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My Favourite Heroines
There is no shortage of female leads in YA fiction, but strong female leads (that are not simply butt-kicking cardboard cutouts) are very rare. They’re not nearly as rare as good female villains because there is only one female on my list of favourite villains, but they are rare nonetheless. Here are my favourites in descending order.
1. Lisbeth Salander from the Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson.
What I love most about Lisbeth is that she truly doesn’t care what other people think of her. She’s smart and independent, but she is also deeply flawed. Because of all the trauma in her childhood, she has a hard time learning to trust people and it takes a very long time for her to develop any sort of relationship with Mikael Blomkvist in the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She seems to have Asperger’s Syndrome (or something similar) and she is not afraid to speak her mind. But Lisbeth is not your stereotypical punk girl, however, because she feels insecure about her petite body and falls in love with Mikael, which causes her to sever ties with him throughout The Girl who Played with Fire. She is my favourite heroine because although the book is mostly told through Mikael’s point of view, she steals every scene she is in throughout the trilogy and Stieg Larsson gave her an incredible amount of depth. Continue reading
Upcoming Reviews 11/02/12
Here are some reviews (and articles!) you can expect to be up this week.
Sunday: Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
Monday: Emperor: The Death of Kings by Conn Iggulden (Plus another article in the “My Favourite…” series)
Tuesday: Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
Wednesday: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Thursday: A surprise because it’s my 42nd book review (any fellow geeks out there?)
Friday: Emperor: The Field of Swords by Conn Iggulden
Saturday: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
I know, there’s another two Conn Iggulden reviews this week. I’m re-reading the Emperor series and I need to review the books while they’re fresh in my mind because they have very complicated plots at times. Of course, for my Monday special I’m continuing the “My Favourite…” series. Last Monday, I covered my favourite villains, so this week I will be covering some good characters. I also have another article covering some upcoming YA books I’m anxiously awaiting, but I’m not sure when I’ll have that up. But I guarantee that it will be up some time this week.
The Many Diseases Found in Fiction (YA Fiction in Particular)
Disclaimer
This list has been compiled for educational purposes only. It is not intended to belittle the authors/characters mentioned or any sort of disease.
Dr. No Syndrome: A terrible, debilitating syndrome that afflicts only the villains of a novel. Its symptoms include maniacal laughter, insanity, the wearing of dark colours and a general lack of realistic motivation. Dr. No Syndrome is a silent killer and may prove fatal to an author’s credibility and any suspense that has built up before the villain’s appearance. It is most prominent, but certainly not limited to, the fantasy genre.
Book Two Disease: A common, mild disease that afflicts around 90% of book series. Its many symptoms include poor writing, no character development, subplots that go nowhere and in its most severe cases, the resurrection of a favourite character from the first book. Book Two Disease is rarely fatal as a writer’s fans will usually continue reading the series to see what happens in the end. Unfortunately, it spans across all genres. Continue reading
My Favourite Villains
This is the first article in a weekly series. Today I will be covering my favourite type of character: villains. Villains are the spice in novels and well-developed villains turn good novels into great novels. Here I will list my top 5 favourite villains in descending order. Warning: this may contain spoilers.
1. Niccoló Machiavelli from The Magician by Michael Scott.
If Michael Scott is good at one thing, it’s creating complex characters. Machiavelli may be a villain, but he certainly has flashes of good and his backstory is quite sad. He seems to reluctantly work for Dee and the Dark Elders, but he is also very pragmatic about it. Throughout the series I have been unable to truly figure him out, although his character does take an interesting turn in the penultimate book, The Warlock. I really hope to see more of him in The Enchantress because he’s a truly fascinating character. I guarantee you, he is one of the best villains you will ever see in YA fiction (and regular fiction, for that matter).
2. Satan from Paradise Lost by John Milton.
Yes, this is probably a pretty controversial choice, but as a character, John Milton’s Satan is a wonderful villain. Charismatic, powerful and completely evil, he is the epitome of a villain. He believes what he is doing is right and will do anything to achieve his goal. After being thrown out of Heaven, Satan goes to Earth and convinces Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge in order to corrupt mankind and spite God. The only reason John Milton’s Satan is not my favourite villain is because he’s portrayed as pure evil, rather than having any real redeeming qualities. Continue reading
Upcoming Reviews
Here are reviews you can expect this week and which days they will be posted:
Sunday: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Monday: Scroll of Saqqara by Pauline Gedge (plus an extra article dealing with the YA genre!)
Tuesday: The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
Wednesday: Conqueror by Conn Iggulden
Thursday: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
Friday: Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Saturday: The Magician by Michael Scott
All of these are by authors I’ve reviewed before, but only 5 of them are the second books in their respective series. Next week, you can expect a lot of book reviews of Conn Iggulden books since I’ve recently re-read his two series. I’m also planning something special for my 42nd review. Fellow geeks can probably guess which book I’ll review that day!