I'm writing my novel from third person limited perspective. There will be chapters done from a couple of other points of view but I haven't yet settled on my main and was hoping for some advice. Perhaps if I give an explanation of the characters I'm considering you could let me know who you think has the best potential. Oh and it's a fantasy novel.
Character 1: He was born into a noble house which is highly dedicated to the church that worships the One God. While this character does believe deeply in the god of the church, he has a secret fascination with the gods that are worshipped in other lands. At one point in his teens he falls from a high balcony and ends up a paraplegic because of it. There is doubt as to whether he jumped or fell, and even the character himself isn't quite sure. The story begins when he is in his mid 20's and working as a scribe and librarian. During the course of the story he is motivated by Character 2 to attempt to recover from his fall, and he actually succeeds in being able to walk again. This is heralded as a miracle of the One God and Character 1 is encouraged to become a priest of the church, which he agrees to.
As the main conflicts of the novel are caused by a few corrupt members of this church, this would be the character who is in the best position to do something to expose these people. One other point about this character: he's gay, but he struggles with this as same sex coupling is a crime, and the church is opposed to it too.
Character 2: She was raised by an uncaring solo father, and consequently is a bit of a tom boy. Whenever she asked about her mother he would tell her that she's probably dead, and would say no more. When she was in her mid teens her father took to heavy drinking, and so she had to find employment so that they wouldn't go hungry. She ends up being employed by the noble house of Character 1. They employ her to take care of Character 1, who recently became crippled by his fall. As mentioned in Character 1s description, the story takes place when these characters are in their mid 20's, and she is still caring for him at this stage. They have become close friends, though he hasn't told her that he's gay. Character 2 doesn't see reason to worship any gods, though outwardly she pretends to respect the One God, as non believers are typically treated with scorn.
Character 2 takes a few hits as the story progresses. Her father dies of alcohol poisoning before she can tell him what she really thinks of him. Character 1 recovers and joins the priesthood so he no longer needs her, and though he still considers her a good friend, they do not see much of eachother. She manages to find out her mothers name and track her to another city, only to discover her mother died years ago, giving birth to another daughter. Her sister, when she manages to track her down, doesn't want anything to do with her. She has strong affections for Character 3, and they spend a night together, but Character 3 is in love with someone else and so the relationship doesn't last beyond that one night.
She ends up in the employ of an underground mercenary guild, who hire her for her inside knowledge of the noble houses that she entered while caring for Character 1. After all that's gone wrong in her life, and with the added influence of the guild, she commits some pretty immoral acts, culminating with the murder of a key character towards the end of the plot.
Although she is a tom boy, her soft side is shown in the way she cares for Character 1, and the pain she feels from all the rejections in her life, and that soft side slowly deteriorates.
Character 3: He is Character 1s cousin, but he was born outside of wedlock and so is not recognised as a noble. Character 1 is the only member of the household that is friendly to him. As is common among bastard-born men, he becomes a city guard. Eventually he is hired by another noble house to be a personal guard to one of the women in their family. This woman has her sights set on the throne. She does not believe in the One God, or any other gods for that matter, and she believes that the people of her city would be better off with secular leadership. As the current king is highly sympathetic to the church, she plots to position herself for next in line for the throne (by making deals with other noble houses and within her own), and then having the king murdered. Though Character 3 is aware of her ambition to position herself as next in line, he is not aware that she arranges the kings murder, though his suspicions are raised.
Once she becomes queen she sets about making law changes which conflict with church teachings, and so a power struggle begins to take place between the crown and the church.
Character 3 is tied to Characters 1 and 2 in the story, but the main purpose for his POV would be as an observer of the queen.
Whoever I choose as the main, the other two characters would still get chapters from their POV. So based on the descriptions I gave, I'd be very interested to hear who you think would best serve as the protagonist.
Thanks
Character 1: He was born into a noble house which is highly dedicated to the church that worships the One God. While this character does believe deeply in the god of the church, he has a secret fascination with the gods that are worshipped in other lands. At one point in his teens he falls from a high balcony and ends up a paraplegic because of it. There is doubt as to whether he jumped or fell, and even the character himself isn't quite sure. The story begins when he is in his mid 20's and working as a scribe and librarian. During the course of the story he is motivated by Character 2 to attempt to recover from his fall, and he actually succeeds in being able to walk again. This is heralded as a miracle of the One God and Character 1 is encouraged to become a priest of the church, which he agrees to.
As the main conflicts of the novel are caused by a few corrupt members of this church, this would be the character who is in the best position to do something to expose these people. One other point about this character: he's gay, but he struggles with this as same sex coupling is a crime, and the church is opposed to it too.
Character 2: She was raised by an uncaring solo father, and consequently is a bit of a tom boy. Whenever she asked about her mother he would tell her that she's probably dead, and would say no more. When she was in her mid teens her father took to heavy drinking, and so she had to find employment so that they wouldn't go hungry. She ends up being employed by the noble house of Character 1. They employ her to take care of Character 1, who recently became crippled by his fall. As mentioned in Character 1s description, the story takes place when these characters are in their mid 20's, and she is still caring for him at this stage. They have become close friends, though he hasn't told her that he's gay. Character 2 doesn't see reason to worship any gods, though outwardly she pretends to respect the One God, as non believers are typically treated with scorn.
Character 2 takes a few hits as the story progresses. Her father dies of alcohol poisoning before she can tell him what she really thinks of him. Character 1 recovers and joins the priesthood so he no longer needs her, and though he still considers her a good friend, they do not see much of eachother. She manages to find out her mothers name and track her to another city, only to discover her mother died years ago, giving birth to another daughter. Her sister, when she manages to track her down, doesn't want anything to do with her. She has strong affections for Character 3, and they spend a night together, but Character 3 is in love with someone else and so the relationship doesn't last beyond that one night.
She ends up in the employ of an underground mercenary guild, who hire her for her inside knowledge of the noble houses that she entered while caring for Character 1. After all that's gone wrong in her life, and with the added influence of the guild, she commits some pretty immoral acts, culminating with the murder of a key character towards the end of the plot.
Although she is a tom boy, her soft side is shown in the way she cares for Character 1, and the pain she feels from all the rejections in her life, and that soft side slowly deteriorates.
Character 3: He is Character 1s cousin, but he was born outside of wedlock and so is not recognised as a noble. Character 1 is the only member of the household that is friendly to him. As is common among bastard-born men, he becomes a city guard. Eventually he is hired by another noble house to be a personal guard to one of the women in their family. This woman has her sights set on the throne. She does not believe in the One God, or any other gods for that matter, and she believes that the people of her city would be better off with secular leadership. As the current king is highly sympathetic to the church, she plots to position herself for next in line for the throne (by making deals with other noble houses and within her own), and then having the king murdered. Though Character 3 is aware of her ambition to position herself as next in line, he is not aware that she arranges the kings murder, though his suspicions are raised.
Once she becomes queen she sets about making law changes which conflict with church teachings, and so a power struggle begins to take place between the crown and the church.
Character 3 is tied to Characters 1 and 2 in the story, but the main purpose for his POV would be as an observer of the queen.
Whoever I choose as the main, the other two characters would still get chapters from their POV. So based on the descriptions I gave, I'd be very interested to hear who you think would best serve as the protagonist.
Thanks
