Summer’s a great time, isn’t it? Gone are the long overcoats, the big fuzzy sweaters, and the scarves.

That’s right, people. It’s sexy time again.

Last year, we began what is now officially our annual tradition of the sexiest characters of fantasy. This year, we’re doin’ ya one better — we’re going to let YOU, our readers, decide for yourselves.

The guidelines are simple. One, we are judging characters for their sex appeal, not actors, so even if you happen to find Cate Blanchett the sexiest lady around, I think we can all agree that her turn as Galadriel didn’t exactly turn up the heat.

Two, we are specifically dealing with fantasy characters and not sci-fi, which means that Trinity, Aeon Flux, etc. are out of the running. Superheroes are okay, but we’re mostly going for high fantasy or urban fantasy, a la Legend of the Seeker, True Blood, and the like.

Three, we’re looking for recent entries into the world of fantasy. Basically, the character has to have appeared in an entertainment project released from 2009 to 2010.

And now that the rules are out of the way, here are our nominees. You can vote below!

Lucretia

Though Lucy Lawless will always be remembered for playing Xena, she still brings the sexy (and then some!) almost ten years later as the wickedly seductive Lucretia on Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

Naevia

Speaking of Lucretia, most Spartacus fans first got a glimpse of the surprisingly plucky slave girl, Naevia, when she was essentially being used as a human sex toy to get her domina, Lucretia, going so she could have sex with her husband and not have to bother with all that pesky foreplay stuff. But who would have thought that she would  blossom into a strong-willed character of her own who catches not only the eye but the heart and soul of the toughest gladiator in the ludus, Crixus?

Mira

The last Spartacus entry on the list is another humble-at-first-then-proves-to-be-resourceful slave girl. Mira, who only appeared in about the last third of the season, managed to arouse the man himself, Spartacus, and almost make him forget his late wife. Now that’s a woman.

Kate Austin

Over the past few years, Lost became such a ridiculously complex torrent of red herrings (by which I mean, of course, that the writers had absolutely no idea what they were doing) that it almost made one forget how, in 2004, an unknown actress named Evangeline Lilly created the character of Kate who was tough, capable, and looked damn good in a tank top and baggy jeans. Though the show may have ended on a whimper, no one can deny that for six years, Kate looked damn sexy running around that island.

Jennifer

There’s classy sexy, and then there’s slutty sexy. Hey, I’m not judging. To each his own. Though she was more Mortal Kombat’s Baraka than prom queen, the titular heroine/villainess of Jennifer’s Body was certainly not lacking in the sexuality department … even if she was eating boys (literally).

Persephone

A few months back, I reviewed Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and I won’t split hairs — I did not like it. But near the end, just as I was about to nod off, was woken up a big jolt of sexy in the form of Rosario Dawson’s luscious death goddess, Persephone. If that’s what awaits us in the Underworld, kill me now.

Io

Clash of the Titans may have been a gods-awful flick, but at least it did take a few seconds away from the constant boss-fight-after-boss-fight to allow us to soak in the sexiness that was Gemma Arterton’s enigmatic Io. (Gemma Arterton fans? Careful you don’t split your votes by voting for Arterton’s Princess Tamina in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time!)

Neytiri

Go ahead. I dare you to tell me you didn’t feel a little stirring of something for some of the Na’vi when watching Avatar. No need to feel pervy for wanting to mack on blue monkey-cat people: their bodies were clearly designed to be lithe, sexy, and pleasurable to behold. And few were more behold-able than Neytiri, as performed by the delicious Zoe Saldana. (And lest you protest that Avatar was sci-fi, Pandora itself was clearly a fantasy setting, with its blue inhabitants, floating mountains, and soul transferring.)

Morrigan

What’s that, you say? Morrigan isn’t “real,” but is, instead, a character in the video game Dragon Age: Origin? Clearly, you have yet to play Dragon Age: Origin! When it comes to sexy sorceresses, we prefer ours with a “bad girl” vibe and more than a touch of ‘tude — which is Morrigan all the way. Plus, we have it on good authority that things get, uh, interesting if you “gift” her enough necklaces, amulets, and broaches!

Kahlan

Cara

Legend of the Seeker may have been unjustly canceled, but its characters will live on in our memories and imaginations forever. And while the plots and dialogue were fantastic, it certainly didn’t hurt that its two main female leads were so breathtaking to gaze upon. And so we give you the gorgeous Kahlan and Cara.

So there are our nominees. We also have a “none of the above” option for any glaring omissions, but be sure to add the name in our “comments,” below!

THE POLL IS NOW CLOSED! SEE THE RESULTS HERE

Tune in soon for the men!

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Three Torches (Out of Five)

The Losers socked several of my movie pet peeves squarely on the nose, but even so, it’s not a terrible hero flick, as long as you remember to adjust your expectations to “B movie” — because, as you know, it’s not summer yet.

The Losers is based on the graphic novel of the same name, and follows a group of mercenaries whose failed black ops mission has left them stranded in the Bolivia. Because the CIA assumes they’re dead, they wallow in the third world jungle until Zoe Saldana’s Aisha shows up and hires them to exact revenge on a villain who bombed a bus load of kids in the movie’s opening sequence.

Whether or not you can enjoy what follows depends entirely on your ability to interpret it as highly-stylized satire. The set-up to the stunts was either edited out or never written in, so don’t expect to understand character motivation. The Losers is action, action, action, broken up with gratuitous shots of Zoe Saldana’s ass and a clumsy romantic sub-plot between Aisha and Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

Hero movies are only as good their villains — I’m looking at you, bungled Spider-Man 3 — and that’s where The Losers actually shines. Jason Patric’s Max is one of the most deliciously over-the-top baddies in recent memory. Patric just gives himself over to the absurdity of the script, lacing his lines with quip and kook and Just Plain Evil. He’s like the three-way love child of Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken and Bowler Hat Guy from Disney’s Meet the Robinsons.

I even enjoyed the slick, hand-held camera work, when it wasn’t trying to make amends for lack of plot by roaming all over Saldana’s body.

The real failure of The Losers — and number one on my list of movie pet peeves — is that, rather than telling a whole story, it sets itself up for a sequel, which will probably never be made. It is the open-ended curse of Hollywood lately, and it drives me bonkers. If Pirates of the Caribbean can’t get it right, there’s no way a low-budget film like The Losers is going to find the formula.

The Losers is fun, but mostly forgettable, yet I still had a sense of unease when I left the theater. I finally realized it’s because Chris Evans has been cast in The First Avenger, and if he infuses Captain America with half the smarm he gave Jensen in The Losers, I will never, ever forgive him.

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