FAVORITE BOOK SERIES AND FAVORITE CHARACTER

What is your favorite book series and favorite character in the series?

Probably the Dowager Illsidi (sp?) in Foreigner. Powerful, acerbic, yet still full of the joy of life. A gripping political SF series.

Amelia Peabody in the the series by Elizabeth Peters. She gutsy and bold, and I love the relationship she has with her husband.

Brother Cadfael in in the medieval mystery series by Ellis Peters, and the cat trio (Joe Grey, Dulcie, and Kit) in the Joe Grey mystery/fantasy series by Shirley Rousseau Murphy.

Francis Crawford in the Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett is the ultimate swashbuckling adventure hero to me. Love the series and love the character.

Without a doubt, the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. It's a tossup, but if I had to pick one of them I think Dr. Stephen. The cool thing is the Mutt & Jeff playing of opposites thing, so you kind of need them both.

James Michener is my favorite author of all time. I love reading the history of the places he writes about. My favorite books of his are (Chesapeake) and (Hawaii).

Oh I love her books too!

You beat me to it bookishbunny, I love Amelia too, she's wonderful!

Mrs Pollifax is fun too, senior citizen decides to work with the CIA undercover.

#2 - I've been looking at Cherryhs books for some time but could not decide where to start... I checked the books you mentioned and got interested > BIG THANKS, reading_fox!

(ok, so now I've sent three separate book orders to the same online store already this week, where will this stop?!?!)

I mean Elizabeth peters! And the brother Cadfeul and the Joe Gray mysteries!

I also love "The Cat Who..." series by Lilian Jackson Braun. Koko and Yumyum are just delightful

I can't choose just one author!

Carole nelson Douglas with her Midnight Louie series
Rita Mae Brown and her Mrs Murphy series

Agatha Christie and Miss Marple

and of course JK Rowling and the HP series. I just love Hermione!

There are many series that I love. I'll just list my top 3 :-)

Harry Potter series and character. I really like Harry even when he's acting like a bit of an idiot.

The Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine is my newest favorite. I love David! I want to take him home with me.

The Mediator books by Meg Cabot I love both the main characters, Jesse and Suz.

edited to add fave character info

E.F. Benson's Lucia series. British comic novels from the 1930's - very, very funny. Favourite character is Lucia, but her neighbour Georgie, so tahsome my dear, comes a close second.

I was enthralled by the Chronicles of Narnia series as a young teacher who discovered the books in my school library. Spent many a lunchtime engrossed in the stories instead of socialising.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy only hooked me after seeing the first movie, unbelievably enough. Then of course I became addicted to the books , including the Hobbit.
Right now I'm caught up in pottermania, though i think the earlier books were more enjoyable and tautly written. Still i cannot wait for the final installment.
As for characters, I'd say Samwise Gamgee, Aragorn and Gandalf from the LOTR are my favourites so far.
I look forward hopefully to my next literary love affair.

Dune Series and I just love Duncan Idaho and Gurney Halleck.

The Dortmunder comic crime novels and stories by Donald E. Westlake. John Archibald Dortmunder

The Roderick Alleyn series (if you can call it that) by Ngaio Marsh. The favourite character would be Inspector Fox.

> #13 .... Thanks for the reminder about Lucia, pamelad. I love those books! (A couple more for the To Be Re-Read stack .....)

Steve Carella or Meyer Meyer in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels.

Inspector Appleby in Michael Innes's novels.

The entire ensemble cast in the Miss Seeton novels.

And many more. :-)

Precious Ramotswe is my favourite book series character. The series is by Alexander McCall-Smith and comprises:
No.1 Ladies Detective Agency
Tears of the Giraffe
Morality for Beautiful Girls
Kalahari Typing School for Men
and a new one.

Doctor Prunesquallor in Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy. Who wouldn't need someone to hold their hand in the world of Titus Groan?

Harry Bosch in Michael Connelly's series and Dr. Alan Gregory in Stephen White's series. They both almost seem like personal friends.

#greendog Yes, Harry Bosch would be my second favourite character

Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, to begin, and then Sherlock Holmes. I know, I am a bit out of date, but these are my favourite ones.

The Palliser Novels, sometimes called The Parliamentary Novels by Anthony Trollope. My favorite character from a series, however, must be The Rev. Harding from Trollope's Barchester series.

The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice and the Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong :-) My favorite characters being Marius and Paige, respectively.

#20 there's at least three more in the series
the full cupboard of life
in the company of cheerful ladies
blue shoes and happiness

I've not read Blue Shoes yet, but I agree Precious is a good character.

#24
Out of date? Christie is still one of my favourite authors. Although I have top admit I still miss several of her books in my "collection" (ahum, two moving-cases...)

Just remembered:
Flashman!

One of my favorite characters is Judge Dee who appears in a series of mysteries set in medieval China. I am fond of Chinese history and the mysteries are very good. I have sixteen books from the series.

#27 I thought they were a different series. Thanks - will check it out.

Some favorites:

DI Havers and her boss, DCI (?) Lynley from Elizabeth George's mysteries

and ALL the characters so wonderfully brought to life in George RR Martin's Fire & Ice series; but don't get too attached to any of them :)

Undeniably, it's C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower...His Hornblower series is amazing! He is so unbelievably perfect...there are faults but only those that make him endearing...maybe its because I'm female and the thought of a man like that out there just sends me all a-flutter! :) I also really enjoy Sherlock Holmes...grew up reading him so he's pretty hard to surpass too.

My favorite character is Arkady Renko from the series by Martin Cruz Smith - to me he is the closest to a real, breathing human being that I have "met" in fiction. He's interesting and fully drawn. There is something so human about him - he is fallible and prone to being too emotional, but he's a good cop and uses the system when it suits him, ignores it when it doesn't, but is careful not to tread too far outside the the line. Nothing about him rings false to me.

Well, I keep trying to narrow it down, but this is what I've got:

Male - Ron Weasley of Harry Potter fame and
Harry Bosch from Michael Connelly's books and (I think he's male) the Cheshire Cat from Wonderland

and

Female - Stephanie Plum from Janet Evanovich and Mrs. Haversham and Thursday Next

I have to post this before I think of any others.

>26 JenandTomsLibrary: I've read the first two Women of the Otherworld books with Elaina but I hadn't heard any good reviews about the books with Paige. I actually had Dime Store Magic in my hand at lunchtime and put it back. Interesting to see someone with a different opinion on the fave character.

lol, oh Tiddleyboom, I can't believe that it took 35 messages for someone to recognize Janet Evanovich's character Stephanie Plum. Those books are hilarious.

I also like Harlan Coben's character, Myron Bolitar,a sport's agent by profession who always winds up in the middle of a mystery. He also can be very amusing and reminds me of Stephanie Plum.

If I have go get "serious" then I would say Harry Bosch from the Michael Connolly series or okay, maybe even Harry Potter and his merry friends.

I love the Jasper Fforde Thursday Next novels and I am so happy a new one comes out this summer (yeah, July!)

I have to say that for smart mysteries, The Mary Russell books by Laurie R. King are excellent, and they revive Sherlocke Holmes as an interesting character

Jeanette

#20 & 27 you beat me to it. I also am a long-time Sherlock Holmes fan, and Dr. Watson is my favorite character in that series. I had a terrible jones for the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell until it jumped the shark, but I found Kay to be a very real and compelling character in the first 2/3 of the series. I thought the other characters were rather formulaic and poorly fleshed out by comparison.

I can't believe no one's mentioned Harry Potter yet. I'm not really a rabid fan, but they're definitely my favorite series, largely because of Professor Snape. I just find him to be a really original character - all the trappings of the stereotypical bad guy, yet he's got a much more complicated story than that.

cestovatela - I have to agree - I, too, love Prof. Snape (although Ron really is my true fave in the series - I guess I'm partial to slapstick).

And, Netty 73, you gave me a new character to look for - thanks!

I also am a Harry Potter fan, but my favorite author is Tamora Pierce and all of her Tortall books. They are so real with really interesting women main charaters.

I liked the Deryni series of Katherine Kurtz, a medieval fantasy with an ecclesiastical bent, and with a hounded people, the Deryni, who have special abilities. There must be more than a dozen novels,

Bob Campbell

My favorite series is the septimus heap books, and my favorite character is Jenna.

definitely the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer! anyone who hasnt read Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse (coming in August) has to read them!

My favorite character has to be Edward Cullen and Bella (Isabella) Swan. If you read the books, you will agree!

Lawrence Durrell's wonderful, wonderful series The Alexandrian Quartet, which leaves even Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles far, far behind. My favorite character, for sheer color, is Scobie in his "Dolly Varden" hat, but for intensity is Clea or Justine.

When I was little I just loved Mrs Pepperpot. Such lovely books!

My favorite series is the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, and my favorite character is without question Lestat. However, I also find Armand to be utterly fascinating as well, and I identify a bit too closely with Nicolas de Lenfent (Lestat's friend in The Vampire Lestat) for my own peace of mind.

Currently, probably Harry Dresden from the Dresden Files. Could be interesting seeing Harry Potter and Harry Dresden going head to head, Battle-Royale style. Both are pretty experienced wizards, although in different ways.

My favorite series is Neil Gaiman's The Sandman graphic novels! My favorite character is Dream, but I also love Death and Delirium, and I'm very much drawn to Desire. ;D

#48: TheBratPrince:
I also love Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles! My favorite (minor?) character is Nicolas de Lenfant ... I also identify with him, the most of all the other characters, or at least I did. Of the major characters, well, how can I resist Lestat? ;) Armand is also a fascinating one.

There was a time when I would have had to answer R. Daneel Olivaw, Isaac Asimov’s good-hearted robot from the Foundation series and other books. He is surely the character with the longest life-span outside of Douglas Adams. To paraphrase Groucho, inside of Douglas Adams, it’s too dark to know. These days, I’m partial to Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s Captain Alatriste.

#51: Larxol:
I love Isaac Asimov––I've been a science fiction fan all my life, and the Foundation series is, in my opinion, one of the best science fiction series ever written (at least that I've read). I agree that R. Daneel Olivaw is a wonderful character.

I vote for Jaime Fraser from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. What a hunk!

Tyrion Lanister in George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series. Nothing hunky about him, but a very colorful character. Most of the characters in Martin's books are fantastic, but can't get too attached...they are sure to get killed off.

#54: bookladykm:
Re: Character deaths
That's my biggest problem with characters in books, movies, TV shows, etc.: my favorite character almost always gets killed––except in the case of the Vampire Chronicles, in which my favorite character is already dead when he's first introduced! *headdesk* LOL

#55 BratPrince:
Are the undead REALLY so undead? Poor Claudia wasn't undead for long before she was toast (pardon the pun).

#56: bookladykm:
Oh, I know. And the writing is so lush as to make them truly come alive––you can really fall in love with Ms. Rice's characters. :)

I really was half kidding about Lestat, there.

I love Marian Keyes' books about the Walsh sisters: Watermelon, Angels, Rachel's Holiday and Anybody Out There? I enjoy hearing what each of the sisters is doing...

My fave has to be Kay Scarpetta from Patricia Cornwell's series, though I kind of lost her when Cornwell changed her MO and started writing in the 3rd person... I still wonder how she could ever make that decision. It kills the characters, Kay most of all I think. What used to be my fave gorgeous, dramatic, stronger than any man, sexy, poweful, famous power-woman, became a cold-hearted,hart to understand, impossible to see into, professional manly kind of elderly woman with no feelings. Mmm maybe I'm too harsh, lol. I read the last two books of the series just this week and it was fantastic to be back in Scarpetta's world, but I can't stand the way it's written. I just can't.

I've also fallen in love with Kurt Wallander from Henning Mankell's series (zomehow my brackets don't touch the stone, I don't know why). He must be the most loveable and thoughtful cop around. I would make him dinner every day if he let me ;)

I am a big fan of Decius Cecilius Mettelus in John Maddox Roberts' SPQR series.

Nothing much gets past Barry Hughart's characters Master Li and Number Ten Ox in The Bridge of Birds and the two follow ups.

And I also love the Falco Novels by Lindsey Davis aside from Marcus Didius Falco there is a wealth of ongoing supporting characters - where more information is doled out each book. Your perception of them changes as you go further into the series. I am particularly fond of Petronius.

Cheers

Before the series got way too sex obsessed for my taste....I really loved Anita Blake....too bad. RIP for the kick butt Executioner. Thank goodness for J.D. Robb. I eagerly await each new installment of the "in Death" series. Eve Dallas has taken over that role for me now.

I too am a HUGE Jim Butcher fan and would have to go with Harry Dresden to represent the "Y" chromosome.

There aren't many series that I have read faithfully. But C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series is one of my favorites. With William Bush who is his best friend being one of my favorite charactors along with his coxswain Brown.
Alexander Kent's Richard Bolitho series is good too. In fact I like Bolitho
better than Hornblower because he seems more human and real. You always know that Horatio will do the right thing and overcome whatever. Wheres as with Richard there is an element that he might fail, so you always have the fear that he might not prevail. Which adds a little more drama to the tale.

From my early teens, John Clayton, Lord Graystoke aka Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle

From my late teens Commodore John Grimes of the Rim World Federation late of the Federation Survey Service from A. Bertram Chandler’s space operas such as The Big Black Mark

From the mysteries, I have been reading for the last twenty years there are so many great characters that it is hard to pick just one. If my arm was twisted, I guess it would have to be Archie Goodwin from the Nero Wolfe books of Rex Stout.

Jamie Fraser from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

My favorite is Nathan Zuckerman, the recurring author/character whose life we have followed in the novels of Philip Roth.

On a more whimsical note, there's the wonderful Thursday Next.

Also, I've always loved Marlow, the narrator and sometime protagonist of many of Joseph Conrad's most fascinating works.

#13 pamelad: you beat me to it! I love the Mapp & Lucia series, and just adore the character of Georgie Pillson.

I have a few. I loved the detective Travis McGee in the series by John D MacDonald and Dave Robicheaux the New Orleans detective by James Lee Burke...All time favs are Laura Ingells Wilder who wrote the Little House on the Prarie books and #1 is Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene

vampire kisses and I Alexander aswell as valentine!! Yea vamps!!!!!

Def. Vampire Lestat of the Vampire Chronicles. Stunning, witty, maniacal, killing urges, lady's man....you name it, he's got it

Flynn, by Gregory McDonald. He first appears in Confess Fletch and then goes on to his own series. He's a good old fashioned Irish-American father and husband; and his kids know about and occassionally help with his high level secret investigations.

Having just ripped through the first three in the series I am now a big fan of Aelric in Richard Blake's series. The books so far are Conspiracies of Rome, The Terror of Constantinople and The Blood of Alexandria. I eagerly await the publication of The Sword of Damascus.

Cheers