One of the centerpieces, if not the centerpiece of literary fiction is character realism. Readers of said fiction expect emotions, thoughts, actions, dialogue, and the details of human life to cleave to reality. That is the norm of the form. It arises, naturally, that subsequent characters are 'complex'. Real people's lives are, after all, complex. Another way of putting this is: complex characters are default in literary fiction. Nobody need call them out as 'complex', or make a list of literary-minded books with 'complex characters'. That is the logic I tried to apply to Fantasy Review's article about 'complex characters' in fantasy fiction. I failed.
Firslty, what's behind that post title? Is it that fantasy characters are typically rendered in simple terms and therefore such a list is special? Is it that fantasy has a wealth of complex characters and here are six of the best? Is there a zeitgeist in fantasy thirsting for complex characters? Is it fantasy for readers who typically read more literary fiction? Any way you ask it, it's an odd thing to focus on. Looking at the six books the post cites does not help answer any of those questions.
Of the six series listed by The Fantasy Review, I have read books from two: The Iron Druid Chronicles by Keven Hearne and The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee. Hounded, first book in the Iron Druid Chronicles, tells of a young man who owns an occult book shop in Arizona by day and fights mythic monsters by night. Jade City, first book in the Green Bone Saga trilogy, interweaves the stories of a handful of characters in a fantasy Asian city where jade is both a drug and object of power fought over by yakuza-esque clans. These stories are colorful entertainment, but the characters are not rendered in 3D. The reader does not get many glimpses into their complex, human souls. They serve plot and setting more than being character examinations. I don't know the other four series on the list, but I don't hold out hope that the questions asked above have relevance to the post considering Seanan McGuire and Jim Butcher are also on the list. None of these authors have to date produced 'complex characters'—that I've read. Which leads me to:
I have read hundreds and hundreds of books fitting either their whole body or just one toe into the fantasy genre. I can say with certainty there is a dearth of 3D characters in fantasy. Many are stereotypes, and if they are not stereotypes, they get 2D treatment at best. This is not a bad thing. Repeat, this is not a bad thing.
Readers of fantasy fiction, including myself, are not usually in it for the realism/complexity of characters. We're there for the imagination, the speculation, the possibility, the juxtaposition, the alternate perspective, the escape. Characters need to be represented reasonably, to fit the story being told, to get us over a certain threshold which allows for the suspension of disbelief. But that's all. Nobody wants to know how Superman folds his socks or the conflicting emotions he experiences dealing with the grouch at the post office. It's precisely because Superman is not a complex character that he is a success (at least to some people). Anytime a writer tries to go 3D on a fantasy character, to show them as 'real people', the bubble bursts a minute later when a person sprouts wings or blasts fire from their fingertips. That's not real. It's no longer “complex”. It's superhuman, impossible to relate to. Moreover, any attempt at making them relatable is just mental masturbation. What would it be like to have laser eyes... Kids do this, not adults.
I think the sum of the parts I'm driving at is that complex characters in fantasy fiction often result in a paradox. If complex is realistic, then fantasy is beyond realistic, which creates a gap that is impossible to bridge. Fantasy fans, including me, can appreciate their less-than-mimetic characters and still get over that threshold to suspend disbelief, wherever it may be. That threshold is significantly lower than expectations for literary fiction, so relax, enjoy your fireballs and laser blasts...
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