Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! This is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where a new top ten list hits the web every week!

This week’s topic was interesting, so I decided to participate.  And it is . . .

CHARACTERS I LIKED IN A BOOK I DIDN’T LIKE VERY MUCH

Honestly, I don’t believe I’ve ever done a topic like this before.  I’ve made many lists about favorite characters or characters I love to hate, but never a list of this sort.  And since I love a challenge, I decided to probe the old mind for ten characters who would fit this description.

10. CAIM – SHADOW SAGA

Caim is an assassin.  Naturally, the saga starts off with him discovering he has a heart and helping out a target.  Fun ensues from there, but after book one, the tone of the series turns serious.  Nothing wrong with that, but each book after the first got a little darker and grittier.  Didn’t work for me.  But I always liked Caim though.

Purchase Shadow’s Son at Amazon

9. JEAN-CLAUDE – THE RISEN KINGDOMS

Now, Jean-Claude isn’t the protagonist of this tale.  He is the sidekick at best.  But I preferred his story to the leads arc.  Nope, I’m not a sexist.  It wasn’t because our protagonist was a smart, strong woman.  It’s a lot simpler than all that.  I had nothing in common with her.  Could not understand her trials.  But I could appreciate Jean-Claude’s devotion and determination to protect and aid her.

Purchase An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors at Amazon

8. KARL BOROMIRSKIY – THE DINOSAUR LORDS

There are a lot of characters in this epic fantasy saga.  Karl is one of them.  But he is the one who interests me the most.  Okay, if I’m being honest I’d have to admit the dinosaurs are my favorite “characters” in this series, but among the humans, old Karl is tops, especially since some weird stuff went down in the last book.

Purchase The Dinosaur Lords at Amazon

7. CAMBER OF CULDI – LEGENDS OF CAMBER    

The Deryni world is very religious, just like medieval Europe.  The religion of choice is Christianity, just like medieval Europe  And Camber is a damn saint.  Well, he doesn’t start out one, but he ends up being one.  If that sounds a little boring, it can be at times due to the endless religion and politics, but Camber rises above it all, remaining a good man.  How he remains such is probably what drew me to his story.

Purchase Camber of Culdi at Amazon

6. NAGASH – RISE OF NAGASH

Nagash is about as bad as they come.  And in Warhammer, that means he is a total bastard.  But throughout this trilogy about his rise and fall, the author makes Nagash an interesting character to read about.  I never “liked” him really, but I found him fascinating like a molecular scientist finds a virulent disease interesting.  Says more about me than the book probably, I know.

Purchase Nagash the Sorcerer at Amazon

5. KHAAVREN – THE KHAAVREN ROMANCES

I’m a sucker for anything remotely like The Three Musketeers, and this is about as close to Dumas’ classic as you can get.  Only problem was the writing style which bored me to tears.  But even through the pain, I kept reading because Khaavren was a damn fine D’Artagnan, and his innate honor and goodness were a welcome relief from all the doom and gloom of most modern characters.

Purchase The Phoenix Guards at Amazon

4. SCAL – BOUND GODS

Scal is one of several main characters in this series.  He probably isn’t the most important, but for me, he was the most interesting.  Certainly, the fact he was a northern barbarian helped me immediately recognize and empathize with him, but his shadowy past and struggles are what kept me interested.  Hopefully, he will play a bigger part going forward.

Purchase In the Shadow of the Gods at Amazon

3. SIMON – MEMORY, SORROW AND THORN

I didn’t like this series when I read it decades ago.  I’m not sure anymore why I hated it so much, but the feeling still lingers.  I did like the main character though.  Sure, Simon was the usual trope of simple peasant boy on his way to greatness, but he was a likable fellow who I remember wanting to succeed.

Purchase The Dragonbone Chair at Amazon

2. FARADAY – THE WAYFARER REDEMPTION  

I’m a little ashamed to admit I read this series years ago.  Sure, it is fantasy, but it is Harlequin Fantasy without a doubt.  The romance and whatnot the main focus of the story.  I still enjoyed it though.  Faraday being my favorite character, though I still recall feeling like she got royally screwed over by everyone here.  God, I hated Axis.  The bastard!

Purchase The Wayfarer Redemption at Amazon

1.  AILITH – THE COMING STORM

This was a self-published fantasy that I initially liked.  The beginning chapters were great setup.  Some cool characters were put into action.  But around the halfway point the story turned into a young adult romance with the main character, Ailith, being turned into a Chosen One where every male was tripping over themselves to hook up with her.  I liked Ailith up until that point though.  She had real promise as a character.

Purchase The Coming Storm at Amazon

Well, those are my picks.  Ever heard of any of these characters or the books they appeared in?  Did you like them or dislike them?  Love or hate the novels?  Let us all know!