Book Banter #5: Female Protagonists

If there's one thing that annoys me about books, it's when the female characters are awful. It doesn't matter how good to concept, the writing or the ideas are. If the protagonist is female, and is annoying, I struggle to read the book. The worst thing is if the female protagonist is whiny, or has no self-confidence. Its worse if they are whiny and annoying about their relationships.

Recently I've been reading, or shall I say, trying to read Goddess Legacy (Part of the Goddess series) by M.W. Muse and Mandy Harbin. I've read the first two books, and while I think the idea of new gods and goddesses created in the likeness of old ones in today's world is a good one, the main character is really getting on my nerves. She's slow to work things out, yet is supposed to be intelligent. She cries at everything, especially anything to do with boys, and she's just a bit naive. Her problems, in my opinion, could be easily sorted if only she had common sense and wasn't mooning over men. I wouldn't recommend those books, by the way, unless you are a particularly emotional teenage girl who needs a reality check.

There are many female protagonists that have annoyed me in the past. It is mostly because they make a huge deal out of relationships or are particularly whiny and self-loathing. One such example is Bella from Twilight. She's worried about getting old and her boyfriend not liking her any more. She's clumsy in an over-the-top fashion and she's constantly second-guessing herself. 

Then there's Cho Chang. I have absolutely no idea what Harry Potter ever saw in her. She is a bit pathetic, but it's fair enough seeing as her boyfriend just died. But still, she has no personality. Since she isn't a protagonist, so I'll let her off with a warning.

I'm also not particularly fond of Katniss Everdeen. To be honest with you, I always thought she was a bit of a cow. She basically plays the boys against each other and takes three books to decide which one she likes most, and I don't think it's the best of reasons either. She's lethal and ruthless but at least she does have a heart. However, she couldn't be the Mockingjay without all those qualities.

There have been far too many female protagonists like this, and it is seriously starting to get on my nerves. I can understand why some of them are written this way, but others are just ridiculous. For all the writers out there (especially those writing YA), I'll give you a few ideas of good female protagonists. Please feel free to take notes:

Hermione Granger. She has it all. She's loyal, clever and fierce. She can definitely take on enemies, yet she has a vulnerability too. She's perfectly well rounded.

Pretty much all the women in A Song Of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones to me and you). They are the most well rounded ladies I've read, they each come into their own and have reasons for doing things, even if it is something terrible like killing their husband. I didn't say they had to be nice.

Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. She stands up for what she believes in even though the norms of society says she shouldn't, as well and her mother and sisters.

Lucy Pevensie from the Chronicles of Narnia. She was my first major heroine. She dared to go where no-one else would and stood up for what she believed in. In my opinion she pretty much saved the whole of Narnia from the White Queen. She is 'Lucy the Valiant', Queen of Narnia after all.

Now that's how to do it right.

Stacey_x

Top Ten Tuesday #14 - Characters I Don't Want to Trade With

Top Ten Tuesday is a Meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where I will be picking from their top tens and attempting to reveal what my thinking is behind these choices.

Warning: Some Serious Spoilers Ahead

Top Ten Characters I Don't Want to Trade With:

1. Prince Maxon - The Selection
I'd be heir to the throne of a torn-up country, with women fighting over me and I'd be constantly scared for my life. To top it all off, I would have to choose a wife out of people who had won some kind of weird lottery to be my wife. Um, no thank you.

2. Frankenstein's Monster - Frankenstein
Being made out of several dead bodies doesn't really float my boat, being abandoned by my creator really doesn't either. I would be really lonely and really angry most of the time, and at all other times I would be chased across the world. It's not really a fantasy of mine.

3. Peeta Mellark - The Hunger Games
Being thrown into a 'game' where someone could kill you at any second is difficult enough. Being in love with a girl who is - please forgive me Katniss fans - a right cow is something else. But what eventually happens to Peeta is so hurtful and horrible, I really wouldn't want to be in his position.

4. Coraline - Coraline
Not only is her story creepy as hell, but her situation is awful. I used to get terrified if I couldn't find my parents, but Coraline somehow is able to stay calm enough to embark on a rescue attempt. I probably would have ended up with buttons for eyes, let's face it.

5. Anyone in the land of Westeros - A Game of Thrones
I was going to pick a particular character who has (so far) lived throughout the entire series, but that would ruin the surprise. Instead, I have picked all of them, because you never know if you are about to die cruelly, you never know who will betray you, who is playing you, who to trust and who not to. I'd rather have an easy life, thanks.

6. Frodo Baggins - The Lord of the Rings
Speaking of an easy life, this guy is looked down upon by almost everyone he meets. He is way too trusting to strange creatures and gets himself into a lot of trouble. He is weighed down by the burden of the one ring and he is occasionally taken over by it. After his ordeal he is never the same happy hobbit he once was. Ugh, sounds exhausting.

7. Voldemort - Harry Potter
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't much like having my soul split several times. I'm not one for murder either, or general evilness, nor do I have a strange fascination for school-boys or pieces of wood. Also, we all know what happens to him, and it's not pretty.

8. Liesel Memminger - The Book Thief
Too much pain, too much death, too much fear and too much destruction. The good parts of her life are wonderful, but the dark parts would probably crush someone like me. Liesel is strong where I could not be.

9. Rosie the Elephant - Water for Elephants
Rosie is misunderstood by many and treated cruelly for much of the story. She is injured several times when certain characters get angry, and is traded from place to place. Eventually she has her revenge, but really it is quite a sad conclusion for Rosie, who has to live the rest of her life with her past haunting her, probably making her scared of anyone but out two main characters.

10. Offred (A Handmaid) - The Handmaid's Tale
Possibly the worst situation I could imagine myself in. Forced to be the carrier for a child I don't want and cannot keep, forced to go to work in colonies if I am not up to the task. Intense fear, forbidden love, and no freedom whatsoever. It is so bleak, and I am glad I don't have to live that life.

Kyra_x

Top Ten Tuesday #2 - Fantasy Places I'd like to Experience

Top Ten Tuesday is a Meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where I will be picking from their top tens and attempting to reveal what my thinking is behind these choices

Top Ten Fantasy Places I'd like to Experience:

1. Gallifrey
Home planet of the Time Lords, and the most beautiful place in the galaxy, before it was destroyed in the Time War... or not. What good fan-girl wouldn't wan't to go there?

2. Asgard
Mythical land of Norse Gods, home of Thor, Loki and Odin. Looks like a big shining city sitting on top of clouds and has a really nice-looking rainbow bridge. I'd love to go there and hang with the Asgardians.

3. Camelot
The legendary castle of King Arthur has been depicted in so many films, books and TV series, but I want to see how it really would have been.

4. Inkworld
Cornelia Funke's imaginary book-world certainly grabs your attention. Whether you're having a meeting with Dustfinger or a confrontation with Basta, you'd never be short of amusement or danger, but it sure sounds beautiful.

5. Rivendell / Ellesmera / Greenwood (before it got Mirkwoodified)
Anywhere were the elves live sounds like a nice place to me, and whether they belong in the Inheritance cycle or The Lord of the Rings really doesn't make a huge difference. Bring on the beautiful woodland realms and the idyllic peace.

6. Westeros
This Game of Thrones land is rife with danger, but wouldn't you love to see it? The beauty of Highgarden, the desolate mountain of the Eyrie, the silent rock of Dragonstone and the splendour of King's Landing are something that every reader /watcher of this series would want to visit for themselves.

7. Oz
Nothing says holiday like the bright, happy fairyland of Oz, with its girl ruler and its cute little munchkins. Yes, there may be a few witches and trolls lurking about, but every now and again they are killed or thwarted, so they aren't too much of a bother. You can go off here and have adventures any time you like.

8. Wonderland
The fantastical world of Wonderland isn't one you'd want to stay in for too long or you may end up with a pretty bad headache, but wouldn't it be great to go wandering in and find yourself face to face with a frumious Bandersnatch, or a Cheshire Cat, or a Tea Party where it is everyone's unbirthday?

9. Narnia
But specifically, it has to be the Narnia in the time zone when the Pevensie children are the rulers, because that's when everyone is free and there are hardly any men to mess things up. Imagine walking down the beach with a faun and talking with a Mermaid or two on your way to Cair Paravel.. bliss.

10. Neverland
Never has a tiny island hosted so many types of person; a ticking Crocodile, a group of lost boys, some Pirates, some Mermaids, some Indians, and a load of random creatures or people that flit about in the woods. For a few days, it would be nice to stop time and just relax, and as long as you don't side with anyone, you could do just that.

11. Special Mention; Discworld
Terry Pratchett's incredible imagination knows no bounds, and niether does the Discworld, by the looks of it. Pratchett can't stop writing about it and choosing things to make a satire of, and we love him for it.

A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold - George R.R. Martin

As I slowly make my way through A Song of Ice and Fire, I am trying to contemplate how on earth someone can create a world so full of characters that they can kill off so many people and still have plenty left to cause trouble.

This fourth book is the bloodiest one yet (hence the title, I suppose), in which several main characters die. What's more, the deaths of these people and the reasons behind them are going to cause further issues down the line for the likes of Tyrion Lannister. The best part about it is that two of my most hated characters die in this book, and that has made me extremely satisfied.

As we read on, the plot thickens to a point where the complexity begins to have no rival in any book I have ever read. Honestly, the series is so complex that it feels entirely real, as if Westeros and the Summer Isles are only across the shore, albeit in a different time zone.

Without utterly ruining the plot for all you readers who haven't read the previous books, or have only watched the TV series, I want to make a few points about the characters. Good points I think:

Sansa's story is really beginning to take shape now, and I like who the girl is becoming. Hopefully she will no longer be a pawn played in someone else's game, and she won't need a knight to take care of her. Well, here's hoping. Tyrion is awesome. Sometimes he is also a bit scary, but on the most part I love him, and his story is really going to get interesting now (as if it wasn't already!). Jaime is, yet again, one of the best characters in terms of growth and in doing interesting things.

The only thing that bugs me is that I used to empathise with Arya, but now I don't feel that any more. Her story is just growing more chaotic and her character is getting more.. well.. mean.

Now for the TV series. It would usually go that each season would represent each book, but the front half of this book has all been melded into Season 3, leaving not too much else for Season 4. Saying that, there is one super-shocking death that has been held up for Season 4, and I can't wait to watch it (yes, it is a hated character).

All in all it gets yet another thumbs up from me. I'm going with a 9.5 out of 10.

A Storm of Swords, Part 1; Steel and Snow - George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin yet again delivers the next part of this epic tale with a spirit and style that makes it impossible to stop reading.

This story begins during the battle at the end of the second book, and then details the events that follow in each character's perspective. The stories vary greatly in terms of how far and wide the characters journey, both emotionally and physically. Arya, who has grown so much in the last book, is left to wander the lands, but her story does not move on nearly as much as Sansa's or Jamie's. Each chapter ending is a cliffhanger which you absolutely have to know about, only to be faced with another from a different character. As in the previous books, there are a lot of things going on at once, and as more characters are introduced, the plot only gets more complex.

This book comes as a pair with the next one, and this is quite obvious as many events unfold that will eventually cause much larger disruptions to the lives of other characters, particularly the arrival of the Dornish prince's bloodthirsty brother to Kings Landing. There are eyebrow-raising marriages and dubious alliances forming that will almost certainly become larger plot points in the next book. A few cliffhangers at the end of this book ensure that you are craving the next one soon after.

One issue I have already raised with this series is that the complexity of the book may leave some people with an aching head. If you tend to read other books in-between, you will certainly not remember events that happened in the last one, or minor characters, and yet in some occurrences the reader seems expected to remember what happened between certain characters from what seems like an awful long time ago. A reader with a short memory would want slightly more information when little-known characters become more like protagonists.

Apart from that point, it should be said that this is an excellent read which does not disappoint. In fact, it was difficult to stop reading it at times. The next book is shaping up to be every bit as good as its' predecessors. 9 out of 10.

George R.R. Martin - A Game of Thrones

" In the game of thrones, you win or you die" - Cersei Lannister

In the fantasy Kingdom of Westeros, Robert Baratheon the usurper sits on the Iron Throne. The children of the forest, the dragons and the white walkers are all long-dead, extinguished by the long summer. But the Hand of the King is dead, possibly murdered, and King Robert travels North to Winterfell to name his new Hand; Lord Eddard (Ned) Stark. But beyond the wall there are whispers of ghosts, and Ned Stark is not keen to leave his home defended by his young son.

Meanwhile Aerys Targaryen, the heir of the king deposed by Robert, is trying to amass an army in the east, and his first act is to marry off his only remaining relative, his sister Daenerys, to a Dothraki khal, the leader of a huge clan of barbarians. The Stark words have never been truer; 'Winter is Coming'.

There is a fair bit to say about this book, but first off I have to admit that the TV series has done an excellent job of adapting the book. Each character and each story is accurate, and some characters, such as Samwell Tarly, have come into their own in the TV series, where he didn't make too much of an impression in the book. This, however, is based on this first book alone, further reading needs to be done before judging it as a whole.

The best part of the books is that each character is meticulously made. They have separate strengths and weaknesses, multitudes of personality traits and a distinct voice. Even though the book is written in third person, when you start a chapter, you know exactly who it is about. The chapters alternate between a host of characters; the entire Stark family (minus the youngest member) has a voice, along with Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister. Favourites so far are Arya Stark, Ned's youngest daughter, and Tyrion, the dwarf. Having seen the second series, I have extremely high hopes for these two narratives as the story progresses and dearly hope they don't die.

The plot is well woven and builds up wonderfully at the end. There are some shocking, grotesque and sexual moments dotted throughout the book, so it is best recommended to adults. There is really nothing about life that is missed out; it is real life on a fantastical scale, with a fantasy setting, more intrigue, more death, more action and more plotting. Prepare yourselves, because the series is just getting started. 9.5 out of 10.

booktopia.com.au

Upcoming Books

I have had these in my possession for write some time, and soon I will be reading them. First, though, I will be reading the 800-page giant that is The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, which was kindly given to me by the people of Penguin to read. I may be some time, but by God I will have a review for you when I'm done. In the meantime feel free to enjoy my reviews of films (both old and new, but mostly new..ish) and, if something takes my fancy, maybe even a rare food post.

Look out for this little lot in the coming months:

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (bought for £2 in a charity shop!)

Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor

I Am Number Four - Pittacus Lore

A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin (Yes, all of them)

Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams - Jenny Colgan

The Library of Shadows - Mikkel Birkegaard

Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas

The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson

Grave Mercy - Robin Lafevers

Spartacus: the Gladiator - Ben Kane

Er.. just a few then! But hey, it's a nice range isn't it?