Top Ten Tuesday #31

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish 

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic: Top 10 Books That Will Make You Swoon. Oh dear; this isn't a good topic for me. I am not the swooning type. Not even a little bit. Swooning is nonsensical, undignified, and rarely helpful in a situation (unless one is pressed for a good distraction plan). So, I'm going to be extremely interpretative with this topic and choose the top 10 books that have my favorite male characters! (Note: neither Sherlock Holmes nor Watson will be included in this list, as they're a given. As are any of Jane Austen's male characters.)

Prince Char from Ella Enchanted.

I read the book long before I saw the movie, and while I have nothing against Hugh Dancy, my fondness for Char did not result from the casting choice (Hugh Dancy was too old anyway). Probably the most gallant prince in the fairy tale retelling genre, there's just nothing to not love about Char. He's kind and gallant and gets Ella's sense of humor and has a very strong sense of justice - which may in fact be my favorite quality in him.

Esca from The Eagle of the Ninth.

Okay, I actually like both him and Marcus. But Esca is my favorite, mostly because he's a Britain, and that just automatically makes him cool. He's practical and sensible and has that classic ancient British pride - yep, totally up there on the awesome meter. ;-)

Galen from Princess of the Midnight Ball.

Intelligent, resourceful, witty, great with the younger princesses and more than willing to rescue all of them, Galen is just - I cannot even begin to describe how much I love him. He's just an awesome character. And he knits! Don't know why, but that was just an added bonus.

Dustfinger from Inkheart.

Funnily enough, when I read this book for the very first time, I didn't like Dustfinger. I thought he was a coward and a liar. Well, alright, he actually is. But for some reason, once I read Inkdeath, I just loved his character, and now he's my favorite in the trilogy (aside from Mo). He makes a lot of mistakes and isn't always truthful, but I sympathize with the man. He's been stuck in our world for 9 years. I've lived in the 21st century all my life and I hate it. What was it like for him?

Sage from The False Prince.

Sarcastic, cunning, always looks out for himself (though he really does care about other people; he just doesn't let on). Sage also has the knack of coming up with something on the spur of the moment and having it work. And he never ever loses his cool; never lets his enemies know that they actually have the upper hand. In short, he's a terrific bluffer, and I just love him. He's a really fun character.

Wolf from Scarlet.

Everyone describes him as a bad boy. I never did see him as that. He's a street fighter - so that makes him a bad boy? Really? I loved Wolf because here he is a tough guy, but he's got a very shy personality. The two don't usually go together, but it works really well with him.

Lemony Snicket from A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Yes, he's the author, but he is also a character in the series, even if you never "meet" him. He's the protagonist in the new spin-off series All the Wrong Questions, and he's my favorite male character in the Snicketeer world. He's just awesome.

Sean from The Scorpio Races.

Oh my gosh, he is definitely one of my favorites. I love the quiet, keeps-to-himself, doesn't-care-what-everyone-else-is-doing characters. He loves his horses, he conserves his words, and he doesn't much care for other people. While I like Puck, I still wish she didn't act as a love interest for Sean. There's just some characters who don't need to be romantically involved.

Nico di Angelo from Percy Jackson & the Olympians.

For the record, I hate what the Author did with his character in The House of Hades. It ticks me off so much that I still get angry just thinking about it. Setting that aside, though, I still really like Nico. And he's also been the one character in this series and the spin-off that I always wasn't entirely certain how I felt about him (but I do love him).

Will Denison from Dinotopia.

Okay, this may be seriously nerdy of me (and I'm not a nerd), but Will Denison may be my top favorite. I've had a character crush on him ever since I read these books as a kid, and I still do. Or maybe I just had a crush on his job: riding a flying dinosaur. I mean, who wouldn't want to do that?! But seriously, though, he's a cool character. Make cooler by the fact that he's a skybax. ;-) And my nerd is shutting up now.