This week’s prompt from Top Ten Tuesday is about books that live in your head rent-free, and I think there aren’t going to be many surprises here from me — many of my favourites are well-known! Let’s see.

1. The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison.
   I’ve reread this book several times and will no doubt reread it many times more: I love it a lot, and there’s so much around the edges of it that the story doesn’t cover. Some of that is covered in the Thara Celehar books, but even then, there’s so much more. I adore the characters, too.
2. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu.
   The same is true of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System and Heaven Official’s Blessing, to be fair — all of MXTX’s characters have really stuck with me, despite and sometimes because of the stories’ flaws. In the case of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, you’ve got Wei Wuxian and his manifest fuck-ups, but also characters like Lan Xichen, Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling, Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui, who have a ways to go to find happy endings out of their pasts, even as the story ends.
3. Feed, by Mira Grant.
   I wasn’t even into horror when I read this, but it stuck with me, and especially so after I studied infectious diseases for my MSc and after the whole world went through a global pandemic (which was comparatively mild compared to what it could have been). Reading it in the wake of that is… yeah. And I’ve no doubt I’ll read the series again in future. It’s also a book that I didn’t like that much when I first read it, but which I came back to again and again.
4. A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan.
   This another of those books that I didn’t love the first time, but I found myself drawn back — and then I loved it the second time. I’m a huge champion for this series and the way it explored a woman being a scholar in a patriarchal society, how she was still an instrument of imperialism at times when she didn’t mean to be, and how it never loses sight at the same time of the wonder of the idea of dragons being real. Also, the way the whole series slowly adds information for us until that final book…!
5. Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie.
   This one always makes me think of a particular friend. I didn’t warmly love the book the first time I read it (more admired it), but over time, I’ve got such fond feelings for all the characters. Someone even did a recording of a potential tune for one of Breq’s songs, and every so often that gets stuck in my head.
6. Chalice, by Robin McKinley.
   Another one I didn’t absolutely love at first read! Those often seem to be the ones I really end up adoring, if there’s enough to them to draw me back in to try again — I can think of a couple of other examples, even. The magic in Chalice is weird and difficult to understand at times, because the protagonist doesn’t understand it: she has to struggle to figure things out for herself, and I loved her journey (and the slow building of trust between her and the Master).
7. The Winter King, by Bernard Cornwell.
   I think of everything on this list, this is the one I read longest ago. It was definitely a part of shaping my interest in Arthuriana, and it’s amazing how often I think about it, even if I haven’t read it in a long time. It’s a good crack at a historical, human, unmagical Arthur, and at his companions. It gave me a serious distaste for Lancelot which other books have never really shaken, even despite my studies!
8. Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee.
   I can’t believe it’s this book’s 10th anniversary this year. What?! And I still haven’t got round to rereading it. I went into it concerned that I wouldn’t understand, but the math is basically just magic, and you can just accept that and let the weirdness sweep you along. When I couldn’t think of a name for my chocobo in FFXIV, I actually named it Jedao, which might be one of the weirdest “I named my pet after your character” situations I’ve heard of.
9. Lifelode, by Jo Walton.
   I could’ve picked Farthing or Among Others as well, or even My Real Children… but Among Others was very much a book that spoke to me a lot in my late teens/early twenties, while Lifelode is something I think about more now. I wish more people had read it, so that I could say “my lifelode is learning”, and have people understand what that means. It’s an excellent fantasy, if not a very traditional one.
10. The Hands of the Emperor, by Victoria Goddard.
    There are ways in which this is very like The Goblin Emperor, which is part of what originally drew me to this book. It’s a very different world with a very different inspiration, though, and the main protagonist is a common man (albeit one who has been elevated very high). I really want to get round to rereading it, and reading the sequel, which I was desperate for after I finished it! It’s just been too long now for me to go into it cold.

So… there we go, my fairly predictable list, ahaha.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is “Books I Want to Read by New to Me Authors”, which I can surely do easily… Because I’m feeling a bit not-100% (like I might develop a migraine or something maybe), I’m going to stick to just showing the covers this time rather than do my usual ramble — after all, I don’t have much to say about books I haven’t read yet!

I’m not actually sure if the mentioned authors have written other books, but presumably one day they might write others… and these will (probably) be the first books of theirs I get to!

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a fun prompt: “Book Titles That Include the Word [insert word of your choice here]”, and I glanced around my shelves and took a bit of a guess at what might be interesting, picking the word “city”. Let’s see what I’ve got!

1. The Masked City, by Genevieve Cogman.
   I don’t entirely know why, but this is one of my favourites of this series — something about the atmosphere, and we’re still learning about the world, and because it’s strong on the Fae elements… And perhaps because it’s Venice.
2. A City on Mars, by Kelly & Zack Weinersmith.
   A great non-fiction look at how we could settle on Mars, what technology we’ve got that would work and what we still need to develop. Sadly, they’re not very optimistic — but it’s still a fascinating read, and they’re fun writers.
3. The City in Glass, by Nghi Vo.
   An absolute fever-dream of a book: I keep repeating that description, but it’s apt. It’s gorgeous and grotesque and weird, and I had a great time with it.
4. The Buried City, by Gabriel Zuchtriegel.
   The author is the director of archaeology at Pompeii, and this book is about Pompeii, so of course I was interested! It isn’t only about Pompeii, also musing on why archaeology is worth doing and what archaeology can do.
5. City of Stairs, by Robert Jackson Bennett.
   I actually want to reread this one so I can finish the trilogy — I only read the first two books. Both were really fascinating, and I do enjoy a fantasy mystery.
6. The Drowning City, by Amanda Downum.
   I’ve got to admit it’s been a long time since I read this one, but I remember enjoying the series a lot (though perhaps especially the second book, The Bone Palace). I can’t vouch for it as current-me, but past-me really enjoyed it.
7. The Shambling Guide to New York City, by Mur Lafferty.
   This is also a book I read quite a long time ago, and the details are somewhat obscured by time… but I know I enjoyed it, and found it a lot less gimmicky than I’d expected from the title.
8. The Just City, by Jo Walton.
   This is a fascinating thought experiment about how people might enact a thought experiment for real, and I really enjoyed the ride.
9. In the Watchful City, by S. Qiouyi Lu.
   This prompt is proving excellent at resurfacing books I’ve really enjoyed! In the Watchful City was a great novella, though perhaps not for everyone (I just stumbled across someone else’s review where they hated pretty much everything about it, haha — and I did understanding their points).
10. City of Bones, by Martha Wells.
    There is so much going on in this book, from weird gender stuff to different species interacting and fantasy archaeology, and I really need to reread it.

NB: some of my linked reviews are quite old, and I don’t know if I stand by my thoughts and feelings from back then! The suck fairy might’ve visited in the last decade+ in some cases. I’m just going by fond memories and enthusiasm, and maybe I’ll revisit some of these books myself.

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is all about upcoming titles, and I must confess, as always I’m not very up on this, aside from the ARCs I get offered by Orbit or happen to see on Netgalley. Honestly, how do you all keep up?!

Still, I did some research and poked around, and checked my wishlist too for books I previously noted wanting, and thus found some books I’m interested in!

1. Mistakenly Saving the Villain, vol 3, by Feng Yu Nie.
   This is supposed to be out today according to Seven Seas, making it technically ineligible for the list. However bookshop.org say it’s out tomorrow, so it counts. I just devoured volume two a couple weeks ago, and I’m very eager to continue the story: Yue Wuhuan is pretty unhinged, but Song Qingshi is pretty fascinated by him too, and weird and over-intense though the relationship might be, I’m very curious about how they end up and what the system intends for Song Qingshi in the wake of his choosing the wrong character to rescue. The fourth volume is also due out in the latter half of the year, hitting shelves in October.
2. The Feywild Job, by C.L. Polk.
   Technically this seems to come out today as well, but I’m highlighting it because I thought it was next month, and no one can stop me, mwahaha. I’ve really enjoyed Polk’s books in the past, and this heist story sounds like a lot of fun. I like the cover, too!
3. The Reimagining of Thornwood House, by Jaleigh Johnson.
   I don’t know a lot about this, but the idea of a house getting grumpy and walking off and needing to be coaxed back sounds like a lot of fun. It comes out 2nd July, so I guess I don’t have long to wait!
4. An Expert Witness, by Sue Black.
   I only just learned about this one, but I’m excited! I’ve really enjoyed Sue Black’s previous works, because she pairs technical detail with a resolve never to lose sight of respect and humanity when handling the dead. It’s coming out on 2nd July.
5. The Wife Comes First, vol 3, by Lv Ye Qian He.
   I haven’t read the second volume yet, so there’s just a chance there’ll be a dealbreaker there… but I flew through the first volume despite its flaws, and I imagine I’ll be keen to find out how all the court intrigue comes to a head in the third, by the time it comes out. I have volume two on my ‘on deck’ pile, after all! I love Jing Shao and his realisation that Mu Hanzhang was loyal to him to the end, and the way he’s seizing his chance to do better. This one’s coming out on 21st July.
6. Dinosaur Sanctuary, vol 8, by Itaru Kinoshita.
   I love this manga so much, it’s just the perfect palate cleanser for anything. My reviews have been going up recently, actually, but I’ve been waiting since just before Christmas when I originally devoured the first seven volumes (I have a huge backlog of graphic novel/manga reviews that I trickle out to avoid overwhelming the blog with those). I love that it’s basically a story about a zoo, only the animals are dinosaurs. I also really enjoy the fact that it has a dinosaur consultant and adds little fact files by him. This one’s due out 28th July, and I think I’ll preorder it on Kobo!
7. A Trade of Blood, by Robert Jackson Bennett.
   This is the third book of the Shadow of the Leviathan series which I’ve been enjoying a lot. I actually have the ARC and need to get back to it, but I have to read it on my other device because (sigh) it couldn’t be sent to Kobo because it’s a PDF. I couldn’t resist requesting it anyway, though, and I’m so glad I’ve been able to dig in. The mystery sounds intriguing, and I imagine we’ll get more details toward a clearer picture of the world/the Empire… It’s due out in August.
8. Our Cut of Salt, by Deena Helm.
   This one is a bit out of my comfort zone, coming out from Tor Nightfire on 22nd September. It’s a horror story, with three generations of a Palestinian family linked with a home in Haifa. It might actually be one that’s more for my wife, but something about it has kinda grabbed me. Maybe the setting? Anyway, I think I’ll be giving it a try!
9. The Scarlet Ball, by Nghi Vo. 
   I love Nghi Vo’s work, so I’m planning to read this even without knowing much about it. The set up (now I’ve actually read the blurb) sounds intriguing, too: the main character can literally take the face of a missing debutante to play her part — in exchange for what? How does that all work out? Well, unless I request the ARC I’ll have to wait until 6th October to find out.
10. As You Wake, Break the Shell, by Becky Chambers.
    I didn’t know this was coming out but I’m definitely excited: I’ve enjoyed Chambers’ work so much in the past. I’m intrigued by the living ship/pilot link, too, as well as Chambers’ normal ability to make me care about the characters and relationships. It’s not due until 22nd October… big pout.

Excited to see what others highlight today! My wishlist is waiting for new finds.

I am late to post today because I had a dentist appointment today (big sadness, but at least I should have a clean bill of dental health again), so I’ll make this quick! I recently posted my 20 Books of Summer list, but there are some others I’d love to get to…

The first five are non-fiction, and the second lot fiction!

It’s a bit of a random selection, but there’s a bunch of library books and recent purchases here, so I really ought to make time!

Every so often, the Top Ten Tuesday theme is all about the books you’re hankering for right now, and sharing your wishlist so that people can get them for you if they feel so moved! So let’s see.

1. Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works, by Helen Pearson.
   This was reviewed recently in New Scientist, and it sounds like an intriguing look at how evidence-based science works!
2. If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation, by Daniel Hahn.
   I saw someone mention this (I think Keira?) and it sounds fascinating. Translation is such a knotty problem, and Shakespeare is extra difficult because there’s a double-barrier of time as well as language.
3. A Widow’s Charm, by Caitlyn Paxson.
   I’ve seen some good reviews of this, and it sounds like fun!
4. Murder at the Black Cat Cafe, by Seishi Yokomizo.
   It’s always interesting to broaden my experience of crime/mystery stories and read in translation, so I’m curious about this one.
5. Charlotte Brontë’s Life Through Clothes, by Eleanor Houghton.
   Clothes tell us so much about the period they came from, the person who wore them, and the kind of life they lived. I’m very curious.
6. All Consuming: Why We Eat the Way We Eat Now, by Ruby Tandoh.
   I’ve been curious about this one for a while, as food history is another thing that I enjoy dipping into.
7. The English House: A History in Eight Buildings, by Dan Cruickshank.
   I’m a sucker for histories that are a history of X in Y things… and while I’m not super into architecture, it’s still a field where buildings of the past tell us an awful lot, and I’m capable of being interested!
8. The Apothecary’s Wife: The Hidden History of Medicine and How it Became a Commodity, by Karen Bloom Gevirtz.
   I haven’t heard much about this, but the topic is fascinating!
9. Ode to the Half-Broken, by Suzanne Palmer.
   This doesn’t seem to be out yet in the UK, but Amazon has it, and I’ve been reading some very positive reviews! It sounds right up my street.
10. The Nightmare before Kissmas, by Sara Raasch.
    I’m not sure that Raasch’s books are 100% my thing, but I’m happy to try outside my comfort zone, especially since I’ve been seeing glowing reviews from people I trust! So I’d like to give this one a shot — though I’d have been interested in The Entanglement of Rival Wizards instead if it’d been out in paperback in the UK, so I wouldn’t mind an ebook copy of that if it fell into my ereader, ahaha.

My Amazon wishlist is here, and I’m also game for ebook copies if you’d rather buy a book voucher for me to get an ebook with, in which case I suggest a National Book Token or Kobo voucher, since I prefer not to use Kindle anymore. My email address is bibliophibianbreathesbooks [at] gmail [dot] com.

(Buying me Kindle books and sending them to that email address does work as well, since I do have a Boox ereader and can still access the Kindle app, it’s just not my preference. Kobo deserves more love!)

Excited to peek at other people’s lists and spread a bit of bookish love today!

This week’s prompt from Top Ten Tuesday is another cover-based one, about covers featuring handwriting/fonts that look like handwriting. I don’t actually know what I’ll find, but let’s see!

Aaand the end results are a bit of a mix: mostly I kept finding the same sort of “handwriting-ish” fonts being used, the “I’m based ultimately on handwriting/calligraphy, but everyone’s used to this as a font” ones. But here are some that caught my eye, narrowed down from about twenty…

I didn’t love all these books (and I haven’t finished The Book Eaters yet), but I confess that handwriting fonts do seem to grab my attention, and I definitely like them a lot when I’m making graphics (on the rare occasions that I do). Amsterdam Three, how I love thee.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is all about books you can’t believe you’ve never read… and I’m going to steer away from the classics and 1,001 books to read before you die type choices, and look more at my TBR.

1. Republic of Thieves, by Scott Lynch.
   I loved the first books in this series! I was very eager for Republic of Thieves! But somehow I never got round to it, and then I got sulky about being nagged to get on and read it… and of course, there’s no saying when there will be more in the series. I still technically want to read this, but it is sitting in limbo more than a little.
2. Red Right Hand, by Chris Holm.
   I’ve enjoyed Chris Holm’s work since the Angry Robot days with the Collector trilogy, and enjoyed the book that Red Right Hand follows up, The Killing Kind. Unfortunately, by the time Red Right Hand came out, I’d forgotten too many of the details, meant to reread that one first, and somehow… never got back to it.
3. Malice Aforethought, by Francis Iles.
   This is one of the classic mystery stories, but somehow I’ve never got round to it (in part because I’m not a huge lover of Francis Iles AKA Anthony Berkeley Cox’s work). Still, it’s a really important one in the development of the classic mystery genre, and I do want to read it. Eventually.
4. The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey.
   I was put off by reading something else by Tey which was just hopelessly racist, but her work is very classic, and I want to get round to this at some point — particularly as people often cite it as a favourite. Plus I am kinda interested in Richard III and the mystery of the Princes in the Tower, which makes the concept interesting to me.
5. Cassandra, by Christa Wolf.
   A copy of this has been following me around for… quite a long time, so long that I’ve actually forgotten who recommended it and why — but they were definitely very enthusiastic. The story of Cassandra is one that interests me a lot, too; the tragic possibilities of knowing what’s going to happen, but being totally powerless to convince anyone else…
6. Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC, by Susan Fisher-Hoch & Joseph B. McCormick.
   I did actually start this at some point, so I’m also surprised I never finished it, but I think I may have got it quite early in my interest in infectious diseases and it was maybe a little too anxiety-provoking. I think I’d tolerate it better now, degree in infectious diseases behind me, and maybe appreciate some aspects of it more, too. That said, this will never be my job, even if I do switch into a career in infectious diseases. Yikes on bikes.
7. The Tower at Stony Wood, by Patricia McKillip.
   I’ve enjoyed a lot of McKillip’s work, but there are several I still need to get to that could all take a turn on this list. I find her writing a little opaque at times; beautiful, but sometimes requires a lot of attention to fully extract the meaning. Maybe that’s just me — either way, her style takes work, and so her books always await the exact right mood. I did pick up my copies from my parents’ house semi-recently (well, at least a year ago, possibly two), so they are at least on my shelves here…
8. The Outskirter’s Secret, by Rosemary Kirstein.
   I really like The Steerswoman, so I don’t know why I’ve never got on with it and read the remaining books. Maybe it’s knowing the story is unfinished. Maybe it’s because I know a little too much about the other books and how things work out, so one element of the tantalising mystery at least is a little bit spoiled (though spoilers don’t usually bother me, this is a bit of a special case, I’d say).
9. A Brother’s Price, by Wen Spencer.
   This is one of several books that I got at some point or another for The Alternative World book club on Goodreads, and never got round to. I remember people being so enthusiastic about it, though, and their recommendations were definitely pivotal to quite a few of the SF/F books I loved (including The Steerswoman, actually) at that time… so yeah.
10. Or What You Will, by Jo Walton.
    Somehow I missed when this came out, and only realised a bit later… and somehow still haven’t got round to it, which is just shocking given how much I’ve generally enjoyed Jo Walton’s work. Soon, I hope!

I keep thinking of other potential choices — I can’t believe I still haven’t managed to read anything of Sarah Pinsker’s, for example, given she was a part of The Alternative World group on Goodreads! But this is a reasonable survey, and covers a mostly-satisfying/representative spread of genres, so let’s leave it there…

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is a tricky one: listing not only your top ten favourite authors, but also choosing your favourite book of theirs! I can’t promise that mine’s a definitive list — I’m certain I’m missing out authors I would smack my forehead about if you reminded me. But it is a list of some of my favourite authors, and my favourites among their books.

1. Ursula Le Guin: The Tombs of Atuan.
   The problem with picking a favourite among Le Guin’s stories is the sheer number and range of them, but for me it isn’t really in doubt — there’s a magic in The Tombs of Atuan that got under my skin from the start, right from the beginning with Arha’s beginnings as a priestess. I love A Wizard of Earthsea very much too, don’t get me wrong, and that book informs how I try to approach life and dealing with my anxiety… but I’d still say The Tombs of Atuan beats it out as a favourite.
2. Mo Xiang Tong Xiu: Heaven Official’s Blessing.
   This is a really tough pick, because The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System was my introduction to danmei as a whole, and I’ll probably look back at it as formative to my reading tastes. And there are aspects of Heaven Official’s Blessing that are frustrating (the flashbacks). Still, in terms of the depth of the characters, the different arcs and stories that wind through it, and of course the love between Hua Cheng and Xie Lian, I think it’s probably my favourite.
3. KJ Charles: Band Sinister.
   I love a lot of Charles’ work, and I’m not sure Band Sinister would always be my recommendation for a starting point (though it’s not a bad one, it’s more purely a romance than most of her work). But it’s one I have very fond memories of, including the first time I read it while I couldn’t sleep, giggling and curling my toes in glee at it while trying not to wake up my wife!
4. Marie Brennan: Tropic of Serpents.
   It’s hard to pick one book out of this series, really, because they all build up the story to a heck of an ending. Still, Tropic of Serpents is the one that changed my opinion from liking the series well enough to continue and see where it went to being eager for each new book, and deeply invested in Isabella and her adventures — and the different types of dragon she studies and discovers.
5. E.C.R. Lorac: Death of an Author.
   This is a bit atypical among Lorac’s novels and possibly wouldn’t be the one I’d recommend to others — but it’s the one I’ve rated the highest, and it probably counts as my favourite if I had to name a single one. Mostly what I love about her work is the way she sets up characters who feel like people you can root for (or dislike), rather than cyphers, and the sense of deep connection to places… neither of which are so present here, because this is just a really solid mystery that had me on the hop the whole time. Mostly, her Inspector Macdonald books would be where I’d turn for a satisfying mystery I can care about, but this one is pretty dang good.
6. Dorothy L. Sayers: Strong Poison.
   This one has strong competition from several other books in the series, including Have His Carcase (which has a great opening paragraph)… but ultimately I think I love this one best, as Peter puzzles out the murder method, the motive, and the means while racing against the clock because of Harriet’s trial. The banter between the two of them is amazing, as are the moments when it breaks down and Harriet is just human and scared. For me, it finished the work that Clouds of Witness started in making me care deeply about Peter (who spends that book trying to save his brother from hanging), and introduced a heck of a love interest for him, a fascinating character in her own right.
7. Mary Stewart: Madam, Will You Talk?
   I remember reading The Gabriel Hounds while being in Italy, which was just after I finished my first degree (yeesh, so long ago now). She’s just so good at evoking the sense of a place: brightness, dust, old ruins both cared for and not, dark and smoky rooms, a busy market, a cool drink in the shade… Madam, Will You Talk? is probably my favourite, though I couldn’t tell you why, especially because the love interest starts things off very badly and frightens the main character for way too much of a book. Maybe it’s just that Charity is really cool, with her quick thinking and fast driving.
8. Ann Leckie: Ancillary Mercy.
   It’s hard to pick a favourite from this trilogy, because they are all part of the same story, and it’s the whole that I really love. Maybe this should really just be considered picking the whole trilogy. It’s so inventive, and I love the way that Leckie has thought through the world of the story — events outside Breq’s knowledge or interest are going on simultaneously, a whole sprawling empire is living, dying, struggling, and every so often we get little reminders of that. Still, Mercy might be a favourite, due to the way the cultures on Athoek Station are introduced and inform the plot, and the strategic annoying queueing which speaks to my oh-so-British heart.
9. Cat Sebastian: We Could Be So Good.
   It’s a little hard to choose between this and You Should Be So Lucky, both of which are really, really good. The characters and romances just feel so carefully built, until you can’t help but root for them in their messy glory, and hope that things will turn out well for them and that they can find a way to carve out happiness — which they realistically find, even given the period they live in, without it glossing over the dangers and worries they face as well.
10. Jo Walton: Farthing.
    This was the first book I read by Walton, and combines alternative history with a mystery story that nods to Sayers. Sadly, the rising fascism of the story has only become more relevant, even while the book has slipped out of view a bit. I highly recommend the trilogy, though Farthing is my favourite. Walton’s told a lot of different stories, and I could also be very tempted to give the nod to Among Others (which is a book that felt like it saw me) or My Real Children or the Tir Tanagiri books… and Lifelode is so rich and underappreciated too (and sees me as well, in a different way: my lifelode is learning, it’s pretty clear, and reading Lifelode made me think, y’know what, that’s okay). But ultimately, Farthing was where my experiences with Walton’s books started, and it’s terrifyingly and urgently relevant.

Oof, I’ve been super talkative again — I hope my musings have been of interest, and I would definitely love to hear others’ thoughts if you have the time to stop and chat!

This week’s theme from Top Ten Tuesday is all about secondary/minor characters, and I love it — secondary and minor characters can add so much to a world, help to flesh out the major characters, and bring in interesting themes and ideas that the main character alone can’t support.

Sooo let’s dig into some favourites.

1. Csevet Aisava, from The Goblin Emperor (Katherine Addison).
   He appears early in the story and from that point on, he’s constantly in support of Maia, helping him find his feet in the court and enacting his will in the most efficient way possible. We don’t see a lot of his inner life, but we see enough tantalising glimpses to know that he has one, and his competence and loyalty are very enticing. I’d love to know more about Csevet.
2. Tom Wilker, from The Memoirs of Lady Trent (Marie Brennan).
   Wilker’s start in A Natural History of Dragons isn’t a terribly promising one: he comes across as trying to gatekeep Isabella’s part in her husband’s expedition, and disrespectful of her suggestions and the expertise she can offer. Over time, though, it becomes clear that he’s afraid of losing his own chance: as a lower-class scientist, he’s (at the start of the series) not taken seriously by other naturalists. As the series goes on, he and Isabella begin to support one another and work together to overcome their disadvantages, and watching his character grow is one of the satisfactions of the series for me. He and Isabella are perfect work partners, and complement one another’s strengths.
3. Mu Qing and Feng Xin, from Heaven Official’s Blessing (Mo Xiang Tong Xiu).
   I’m discussing these two together because I don’t want to pick just one: they’re pretty inseparable, even as they seem to hate each other, and their relationship (and their relationship with Xie Lian) adds a lot of spice and complexity to the story, giving us another emotional arc beyond the testing of Xie Lian’s principles or his love story with Hua Cheng. The two generals are both loyal to Xie Lian, but in different ways, with Mu Qing’s practicality offending Feng Xin’s idealism, and Feng Xin’s privilege and lack of subtlety annoying Feng Xin at every turn. Half the time, they just need to communicate, but they’re both completely stubborn. They are complete idiots, Your Honour: I love them.
4. Liu Qingge, from The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (Mo Xiang Tong Xiu).
   I am incredibly fond of Liu Qingge’s character, and I think it’s all in the way he will defend Shen Qingqiu no matter what (loyalty is my catnip; you might have noticed). To Liu Qingge, it doesn’t matter what Shen Qingqiu is accused of, or who exactly he is now that he is very clearly not the original flavour: Shen Qingqiu saved him, they are martial brothers, and so he will defend Shen Qingqiu against all comers. He doesn’t pretend that this isn’t a potential burden or beat around the bush about it: he straight-up tells Shen Qingqiu that yeah, I know, you’re afraid of being a burden to us, but we’re not afraid of that. The fact that he considers Shen Qingqiu worth it no matter what is such a big moment, such a beautiful thing to say, and I haven’t seen enough talk about that moment. He doesn’t lie and tell Shen Qingqiu he’s not a burden, he says so what if you are? I will support you anyway.
5. Jiang Cheng, from Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Xiang Tong Xiu).
   Jiang Cheng is a bit of an exception on this list because he isn’t loyal to Wei Wuxian, but turns against him, but I enjoy the character a lot (even if I don’t always like him) because he’s very understandable. He grows up being second fiddle to Wei Wuxian, and resentment builds up — assuaged when Wei Wuxian promises that it will always be the two of them against the world, a promise which Wei Wuxian ultimately breaks to save the Jiang clan from being associated with his actions. His resentment turns into hatred when Wei Wuxian’s actions ultimately lead to the death of their sister and her husband. Throughout the story, he is brash, irrational, and nothing like as clever as Wei Wuxian, but he loves his family deeply and in the end he comes through for Wei Wuxian in a critical moment as well, even after everything that comes between them. It’s kind of a sad thing for him that in a world where Wei Wuxian didn’t exist, Jiang Cheng would absolutely be a hero himself.
6. Faramir, from The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien).
   I have to bring up Faramir here because I think reading LotR was one of the first times I latched onto a side-character so firmly. I have such opinions about the movies because of how they presented Faramir! He represents the best of his family’s line, the bravery coupled with the cleverness, the willingness to serve Gondor without the need for self-aggrandisement, and all of that made me love the character immediately. I know why it was changed for the movie, it makes loads of sense, especially for that medium — but I love the Faramir of the books, and the fact that he never sways from his path and his loyalty to Gondor, Gandalf and (ultimately) Aragorn, even as he unquestionably loves his brother and his father and does his best by them.
7. Mervyn Bunter, from the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries (Dorothy L. Sayers).
   To be honest, I don’t actually want more information about Bunter, and I think the character would actually agree with me that it’s not his place! Hideously classist, of course, but Bunter seems to enjoy serving Lord Peter, and putting Peter (and the world) in their proper places, and that provides some moments of comedy amidst it all. He is always loyal to Peter, though the bond between them is forged off-the-page and the reasons for it just briefly referenced, and he acts as the perfect support through the mysteries that Peter tries to unravel (and his courting of Harriet Vane as well). Somehow Bunter always has the right thing at the right moment. He’s a caricature of the perfect servant, but written in a way that I think is aware of that and sometimes gently, quietly poking fun at it: Bunter knows what he’s doing (and Sayers did too).
8. Lord Ruthven, from the Dr Greta Helsing series (Vivian Shaw).
   I was torn between Ruthven and Fastitocalon here, but I think Ruthven’s my favourite, in part because we see a bit more of him and he’s active all throughout the first three books. (I haven’t read the newest yet, and I don’t think he plays a part in Bitter Waters that I can remember, but he’s still a major character in the trilogy.) I love the difficulty he clearly has with his long existence, and the way he’s put that to learning and helping people most of the time… but, very humanly (despite being a vampire), also sometimes just mopes. I love that he gives his unsuitable boyfriend a second chance at life and being a reasonable person, I love that he’s ready to support Greta no matter was, and I love that ultimately he’s happy to get his hands dirty (not to mention risk his unlife) helping people as well as just throwing large quantities of money at problems.
9. Beru, from Solo Leveling (Chugong).
   I never thought I would ever, could ever, find an undead shadow minion based on a giant warrior ant so cute, but his loyalty to Jinwoo (and Jinwoo’s family), his interest in traditional court dramas and his general behaviour (plus his appearance at times in the manhwa) is just adorable. He’s not an especially complex character, so I thought about picking Yoo Jinho or Woo Jinchul instead for their unforced loyalty and support of Jinwoo… but, yeah, sorry, Beru’s cuter.
10. Seivarden, from the Imperial Radch series (Ann Leckie).
    Seivarden is a hot mess. She isn’t a particularly good person, mired in privilege and — once that’s stripped away — self-pity. However, she learns to rely on Breq, and then comes the loyalty (you knew that word was coming, surely). She was never a favourite of Breq’s, she’s still fucking up a lot of things, but she begins to really, really try to drop her addiction, to treat people better, and to help Breq even while Breq is essentially dismantling a lot of the things that gave Seivarden her privilege and her place in the world. Ultimately, betraying Breq would be easier, but Seivarden grows and learns and tries. I love her journey, even though I do not think one would enjoy knowing Seivarden, unless Seivarden recognised one as being of equal or higher status and thus behaved appropriately within the bounds of acceptability. Once you step outside that, she’s more than a little careless.

Okaaaay, that’s enough of the mini-essays! I’m very curious to see the characters that other people choose.