a character to fall in love with, I'll have a hard time loving a book. (Shallow? Me? What? Er... that would be a yes. When in a certain mood, anyway.)

My own particular favourite type of Gen is the King of Attolia variety. Reading The Scarlet Pimpernel at a formative age has given me a lifelong love of heroes who are far more clever than everyone around them thinks they are. I love the super-clever hero who can pull the strings of everyone around him, who hides deep feelings behind an inscrutable mask, who lets himself be misunderstood or even disliked by everyone around him in the interests of the (usually very important) game he's playing. I've already encountered - and loved - several whom I would put in this category, but I won't say who they are yet, since I'm interested to see who other people recommend.

And while I'm here…



By the way, I've just finished rereading the entire series. Book 3 is definitely my favourite - the sort of book that makes me feel as if I'm overflowing with sheer love and awe as I'm reading it. I love outsider viewpoints of a favourite character, especially if the viewpoint character initially dislikes my hero but ends up realising their merits. The King of Attolia could have been written just for me, it contains so many of my absolute Favourite Things.

However, I'm very pleased to discover that I also loved the second book this time, too. I've always had problems with this one, since I initially found it rather disappointing, and I've never been able to shake off the memory of this initial reaction. I missed Gen's narrative voice - even though I'm actually not normally a fan of first-person narrative (although several of my favourite books are told in the first person. Hmm...) I spent far too much of the book worrying that he was broken beyond repair, and the war stuff confused me and made me desperate for a map.* Plus, I always have problems believing in love stories that aren't based on long acquaintance, so that aspect of it left me uneasy, as did all the references to Gen's extreme youth. I hadn't realised that there would be a third book, and I finished with serious doubts that Eugenides would be successful or happy in the future. Even when I'd read and adored the third book - which actually removed many of my causes of concern about book two - I couldn't entirely forget these memories of disappointment.

Fortunately, and at long last, I have now entirely shaken off these concerns. I'm very ashamed to admit it, but this was actually the first time I'd reread all the books back-to-back in order; in fact, while I've reread the first and third books several times, I think this may well have been my first full reread of book two. (No, no, don't hound me out of the community, please.) I still love the other two more - and the third book most of all - but I now love all three of them. Yay!

* I seem to remember hearing that the fourth book will have a map. If so, I will be very happy. I know The Tough Guide to Fantasyland pokes fun at the obligitory nature of maps in epic fantasy novels, but I really felt the need of one in the second book.

Comments

[hapaxnym.livejournal.com]

Hee. My daughter and I were just free-spieling a crossover fanfic with the Thief series, Lois Bujold's Vorkosigan books, and Lee / Miller's Agent of Change series, in which Eugenides, Miles Vorkosigan, and Val Con yos'Phelium are playing "Grand Theft Spaceship". (Sample dialogue -- Miles: "Gen! Where did you come up with that cheat code? My God, that's brilliant!" Gen (smugly): "No, MY god." Val Con: "As it should be. The gods owe us much.")

(My own tastes are a little less "clever" than "short, dark, and borderline psychotic", though.)

For other clever heroes, my first thoughts were some of Georgette Heyer's characters, such as Avon in THESE OLD SHADES and the "old gentleman" in THE MASQUERADERS and oh, whatzisname in THE TOLLBOOTH. And there other classics of "hidden in plain sight" heros like Zorro, of course. Not thinking of many in contemporary genre fiction, more's the pity. Jules Cassidy, in Suz Brockmann's romantic suspense novels tends to fall into that category when he's a secondary character, but not so much when he's the hero of the story, alas.)

You specified heros, but this is a classic model of heroine, going all the way back to Katie Crackernuts. Mara, the heroine of McGraw's book of the same name, for example, is quite clever and continuously underestimated, as is Aly, in Tamora Pierce's DAUGHTER OF THE LIONESS books.

I'd love to hear other suggestions, too!

[rosalui.livejournal.com]

The only character that every reminded me vaguely of Eugenides, just because of his snarkiness, was Bartimaeus from the Bartimaeus Trilogy. :3

[white-riot5.livejournal.com]

I adored KoA for exactly the same reasons and you've just described my favourite kind of character to read about. Clever and outwardly cool, almost always in control, but hiding inner turmoil. No other character personifies your description so perfectly as Francis Crawford in Dorothy Dunnetts Lymond Chronicles, seriously, I can't rec them highly enough. They're historical fiction, the writing is gorgeous and rich, they're not easy reading but these are my favourite books and Lymond my favourite fictional character of all time.

I'd also suggest the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. These books involve mysteries to do with egyptian archeology, set in the victorian era. They're such fun to read and character driven rather than totally focused on the mystery element. I think you'll enjoy reading about Ramses, Amelia's son who becomes a main character in book 9, so you could pick up the series from there like I did.

Check out The Lies of Locke Lamora, that fit's your criteria pretty well and is a brilliant read.

I'd love to hear about the characters you've already encountered, as a book hasn't really engaged me in the same all encompassing way these books did in quite a while!

[zumie-ashlen.livejournal.com]

Lord Vetinari in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books reminds me of Gen quite a bit, but less emotional.

*wonders how long it will take Viviolo to pop up since this is her favorite trope*

Speaking of tropes, I was unaware that we apparently have one (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Sounis). :D

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Ditto to The Lies of Locke Lamora!

[mycenaeth.livejournal.com]

I loved those books. <3

[rosalui.livejournal.com]

ME TOO. *_*

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, you just broke me with the sheer awesomeness of a post that involved not only Gen, Miles Vorkosigan, Justin Alastair, and Tremaine of Barham, but crossovers of some of them. :D

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

"short, dark, and borderline psychotic"

Hee! You've just made me very interested in finding out more about this Val Con, given the company you're suggesting he'd keep.

[shimotsuki.livejournal.com]

Sorry not to have any good hero suggestions, but...

I finished [QoA] with serious doubts that Eugenides would be successful or happy in the future

Although I did in fact like QoA on my first read, especially Attolia's about-face subterfuge at the end, I had exactly the same reaction -- I was really, really worried for Eugenides. Luckily, I only had to wait two days to get my hands on a copy of KoA. I can't imagine what it was like to have to wait years for that book to come out!

And, as you say, reading KoA put my fears to rest. It was the moment when Attolia fainted that really reassured me.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Ooh, definitely definitely definitely yes to Lymond! I adore this series, and Lymond, too. It saddens me that several friends I've recommended the series to have taken against him in the first book, so much so that they've not been able to continue reading. I definitely see in him many of the characteristics I love in Eugenides. Characters like Will Scott and Jerott Blyth fill the Costis role, too - people who come to respect Lymond in the end, despite earlier dislike of him.

I enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora well enough, but for some reason - one I can't really pin down - I didn't love it enough to bother with the sequel. I should have liked it, but it didn't quite gel with me. Not read the Amelia Peabody series, though, and I might check that out.

As for other characters... Well, Lymond topped the list. Characters in the "far more clever and with far more depth than they let themselves appear" class include several Sherwood Smith heroes (e.g. in Crown Duel/Court Duel, and Once a Princess/Twice a Prince). Some Diana Wynne Jones characters have Gen-like characteristics: Howl with his attempts to wriggle out of his duty and his loud complaining, and Chrestomanci, who feigns a bored expression when he's concentrating the most hard. Another character of this type I'm very fond of is Peaceable Sherwood, from The Sherwood Ring.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I keep meaning to read the Vorkosigan books. A lot of people on my Friends list are fans, and I even bought The Warrior's Apprentice a few years ago, but I've not read it yet. I really must rectify that soon. I'd not heard of the Agent of Change series, but it does look promising on Amazon. Also, several people on my Friends list like Heyer, but I've not read her, either. I'm not quite sure how I missed her when I was a teenager, when I read historical novels pretty much exclusively.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

By coincidence, I just finished rereading that series last weekend. :-)

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I had to wait six years! Although I wasn't really waiting, since for most of that time, I didn't know that another book was ever going to happen. It was a wonderful surprise when it appeared, and when it was just so wonderful and so perfect for me.

[white-riot5.livejournal.com]

Lymond has ruined me for other books, so few things I've read since have come close to its awesomeness. I've heard some good things about Sherwood Smith so with this extra motivation I'll have to go in search of some.

Howl!! So much love for Howl!!

[(Anonymous)]

Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs has a hero who has managed to convince everyone that he's a harmless idiot. . . and then has to un-convince them in a hurry.

Yay Peacable Sherwood! But, I love Richard, too.

~mwt

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Sherwood Smith's Inda series is, in my opinion, very excellent. For the last three years, I'd have unquestioningly named Lymond as my Favourite Series, but Inda has become a very definite rival.

Have you read Dunnett's Niccolo series, by the way? I started it, but really couldn't get into it, so I gave up. However, a friend who recently read - and loved - Lymond is currently up to book 7 in Niccolo, and is recommending it highly, so I'm wondering whether to give it another go.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

You might like Psion by Joan D. Vinge. tiegirl recommended it to me and I fell in love with the main character, Cat. He's not as clever as Gen, but he is as honorable and as shifty. He hides his true motives and acts like he doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. Oh, and he gets hurt in each book, sort of like how Gen does.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec! The amazon.co.uk reviews intrigue me, so this is going on my wish list post-haste.

I really liked Richard, too. Peaceable Sherwood is totally, absolutely my type, but one of the things I really liked about the book was that I liked his adversary very much, too. I liked the whole lot of them, actually, and my only wish is that the book was twice as long.

By the way, when I said I was "rather disappointed" in book 2, I only meant that I loved book 1 so much that my expectations were sky-high. I did like book 2 very much - once I'd reached the end and been reassured about certain concerns - even though I had some reservations (some of which could well be attributed to the fact that I read it while sleep-deprived on a trans-Atlantic flight, and stupidly didn't reread it immediately when I got home and was in a more receptive mood.)

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Heroes getting hurt is, in my eyes, a Very Good Thing indeed. *blushes* *but adds book to Amazon wishlist despite blushes*

Ooh, and you're reading Knife? I really enjoyed that book!

[white-riot5.livejournal.com]

A rival to Lymond?! I will certainly be getting hold of those.

I had the same experience with Niccolo and only managed to get half way through the first one, I wanted to get hooked and fall in love with the book like I did with Lymond but it wasn't happening. It did have it's moments though and is still sitting on my shelf so I'll probaby try again at some point and decide whether to try the rest of the series once I've finished it.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Heroes getting hurt is, in my eyes, a Very Good Thing indeed.

Gah, so do I. What is it about us that makes us like that?

Just finished Knife and I really enjoyed it, too! The writing just sparkles.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I really don't know. I've spent far too many years writing fanfic in which my favourite character in my fandom of the moment gets hurt, but struggles though to be awesome despite his wounds, and I and my fellow lovers of this type of thing (who are many) have constantly attempted to work out just why we like this sort of stuff. The best we've come up with is that a character really shows his true nature when he's hurt, so it's all about character development. However, I think this is rationalising; we just... kind of... er... like it ;-)

[etv13.livejournal.com]

I love Ward of Hurog, but I don't think of him as Gen-like at all. (Except he does fall for an older woman, doesn't he?) For one thing, he's big and blond. I love his brother, too, and his collateral ancestor the "ghost."

[diadactic.livejournal.com]

There Aspirin's MYTH series. The sort of hero has all sorts of abilities.. but never realizes it! Also, his dragon is super intelligent and keeping him as a pet (instead of vice versa) and he never realizes.