Top Five Bookish Characters from Fantasy Books

Time for Top Ten Tuesday, the weekly meme managed by That Artsy Reader Girl. I love today’s topic: Bookish characters! Since it’s also Wyrd & Wonder this month, I decided to focus on bookish character from fantasy books.

Lazlo from Strange the Dreamer

“His nose was broken by a falling volume of fairy tales his first day on the job, and that, they said, told you everything you needed to know about strange Lazlo Strange: head in the clouds, world of his own, fairy tales and fancy.”

My favourite fictional bookworm! Lazlo is a kind-hearted librarian. Since childhood he is obsessed with a mythic lost city called Weep. He collects all the information he can find about it. Lazlo’s dream is finding this city and solving all the mysteries surrounding it. When he gets the opportunity, Lazlo has to seize his change or lose his dream forever.

Meggie from Inkheart

“There was another reason [she] took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar voices, friends that never quarelled with her, clever, powerful friends – daring and knowledgeable, tried and tested adventurers who had travelled far and wide. Her books cheered her up when she was sad and kept her from being bored.”

Meggie lives with her father Mo. He is a book binder and they both love reading. One night she overhears a conversation her father has. Next morning, they suddenly have to go to aunt Elinor. After a while, Meggie finally finds out her father’s secret. He is able to bring things from a book to our world when he reads the story aloud. But this talent comes with a price…

Bastian from The Neverending Story

“Bastian liked books that were exciting or funny, or that made him dream. Books where made-up characters had marvelous adventures, books that made him imagine all sorts of things. Because one thing he was good at, possibly the only thing, was imagining things so clearly that he almost saw and heard them.”

The Neverending Story is one of my favourite books from childhood. It’s about a boy reading a book about Fantastica. This world needs a human to save it. While Bastian is reading, he goes into the book. The best thing is: he doesn’t only become part of the story, Bastian is also able to shape it with his imagination.

Charley from The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep

“… I really have no circle of acquaintances outside work. None nonfictional or unrelated to me, anyway. I’m busy. There are a lot of books to read.”

Charley has the magical ability to bring a character from a book into the real world. His brother Rob thinks this family secret causes mostly problems. But I would love to have this power! Not only the characters, but also the plot of The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep is really interesting.

Tilly from Tilly and the Bookwanderers

“With very few exceptions Tilly found that she much preferred the company of characters in her books to most of the people she knew in real life.”

Tilly is a young girl wo lives above her grandparents’ bookshop. One day a character from the book she’s reading appears in the shop. That’s when she learns about `book wandering.’ This magic works both ways: Tilly can bring characters from books into our world and she can get in the book herself.