Who's your favorite character and why?

Cover of copy I own

I've wanted to try blogging for a while. A library technician in this day and age needs to be comfortable with social media. But what to write about? How to fill the empty space of the blog.. with what content? And what to name it?

It's logical to have a focus but I can't decide on what that focus should be (hence for now, "Jack of all" trades, master of none). So I've decided I will experiment; let life inspire me and let the blog run its own course. 

The other day I saw the following scribbled on the door of the washroom stall that I tend to use at work: Who is your favorite Game of Thrones character and why? I'm sure the writer was referring to the HBO series, which I've never seen but now I'm curious about, but I recognized the reference - having read every book in the series except the last (which I'm reading off and on as I get it from the library) - and I felt excited. I knew my answer right away: Tyrion. No contest. Why? Because he's clever. Crude but clever. Everyone loves an interesting underdog. You can't get more interesting than a clever but crude royal imp with a healthy appetite for the ladies. He makes me laugh and I root for him.

Cover of 1st copy I read

I still remember picking up my first copy of A Game of Thrones from the paperback rack at my local branch.  From the first few pages, I was hooked. I loved the characters, even the ones that were supposed to be the "bad guys". They were so well rounded that you felt for them, understood their motivation. Whenever I hear the second movement of Hovhaness' Mysterious Mountain, I remember it was playing in the background as I read about the treacherous assent toward the Eyrie and Tyrion's imprisonment in one of the dreaded "sky cells": open to the air on one side, above the clouds, and sloped down ever so slightly so the prisoner feels in a constant state of unrest, as if he could roll out and fall to his death at any moment. Such imagery.

The first book was by far the best, but I own every copy in the series except the last which I plan to purchase once it comes out it paperback. Hope watching the HBO series doesn't ruin my mental image of the books.

Cover images from George R. R. Martin's official website under Song of Ice and Fire cover art.