A-Z of my favourite characters!

I can’t believe I actually completed this list! Do you know how long I’ve been working on it? Three years! You read that correctly - three years. This was the first ever blog post I started writing back in the first weeks of my time at Dog Eared Books. I had no idea how difficult it would be to write an A-Z of some of my favourite characters. Turns out there were three big hurdles I needed to scramble over before I could finish my list.

Originally I was just going to do one, all the characters from all the different books squashed into one set of alphabet. But then how could I choose between Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice and Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens? So three letters in, I decided to do two sets. One for the blokes and one for the women. One problem solved!

But then how could I choose between feisty heroines Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind and Sybylla Melvyn from My Brilliant Career? Both historical fiction, both books changed the landscape of writing and have strong but beautifully flawed female protagonists. One American and one Australian. So you might have guessed which I would go with and you’d probably be correct in your guess, but it was a wrench! So I have to say, when it came down to two characters and I just could not choose, a coin may have been involved in the process. Not ideal but still, problem number two solved!

Then the final problem that stymied me for most of the three years. Any ideas on how many character names start with Q, X, or Y? Nope, me neither - but I’m telling you right now, there’s not many! Particularly as I wanted to have read the book, loved it, understood it and possibly hug the character if I had ever met them. Until a brain wave crashed into my skull with three names in one afternoon in August 2019, which finally kicked me through the final few names I was missing.

Oh the bliss! Finally completing this list filled me with a sense of satisfaction that can only be equalled with that of a school project you spent six months on at high school, finally completed and got an A+ for! (Oddly specific, I am aware but that’s how I felt)

So here they are are in all they glory. My completely subjective list of my favourite characters of all time, from all genres, alphabetical in order!

(And can I just say one more time - Woo hoo!)

A - Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

B - Beatie Bow, Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park

C - Cress, the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

D - Daenerys Targaryen, Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

E - Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice

F - Friday Barnes, by R. A. Spratt

G - Grace Brisbane, Shiver/Linger/Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

H - Helene Hanff, 84 Charing Cross Rd by Helene Hanff

I - Idgie Threadgoode, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

J - Juliet Ashton, Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

K - Karou, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

L - Lina Vilkaitė, Between Shades of Gray by Ruth Sepetys

M - Molly, Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb

N - Nancy, Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor

O - Offred, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Attwood

P - Paloma Josse, Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Q - Queenie, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

R - Rose Hathaway, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

S - Sybylla Melvyn, My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

T - Tally, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

U - Ursula Todd, Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

V - Victoria Jones, Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

W -Granny Weatherwax, Discworld by Terry Pratchett

X - AleXia Tarabotti, Souless by Gail Carriger

Y - Yelena Liana Zaltana, Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Z - Zoya Jachmenev, House of Special Purpose by John Boyne

A - Alan Grant, Inspector Grant Mysteries by Josephine Tey

B - Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

C - Cormoran Strike, Cuckoos Calling by Robert Galbraith

D - David Balfour, Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

E - Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

F - Fitz Farseer, Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb

G - Ged, Wizard of Earthsea by Usrula Le Guin

H - Harry Hole, Snowman by Jo Nesbo

I - Iggy Peck, Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beaty

J - James Fraser, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

K - Kvothe, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

L - Lazlo Strange, Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

M - Michael, The Cats Table by Michael Ondaatje

N - Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

O - Oskar, Let the Right One In by John Lindqvist

P - Peter Grant, Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Q - Quasimodo, Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

R - Richard Mayhew, Neverwhere by Neil Gaimen

S - Stanley Yelnats, Holes by Louis Sacher

T - Tiny Cooper, Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

U - Ulf & Wulf, Twins from the Brotherband Series by John Flanagan

V - Victor Frankenstein, Frankenstein by Shelley

W - Will, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

X - AleX Cross, Alex Cross Series by James Patterson

Y - Yuri Zhivago, Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

Z - Zaphod Beeblebrox, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams