Book Recs with Gen-Coded Characters

[useforeverythin.livejournal.com]

Hi all. I've just finished the first two Emily Wilde books by Heather Fawcett and hugely enjoyed them for many reasons, not least of all because one of the main characters reminded me so much of Gen! The books (and characters) are of course different, but I think I've had a revelation that a particular character trait I love to read is "apparently good-natured buffoon is secretly extraordinarily talented or skilled at something critical to the plot and is also harbouring some serious internal darkness related to said talent." Something about this just makes me swoon. Can anyone recommend other books that feature such a character?? For my part I hightly recommend the Emily Wilde series.

Comments

[eachase.livejournal.com]

Hi, @useforeverythin,

I've been thinking about your request for a few days now. Perhaps I'm hampered by not having read Heather Fawcett. (Yet. As if my TBR weren't long enough already....)

The closest I've been able to think of is The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy.

Other known QT read-alikes (with varying degrees of buffoonery) include:

The False Prince books by Jennifer A. Nielsen. I find them too derivative and watered down compared to Gen, but other fans might like them.

Emily B. Martin's Creature of Light trilogy (starts with Woodwalker). I really like those, but I know some others find them too derivative. (Hey, at least Emily admits that they started as QT fan fic! But she really does come into her own voice with the Sunshield duology.)

I guess you'll have to read them (if you haven't already) and make your own call.

Another that somewhat fits the bill, in some ways, are the Knight and Rogue series by Hilari Bell. @Checkers introduced me to those and I really enjoyed them.