psh it's perfectly normal to tell people in books they aren't allowed to die. I do it all the time..!

As far as crushes on book-characters... how is that any different than a movie-character crush? If people can be in love with Jack Sparrow, than I can have a crush on book people!
While I wouldn't call it a crush, I do have a strange fondness for Gyir Stormlantern from Shadowmarch. He also has given me one of my favorite quotes of all time.. "You are only a prisoner when you surrender."

I liked Long Joseph because he always guaranteed comic relief...He was also one of the few characters who remained outside of the network and had no intention of going in it.  Then I think about how Otherland is based in the mid 21st century and I guess I'll be about 80 years old...so Sellars and Sweet William are really my age if they existed...

No crushes here either (my wife would not approve), but Orlando is my favorite character.

Dulcenia Anwyn

Okay, she wasn't a front and center character, but a red-head geek-girl who likes bad boys - rawr!

I have book-crushes on the greater majority of sympathetic female characters, and some of the not so sympathetic ones too.  Of course, they are all beautiful in my imagination, because I have to live there (dagnabit) and I can decorate it however I please!

Orlando hands down. I actually made a character named ThargorX in an MMORPG called Anarchy Online. A tank paladin type. :P Kinda wish I could have made his armor a little more Middle Country-ish.

[Spoiler]

Just finished the final book. Can't believe Landogarner was brought back! Fantastic ending.

I totally have a crush on Felix Jongleur. He's so noble and understanding.

...no, honestly, I can't say I developed that sort of feeling toward any of the cast, but there is an undeniable sense of attachment to basically each and every last lead and recurring 'face' in the series. Heck, I've only just finished reading the series a single time, too.

Favorites are tough to choose from, but Renie, !Xabbu, Paul, Orlando, Martine, Dread, Olga, Jeremiah and Long Joseph are undeniably top-tier candidates. Really, though, everyone in the series brings something to the table. Tad Williams' way of bringing everything together in a meaningful, tear-jerking, smile-tugging way inspires me to no end.

I shall endeavour to re-read the series sometime into the ever-changing future, myself. I was thinking about that the other day: surely with Williams' writing style as it is, I'll pick up on some things I missed and some new things I wouldn't have recognized upon a subsequent journey.

I just finished River of Blue Fire, so I am a late-comer to the series.  I first got City of Golden Shadows a few years back, but everytime I reached the midpoint, I was caught up in life and never finished it.  Well, not until a few weeks ago.  I am on my Christmas break from university, and my homework that I deemed upon myself is to finish the Otherland series. How can my break get any better? :)

As you can guess by my screen name, Orlando and Sam are my favorite characters.

[SPOILERS FOLLOW THE REST OF THIS POST!]

Orlando was so awesome, and even witty till the end=>

Sam: "And don't you think I'm crying because I'm a girl."

Orlando: "Okay. Don't think I'm crying because I'm dead."





Or this juicy bit =>


Sam (while trying not to cry in front of Orlando):"What are... what are we going to do?"

Orlando:"Try not to get killed. Or try not to get killed again, in my case. Now tell me what happened after I died."


Sam cracks up and also nearly cries, saying,"Damn you, Gardiner, don't do that to me."




The dynamic between those two is so golden. And Beezle, too. But Sam and Orlando are perfect. And Orlando's outlook, even in the face of the aftermath of his own death, is very special. The relationship between them, especially the humor, loyalty and unbreakable closeness between them, really resonated with me.

chamberk again wrote:

how has no one in this thread mentioned the Wicked Tribe yet?  They crack me up every single time.  Hilarious.

I suppose I will mention them then, seeing as they are my username!

The Wicked Tribe was hilarious, especially their strange nicknames for stuff (Landogarner, Freddicks, Big Bad Dark Thing!)
Orlando and Fredericks were great together as well, their conversations were both deep and funny, sometimes at the same time.

My favorite single character would probably be... really no one.  I mostly just like specific interactions between characters.

My favorite villain interaction was between General Yacoubian and Robert Welles.  Welles was all powerful and in control, while Yacoubian got all emotional.

I'm just finishing a re-read of Otherland (the first since I first read the books back in 2003!) and found my way to this forum as a result of needing to share the amazingness of these books with someone (partner, friends and family aren't being forthcoming about this)! Just wanted to throw in my two cents' worth: I find Renie such an intriguing character, not only because she's an incredibly unusual heroine in terms of who she is and what she's from, but also because while we really feel for her and her quest, she's also so very prickly and impatient that at times you wonder why Xabbu can remain so patient with her. And at the same time, I sometimes felt that Xabbu expects too much from her when she's being pressed and pushed from all sides. Anyway - I guess I have a bit of a girl crush on her! And I also love the hint towards the end (SPOILER) that maybe Paul Jonas and Martine may share something more out in the "real" world. I really like the idea that those two people, who've really just been victims of others' greed and cruelty, could find a way to be happy together.