So, awhile ago,
Furthermore, it’s the only scifi depiction of a gay protagonist I’ve seen (though, arguably, he’s not exactly gay as we understand the word), and even if we include fantasy, specifically, Lackey’s stuff, this is hands down better (unless you’re still in, or just coming out of the closet, then go for Lackey). But she does a good job of making it a human character. None of lackey’s neurotic obsessions with what it means to be gay. This guy has background worries about his designated alternate parent/lover’s irresponsible flakiness, and that is rapidly replaced with the much larger concerns about the reproductive fate of his planet, and the imminent safety of his life.
That’s a side note. I would rank it as great pulp, well worth the read. Think I’ll be reading more of her stuff. Yay women who write scifi. (Ms Bujold, Ms Butler, and Ms Cherryh coming specifically to mind).
And in the spirit of side notes, my rotator cuff feels like it’ll be sucking it for a little while, but I can do a fair amount of upperbody stuff at the gym without bothering it at all, and I think I will. Just have to stick to the machines, for now.
Also, my dad just called, and wanted info on howard dean. Yay! =)
Sci-fi with gay protagonists
Sci-fi encyclopedia that I am, I would like to recommend to you China Mountain Zhang my Maureen F. McHugh (recently reprinted in trade paperback) and you have an extremely good shot at finding a gay protagonist in any book by Samuel R. Delaney (also reprinted in trade paperback). Both are excellent writers.
Re: Sci-fi with gay protagonists
well, I’ve read Delaney, but would categorize what I’ve read of his more as fantasy, or alternate-earth-historical-but-not-sci-fi-or-fantasy. I’m not sure if it was the not-yet-comfy-with-being-gay or honestly not liking his stuff, but he didn’t do all that much for me, beyond the eros of his prose lo those many moons ago.
But China Mountain Zhang I will check out.
Yay, to converting dad into a Dean supporter. Or, at least, he’s interested. Hopefully, with the facts, he’ll be ready to pull the lever for him.
Dad’s only been a couple steps behind me from the get go, which is rather remarkable, given that I’m in berkeley, and he’s in rural Ohio. go dad. =)
Yes, POV is a large issue for me. I mostly care about whether or not it’s sloppy, and Bujold has never been sloppy about POV.
Sexuality in Bujold is interesting – she develops a lot of different cultures, and they have varying degrees of tolerance for alternate sexual orientations. Beta Colony not only doesn’t give a damn, they have hermaphrodites — but I don’t like their apparent view on bisexuality vanishing into monogamy (if Cordelia’s view is representative, anyway). Barrayar reads to me as homophobic; various other societies we don’t really know much about. It’s a whole complicated galaxy out there, basically, and I’m more comfortable with some parts than others.
I really enjoyed Ethan of Athos, btw — I thought it was a great exploration of a concept and I loved being with Ethan as he learned and adapted.
Octavia Butler was great, and a definite departure in tone from the rest of my reading. Bujold looks like another winner. Any time you wanna recommend an author/book/series, I’m all ears. =)