A couple years ago, I picked up ACOTAR...read 5 or 6 chapters, gagged and put it away. A few months after that, I tried romantasy again, with Jennifer Armentrout's Blood and Ash. I got a little further into this one, then a few things happened that made me believe the heroine was a psychopathic murderer (oh...but she's so sweet) and that the hero is a predatory ass-hole. (Hawk...swoon-gag)
Then I read Fourth Wing.
See, I was trying to figure out the formula that makes these books spread like norovirus in a pizza parlor. (seriously. that's how I caught it.) And as much as I call it market research, it was my ADHD brain trying to justify my own procrastination. LOL!
The Fourth Wing was my lightbulb moment, but I'll set that aside for another Romantasy post.
I returned to ACOTAR on audio. OK, now I get it. (Rhys...right?) But I wasn't compelled to return to the series immediately. So after reading a lot of comments...I turned to Throne of Glass.
Big Book. Big series. Clearly YA and again, I'd have moved on but people kept telling me to stick with it. I just wasn't a huge fan of Chaol and Dorian. One needed a kick in the ass, the other needed a reality check. Thankfully, they weren't Celeana's end game. Nor was she a particularly evolved character. But while the story was a bit overwrought, it was compelling! So on to Book 3.
Now THIS is where I got the feeling that the series began to actually gel in the author's mind. We got the biggies, the baddies, the anti-heroes and anti-heroines. From here on out, the supporting cast upped the ante and almost eclipsed the original characters...except Celeana/Aelin. She grew up and her growing pains were pretty compelling. And she got her own supervillain...or two.
But today, side characters are who I want to talk about.
Lysandra. Elide. Manon. These three? Wow. Any author would feel proud to have created them.
Their love interests were amazing also, but the girl power represented here is on fire. Even Maeve. Asterin. The 13. Maas tapped into something really special with her women.
Their men? Well, Dorian transcended. Aeodin is a beautifully complex character. Even Chaol grew on me. Fenrys...oh, my heart.
But Lorcan.
Oh, Lorcan.
He was the biggest, most brutish, cheating, viscous of Maeve's warriors, yet he became the romantic hero of the series. OMG.
From tearing his shirts for Elide's courses, to bracing her damaged ankle, to surrendering immortality for her. For accepting her strength. I mean...I love Rowan...absolutely perfect for Aelin. But Lorcan was just there in the background wreaking havoc and falling into the purest form of love.
As a reader, I love character development. I love me a great plot, but I want to see that character arc. In this series, Maas delivered. Kudos to her. But with Lorcan and Elide, she absolutely hit the sweet spot for me. I mean...come on! Elide rode a horse onto a battlefield to bring back her man!
Do you have a favorite character from a book or series? One you wrote yourself? Let me know in the comments!