Tough Traveling - Dear Old Mums

Tough Traveling is a fun meme that aims to tour all the tropes big and small, abhorred and loved that are littered across the fantasy landscape. It was conceived of and is hosted by Nathan at Fantasy Review Barn and here's how it's explained on the blog: 

Each Thursday, our copy of ‘The Tough Guide to Fantasyland’ in hand, we shall tour the mystical countryside looking for adventure and fun (and tropes) from all over fantasy.

This week's trope is Moms:

Everyone has a mother. Including people in fantasyland. Just in time to be slightly early for Mother’s Day.

The odd thing is most of the fantasy I've read seems to have a remarkable dearth of mothers!  It's like the authors needed to give their main characters some kind of challenging past to overcome and asked themselves - "What's the worst thing that can happen to a child?  I know!  Losing their mother."  And of course it's true, so it automatically sparks sympathy.  That is all to say that this was a surprisingly difficult list to make, at least for me. 

- Mrs. Weasley from Harry Potter

Lord how I love her and you know she's a mom extraordinaire to be able to handle the Weasley clan.

- Nina Locke from the Locke and Key Graphic Novel Series by Joe Hill

This series leans more towards horror than fantasy but oh well because it's fantastic and I'm going to use it anyway.  The series starts with the brutal and frightening murder of the Locke of Nina's husband right in front of her.  During the part of the series I've read thus (1-4) far she is trying to hold it together and be a mother to her three children but she is not succeeding very well and spends much of her time drinking.  It's a difficult and tragic situation and she is written very well. 

- Snow White in the Fables series by Bill Willingham

Being married to the Big Bad Wolf means that (poor) Snow had a litter of seven children, all of which have wolfy and windy (grandpa is the north wind) tendencies making them quite the handful.  One of them is even invisible.  Later in the series horrible things start happening to them, as well, making Snow's job so much harder.

- Virginia Doyle in the Gemma Doyle series by Libba Bray

Virginia is the main character Gemma's mother and it is her death and the legacy it leaves behind that really drives the action of this trilogy.  She is an invisible presence throughout the books.

- Cordelia Vorkosigan in the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold

Not only is she a terrific mother to Miles but she is all around a very kick ass lady!  In fact, I'd love another Vorkosigan series book focused on her.

Since this is a list meant to honor mother's day I will only vaguely allude to the evil stepmothers that show up in many fairy tales:0).

I'm  very curious to see what other mothers show up on the lists this week!