Favorite Fictional Character (6)

This week's favourite fictional character is a bit of a strange one. He's from a series of books (the fourth is to be released next year). I've only read the first two. I fell in love with the character in the first book. I wish now that I'd just stopped there, because I didn't like the character in the second book. What character is this? It's Gen, the eponymous thief from Megan Whalen Turner's Newbery Honor book, The Thief.

Gen (short for Eugenides) is an insolent, clever young man. When we first encounter him, he's in prison. He's taken out by the king's magus, who needs Gen's skills for a special quest. The book is narrated by Gen, and I just loved his voice. He comes across to others as a bit of a "bad boy" (he is a thief, after all), but through his narration we come to see that he's actually a pretty cool guy... certainly someone you'd want to have on your side. (And I'll admit, I did have a bit of a crush on Gen when I first read the book years ago.)

Unfortunately, I didn't like the direction the author decided to take the rest of the series. The second book was told with third-person narration, so Gen's cheeky voice was gone. In addition, the misfortunes that the author put upon poor Gen turned him into a sullen, wounded hero who ended up making decisions that -- based upon what had happened in the story -- left me scratching my head. It's one thing to watch as an author kills off a favourite character... but it's much more disappointing to see that character "die" because they've turned into someone you don't even recognize.

So Gen of The Thief is one of my favourite characters. Eugenides of The Queen of Attolia (and subsequent books)... not so much.

The Favorite Fictional Character meme was started by Ryan G. at Wordsmithonia.