10 SFF Authors Shop For Their Main Characters

The holiday season is here so we asked ten science fiction and fantasy authors what presents they would give to the main characters of their novels.

Mira Grant

I have several main characters, so I’ll go with the one who’d be the easiest to shop for: Shaun Mason. I would buy him a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock, because nothing would please him more than using a piece of classic Americana to shoot a bunch of zombies in the head. Sometimes it’s nice to be easy to please. Shaun Mason is the definition of “easy” when it comes to weapons of zombie destruction.

Charles Stross

FOR BOB: I’m getting him a set of really nice, memory foam ear plugs that are comfortable enough to sleep with all night! (When Mo can’t sleep, she sometimes goes downstairs and practices the violin in the kitchen. For some reason this often gives Bob screaming nightmares.) I considered getting him a tablet or some other gizmo, but he couldn’t use it out of the house—the Security Officer would have to confiscate it—and anyway, his toys are all cooler (or scarier) than anything I could buy for him.

FOR MO: The question is, work or play? I had to make a tough choice between a new Filofax organiser—her old one is bursting at the seams and tends to fly open at random—and a signed hardback copy of “Supergods: Our World In The Age Of The Superhero” by Grant Morrison. In the end work won, so there’s a copy of “Supergods” waiting for her under the Yule tree. Something tells me she’s going to need it soon …

Sam Sykes

This is always a tricky question. Like, what do you get for the man who has nothing? Lenk’s a character whose chief desire is to have people not trying to kill him anymore. I mean, sure, we’d all like that, but that’s just plain not going to happen, is it? There’s a guy out there right now who wants to kill you because you continued calling him Steve after he said he prefers ‘Stephen.’ Maybe the best thing I could get Lenk is someone who wants to kill him for an entirely different reason than what he’s used to? That’d still be depressing, but on the upside it’d be refreshing and there’s a chance we might kill Steve. Sorry, Stephen.

Claire North

Kepler, being a character that has no life of its own, but must live through other people’s bodies, is tricky to buy Christmas presents for. Every time it jumps bodies it loses the material possessions it had, and this being so, I think I’d want to give Kepler an experience it could remember, rather than something physical. I’d like therefore to give Kepler a trip to see the Aurura Borealis, on the principal that it’s unlikely that any of the bodies it naturally jumps into would take this trip without being prodded, and because it would be a sight – a great big, beautiful, moving sight – which Kepler could remember for years to come, even after it had moved onto a new life.

Kristen Painter

I'd probably buy Augustine a tub of Acme Horn Polish, because well, he's got horns and everybody knows those things don't polish themselves. Maybe Harlow could even help him with that. It's a gift for both of them, really.

Angus Watson

I’d send back in time to Dug, Lowa and Spring inventions that they didn’t have in the Iron Age that I think they’d find useful. Since Dug’s a man in his early forties like me, I know he’d absolutely love an electric nasal hair trimmer. Spring I would give an iPhone so she could post her witty comments online and share pictures of the animals that she loves. Like all women, Lowa would be tricky. I’d be tempted by a top of the range machine gun or sniper’s rifle, or maybe a gift set of hand grenades. However, she probably wouldn’t thank me for trying to replace her longbow, so I’d probably just get her a big leather Smythson quiver stuffed with titanium-shafted, steel-headed, diamond-tipped arrows.

M.R. Carey

I’d buy Melanie (the ten-year-old protagonist of The Girl With All the Gifts) a copy of T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. We already know she’s crazy about Greek myth. I think it’s way past time she was exposed to other mythologies and folklores – and she’d be bound to love this magnificent retelling of the Arthurian romances.

Trudi Canavan

I would buy Vella, the sentient book, a new carry pouch. She’s been hidden under Tyen’s shirt for a very long time now, and since he joined the rebels he’s been running about not getting the chance to wash or even eat as well as he ought to, and the pouch he’s put her in must be getting awfully smelly.

Nicole Peeler

I would definitely buy Jane a fancy collar for her "puppy," embroidered with, "She just likes my doggie style." Laughs would be shared by all. ;)

Charlie Fletcher

Since I have an inkling of what perils The Oversight have to face in the next chapter, I think it wise that Mr Sharp gets a new knife (in an ideal world a rare fixed blade made by Jess Horn) and Sara Falk gets a fine (waterproof) pocket-watch and a serviceable compass, in order that she can find her way home, in time. I’d give Cook a years subscription to The Spicery. Or maybe a fire extinguisher…

If you're looking to build your own holiday shopping list for the readers in your life, we heartily recommend the works of these authors. For more information, visit their websites at:

Mira Grant | Charles Stross | Sam Sykes | Claire North | Kristen Painter | M.R. Carey | Angus Watson | Trudi Canavan | Nicole Peeler | Charlie Fletcher