NOTICE: (Updated March 5, 2010)

Beginning December 19, 2009, Books 'N Border Collies will be posting but only intermittently while I pursue personal goals. I plan to share some reading I'm doing, but there will be no reviews. I will, however, be sharing my exploration of vegetarian cooking and the cookbooks and websites I use to educate myself. I hope you enjoy it!

Lezlie



Thursday, March 6, 2008

Booking Through Thursday



You should have seen this one coming . . . Who is your favorite Male lead character? And why?

It occurs to me that I've focused on series characters for these last two questions. I think that is because through a series you have a chance to get to know many facets of a character in a way that a single book could not accomplish. Not that I've never developed a huge crush after only a few hundred pages. . . :-)

Without my reading lists in front of me, I just know I'm missing someone. . . But while Lou Boldt (Ridley Pearson), Mitch Rapp (Vince Flynn), Serge Storms (Tim Dorsey), Matthew Shardlake (C.J. Sansom) and, of course, the Vampires Lestat, Armand and Marius (Anne Rice) all deserve acknowledgement at a minimum, I'm torn as to whether to cast my vote for Brother Cadfael (Ellis Peters) or Joe Pike (Robert Crais).

I'm guessing Medieval monk detective Brother Cadfael needs no introduction to most readers, and his appeal lies in his Crusader-turned-to-God-but-still-a-bad-boy-at-heart character. He has sworn off his sword, but certainly not his ability to fight the enemies of justice.

And what can anyone say about Joe Pike? Dangerous, mysterious, honest . . . And in all honesty, I was dissappointed in his starring debut last year (The Watchman by Robert Crais). A guy like Joe falling for a Paris Hilton-like Hollywood moron just didn't sit right with me. But while I like Elvis Cole a lot, it was Joe that kept me glued to the series.

Lezlie

PS Oh! And Jean-Claude from the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series!! The later books may have lost their appeal, but he never did. Unless something changed in the books I never got to, Jean-Claude remained a class act and far too good for the trampy version of Anita.

PPS And I just remembered: Pierre, Count Bezukhov, from War & Peace was also a fabulous character. Watching his transformation, especially while he was a prisoner of war, is what still remains the most vivid to me about that book.


Play along with Booking Through Thursday here.

15 comments:

joanna said...

Um, how can there be so many book I haven't read?? ;-)

Fabulous list, these characters sound great Lezlie!

Lezlie said...

Joanna ~ It's the curse of the fanatical reader. We read everything we can, and there's still more! :-)

L.

Anonymous said...

I also like Lestat a lot especially in the earlier books. Marius is my very favorite Rice character, but he's clearly not the lead (alas..) in any of the books.

Lezlie said...

Mervi ~ I count him as the lead in "Blood and Gold" as that one was his story. And an excellent one! :-)

L.

Anonymous said...

Brother Cadfael! Great choice, and handy in the kitchen. Oh, and Pierre from W&P ... sigh!

Anonymous said...

I have not heard of anyone other than the War and Peace one!

Lot to catch up with!


Here is my BTT post!

Lezlie said...

Lesley ~ Another Pierre fan! Yippee! I admit, though, that he was better looking in my mind than the descriptions in the book. I think I was picturing the DJ from Northern Exposure. . . :-)

L.

Lezlie said...

Gautami ~ You wouldn't go wrong with just about any of them. I have enjoyed them all. Have fun exploring!

L.

Jodie Robson said...

Brother Cadfael is an excellent choice!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I have not read any of these - more on my list!

Anonymous said...

I hadn't thought about Cadfael, but I can see where you're coming from. Shardlake is a good idea as well.

trish said...

I'm embarassed to say I'm not familiar with any of these characters, but Jean Claude is an excellent choice!

Lezlie said...

Geraniumcat ~ Thanks! I almost added Hugh Beringar, too!

Val ~ I'm always happy to assist in expanding TBR lists. :-)

Table Talk ~ Shardlake is a new discovery for me. I've read the three that are out, and my understanding is that there will be another this year.

Trish ~ No need to be embarassed! There are too many books out there to be familiar with all of them. Most of the ones on this list are mystery/thriller series, and I could have added a bunch more if I didn't exercise some restraint!

Maree said...

Brother Cadfael ... I don't know whether it's him that I like so much, or the descriptions of his herb garden!

Julia said...

Oh I have read the first book of Mitch Rapp by Vince Flynn and really enjoy it. I haven't finish reading the rest of series yet, but I'm gonna have to pretty soon. Thanks for the reminder!

Happy BTTs!
Julia-Yen