Top Ten Tuesday: Dynamic Duos

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is "dynamic duos".  Here are ten recommended books/series featuring character pairs united by either love or friendship.

The Sherlock Holmes Series 

by Arthur Conan Doyle

This was the first duo that sprang to mind.  Holmes' friend Watson acts as balance for the consulting detective in these classic mysteries.  I'm a huge fan of these stories, and of the unlikely friendship between this pair.

The Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes Series 

by Laurie R. King

Though starting out like fanfiction, this series featuring Mary Russell and her partner (later husband) Sherlock Holmes has developed into a rich, addicting, and thoroughly enjoyable series.  I'm very picky about non-canon Holmes, but find King's interpretation to be nearly perfect.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The sweet friendship between Anne and Diana is a central component, as well as part of the charm of this wonderful book.  I highly recommend it, and the entire series, for adults as well as the recommended middle-grade readers.

The Burton and Swinburne Series by Mark Hodder

This entertaining, complex (and sometimes baffling), steampunk series features fictional versions of two famous Victorians: the poet Algernon Swinburne, and my historical crush, the multitalented explorer, author, and scholar Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton. Alternate history, steampunk fantasy, and excellent world-building combine to create engrossing reading.

The Albert Campion Series by Margery Allingham

His manservant, Magersfontein Lugg, sometimes assists (sometimes hinders) Campion in many of his escapades.  While these books are often called mysteries, they are usually more adventure than puzzle.  Allingham writes well, and the books are generally a good deal of fun.

The Vlad Taltos Series by Steven Brust

In this excellent, clever, and hard to describe fantasy series, the (anti-)hero, Vlad Taltos, has a winged reptile familiar named Loiosh, without whom he would never survive his adventures.  This series is well-written, complex, and completely entertaining, with an unforgettable world. 

The Rincewind Novels in the Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett

This outstanding series can be subdivided into novels featuring certain characters, one of which is the wizard Rincewind and his sentient trunk known as the Luggage.  It's impossible to explain these two without recounting the books, so suffice it to say that this series is fantastic, and Rincewind and the Luggage quite the duo.

The Jeeves and Wooster Series by P.G. Wodehouse

It's hard to find a more entertaining duo than these two.  Jeeves, Bertie's manservant, pulls him out of one scrape after another, all the while maintaining a cool head and perfect demeanor.  These books are pure fun and I recommend them highly.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

This memorable YA novel is moving, gripping, and excellently written. Here is my full review.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

This charming, fun, and unforgettable fantasy features an ordinary young woman, Sophie, becoming a housekeeper of sorts for a most uncommon wizard, Howl.  I reread it in December 2020 and loved it as much as I had the first time.

Top Ten Tuesday is a long-running weekly blog prompt, currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.