Nasty main characters

Once in a while you run across a story or novel with a really nasty protagonist.

Right now I'm reading "I, Claudia," about a woman in the early period of the Roman Empire (the reign of Augustus). The setting is interesting,and the author is quite familiar with Rome at that time. But Claudia Seferius, the main character, is a jerk.

To begin with she's a high-class whore. That's bad. It gets worse. She's a degenerate gambler, in fact she turns tricks to pay gambling debts, she needles people mercilessly and enjoys doing so, she despises her husband and in-laws (which would be most natural for the era given marriages were arranged, except she chose to marry the man), and overall delights in putting people down.

To balance this she's smart, she thinks quickly and she's described as being very attractive. But that's really not enough.

I hope the story, a murder mystery of sorts, takes a turn for the better soon. Otherwise I'll have wasted a bargain e-book.


The last book I read with a really nasty main character was the Pri Corps trilogy set in the Babylon 5 universe. Bester, the Psi Cop (cop as in policeman), ably played by Walter Koenig on the show, features heavily in it, and engenders not a tiny iota of sympathy. I think that's one reason I never re-read that trilogy.

Quote: Nareed

But Claudia Seferius, the main character, is a jerk. To begin with she's a high-class whore.

The reviews don't make her out to be a jerk. They say she is a prostitute and she married for money and security, but the description makes her out to be a woman who does what is necessary.

Quote: Pacomartin

The reviews don't make her out to be a jerk. They say she is a prostitute and she married for money and security, but the description makes her out to be a woman who does what is necessary.

Jerk might be to charitable a description. Thus far she has a derogative term for every other character in the novel. Except her cat. She loves her cat.

Quote: Nareed

Thus far she has a derogative term for every other character in the novel.

Well she is described as someone who grew up without uncontested love. Everyone she has known has wanted something from her. I guess the other crime solver loves her, but she can't see it.

I've been pondering whether Galen, in the Technomage trilogy, is also a nasty character. After all, he's cold, distant, and prone to fits of violence (though that comes alter). Indeed, there are scenes where I want to slap some sense into him.

But he's also non-judgmental (in a good social way, not in a moral sense), righteous and he's hardest of all on himself. He means well, even if his view of life and the universe is flawed (and how!) He tries to do good, he tries to be kind, he is considerate of other people (even when they stand in his way).

So no. Perhaps having to ask makes the answer obvious.