Introduction [excerpt] When I was a teenager, I was an avid reader even though I found most plots predicatably boring and frequently found the characters in them to be one-dimensional stereotypes who were no reflection of the world I lived in. I wanted an escape or just the ability to relate to a character, so I felt like I wasn't alone. A children's librarian directed me to The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones. This book featured a hero who was flawed, frequently...