Male Leads, Female Authors

I am currently in the middle of reading CJ Cherryh's really very good Ealdwood books - a superior example of the fantasy-knights-slip-into-faerie subgenre. Cherryh is an exceptionally skilful craftswoman and a brilliant prose stylist - one of those who Stanley Fish called the 'tribe of the sentence-watchers': every single sentence of hers is polished like a gem. There is not one sloppy word, one bad or clunky phrase, one stumble or misjudgement in the many books of hers that I have read so far. I would put her firmly in the category of the 'best of the rest' - not a genre-surpassing talent like Wolfe, Tolkien, Lewis, etc., perhaps, but among the very finest that SF/fantasy literature has to offer within the bounds of genre writing itself.

She is also an interesting example of that fairly rare phenomenon in the field: a female writer who often uses male protagonists. This makes for a fascinating experience - it gives the characters much more of a complicated inner emotional life than they would otherwise have. In fact I would probably use Cherryh's fiction as a good case study into the phenomenon of sex differences in authorial voice - she is, ostensibly, quite a stereotypically 'masculine' writer in terms of subject matter, but it is still I think fairly obviously writes the male perspective from a feminine point of view. I will of course cover my backside as required these days and point out - this really ought not to need pointing out - that there is no value judgement implied in making the observation. But there really is a difference, by and large, between male characters as imagined by male writers, and male characters as imagined by female writers - just as, as we all know, male authors will tend to write female characters very differently to how female writers do. There is nothing wrong with this, and in fact it makes life much more interesting to acknowledge and study it.

That is a bigger subject that might be for future posts, but in the meantime reading Ealdwood got me wondering about other examples from the genre of female writers who often use male protagonists. The other notable one that springs to mind is Lois McMaster Bujold (we can take it as read that JK Rowling is included); are there any other recommendations you would like to make?

Generating PCs With Lego

You may have been into a Lego shop and noticed a large cabinet containing various buckets filled with character components - heads, bodies, legs, hats, etc. From this, you are allowed to pick-and-mix these components to create up to three unique characters and then take them home with you for an exorbitant price. 

There was a period of time, a few years ago, when we would take my eldest child to the local shopping centre and end up coming home with weird little Lego characters on a fairly regular basis. These many dozens of small plastic people are now housed in a large plastic sack which my kids still regularly play with to this day. 

Some time ago I realised that mixing and matching the components of these figurines was a fun way both to brainstorm D&D PCs (and NPCs for that matter) and also to gain inspiration for general worldbuilding. So, lo! I bring you the Generating PCs With Lego game.

First, you start with a collection of components, and group them into piles of heads, bodies, legs, hats/hair, and accessories. For this demonstration, I've gone for ten of each and arranged them on my electric hob:

Next, you close your eyes and grope around and pick out one component from each pile. You then open your eyes and assemble the results. Hence:

An older woman, wearing a golden mask and wielding a green lightning sword - clearly some sort of fighter-sorceress, perhaps with a grossly disfigured face, or with some mighty and destructive ability which manifests when her mask is revealed.

This one is more of a struggle. A pale-faced clown-like figure in a bikini, with a pet grey cat. I'd call this one something of a dud, but if you have a good idea, say so in the comments.

A cat- or tiger-lady who is accompanied by a dove familiar who enhances her magical abilities, or perhaps acts as a scout or messenger (or a combination of all three). 

Panda-woman wizardress. Need I say more?

It is just slightly possible that we have too many themes going on here. A merman-rabbit accompanied by a chameleon. I suppose one could just about envisage such a PC delving into the Temple of Elemental Evil. But he would considerably slow down the party's overall movement rate.

This woman screams 'ninjress' to me, and the crab-familiar is a nice addition. Picture her hurling her snapping-crab ally into the face of an opponent so it can gouge out his eyes while she gives him a second belly button with her sword. There is, however, a kind of 'Alien Disney Princess' motif creeping into these now; if I did it again I might reconsider the number of animal accessories I include... 

What can I say about this one, except.... alien Disney princess? Although there is a nice Weird Quasi-Egyptian Priestess thing going on here, what with the moons and stars and the giant scorpion ally. Perhaps this character is from the race of aliens who indeed gave the Egyptians their inspiration. 

This one I think can be dealt with more conceptually. The face and body indicate some sort of a court jester - perhaps who has been recently forced into exile. The binoculars indicate deep insight into the true nature of things, as befits such a role. The crown? Maybe theft is the reason for his exile....

A topless woman who goes about distributing poisoned apples - like a fevered admixture of the wicked queen from Snow White, Eve, and a Chris Achilleos painting. 

What I like about this method is that, although obvously Lego figurines are cartoonish, the results don't have to be. A female assassin who has a crab-familiar is a weird but interesting concept, as is a panda-woman sorceress and a golden-masked, grey-haired warrior-mage. 

What I also like about it is that the results each in themselves imply a setting, and indeed can be used as a sort of high-concept setting generation tool in their own right. In what kind of setting would one find a panda-woman sorceress? Or a scorpion priest? Or a tiger-woman with a dove familiar? 

Give it a try. Three mini-figurines are £6 in my local Lego shop, so you only need to shell out a mere £60 to get going...