Another Thursday is upon us, thus it is time for another Booking Through Thursday question!

Sometimes I find eccentric characters quirky and fun, other times I find them too unbelievable and annoying. What are some of the more outrageous characters you’ve read, and how do you feel about them?

Right now, for the life of me, I can’t think of an eccentric or quirky character that annoyed me, for the most part I enjoy the.

In Mercedes Lackey’s Dragon Jousters series, the eccentric and quirky character was definately the Akkadian healer, Heklatis. He added a much needed dose of merriment and humor that kept the book from spiraling into darkness and despair that a lot of the characters felt in the second book Alta. He had a sharp tongue, quick wit, and could be flamboyant from time to time – I just loved him. He also provided a different view of the events that were going on, a view that the readers could identify with better I thought. Besides, your enemy, a scary-powerful mage, has you cornered in your quarters, and though the wards keep him out, it’s apparent that you’re a practitioner of magic and at a time when the politics of the land are looking for a foreign mage to land the blame on in order to win the people’s devotion. What do you do to get yourself out of this trouble? If you’re Heklatis, you sashay out to the mage, bat your eyes at him and feign ignorance of what he is talking about. As he gets flustered in anger, you dash back into your room, grab an erotic statue of a god and a very sexy male cup bearer in a pose that suggests it’s not just the cup the young man is willing to bare, and mince back out. Proclaim you had the priests of your land bless all of your statues and amulets, which just must be what he’s sensing, and then tell the mage that unlike the God you prefer your cup bearer to be much older. Then threaten the country with financial ruin should you not be allowed to practice your own religion in your home, something you just must tell your fellow countrymen who happen to hold many high places in this country. You have to love Heklatis.

A real masterpiece of quirkiness and eccentricity, which I have never seen completely and successfully duplicated are the main characters of The Princess Bride. I’ve had people tell me that my favorite character from the book and film, Inigo Montoya, is meant to be the comic relief, the quirky and eccentric character. I have to disagree, all of the characters, had an underlying quality about them, a quirk if you must, that kept the tone of the story light hearted and entertaining, even though it is one heck of a swashbuckling revenge story.