10. Rudi Mackenzie of the clan Mackenzie the hero of the latest series which includes his latest book the Scourge of God. It's easy to root for this all around hero. Maybe too easy that's why he barely makes the list.
9.Kashitliash the Babylonian King in the Islands in the Sea of Time Series. A tough resourceful king who can lead his people in the face of the wonders from the future. A tough guy but a real smart one.
8.Kathryn Hollard the Nantucket born woman soldier who becomes the wife of Kashitliash. A very complex and interesting character with a very interesting dilemma. She marries what is in effect a Stone Age king. How do you think that is gonna turn out. Not a Yabba dabba do old time. It's a shame the series stopped before we found out more about that.
7.John Horldle of the Dies the Fire Series. The "Little John" figure of the Englishman who flee Europe to come to the Willamette Valley to join the Clan Mackenzie. His good humored ferocity reminds of a lot other favorite characters such as Harper from the Sharpe books or Stockdale from the Bolitho novels or Ben Grimm from the Fantastic Four. It's seldom you see a huge man with a brain in his head.
5.Suzette Whitehall the scheming wife of Raj Whitehall the General in the series of the same name. She is a shifty bitch but just the one you want on your side if you are in the middle of reestablishing the rule of a galactic empire under the guidance of a super computer. Great character.
4.William Walker the villain of the Nantucket series. He has such a "I don't give a shit" attitude that must have been a lot of fun to write. A real scumbag but a very entertaining one. Builds an empire in Ancient Greece and wins the loyalty of lot of people through force of personality. He definitely would have been very effective in the world set up in the premise of these novels.
3. Sandra Arminger the Regent of the Portland Protective Association in the Dies the Fire books and the new trilogy. They call her the Spider and is another in the long line of nasty women in Mr. Stirling's work. Nasty but very, very smart and a very entertaining character. You know who she reminds me of believe it or not: Elizabeth of England. Good Queen Bess. Or in reality Not so Good Queen Bess. A masterful character who I hope has a lot more to do in future books. Evil is so much more interesting than good ya know.
2. Adrian Gellert the scholar warrior in the book The Reformer in the General Series. He has the memories of Raj Whitehall and the super computer as he strives to manipulate various factions into bringing civilization back to his planet. A very interesting character.
1. My favorite all time Stirling character is kinda weird. It's Isketerol of Tartessos the merchant turned ruler who is smart enough to realize that the new technology will allow the Nantucket people of the Eagle to rule the world. So he steals enough of it to force his way into the reckoning and is still standing when the wars are all over. I think he is a fascinating character. It's just that novels are not often written from the point of view of a character who is a "villain." Still that would be pretty cool.
Hey they might be idiosyncratic but that's the way I like it.
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12 comments:
Oh for Christ's sake you don't have John Christian Falkenberg from The Prince in the top ten???
No that's ok. I'm going to go cry now. No no, I'll be fine. Really, don't worry. If I had feelings they'd be hurt.
**sniff****
Well, really, he's -Jerry's- character.
That what so interesting about the collaborations. Whose did what and who changed what character. You can definitely see the styles though.
Plus isn't Falkenberg a chiper more or less? I remember the subordinate characters as much more interesting. Who was the security chief guy? He was a very interesting character.
Maybe I'll try one of these series next. I am presently reading "At Home in Mitford," which is a total old lady book, but it is lighthearted and comforting, which I need a good dose of right now.
I read almost nothing but genre fiction now because all the regular fiction is a downer. The last "serious" book I read was "House of Sand and Fog." By the end I wanted to stab my eyes out just to punish myself for reading it all the way through.
Knox go to www.smstirling.com to get those free chapters I was complaining about. Hee, hee.
Start with the Dies the Fire Series. Or the Island in the Sea of time. Both are great.
OK, so I miss out when I don't read anything new than 1950.
Troop
Falkenberg was the main character in Falkenberg's Legion although the Prince is a combination of Falkenberg's Legion, Prince of Mercenaries, Go Tell The Spartans, and Prince of Sparta. It's the subsequent titles where Falkenberg is really the side character and Owensford, Barton and Lysander are the main characters.
My best friend turned me on to Pournelle. I also recommend A Mote in God's Eye and Kind David's Spaceship both of which are in the post-co-dominium universe of the Prince.
Great stuff
That what so interesting about the collaborations. Whose did what and who changed what character. You can definitely see the styles though.
Absolutely. When I see a Pournelle-Niven collaberation I know the good storytelling is Pournelle and Niven does the tech writing.
I've tried to get through Ringworld but I start bleeding from my ears after half way.
Hooiser you have to give SM Stirling, David Drake and Eric Flint a try. They all have series that they write together or seperately that are a great read. And funny enough, some of them are available on the Baen Webscriptions website for free. Give it a go and you won't be dissappointed.
Hooiser you have to give SM Stirling, David Drake and Eric Flint a try. They all have series that they write together or seperately that are a great read.
I've read Drake's Hammer's Slammers series and Honor Harrington and those were pretty good. I'll check out Flint and some more Stirling. Going to Disney at the end of the week and will need some reading material for the flight.
For Eric Flint start with 1632 or the Rivers of War for some great alternative history.
For David Drake start with the Raj Whitehall "The General" series which is great military sci-fi.
Basicly any of SM Stirlings books are great but start with either the Island in the Sea of Time or Dies the Fire. Both great. Or any of his stand alone books like the Pershwar Lancers. He's the tops.
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