Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Characters who should get their own book

It's a Top Ten Tuesday freebie this week - pick your own topic (hosted by the Broke and Bookish blog).

So Marvel has movies for Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, Spiderman, and Captain America with more on the way, but so far nothing with a female main character, like The Black Widow.

I'm not losing sleep over this, but it did get me thinking of some characters that deserve to have their own book (or movie).  As a great fan of Arthurian legend, I really enjoyed the The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stuart, that allowed Merlin to have his own story, and likewise when Morgaine got to have her own book, the Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradly. Though I haven't read it yet, I love the idea of allowing the Wicked Witch of the West a chance to tell her side of the story (Wicked, by Gregory McGuire)... and now very soon we'll get to hear Maleficent's side of The Sleeping Beauty story.

I want more of these! Famous heroes and heroines: let's hear your story told by your nemesis, or by your best friend, sidekick, etc.

10. Princess Leia, from the Star Wars movies
With all the speculation going on about the new Star Wars movie, this plucky gal came back into my mind. The movies never really explain how she became a Princess, did they? We know about Luke growing up on Tatooine, and now we know perhaps too much of Darth Vader's backstory, but I'd love to learn more about Leia.

9. Hermione, from the Harry Potter series
I am not a huge fan of Harry Potter. He's a so-so character. He's only interesting to me because of the colorful cast that surrounds him. What if Hermione had been the Girl Who Lived? Hmmm?

8. Lucy Pevensie, from the Chronicles of Narnia
I always thought it was so interesting how the four children in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe actually got to grow up and become adults in Narnia, only to be sent back as children into their own world. Would love for C.S. Lewis to magically pen another novel filling in more details about Lucy, my favorite of the four.

7. A History, from the Archived series by Victoria Schwab
The premise of this series has always super intrigued me: how people's memories are organized and archived as Histories, beings that are alive and sentient and yet, not quite human. Would love to see this series continue, from the point of view of one of the Histories instead of their human caretakers.

6. Spock, from the Star Trek series and movies
I know he's a bit dry, but I still think he deserves his own movie

5. The Darkling, from the Grisha series
He's mysterious and powerful and deeply conflicted. I need to know more about this guy. I NEED TO KNOW.

4. Eowyn, from the Lord of the Rings
As deeply as I love the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, I was always just a touch disappointed that there wasn't at least one female in the Fellowship of the Ring or in Bilbo's unexpected adventure. Thank goodness for Eowyn, at least! - and the big role she got to play. I just wished she'd got an appendix of her own, like Aragorn and Arwen did.

3. Mr. Knightley, in Emma, by Jane Austen
My favorite Jane Austen male character, and the most noble. I have a really hard time imagining a Jane Austen story from the point of view of a gentleman...all the other Austen men make this sound like a very bad, boring idea... except for Knightley.

2. Loki, from the Marvel movies
Okay, I just flat out love Loki. There, I've said it. Give me more Loki!!!

1. Gandalf, from the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings
I'd love a story about Gandalf, when he was a boy and a young wizard causing havoc, experimenting with fireworks and giving elves headaches, as I'm sure he did. I'd love anything more about Gandalf, young or old or anywhere in between.

What character do you think deserves to be the star of their own book or movie?

8 comments:

  1. I love this idea for a list, and I agree Hermione should totally get a book!

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  2. Interesting idea -- especially for me since the book I'm working on has a main character I thought deserved her own book. (She has a minor role in a book I finished, but she wouldn't let me go, so now she stars in a book all her own).

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  3. Yeah, I'll agree with all of those. I've got a TON of others who are amazing side characters I'd love to see tell their own story. I'm working on a serial story right now for one of my own. It's way funner than the main story. Is that sad?

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  4. Loved The Crystal Cave and Wicked. Both great in very different ways. I'm gonna have to go with Fezzik from The Princess Bride. Getting Andre might be a little bit of a tall order though...

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  5. Such a great list idea! My choices would have to be Roar from Under the Never Sky, and Kenji from Shatter Me!

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  6. Wilson, the villain in my forthcoming horror novel! :)

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  7. I would definitely read the Eowyn and Loki stories. Yes, yes!

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  8. YES YES YES to an Eowyn book and a Hermione book. I would buy those and read them so hard. I'm so happy that you mentioned MISTS OF AVALON. My sixth-grade teacher put that book into my hand after hesitating over whether it was too advanced/grown-up in terms of reading matter for me, but she made a lifelong fan out of me. I still have the copy I bought in middle school and read it every few years. Such gorgeous writing and heartbreaking characters.

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