Great Fictional Characters in an Ongoing Series

[Deleted member 133]

Who do you consider some of the great fictional characters in an ongoing series of books?

I'll drop some names (some of which I intend to cover in separate threads - for other reasons).

There are "classic" characters such as Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Watson.

A contemporary Holmes-like character would be Doug Preston and Lincoln Childs' Agent Pendergast.

I'm only a half dozen books into Lee Childs' "Jack Reacher" series, but after the first one I could see why fans were upset at the choice of Tom Cruise to play the titular character in the first film adaptation. Reacher is the perfect embodiment of both brawn and brains - and Cruise gives the appearance of neither.

I'm not sure that there has been a more disturbed, nor greater, female character than Taylor Stevens' Vanessa Michael Munroe. With three novels out so far, and the next due out in 2014) - not to mention James Cameron's plans to bring her to the big screen - she will soon be known to many more about-to-be-fans. (Yes I know that Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander character was groundbreaking, but Stevens' Munroe takes it to a whole new level of compelling.)

I could go on. But now it's your turns...

 

[PaulyT]

Miles Vorkosigan in the ongoing saga by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Fitz in the Assassin's Apprentice series by Robin Hobb.

Roland the Gunslinger in the series by Stephen King.

 

[jomari]

Would jack ryan count?

hes currently being played in the movies by chris pine (star trek), but formerly by ford, bennifer and baldwin at some point.

Trying to participate, but im totally out of sync with good books nowadays.

 

[topper]

,

 

[Deleted member 133]

Would jack ryan count?

Certainly!

While making the jump from paper to film does not in itself make a character great IMO, many great characters do transition very well.

 

[Deleted member 133]

I'll add two more to the list:

Wisecracking detective John Corey who has appeared in a half dozen Nelson DeMille novels. Even though the stories are serious well-paced crime/action pieces, I've laughed out loud many times at Corey's sidebar narratives to the reader.

And F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack character who has appeared in well over a dozen of his works. There's a lot of similarity to Child's Jack Reacher - to a point. However while both make fast work of opponents in "fight" situations, they are described very differently by their authors. Reacher is a huge imposing force that nobody could miss, while Repairman Jack easily blends into a crowd and attracts no attention to himself. (It's perhaps for that reason that, of the two, Tom Cruise would have been much better suited to play Repairman Jack - had that character come to the big screen.) Additionally while Reacher novels are grounded in "reality", Wilson imbues his with horror, fantasy, and the supernatural - and frames the modern day plots with reference to his "Secret History of the World". Add in some neat characters and settings (like Abe's Sporting Goods Store / secret armory) and it makes for fast-paced reading bliss. You can even get your kids involved, as Wilson has released a series of Repairman Jack books set in Jack's childhood (not to be confused with another series covering Jack's early adult life). I'd call them required reading for adults as many of the characters / plot elements in the "young" books serve to explain better what is happening in the main "adult" series (which has now come to an end - according to Wilson.) If you're hesitant about trying it out, check out http://www.repairmanjack.com/ for more information.

Jeff

 

[TKoP]

Odd Thomas (Author Dean Koontz)
Alex Cross (Author James Patterson)
Harry Dresden (Author Jim Butcher -- be aware, this one pegs the Cheesy Factor meter, but I still like it)

 

[PaulyT]

^-- Ha! I'm reading the Dresden Files right now, on book #5. IMHO it picks up a lot in book #4.

 

[Akula]

One that isn't well known but are rather well written:

Otto Prohaska (written by John Biggins); he's an Austrian in WWI. Very well researched and amusing in some parts while still drawing out the futility and horrors of war. There's four books and they're definitely worth the time.

 

[TKoP]

^-- Ha! I'm reading the Dresden Files right now, on book #5. IMHO it picks up a lot in book #4.

Excellent! As mentioned, it's pure Velveeta, but it hits a lot of my nerd buttons... You'll have to let me know what you think when you're caught up.

 

[Deleted member 133]

I'm giving this thread a bump because, as identified in my OP, Lee Childs' "Jack Reacher" is one of those great fictional characters, and after having only started to read them a year and half ago or so, I'm now all caught up and have read every one of them published so far. Jack Reacher continues to be on my list of great fictional characters and Childs continues to do the character justice (pun intended.)

Jeff

 

[Haywood]

Phèdre nó Delaunay de Montrève from Jacqueline Carey's excellent six book historical fantasy Kushiel series.

 

[Flint]

I am a big fan of Jack Frake and Hugh Kendrick from the Sparrowhawk series of fictional revolutionary war novels.

 

[jomari]

Jeff, im getting interested into reading books again, id love to start reading Jack Reacher books.

Is there any chronological order you can suggest, or should I follow the books?

Thanks guys..