QotW #44: what keeps you going?

[Shel, Moderator]

What books or series have you kept reading, even though you dislike the main character? What kept you going?

[Random]

The Last Days of Jack Sparks

The main character is a complete and utter ass (and he's supposed to be). I almost gave up on it early on. And then I kept reading and just couldn't stop. I mean by the title you know where the story is going and I was just fascinated watching everything play out.

[Dawn]

The Poppy War

The main character is Rin who is annoying, stupid, and reckless. She acts without thinking and causes so many problems. But the idea of a fantasy series based on the Japanese/Chinese war and a magic system with Asian flair was interesting, and I wanted to know what happened. Thankfully it was just a trilogy.

[Cheryl]

Gosh, mainly I do dnf, for any reason. Sometimes I'll keep going if the book was recommended to me, or if it's for group read. Sometimes I read for the scattered gems (STTNG). Or if I've previous experience with the author and know that they can do better.

Specifically about a character I dislike, well, I tend to be even more ready to dnf those, esp. if they're like Dawn's Rin. Unless there are clues that they're growing, maturing, learning. I do like some of the best bildungsromans.

[Dawn]

I like to dnf annoying characters myself, like The Innocent Mage. But every once in awhile, the world building or the writing is so interesting/good that I read on.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I am currently reading the Shadowmarch series (4 books by Tad Williams, and cannot warm up to one of the main characters, Barrick. He is an adolescent (I keep reminding myself) but exceptionally whiny. Fortunately, the cast of characters is large and the story shifts from one character’s POV to another frequently, so I don’t have to endure his POV all the time. So, a storyline that follows multiple characters will keep me reading, even if I dislike one of the characters,

I confess I read a lot of books in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, despite not liking most of the characters (and disliking lots of other things as well). I guess I just wanted to see how the main story turned out and was trying to understand why it was so popular for quite a while.

It is very hard for me to DNF a book or series. I am an almost-compulsive completist.

[Gary]

I remember I had a hard time liking Thomas Covenant in the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson. I think reading through to the real-world parts of the story got me to continue reading the series until I sort of liked him or a least disliked him less.

[Shel, Moderator]

I couldn't get past the first book of that one. I'll try again one of these days.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Gary wrote: "I remember I had a hard time liking Thomas Covenant in the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson. I think reading through to the real-world parts of th..."

Thomas Covenant is a pretty unlikable character, I agree. But I still found his story fascinating. I plan to (someday) reread the original 2 trilogies and then read the final 4 book series. Ooh, maybe that would be a good series for our group to read together! Lots of issues/topics to discuss. Might have to keep that in mind next time we are nominating for a fantasy series.

[Shel, Moderator]

That would probably get me to pick it up again! We have the whole series because my husband loves them.