Favorite Fictional Character (4)

Today's favourite fictional character is Sally Lockhart from Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart Mysteries. (I will warn you right now: if you have not read the series, don't go searching for too much information; I came across some pretty stupendous spoilers when I was looking for information for this post. In particular, stay away from the Wikipedia page on Sally Lockhart. And don't read the Amazon summaries, either; some of the ones for the later books contain spoilers.)

Sally is a young woman living in Victorian England. She has a sharp mind and a head for numbers, qualities that weren't really valued in women at that time. When the first book begins, she has been orphaned after the murder of her father. Her quest to uncover the truth about his death takes her on a journey through 1870s England, where she makes friends (and enemies) and learns some surprising things about her own past.

Sally first appeared in The Ruby in the Smoke. There were three subsequent books: The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin Princess (the last one is considered part of the series, but Sally makes only a cameo appearance). The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North have been adapted for film by Masterpiece Theatre (both are worth watching, especially if you enjoyed the books).

What I liked about Sally was that she was a feisty heroine in a time when girls were supposed to be prim and proper (and out of the way). She can take care of herself. When so many of today's young heroines seem to need a man in their lives, it's refreshing to see a heroine who doesn't lean on her leading man for absolutely everything. Of course, Frederick Garland does provide the orphaned and jobless Sally with employment as his bookkeeper in his photography business. Then again, he's hopeless with numbers, so Fred needs Sally as much as Sally needs Fred. Their relationship is a pretty balanced one (especially for the time period in which these stories take place).

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

Musing Mondays (2)

Musing Mondays is hosted by Rebecca at Just One More Page...

Do you prefer to read stand-alone books, or books in series? Do you stick with a series the whole way through or stop after the first installment? Are there any particular series you enjoy?(question courtesy of Elena)


I touched on this in a previous post, but I'll give a more complete answer here.

In general, I prefer stand-alone books. If I start reading a series, I usually feel like I have to keep going... even if I'm not loving it. So I tend to steer clear of series in general... unless I've heard really good things about them.

However, if the series is known to be finite, I might give it a go. Everybody knew that Harry Potter was going to be seven books, so that was okay. And I have fewer problems with reading a trilogy, because I know that there will most likely be a satisfactory conclusion to the story.

What I don't like are series that just keep going and going and going... If the books can be read individually, and out of order, that's not so bad. But if the series forms one long story, that just seems like the author (and/or publisher) is stringing the reader along. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't like sequels for the sake of sequels. It makes me feel like the author (and/or publisher) is more interested in making money than in telling a good story.

Do I stop after the first installment of a series? Not if I'm enjoying it. The problem for me usually comes with the second book, though. If the first book acts as an attractor, the second book often acts as repellent. I've been disappointed with series where I really liked the first book but just couldn't get into the subsequent ones. The Queen's Thief, His Dark Materials, and Abhorsen series come to mind; awesome first books... but I never finished reading the series because the following books didn't hold my interest.

As for series that I actually finished (and liked), I can only think of a couple. The first is the Willowmere Chronicles, which I've mentioned before. The second is Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart series. The His Dark Materials trilogy is far more well-known, but the Sally Lockhart books (The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin Princess) are captivating as well.