Looking for books with two main characters

Edwardian

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Messages
271
Reaction score
32
I want to read books that have two main characters as it's something I tend to write. I also want to look at how they present the book summaries. Does anybody know any?
 
Last edited:

Pony.

Aspiring supervillain
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 28, 2015
Messages
3,563
Reaction score
194
There may be more than one prominant characters, but a story will likely boil down to one main character, whichever character the reader identifies with most. Some books that seem to have two main characters really only have a single protagonist with an allie, the antagonist can have an allie too. Goodreads gave a list of books with an ensemble of characters which can offer additional prominant characters to follow and root for or against.

https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/ensemble-cast
 

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 9, 2005
Messages
16,768
Reaction score
4,663
Location
Scotland
Maybe I haven't woken up yet, but I'm not sure what you mean here.

Don't most books have at least two main characters?

Do you mean only two protagonists, or two antagonists? Or only two main characters? Romance springs to mind if it's the latter.
 

froglivers

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 17, 2017
Messages
75
Reaction score
9
Location
Moravia
Do you mean, two main characters each with alternating chapter POVs?
Marie Lu's Legend comes to mind.
 

LJD

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 12, 2010
Messages
4,226
Reaction score
525
There's a whole genre filled with such books: Romance.
 

TSJohnson

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 24, 2017
Messages
112
Reaction score
19
James Corey's The Expanse has two main characters (both men, neither of them a sidekick, written in from two POVs, 3rd person). Corey is a pseudonym and it's actually written by two people.
 

JJ Crafts

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 14, 2018
Messages
68
Reaction score
12
Location
UK
An ember in the ashes is also a dual main character story
 

ironmikezero

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 8, 2011
Messages
1,737
Reaction score
426
Location
Haunted Louisiana
If you mean two protagonists working together (and those two POVs), many authors have done it, myself included. Feel free to PM me for relative details.
 

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
29,138
Reaction score
8,563
Location
Toronto
Website
ktcraig.com
My 3rd book The Reasons is two character POV first person...they alternate chapters.

The Reasons
 

Polenth

Mushroom
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 27, 2007
Messages
5,017
Reaction score
735
Location
England
Website
www.polenthblake.com
I wrote a novel with two viewpoint characters. How you summarise depends on what you want to achieve. Some romance novels have a bit from each character. This is because it's focusing on the characters. I felt the friendship between my leads was the important focus, so I did a similar thing. But if you're focusing more on plot, then you'd likely focus on one character. You could try it both ways and see which works the best.
 

Roxxsmom

Beastly Fido
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 24, 2011
Messages
23,083
Reaction score
10,780
Location
Where faults collide
Website
doggedlywriting.blogspot.com
The romance genre typically has two main characters (co-protagonists, and usually the narrative viewpoint, or focus if narrative is in omniscient, shifts between the two), and as I understand it, it's the norm to include both partners' main arcs in the query for that genre. Your story is probably not a romance, but it may be worthwhile to check some out to see how the authors accomplish the shifts.

I have seen queries in other genres that jump between two co-protagonists, but the norm is to focus on the arc of the one who has the narrative focus in the novel opening.
 

Will Collins

Will Collins
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 24, 2010
Messages
1,235
Reaction score
35
If you mean a book told from two alternating POV's then A Darker Shade of Sorcery fits the bill.

I don't know who the author is though. :)
 

Elle.

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 10, 2018
Messages
1,272
Reaction score
734
Location
United Kingdom
Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman has two main protagonists, and dual POVs.
 

Roxxsmom

Beastly Fido
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 24, 2011
Messages
23,083
Reaction score
10,780
Location
Where faults collide
Website
doggedlywriting.blogspot.com
What I find interesting is, outside of romance, it appears that novels told from two povs are pretty rare. Single viewpoint novels abound, especially in first person, and novels with more than two pov characters also abound (most often in limited third, but sometimes in first, or switching between first and third for different characters). But googling "novels with two pov characters" etc. gives me tons of links for novels with multiple viewpoint characters.

I don't think this should be a discouragement. A writer should pick the number of viewpoints that best serves the story.

The thing you should be crystal clear on prior to constructing a query is whether or not your novel truly has two protagonists, or whether you have two viewpoint characters, one of whom is the plot-driving protagonist. Even in romance, it's common for one character (usually the FMC in M/F romances) to really be "the lead," as in their life situation or problems get the plot bunnies hopping. The other character has goals and issues too, and they will affect the plot in many ways, but they will be nudged along by the other. In true dual protagonist stories, the relationship between the two characters drives the plot in a very symmetrical way, with neither one doing most of the leading nor following (or acting and reacting). Or the two characters may have entirely separate or parallel stories going on, but they are interwoven, or will eventually merge, in some way.

Here's a list of books that have two or more pov characters with distinctive voices.

http://www.penguinteen.com/10-books...prove-two-or-more-voices-are-better-than-one/
 
Last edited:

BonafideDreamer

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 8, 2017
Messages
72
Reaction score
3
That's pretty much the standard in romance novels. So if you're a fan of romance, any book you pick will pretty much have two main characters (hero and heroine), along with providing both their POVs.
 
Last edited:

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 15, 2008
Messages
18,618
Reaction score
4,032
Location
Brillig in the slithy toves...
Romance novels do this with the romantic leads.

Crime novels do this with the criminal and the investigator.

YA novels do this with the main characters.

Fantasy novels do this (often with many more characters) to show different families, clans, worlds, etc.

Any book where you need a character to see something another character can't see does this.

Any book where you've got characters in different time periods does this.
 

indianroads

Wherever I go, there I am.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Messages
2,372
Reaction score
230
Location
Colorado
Website
indianroads.net
James Corey's The Expanse has two main characters (both men, neither of them a sidekick, written in from two POVs, 3rd person). Corey is a pseudonym and it's actually written by two people.

The Expanse has more than two main characters... trying to remember - I think 5 main characters in all. Holden is (IMO) a bit more prominent than some of the others, but not by much. The author(s) handle it well ... again my opinion.