ReplyRoland Deschain
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Does anyone else out there have a favorite fictional character? I have decided that Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas is by far my favorite fictional character.
Personally, I feel I can get to know characters from books better than I can from movies, but either way, anyone else have a fictional character they really like?
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Roland Deschain
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Ah! Definitely in my top five. In fact, I would have to say that my top ten list would mostly be either Dean Koontz or Stephen King characters. I like characters by Clive Custler and other adventure writers, but Koontz and King seem to be able to make their characters very unique yet able to be related to.
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I like the whole "post-apocalyptic cowboy" character.
King's characters are great. I'm not as much a fan of Koontz. I read a few of his books some years ago and didn't care for them.
What I liked most about Roland is that there is so much time for him to develop but, even after 8 books and multiple short stories, he still has his mysteries.
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I hear a lot of people say they don't care for Koontz who like Stephen King. I have only begun reading Koontz books a few years ago, so I started out with his Frankenstein and Odd thomas series rather than his older, more violent stuff.Originally Posted by jpsmith1cm
I don't care for everything that King writes, and I only really get into King's characters in longer stories where King has time to really develope those characters. Koontz really gets into the heads of his characters, at least in his more current stuff. It is almost disturbing how the reader is put directly into the mind of Koontz's characters, especially when they think in such bizarre and narcistic ways that you start to feel almost like you are eavesdropping on the thoughts of very strange thinking people.
Odd is definitely strange, but in a wholesome and always well meaning way. The best thing about Odd is when push comes to shove, he can always justify doing exactly the sort of thing he abhores. I cannot think of any actor who could pull off the Odd Thomas character if they ever do any movies of his character.
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I forgot the Frankenstein series.
I did enjoy those books.
I'll look into the Odd Thomas books.
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Make sure you start with the first one; Odd Thomas. From there, you can follow any of the other ones ok, but it is still best to go in the order they were written because Odd developes in his character according to his encounters.
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Always start at the beginning and read in order.
and thanks.
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Dirk Pitt definately also Gordino.
The characters I like most would be Barnabas Sackett and Jubal Sackett.
Not a fan of Koontz or Kng
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It's funny how our different tastes go. I don't much care for Louis L'Amour characters or stories. Dirk Pitt and Gordino are definitely cool characters, but they are no where near as in depth as some of Koontz's characters are. I'd even like to meet Koontz's Jocko character....on an empty stomach.
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The thing about Louis is if he writes about it it is real, he has been there nd done most everything he writes about. If he talks about a cave in the Rockies he hs been to that cave. If he describes a fight he has been through those movements. He was left in the Mojave desert by his family when he was twelve and walked out, he was a middleweight boxer and a tank commander during WWII. I have read every book he has written many times some as many as fifteen times.
My favotite authors are Louis Lamour, Leon Uris, Trevanian, James Clavell, John Jakes, Ludlum, Archer, Clancy, Fredrick Forsythe others escape me at the moment.
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Augustus "Gus" McCrae, from Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove"
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I go for more fantasy and Sci-fi characters myself.
Ray Fiest has a character called Pug in quite a few books. He's a rags to riches character that surpasses all expectations.
Orson Scott Card has Ender in his (future) series and Alvin the Maker (alternate universe) series.
Bova, McCaffree, Eddings, Duncan, Heinlein, Hubbard, Bradbury, Azimov, Brooks, Weber, Goodkind, Stascheff, etc.,etc.
I have many favorite characters, generally one from each author or type of story.
...Ron
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Since I don't much care for the Western genre, I read Lamour's Walking Drum not too long ago. It was good, but formulated. Lamour has a tendency to have his heros get the crap kicked out of them too much for my taste. His "no good deed shall be left unpunished" attitude gets tedious after a while. Not to mention that in Walking Drum, there must be at least a dozen times when the plot takes a turn after Lamour uses the term; "then suddenly!".
I read to escape. Same with movies. I really don't like too close to reality stories. I've lived and am still living my own real life drama. I don't need to hear the drama of others unless it involves monsters, supernatural or fantasy.
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Another Lamour styled Western. What is it about the characters in the Western genre that fascinates people so much? I see these people as being like real life people who are just better at handling themselves than most of us are. Toss a few mutant indians in a flying teepee into the mix and have ole Gus defeat them by entering a parallel universe in order to flank them and maybe I'd get into their characters better.
Seriously though, this is strictly a matter of opinion thread and I appreciate reading about who likes what kind of characters.
I think I am attracted mostly to good guys who do bad things for an ultimate good purpose.
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I'm familiar with Heinlein, Bradbury ans Asimov, but some of these I will have to look into. For sci-fi characters, I tend to like those in the future who cling to the past.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX5ytoHYfBc
Always been partial to Tom Clancy and outstanding research that he puts into his novels.
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There is no doubt that like the genre or not, Tom Clancy is a great writer. Is there a particular character from Clancy's novels that you favor over other fictional characters? I think we all have rooted for Jack Ryan no matter who plays his character in movies. When a character can be played by so many different actors, such as Jack Ryan and James Bond, it is definitely the character development that has been done well.
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Azimov Foundations series would probably be something you would be interested in then I think. There is also a few authors that put together a second foundation series that is very good.
I kind of get the feeling that there are a few members that like Militaria. Just to throw out some good reads for members who like future military stories...
Orson Scott Card has a number of Space Military stories that pretty much have to do with the same character but you won't know that unless you read most of them.
A Classic series is Hammer's Slammers by David Drake, Mostly giant hover tank battalions.
If Space Marines is your thing, then try the Starfist series by Dave Sherman and Dan Cragg.
David Weber wrote a Naval series that I coundn't put down until I read everyone that was out at the time.
...Stories that others might like...
Christopher Stasheff, Starship Troopers trilogy, about a troop of actors that are on the run from the authorities from every planet that they visit. Mostly amusing and a totally different plot than anything that you are likely to read.
Alan Dean Foster, Bunches and bunches of stand alone stories, all of them (+30) that I've read are well thought out and also make you think.
Most people probably will shy away from L. Ron Hubbard, but the original author actually was able to write a good story. The movie may not have been as good as I would have liked it, Battlefield Earth in book form (1,300 pages or so) is a page turner. He wrote another series of 10 books that were really good until about book 7 or so then it became pretty stale and I never finished it.
...Ron
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John Clark and Domingo (forgot his last name), the spooks, interested me. They did the dirty work, did not enjoy it that much, and kept a good attitude about their lives away from work.
Recently, we see Jack Ryan Jr (son) getting into the game... couple of interesting books there.
I read for entertainment also... it is adventure from the sidelines, a way to balance the drag of work.
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