Witch of Lurago Chapter 86: Can’t Catch a Break

Bless his heart. Redan just can’t catch a break. His good intentions seem to meet with such sorry luck it makes him all the more endearing.

Quick, give me a list of compelling male characters in epic fantasy who are not macho warrior badasses. Takes a minute, doesn’t it? A few come to mind as memorable. Glokta in Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series. Kip in Brent Weeks’ Lightbringer novels. And, of course, Tolkien gave us Frodo. But such characters are still rare enough not to have reached archetype status.

Redan Connor is not weak. He’s just strong in unconventional ways. His strength draws from different sources than the warrior archetype: intellectual curiosity, compassion, conscience, and introspection. His sense of duty is balanced by an awareness of his entitlement. He’s not only aware of his privilege of birth, but feels a bit guilty for belonging to the one percent club.

Hope he’s okay.