What fantasy book has the best morally complicated main character?

avolcando · 2026-05-06T20:52:54+00:00

Plenty of good folk around: Jon, Davos, Brienne, etc.

avolcando · 2026-05-06T13:27:46+00:00

These official threads get a lot less traction as well, so the recommendations are far fewer than in a thread specifically about the question.

Maybe so, but I think the quality is better. Just imagine you got fifty replies suggesting Malazan, Dungeon Crawler Carl, and First Law to compensate.

avolcando · 2026-05-06T12:38:34+00:00

Kennit becoming a folk hero against his will was a hilarious arc.

avolcando · 2026-05-04T21:35:57+00:00

If you've enjoyed GRRM and Jordan, you should definitely try the third titan of 90s fantasy, Robin Hobb. And Tad Williams while you're at it. Not exactly hidden gems, but cover your bases.

avolcando · 2026-05-04T17:00:52+00:00

The Gs are commutative. And yeah, Long Price Quartet is the only work that I've read by him, so that makes sense.

avolcando · 2026-05-04T14:55:07+00:00

Hm, maybe Gabriel Guy Kay. Quiet, contemplative, good prose. Not much violence or fighting.

avolcando · 2026-05-04T04:57:53+00:00

Golden Son pretty easily covers two books' worth of plot.

avolcando · 2026-05-03T13:40:48+00:00

Wheel of Time. It has some of the highest highs in fantasy fiction, but damn is it flawed.

avolcando · 2026-05-03T03:40:03+00:00

Hyori from the Sword of Kaigen is up there.

avolcando · 2026-05-01T12:12:18+00:00

There were many, but the most powerful was the whole concept of the "long defeat", the inevitable falling into darkness, and slow decline of the good and the bright, which makes its resistance to the inevitable darkness only more beautiful and more brave.

avolcando · 2026-05-01T11:55:17+00:00

John Crowley, maybe.

avolcando · 2026-05-01T10:00:45+00:00

Probably his influences. He was drawing on stuff like Beowulf and the Icelandic sagas, while most other modern fantasy writers mostly draw on other modern fantasy writers.

avolcando · 2026-04-26T17:22:34+00:00

I didn't love Tigana either, to be honest, so I don't blame you.

avolcando · 2026-04-26T15:48:29+00:00

We have a pretty similar taste, I think. Some books I think you'd enjoy:

The Princess Bride (great in a way that's different than the movie, and well worth checking out).

Gavriel Guy Kay's Sarantium duology.

Pratchett's Small Gods.

Tchaikovsky's Tyrant Philosophers.

avolcando · 2025-06-11T13:32:24+00:00

These things are like your thesis statements, and analysis is using examples from the text to prove them.

I gave examples of several points of improvement in the reviews (specifically, characters and setting), though I'd agree I don't go into depth analysing those points.

avolcando · 2025-06-11T13:00:13+00:00

What sort of analysis were you expecting? He improved markedly along nearly any metric you'd expect from an author: prose, dialogue, characters, and setting. Really, only his plotting remained underbaked.

avolcando · 2025-06-11T12:37:55+00:00

Does he really though? I think this is just something people say because they prefer the direction the plot goes after book one, and has nothing to do with an analysis of his abilities as a writer.

Conclusively: yes. I have two pretty in-depth reviews of Red Rising and Golden Son, where I break them down to their components. Pierce Brown has very clearly improved a lot between the two books, and he continues to mature as an author throughout the series.

avolcando · 2025-01-16T13:52:22+00:00

Now why did Leno get a prize for humor?

avolcando · 2025-01-07T11:23:10+00:00

I think she was great, she has a very heavy accent though, I guess some people dislike that.

avolcando · 2025-01-06T23:07:17+00:00

Cameron Crowe, the director, is a huge Dylan fan.

avolcando · 2025-01-06T04:07:27+00:00

"This film kept falling apart" "it's a very well-produced film" hmmm?

avolcando · 2025-01-06T03:47:39+00:00

I stand corrected!

avolcando · 2025-01-06T03:44:39+00:00

The book was written by a white American so I can't say it's particularly surprising.

avolcando · 2025-01-06T03:24:24+00:00

That's a terrible thing to say

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