SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

So, I saw a little snippet by someone saying "I've learned so much from the people who never existed."

The individual(sadly I don't know who it was) was referring to animated characters, but my mind immediately jumped in another direction. Like I imagine is true for many people here, I've been reading since I was very young, and some of the best advice and wisdom I've picked up over the years came from the pages of a novel.

Be it Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, or the eccentric crew from "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet"(which I just finished), I've found myself inspired by many amazing characters over the years. Which ones most inspired you?

Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables and Laura from the Little House on the Prairie series.

I'll have to think about more recent examples :) Great topic.

Jo March from Little Women, Lori from Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove series, and Aenea from Dan Simmons' Endymion books.

Oh, man.
Alanna from the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce

She doesn't take "no" for an answer. She is her ambition, and she recognizes it won't be easy, but she neither gives up when it gets hard, nor gives in to the difficulties. She remains steadfast, virtuous, and hardworking. But she also accumulates wonderful friends and doesn't let her knighthood get in the way of her womanly pleasures. She tells me I can go for what I want without sacrificing things like family and my personal happiness.

Merlin and Lancelot from the Once and Future King by TH White

Merlin is the best and worst teacher. He has no answers, only experiences. He wants us to learn and draw conclusions for the betterment of ourselves and society. He promises nothing except knowledge, even if it's learned slowly and with great difficulty or strife.

Lancelot is the Ill-Made knight. He fights constantly against his own pride, rage, and weakness, which makes him truly one of the best people. Arthur was raised to goodness. Lancelot fought for it tooth and nail, and as soon as he found the path he realized he would never be as good at anything as his conscience demanded, but damn if he didn't try anyways. Lancelot is my reminder that even the smallest of people can do great things, and even the doers of great things can feel small and weak.

Sorcha from Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

Sorcha is feminine strength. She is family love. She is empathy made human. She's self-sacrifice and spirituality given form. When I feel my graciousness faltering, I can picture her, and what she would do next. It's almost always the kindest thing one can do.

Johnny and Ponyboy from The Outsiders by SE Hinton

They were probably the beginning of my education in empathy for people who don't live like me. Johnny was the Every Kid Sibling, which is a strong emotional trope for me. Ponyboy was the Kid Who Almost Could in everything. Their story is a reminder that we're all just a bad day away from living like the people we think we'd never be.

Harry Potter (really all of the characters)

Harry should be bitter. But instead he loves and protects.
Hermione should be an intellectual recluse. But she fights.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have nothing except happiness and hope, and they always share it.
Neville reminds us we're all capable of being heroes.
Draco reminds us we can all be redeemed.
I could go on, but I think you know.

The angels Baruch and Balthamos from His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

May I love like them, and may my fight and my love be as intertwined as it is for them.

Jonas and The Giver from The Giver by Lois Lowry

They remind me that knowing goodness is worth a little pain and a little heartache.

Candide from Candide by Voltaire

I'm not even sure how to explain it! I guess that where there is optimism, we'll survive? That the biggest threat to us is us? That we can find humor in the worst moments? I'm not sure. Voltaire has wonderful things to say either for sardonic pessimism or naive optimism, and really most of them work both ways. It cheers me up to think he saw it almost 300 years ago, and was able to give me the scathing commentary and the gentle reminders I'm looking for.

I should probably stop. I think these are all of the ones I more or less reference to myself about every day.

Edit: added reasoning since Hank asked!

I going to have to say Johnny and Ponyboy too.
Bilbo from the hobbit,
Christopher Robin from Winne-The-Pooh, Alice from Alice in Wonderland,
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle,
Beezus from Beezus and Ramona
The main character from if I stay, (hate when I can't remember names.)

Hiro Protagonist (that's really his name) from Snow Crash
Raoul Duke from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Tyler Durden from Fight Club
Arthur Dent from Hitchhiker's Guide

and in the animated character world:
Ralph from the movie Wreck-It Ralph

The princess, and Curdie, and the grandmother, from The Princess and the Goblin.

The author of Black Beauty.

Yvonne, thank you for Beezus, and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, (assuming we're talking about the books) I agree.

The apostrophe in the title is driving me crazy.

Both Aral and Cordelia from the Vorkosigan Saga.

Yang Wen-li from Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

Mary Russell from The Beekeeper's Apprentice.
Rae Newborn from Folly.
And Eowyn from The Return of the King.

Sabrina, I just read Beekeeper's Apprentice because you mentioned it in another thread. I completely loved it :) She's one intrepid heroine.

I am most definately talking about the books! I still read those on lazy afternoons!

Trike wrote: "The apostrophe in the title is driving me crazy."

Fixed it. Wrote the post early in the AM, right before I crashed for the night. Apparently, I didn't proofread the title >_<.

---

I also didn't list any of my own "most inspired by" characters, as I wanted a little more time to think on it.

Rand Al'thor and Mat Cauthon from the Wheel of Time
Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings.
Raistlin from the Dragonlance books.
Tom Swift
Jamisia from This Alien Shore

I'll stop there, before my list gets out of hand....

Sarah Anne wrote: "Sabrina, I just read Beekeeper's Apprentice because you mentioned it in another thread. I completely loved it :) She's one intrepid heroine."

Ooh, I'm so happy, Sarah! It always makes my day to hear someone else discovered the Mary Russell series. You have so many awesome books to binge read. No matter how many times I read them, I always pick up something new. They are very subtle books with multiple layers that aren't apparent on first read. The author, Laurie R. King, is a wonderful person, and a great public speaker. Her book events are always worth going to.

Jane Eyre
Hermione Granger : Harry Potter
Vin from The Final Empire
Emily Bennet fromPride and Prejudice

I'll second Vin from The Final Empire
Gandolf from The Fellowship of the Ring
Paul Atreides from Dune
Harry Potter
Leroy Brown from Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective

Not my thread but reasons would be great. I think we all read books to alter our moods, inspiration being the best.

The characters that inspire me are usually the ones who "do the right thing" even when it costs them everything. The more real the cost, the more real the inspiration.

Hermione is fantastic, I would love to be as smart, talented, wise and as good a friend as she is but she doesn't make me want to be that way emotionally.

Aenea from the last two Hyperion books gave up everything to beat the bad guys. She doesn't get to enjoy the better world afterwards and her sacrifice is emotionally tangible (at least to me). It made me want to be a better parent and appreciate everyone around me.

Trike also inspires me ;)

Trike wrote: "The apostrophe in the title is driving me crazy. "

He managed to be a grammer nazi in a fairly laid back way. No demands to fix it, no "did you pass 9th grade English" comments, just an observation that if we wanted crazy Trike, to, by all means, leave the apostrophe in. Fortunately Jacen doesn't want crazy Trike either.

Hank wrote: "Not my thread but reasons would be great."

Good idea.

David wrote: "Both Aral and Cordelia from the Vorkosigan Saga."

Reasons for Aral and Cordelia from the Vorkosigan books: they're a role model for values and ethics across many walks of life, not only in the simple sense of "doing the right or wrong thing", but in the more subtle sense of how they shape their families and the worlds they live in.

Cordelia in particular is an amazing character. She comes to the backwards and patriarchal world of Barrayar from her modern and egalitarian homeworld and ends up shaping the destiny of her new world subtly but profoundly (and occasionally not-so-subtly). She has a couple moments of being an action hero, but her real contribution is much more subtle as a mother, a wife, a mentor, a friend and a leader. The collective Vorkosigan story shows this society over a period of 40 years, and at the end of that 40 years, the world is a much better place than at the beginning. Since Barrayar is a deeply patriarchal society a lot of men play a more direct role in this than Cordelia (Aral, Miles, Gregor, Simon, etc), but those men are who they are because of Cordelia's ethics and moral leadership.

(When I phrase it that way it superficially sounds like a very conservative view of the role of women, but if you read the series you know it's not like that at all.)

David wrote: "Yang Wen-li from Legend of the Galactic Heroes."

I didn't even like this book, but I absolutely love this character. There are lots of military sci-fi series that glorify war or that glorify fighting for some simplistic notion of freedom and democracy. Yang Wen-li is a strategist and an intellectual fighting for a corrupt democracy while it falls apart, watching its democratic ideals fall to the wayside as nationalism and ignorance prevail. He continues fights for his corrupt nation not out of patriotism or loyalty to the nation-state or its leaders (he has neither) but out of loyalty to the principles that his nation was supposed to stand for.

The reason this inspired me is that it made me think carefully about the principles of my own country and what it means to be a patriot, and what it takes for democracy to work.

Hank wrote: "Not my thread but reasons would be great. I think we all read books to alter our moods, inspiration being the best.

The characters that inspire me are usually the ones who "do the right thing" ev..."

Good call, Hank! Added!

Reasons:
Jane Eyre: She persevered under adversity and did not lose her good and loyal heart

Hermione: Smart and loyal and brave. She stood up to bullies and prejudice

Vin: another that became stronger because of her circumstances

Emily Bennet: Independent and outspoken when it wasn't seemly for women to be so. Was not afraid to stand up for herself and her family

Ah, adding the reasons is a good idea Hank, though much harder than just listing the characters.

Rand Al'thor and Mat Cauthon: Both are hard for me to explain, as it's more about their personalities and methods of tackling shattered lives then it is about bits of wisdom or specific actions. Rand's willingness to sacrifice in the name of doing the right thing, and Mat's free spirit bound in a basic goodness that won't let him turn away from helping people. No matter how hard he tries.

Gandalf: Wisdom. Wisdom that mostly manages to avoid being trite. Gandalf is one of the rare few characters whose wisdom doesn't just tell you something, but tries to make you actually think. Someone who tries to guide others, without doing their growing and thinking for them.

Raistlin: .... ... ... ... Okay. So technically Raistlin is an example of where ambition can go horribly badly. However, if you read his origins in The Soulforge and Brothers in Arms you come to understand how he got that way. (I highly recommend those, by the way, they a actually better than the core Dragonlance books). For me, many of his core strengths and beliefs are things to aspire to. Raw determination in the face of adversity, and unwillingness to allow someone else to dictate who he will become. The epitome of self-determination and self-actualization, in a way.

Tom Swift - Adventure. Zest for life. And the desire to tinker with all things new and shiny. Also, hope for a bright future with amazing new things.

Jamisia - Less personal, more ... instructional, I suppose. This Alien Shore as a whole helped me better understand other perspectives. Jamisia's perspective is so utterly different that, by understanding it, the reader's mind is pried open just a bit farther then it was at the beginning.

Love the reasons! I think I added more books to my to-read list from this thread than any other.

Ellen wrote: "Reasons:
Jane Eyre: She persevered under adversity and did not lose her good and loyal heart..."

And never compromised with what she knew was right.

Sarah Anne wrote: "Ellen wrote: "Reasons:
Jane Eyre: She persevered under adversity and did not lose her good and loyal heart..."

And never compromised with what she knew was right."

Even when it hurt her

Scarlett O'Hara: a strong, flawed trailblazer who does not care what people think and soldiers on. She is my favorite literary heroine and sets the standard for all 'strong female characters'.'

Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings for his loyalty to his friends and his courage. I think that he is the real hero in the book.

Karin wrote: "Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings for his loyalty to his friends and his courage. I think that he is the real hero in the book."

(view spoiler)[But, but, it was Gollum who actually destroyed the ring! (hide spoiler)]

LOL Tom

Silvana wrote: "Scarlett O'Hara: a strong, flawed trailblazer who does not care what people think and soldiers on. She is my favorite literary heroine and sets the standard for all 'strong female characters'.'"

Her only drawback is that drip Ashley

Tom wrote: "Karin wrote: "Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings for his loyalty to his friends and his courage. I think that he is the real hero in the book."

[spoilers removed]"

Somehow, "Greed will always save the world in the end" seems like an unfortunate morality lesson.

I have always been impressed by Sam from Lord of the Rings, both in the books and the movies. He wasn't the "hero", but he made the hero successful. When he declared that he will carry Bilbo up Mount Doom, he showed his commitment both to hide friend and to their quest.

Oops, sorry. Just noticed the other comments that got edited for spoilers. I should have self-edited mine out. My bad.

Its no possible. It looks like people may have been putting spoiler tags up but that's up to who's posting.

Sarah Anne wrote: "Its no possible."

Phones have failed me again. That was supposed to say "It's no problem"

Ellen wrote: "Reasons:
Jane Eyre: She persevered under adversity and did not lose her good and loyal heart
"

I agree with you re: Jane Eyre.

I also love Granny Weatherwax from the Discworld series for similar reasons. I love the way she does what needs to be done regardless of how popular (or more commonly UNpopular) it'll make her with other people.

I'm actually somewhat partial to the talking snake in Genesis.

(view spoiler)[I think it got a bad rap! (hide spoiler)]

I suppose I am just odd but much as I have enjoyed many of the characters and books mentioned none of the above have really chimed with me. So I wished to add a couple of others for your consideration; Captain Quire from Moorcock's Gloriana, because of his decadent disregard for all things wholesome. Voltaire's; Candide as I suspect I was that person many a long year ago (before I morphed into something/someone more like Captain Quire). Paul Hoffman's; Thomas Cale, again perhaps because of the jaded innocence and his tendency to destroy and lastly Hannibal Lecter because of his love of art, philosophy and psychology, rather than the other things he is noted for.