Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly tag hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s prompt is…
Top 10 Favorite Fathers in Fiction
Father’s Day is this upcoming Sunday so let’s take some time to discuss some pretty amazing fathers in fiction! I am also extending this list to father figures as well because I think these guys deserve some recognition both in fiction and in real life!
But can we take a moment to mention the lack of amazing father representation in fantasy books? I didn’t realize it until I started sifting through my read list but way too many fathers are either dead, or evil? We need more positive father representation in fantasy.
To Kill a Mockingbird (To Kill a Mockingbird #1) by Harper Lee
I don’t think you can make a list of fabulous fictitious fathers without including Atticus Finch, who is definitely one of the greatest book dads of all time!
This man is a shining example of integrity. He is an excellent roll model even when he questions his worth as a single father being judged by his community.
(Goodreads synopsis):
“The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior – to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos.”
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Published September 10th 2013
Cather and Wren’s dad has his ups and downs literally … living with bipolar disorder. He makes some mistakes and Cath tends to worry about him often but it is clear that this eccentric and creative father loves his kids! First off I really loved the bipolar representation in this though it was a bit on the more extreme side, I could relate. His character was real and one of my favorite things about this book. Even though he has his moments I still think this dad is a great example of fictitious fathers.
(Goodreads synopsis):
“A coming-of-age tale of fanfiction, family and first love
CATH IS A SIMON SNOW FAN. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan… But for Cath, being a fan is her life–and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath that she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend; a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world; a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words…and she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?“
Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss #2) by Stephanie Perkins
(Goodreads synopsis):
Lola is luckier than most in the father department. Most people are blessed to have one amazing father and Lola has two! These dads are loving and supportive and the perfect example of not only great parenting … but of a loving committed relationship as well!
“Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.”
City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare
Published March 27th 2007
*possible series spoilers*
Well, this series has an obvious dad villain, but I’m not talking about him. I am talking about the amazing father figure in this series, Luke Garroway. This man has been like an uncle to Clary but has very much been like a father. The relationship between these two that is revealed through this book and this series and is one of the most beautiful father figure/daughter relationships I can think of. Luke does not have any children of his own but he obviously loves Clary like she is his. A definite father of merit!
(Goodreads synopsis):
“When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know…
Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.”
Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo
Published September 20th 2016
*possible series spoilers*
This book introduces one of my favorite fathers of YA fantasy fiction … Colm Fahey. Jesper’s dad is loving and trusting and supportive, even to the point of joining this rag tag bunch in order to keep his son safe. Through the book we learn more backstory about Jesper and his family which really shines a positive spotlight on this fictitious father. Colm is quick to forgive his son his faults and love him all the more for them. He is definitely a dad who deserves to be on this list.
(Goodreads synopsis):
“Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.”
Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare
Published March 8th 2016
*possible series spoilers*
Another one of my favorite father figures, though in actuality a big brother. Julien Blackthorn. Not much older than his siblings, and forced into the role by a series of heart wrenching circumstances, Julien is one of the greatest self sacrificing father figures out there! His love for his siblings is undying and unending. Julien would literally set the world on fire to save and protect his family. What more could you really ask for in a dad?
(Goodreads synopsis):
“In a kingdom by the sea…
In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.
A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other—but they can never fall in love.
Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhunter, and the best in her generation. She lives for battle. Shoulder to shoulder with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries—the most powerful of supernatural creatures—teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries turn up murdered in the same way Emma’s parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma’s chance for revenge—and Julian’s chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held prisoner by the faerie Courts. All Emma, Mark, and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks…and before the murderer targets them.
Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. And each clue she unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents—and can she bear to know the truth?
The darkly magical world of Shadowhunters has captured the imaginations of millions of readers across the globe. Join the adventure in Lady Midnight, the long-awaited first volume of a new trilogy from Cassandra Clare.”
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe #1) by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Published February 21st 2012
I adore Dante’s dad in this book. He is loving and supportive of his son. No judgment just unending adoration for his family. He is silly and loving and everything a father should be.
(Goodreads synopsis):
“Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.”
The Firebird (Slains #2) by Susanna Kearsley
Published June 4th 2013
*major series spoilers*
There are actually a few fathers and father figures of merit in this particular story.This is a bit of a different sort of situation. Anna’s dad John Moray goes by a different name for most of this book and poses at one point as more of a father figure. It is not revealed that he is in fact the true father until the end of the story. John was forced to abandon his family in order to protect them but it is obvious that this was an extremely hard thing to do. When he meets his daughter and has to let her go again, without her even knowing who he was to her … it was heart wrenching. It was a beautiful surprise though to find that the father figure she had clung to as a child ended up being her true father after all. While he was not able to be the father in her life he wanted to be, he was willing to sacrifice himself for her. That is a trait worth admiring.
However, through her childhood and into adulthood, Anna is actually taken in and raised by another man who treats her as his own. Vice Admiral Gordon never once makes Anna feel like she is any less his daughter than his other children. In a way he treats her as a favorite. This relationship is absolutely a beautiful father/daughter relationship for sure!
(Goodreads synopsis):
“Nicola Marter was born with a gift. When she touches an object, she sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When a woman arrives with a small wooden carving at the gallery Nicola works at, she can see the object’s history and knows that it was named after the Firebird—the mythical creature from an old Russian fable.Compelled to know more, Nicola follows a young girl named Anna into the past who leads her on a quest through the glittering backdrops of the Jacobites and Russian courts, unearthing a tale of love, courage, and redemption.”
Slammed (Slammed #1) by Colleen Hoover
Published August 10th 2012
Another big brother forced to be the father figure in his younger sibling’s life. Will Cooper is a wonderful example of a man forced to step into a roll that he shouldn’t have had to, and doing it without regret and with love.
(Goodreads synopsis):
“Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she’s losing hope.
Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.
Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the secret that keeps them apart.”
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before #1) by Jenny Han
Published April 15th 2014
This widower dad has his hands full with three girls! And doing it alone no less! This man absolutely deserves recognition. Yeah sometimes he doesn’t know what he’s doing, but isn’t that true for all of us? It is clear that he loves his daughters more than life and that’s what matters in the end. Another great father of fiction.
(Goodreads synopsis):
“Lara Jean’s love life gets complicated in this New York Times bestselling “lovely, lighthearted romance” from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series.
What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them… all at once?Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.“
What fabulous fathers in fiction do you love best? Comment below!
A Thousand Lives of Frankie Lovely 
Ned Stark, Tam al’Thor, and Jonathan Kent!
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Tam was originally on my list! It was such a hard call to make but yes! Definitely one of the best in my mind too!
And yes to Ned Stark as well!
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Love Fangirl and totally forgot about her bipolar dad whom I loved! To All the Boys Ive Loved Before… love her widowed dad! I so badly need to read Six of Crows! Slammed sounds quite good and I do enjoy when older brothers act as dads. Lovely list…
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thanks 🙂
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okay but like Atticus was literally the Top Father for the century honestly what a legend
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Right?! I mean this he has fathering on point!
Century … Millennium … all time!
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I looved the father from Fangirl! He’s so relatable and loving and a great character all around 🙂
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