Just like winter isn’t complete without a snowfall, a great book isn’t complete without impressive characters. Here is a favourite hero and villain of mine.
Tally
from the Uglies series
by Scot Westerfeld
The Uglies series is most certainly one of my favourite series. This is mostly because of the exceptional heroine, Tally. The story is based in the future where a new society has been created. At the age of sixteen, everyone is given cosmetic surgery to make them beautiful. Though, not everyone is happy with this version of reality and there is a group of rebels, composed of people who have run away before receiving their operation, living outside the city. The first book, follows Tally on her adventure into the wild, after Tally’s friend runs away the night before both of their operations. Tally journeys to the band of rebels intent on turning them in, but while she is there, she makes some discoveries concerning the actual cosmetic operation and herself. The series asks big questions about what beauty really is and how people can allow themselves to be created by society. Tally goes through many changes throughout the books. I think what I truly like about her is that her true self always fights its way to the surface no matter how her society tries to change her. She never gives up or goes down without a fight. Her name, Tally Youngblood, even suggests that she will be the one to bring down the system.
Arkan
from The Books of Pellinor
by Alison Croggon
“What is light without dark?” This is the question Arkan asks the protagonist in the Pellinor series. I think this is a valid point, for what is a protagonist without a sharply contrasting antagonist? Although Arkan is not the antagonist throughout the whole series, he appears in the second book and locks Maerad away in his ice castle. He is a very intriguing character. While Maerad is held captive, Arkan has the most interesting discussions with her. They discuss love, evil, and liars. The conversations are thought provoking and they make Arkan one of the most engaging characters in the series. I think why Arkan tops other antagonists in different stories, is that even though he is evil, as a reader you quite like him.
Yellow and Blue 