While I don’t plan on doing a lot of memes on this site, this meme has intrigued me for a while, and as it is all about books and reading, well hey, so is this site. So let’s see what the question is this week.
Who is your favorite female lead character? And why? (And yes, of course, you can name more than one . . . I always have trouble narrowing down these things to one name, why should I force you to?)
Hummmm, this is a hard one, but the first one that leaps to mind is Anne McCaffrey’s Killashandra, the protagonist of the trilogy Crystal Singer
Killashandra starts out in the first book as an arrogant music student who refuses to accept that she won’t be a top tier singer, and therefore runs off, eventually becoming a crystal singer. Crystal singers use their voice to run special tools that cut valuable crystals out of the rock that shelters them. The catch? There is a symbiotic spore that infects everyone who comes onto the planet, rendering any infected unable to leave the planet for very long without getting sick.
Singers also develop an addiction to “singing,” or cutting, crystal.
Killashandra is a hugely flawed character. She is arrogant, assuming, stuck up, and bullheaded. However, she is also, courageous, tough and smart. Because she is such a dimensional character, the reader is drawn to wanting to interact with her, whether it be to smack her upside the head, exult with her as she finds crystal, or shiver with her in the erotic connection she has. This is one of the foremost goals of most writers, to have their character stand up from the page, live and breathe without laying dormant, and stick in the reader’s head long after the book is closed. These books succeed because of Killashandra, and she one of the most memorable protagonists I can think of.
***Edited to add***
I think the reason I didn’t like book two as much was that wasn’t set on the world Ballybran, it was removed to another planet. If the story would had featured a different singer I probably would have liked it a lot more, but I when I read it I wanted more of what the first book talked about, and the second went in a very different direction. And I also wanted to have more of Lanzecki, and she is deliberately split off from him in the second one * g *
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February 28th, 2008 - 2:17 am
Your description made the character sound very interesting. Sounds like a fantasy series my husband might be interested in?
*smiles*
Kim
February 28th, 2008 - 2:40 am
I haven’t read those books, but I love the name! Shallow, I know …
February 28th, 2008 - 3:09 am
I haven’t heard of your favourite character either … but she embodies many of the characteristics of my favourite character. They are the characteristics that make for compulsive reading, I think.
February 28th, 2008 - 3:51 am
Oh I’ve heard of her!
Though I haven’t read any of the stories that included her. I have read some Anne McCaffery’s work, and she does have plenty of strong female characters.
February 28th, 2008 - 5:17 am
interesting. i have not heard of her.
February 28th, 2008 - 8:05 am
I haven’t heard of her but she sounds like quite a character.
February 28th, 2008 - 11:17 am
She was a wonderful character - very complex!
February 28th, 2008 - 12:58 pm
Darn, I missed Killashandra. She is also one of my fave characters. I love the second book in the series, unlike you. I think my order of preference is 2, 1, 3 where 1 and 2 are very close. I think you did a really good summary.
February 28th, 2008 - 3:36 pm
Not familiar with this book, but maybe I will check it out
Thanks for visiting my blog, I hope you stop by again. Happy Thursday!
Julia-Yen
February 28th, 2008 - 3:53 pm
This world of reading is unknown to me. Its a pleasure to read your enthusiastic accounts.
February 28th, 2008 - 5:45 pm
I think yours is the first response I’ve read that managed to narrow it down to one!
Sounds like a good read.
February 28th, 2008 - 10:01 pm
Funny, Book 2 is my favorite of those three. She comes across as a lot more “human” when she’s Lars Dahl’s “Sunny” than when she’s a driven crystal singer, and her forgetfulness (and nastiness) in book 3 just frustrates me to no end. She IS a memorable character, though!
February 29th, 2008 - 1:24 am
Hmm…I’ve never heard of this series. Oh, dear, yet *more* books to add to my list. This BTT is getting dangerous for me!
February 29th, 2008 - 2:20 am
I haven’t heard of this, but it sounds like something I’d want to read!
February 29th, 2008 - 10:09 am
I’ve read the trilogy many times. I agree with –Deb that she seems more “human”, certainly more likeable as Lars’ “Sunny” than when she is on Ballybran. I did miss Lanzecki and wished there were more scenes with the two of them. But also grew to love Lars too.
Pity there aren’t more books in the series!
February 29th, 2008 - 2:16 pm
I actually haven’t read this series (I don’t think. I read one a few years back but she’s written so many, I have a hard time keeping them straight) but I picked an Anne McCaffrey heroine, too.
March 2nd, 2008 - 4:02 am
I’ve not heard of Killishandra - sounds intriguing. Thanks for leaving a comment at my blog for BTT!