Friday, December 23, 2016

Follow Friday - Roman Emperor Carinus Was Killed in 285 A.D.; This Is Getting Predictable


It's Friday again, and this means it's time for Follow Friday. There has been a slight change to the format, as now there are two Follow Friday hosts blogs and a single Follow Friday Featured Blogger each week. To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
  1. Follow both of the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts (Parajunkee and Alison Can Read) and any one else you want to follow on the list.
  2. Follow the Featured Blogger of the week - Kati's Bookaholic Rambling Reviews.
  3. Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing.
  4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.
  5. Follow, follow, follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "Hi".
  6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love . . . and the followers.
  7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
  8. If you're new to the Follow Friday Hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!
And now for the Follow Friday Question: Best or favorite villains?

Most of my favorite books don't have particularly memorable villains, or even villains at all. For example, one of my favorite novels is The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin, but there isn't really any character in the book who could be called a villain. Another example would be Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress, which is a brilliant book, but doesn't really have a villain. Or a book might have villains, but they aren't particularly notable or memorable, such a Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe.

But the book that has the villain that sticks in my mind the most is Nova by Samuel R Delany, and the villainous Prince Red. In the book, the protagonist Lorq von Ray is the head of the most powerful corporate clan in the Pleiades System and is locked in a struggle for control of the market for illyrion with Red Shift Limited of the Earth-based Draco. The head of Red Shift through much of the book is none other than the temperamental Prince Red, and to a lesser extent, his sister Ruby. Prince Red was born without an arm, and wears a mechanical replacement that makes him physically powerful, and he lashes out any time someone mentions his deformity - most notably one time he lost his temper with Lorq and slashed him across the face with his metal arm. Though Prince Red only appears in a handful of scenes in the book, his malicious presence is felt throughout, and that makes him memorable.


Follow Friday     Home

2 comments:

  1. I did a twist on this week's topic!

    https://girlof1000wonders.wordpress.com/2016/12/23/feature-follow-friday-december-23-2016/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Charlie Anderson: Interesting choices. I considered a couple of movie villains for this topic, but ultimately decided to confine myself to books.

      Delete