This character first appeared in a different century, in a wildly inventive story of other-worldly exploration and eccentricity.  

The landscape the character traverses is unfamiliar and exotic and foretold some of what we would eventually discover.

The character is quiet, astute and even philosophical, observing that the “earth doesn’t want new continents but new men.” And yet this character pairs a refined sense of culture with a lust for vengeance and violence.

When the author was in the midst of writing this masterpiece, they knew they had something special, telling their editor, “I’ve never held a better thing in my hands.”

And the author may have been right. The novel in which this mystery character appears is still being cherished decades and decades later.

Can you name October’s Mystery Literary Character? And the novel in which they appear?

When you have it, email me at: kmiller@mpr.org.