![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kateelliottPreviously, I had a contest to give away the last Advanced Uncorrected Proof of the forthcoming Traitors' Gate (only 17 more days!). Those who were interested were to write an email describing their favorite character in the Crossroads books and why. I loved all the entries, and found it impossible to choose a winner. In the end I asked my children (two of the three agreed to do it) to read through all the entries and pick 3 or 4 as finalists. Oddly enough -- or perhaps not odd at all -- they picked the same ones. Exactly.
From the four finalists, Child 3 drew a name out of a hat for the winner.
Here are the four finalists, behind a cut tag because their answers definitely contain spoilers for both Spirit Gate and Shadow Gate. Then my brief responses to the comments follow in brackets [].
Yileen L:
Volias was my favorite character because I have a soft spot for characters that are asshole-ish and yet deep down they're still good people. I'd probably hate him if I ever met him, but he was interesting when he appeared and I laughed at any interactions with him. My heart also broke a little when he died. (I swear, the majority of my favorite characters die, so my reaction was very much like, "Oh come on, not again! ;_;" with lots of mutterings of "nooo")
I adore Nallo for much the same reasons and I love her crankiness. The Volias and Nallo interactions were my favorite.
[I had so much fun writing the Volias and Nallo interactions because I had not intended for their relationship to develop, but it did. In fact, I developed a serious soft spot for Volias in Shadow Gate because he continually surprised me.]
Josh S:
One of the things I like best about your writing, in addition to the wonderful-world building, is how powerful your character relationships are. How no matter how strong any particular character is, they become so much more real and well rounded when interacting with each other.
As much as I like Joss, I like him more when he is (or isn’t) around Marit. How his actions differ when he’s with Peddo as opposed to Keshed or even Zubaidit.
I adore Mai. But I wouldn’t like her quite as much if I didn’t see her both before and after Anji.
On the flip side, I wasn’t too keen on Shai when I first met him. But because I’d already invested in Mai, I was willing to give him a chance, mainly because of her affection for her uncle. And I’m glad I did. As I wouldn’t have wanted to miss his interaction with Joss or Kesh or especially Cornflower.
There’s even something reassuring about how the Reeves interact with their Eagles. And the Guardians with their steeds.
And it’s hard not to feel a little giddy when I hear echoes of Sanglant in Joss, or Liath in Cornflower, or even Ilya Bakhtiian in Captain Anji.
All that to say it’s very hard to pick just one favorite character. ☺
Over the course of the two books so far, I have to say that I find myself yearning to get back to the Mai and Anji storyline above all the others.
Though, by only the smallest of fractions.
All of the storylines hold my interest and I’m quite invested in everyone scattered across the Hundred to certain extents, but still Mai and Anji bring a smile to my lips whenever they’re on the page. I’m a big fan of how Anji commands his company and how Mai has truly come into her own at his side. I enjoy how she not only shares his respect with the Qin, but has earned her own as well.
It’s truly a pleasure to lose myself in yet another of your rich landscapes. And I can’t wait to see what’s in store next for these wonderful characters that I’ve come so attached to.
[All right, Josh kind of cheated by not naming just one, or two as in the case of Yileen, but that ended up being a large part of the charm of the answer. I mean, how can I resist someone who can't pick "just one" favorite character, which naturally implies that there are so many wonderful characters? And who references my other novels?]
Carol B:
My favourite character would have to be Marit. There are heaps of brilliant characters but for me Marit really stands out (and I can say this quite honestly as I have left my copy of the novel home in Perth, while I have had to move to the other side of Australia for work…not quite as far as when working in Mongolia though!).
In the first book, in the prologue, I was drawn to her as one is drawn to the assumed protagonist, however her surprising and swift death forced me to let go (but momentarily!) and focus on other characters. Initially I liked her spunk, and her sense of adventure, and her connection with the Reeves and their duty to govern.
Her return was great, and I love her attitude to life (hmmm, maybe that’s not the best thing to call it!). She gets on with it, being a guardian, and tries to work out what’s going on. Even though it’s hard, she learns how to let go of her former life (lovers, friends, attitudes), and can pick up a new journey, a new task. She doesn’t let being alone daunt her and stop her, and she goes against the grain of the other recruited guardians for what is right (the truth??). Her sense of right and wrong is brilliant, very unconventional for the cultural setting but it is so instinctive for her, which makes it very honest.
In a nutshell, she is one forward thinking, innovative, switched on chick that does what she has to, to get through life without taking good people down.
[To spare Carol's feelings, I cut the bits framing the answer in which she describes how her answer is boring and not very good, which came as a surprise to me because I really appreciated this wonderful description of Marit. It seems to me to capture the character, especially this part: "it is so instinctive for her, which makes it very honest." I really liked that. Also, Carol has been to Mongolia, which gives her an extra point.]
Finally, the winner, Christopher Z:
My favorite character in the Crossroad series is easily Marit.
This might not be so surprising a choice at the end of the second book,
but it was true even at the end of the first book, when her presence
had been felt only indirectly for hundreds of pages.
While it's true that I identified very quickly with Marit at the
beginning of _Spirit Gate_ (and I don't think it was just because
she's the first POV character), over the course of the book
I continued to see her in the scenes with Joss (and a few others
where the consequences of her loss are evident) and to identify her
with a keen sense of loss, in terms of both what others lost (her)
and what she lost by missing out on those years. Her return at the
beginning of _Shadow Gate_ was therefore immensely gratifying,
but what I enjoyed most about Marit in the second book was her dual
response to everything she'd lost: on the one hand, she seems almost
consitutionally incapable of *not* soldiering on despite her losses
and doing what she sees as right, while on the other she has an ongoing
internal reflection on her (continuing) losses, primarily the life she
could have had and her relationship with Joss. I enjoyed the loose
camaraderie she developed with Hari but always found myself hoping she'd
return to Joss during daylight hours to fill him in less ambiguously
(by the end, of course, she was telling herself why she shouldn't do
precisely this, but I was never sure just how much she really convinced
herself). I have been struggling lately with response to personal loss
(in a personal, not literary, sense), and perhaps this is why this theme
has resonated so strongly for me. In any case I cheer the central role
Marit has resumed in the story.
(Incidentally, the character with whom you most surprised me was Volias,
whom I found absolutely delightful to read. I will miss him in _Traitor's
Gate_ ...unless he somehow got ahold of Cloak #9.)
[Another great description of Marit, with bonus Volias-mention. Any time I surprise a reader, I am cheered up.]
I want to thank everyone who participated and to say again how much I appreciated every entry.
I really look forward to seeing what readers make of Traitors' Gate,.
From the four finalists, Child 3 drew a name out of a hat for the winner.
Here are the four finalists, behind a cut tag because their answers definitely contain spoilers for both Spirit Gate and Shadow Gate. Then my brief responses to the comments follow in brackets [].
Yileen L:
Volias was my favorite character because I have a soft spot for characters that are asshole-ish and yet deep down they're still good people. I'd probably hate him if I ever met him, but he was interesting when he appeared and I laughed at any interactions with him. My heart also broke a little when he died. (I swear, the majority of my favorite characters die, so my reaction was very much like, "Oh come on, not again! ;_;" with lots of mutterings of "nooo")
I adore Nallo for much the same reasons and I love her crankiness. The Volias and Nallo interactions were my favorite.
[I had so much fun writing the Volias and Nallo interactions because I had not intended for their relationship to develop, but it did. In fact, I developed a serious soft spot for Volias in Shadow Gate because he continually surprised me.]
Josh S:
One of the things I like best about your writing, in addition to the wonderful-world building, is how powerful your character relationships are. How no matter how strong any particular character is, they become so much more real and well rounded when interacting with each other.
As much as I like Joss, I like him more when he is (or isn’t) around Marit. How his actions differ when he’s with Peddo as opposed to Keshed or even Zubaidit.
I adore Mai. But I wouldn’t like her quite as much if I didn’t see her both before and after Anji.
On the flip side, I wasn’t too keen on Shai when I first met him. But because I’d already invested in Mai, I was willing to give him a chance, mainly because of her affection for her uncle. And I’m glad I did. As I wouldn’t have wanted to miss his interaction with Joss or Kesh or especially Cornflower.
There’s even something reassuring about how the Reeves interact with their Eagles. And the Guardians with their steeds.
And it’s hard not to feel a little giddy when I hear echoes of Sanglant in Joss, or Liath in Cornflower, or even Ilya Bakhtiian in Captain Anji.
All that to say it’s very hard to pick just one favorite character. ☺
Over the course of the two books so far, I have to say that I find myself yearning to get back to the Mai and Anji storyline above all the others.
Though, by only the smallest of fractions.
All of the storylines hold my interest and I’m quite invested in everyone scattered across the Hundred to certain extents, but still Mai and Anji bring a smile to my lips whenever they’re on the page. I’m a big fan of how Anji commands his company and how Mai has truly come into her own at his side. I enjoy how she not only shares his respect with the Qin, but has earned her own as well.
It’s truly a pleasure to lose myself in yet another of your rich landscapes. And I can’t wait to see what’s in store next for these wonderful characters that I’ve come so attached to.
[All right, Josh kind of cheated by not naming just one, or two as in the case of Yileen, but that ended up being a large part of the charm of the answer. I mean, how can I resist someone who can't pick "just one" favorite character, which naturally implies that there are so many wonderful characters? And who references my other novels?]
Carol B:
My favourite character would have to be Marit. There are heaps of brilliant characters but for me Marit really stands out (and I can say this quite honestly as I have left my copy of the novel home in Perth, while I have had to move to the other side of Australia for work…not quite as far as when working in Mongolia though!).
In the first book, in the prologue, I was drawn to her as one is drawn to the assumed protagonist, however her surprising and swift death forced me to let go (but momentarily!) and focus on other characters. Initially I liked her spunk, and her sense of adventure, and her connection with the Reeves and their duty to govern.
Her return was great, and I love her attitude to life (hmmm, maybe that’s not the best thing to call it!). She gets on with it, being a guardian, and tries to work out what’s going on. Even though it’s hard, she learns how to let go of her former life (lovers, friends, attitudes), and can pick up a new journey, a new task. She doesn’t let being alone daunt her and stop her, and she goes against the grain of the other recruited guardians for what is right (the truth??). Her sense of right and wrong is brilliant, very unconventional for the cultural setting but it is so instinctive for her, which makes it very honest.
In a nutshell, she is one forward thinking, innovative, switched on chick that does what she has to, to get through life without taking good people down.
[To spare Carol's feelings, I cut the bits framing the answer in which she describes how her answer is boring and not very good, which came as a surprise to me because I really appreciated this wonderful description of Marit. It seems to me to capture the character, especially this part: "it is so instinctive for her, which makes it very honest." I really liked that. Also, Carol has been to Mongolia, which gives her an extra point.]
Finally, the winner, Christopher Z:
My favorite character in the Crossroad series is easily Marit.
This might not be so surprising a choice at the end of the second book,
but it was true even at the end of the first book, when her presence
had been felt only indirectly for hundreds of pages.
While it's true that I identified very quickly with Marit at the
beginning of _Spirit Gate_ (and I don't think it was just because
she's the first POV character), over the course of the book
I continued to see her in the scenes with Joss (and a few others
where the consequences of her loss are evident) and to identify her
with a keen sense of loss, in terms of both what others lost (her)
and what she lost by missing out on those years. Her return at the
beginning of _Shadow Gate_ was therefore immensely gratifying,
but what I enjoyed most about Marit in the second book was her dual
response to everything she'd lost: on the one hand, she seems almost
consitutionally incapable of *not* soldiering on despite her losses
and doing what she sees as right, while on the other she has an ongoing
internal reflection on her (continuing) losses, primarily the life she
could have had and her relationship with Joss. I enjoyed the loose
camaraderie she developed with Hari but always found myself hoping she'd
return to Joss during daylight hours to fill him in less ambiguously
(by the end, of course, she was telling herself why she shouldn't do
precisely this, but I was never sure just how much she really convinced
herself). I have been struggling lately with response to personal loss
(in a personal, not literary, sense), and perhaps this is why this theme
has resonated so strongly for me. In any case I cheer the central role
Marit has resumed in the story.
(Incidentally, the character with whom you most surprised me was Volias,
whom I found absolutely delightful to read. I will miss him in _Traitor's
Gate_ ...unless he somehow got ahold of Cloak #9.)
[Another great description of Marit, with bonus Volias-mention. Any time I surprise a reader, I am cheered up.]
I want to thank everyone who participated and to say again how much I appreciated every entry.
I really look forward to seeing what readers make of Traitors' Gate,.