ETA: I’ve been getting suggestions here and on Twitter so I’m building a list of #criplit titles that may pass the Fries Test. Please make additional suggestions here or there. I haven’t read them all, so if you see a book on the list you don’t think belongs there, please leave a comment explaining why.
Most readers will be familiar with the Bechdel Test. Today I want to talk about the Fries Test for fiction:
Does a work have more than one disabled character? Do the disabled characters have their own narrative purpose other than the education and profit of a nondisabled character? Is the character’s disability not eradicated either by curing or killing?
This is a very low bar, yet there are surprisingly few fictional works written for adults that manage it.1
When we talk specifically about trade-published novels with a disabled main character2, the numbers become vanishingly small. Offhand, I can think of only five:
- Geek Love
- Two Ends of Sleep3
- Game of Thrones4
- Borderline
- So Lucky (forthcoming)5
There are more novels in which the main character is disabled and isn’t cured or killed, such as the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold, but those characters are alone in their disability.6 Novels in which crips talk to each other? Novels in which we talk to each other about something other than wanting to be cured, or how to get cured, or why we want to die because we can’t be cured? Novels in which we don’t die? I’m drawing a blank.
Think about that. I read a lot. I can only think of four novels for adults with two or more crip characters who talk to each other and who are not killed or cured. It’s true that until recently I might not have noticed whether or not characters were disabled but, still, five.7 FIVE.
Surely I’m missing some. Please tell me I’m missing some…
1 As opposed to YA/kidlit, a genre in which, as we know from data about literary prizes, the barriers to depictions of the perceived Other appear to be somewhat different. (If you want some great recommendations, visit Disability in Kidlit.) And I’m focusing on the category of fiction, so excluding memoir, such as Mean Little Deaf Queer and essays such as Waist High to the World or Exile and Pride. (Note: I’m linking to some of these books on Amazon because crip writers have enough barriers to entry without increasing readers’ difficulty level to buy their books.)
2 I’m guessing there may be some self-published criplit novels out there but I don’t know them. If you do, please add them in the comments.
3 By Lizard Jones, who was part of the Kiss and Tell collective who produced both the wonderful Drawing the Line exhibit, which I saw long ago in Atlanta, and Her Tongue on My Theory. Lizard, if you’re reading this, I’d love to talk to you…
4 An ensemble novel, but I’d argue that Tyrion is a main character, and Bran, much later in the Song of Ice and Fire sequence, will become so.
5 So Lucky passes the Enhanced Fries Test: Many more than two disabled characters, most with names (gasp, what a concept!). Who talk about something other than disability. Who don’t die (or get cured, or sacrifice themselves for a nondisabled person—who are not a fucking narrative prosthesis).
6 I’ve only read one, and it was a very long time ago, so it may well be that Miles isn’t the only crip in the books. I’d love to be corrected about this.
7 And one of those, Borderline, was just pointed out to me by a commenter on Twitter this morning.
Nicola Griffith 
Hi. Very interesting topic. I will have to go through my library and memory to get (I hope) other title, because I can only think about Miles Vorkosigan series from Bujold. Yes, there are other disabled characters (Koudelka, Nikki, Bothari, Marc)
Sheridah’s Fate By Gun Brooke (2007)
Sheridan Ward permanently in wheelchair because of high fever illness.
Lark Mitchell is Sheridan’s Physical Therapist.
Fiona Mitchell is Lark’s sister permanently in wheelchair because of errant bullet from drive-by shooting.
Genre: Lesbian Fiction
@10:15: Thanks. I’m delighted to be able to add the Vorkosigan Saga to the list!
@12:25: Sheridan’s Fate? Cool! Thank you.
If autism fits into ‘disability’, then Elizabeth Miin’s Speed of Dark is excellent. And the Dog that Barked book too.
That was ‘Moon’. Sigh. Also, I once set my students the class exercise of working out a Bechdel Test for disability. Can dig out notes if wanted.
@1:57: I can’t remember if there are other neurodiverse characters in the Moon and Haddon…
I would like to hope that the lack of disabled characters is a reflection of non-disabled authors afraid to write about what they don’t truly understand. But let’s face it, I’m probably being naive.
@2:20 There are plenty of disabled characters written by nondisabled writers. They almost always fail the Fries Test spectacularly because they tend to create characters who are a) alone and b) narrative prostheses
I think “Ascension” by Jacqueline Koyanagi qualifies. The main character has an autoimmune disease that leaves her in chronic pain and facing eventual nerve degeneration. She joins the crew of a ship whose navigator is slowly dying, almost literally by inches, and whose captain has a prosthetic leg. None of them die or given up even a bit of agency.
@3:19 I’ve read that! Can’t believe I forgot it…
JK Rowling’s new detective series features a detective who is an amputee. He doesn’t get cured and issues related to the missing limb and the use of prosthetics arise in each of the novels, but he is the central character and does not give up any agency because of it. She writes them under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. I wrote a short story about a woman with cerebral palsy managing to get control of her life, but I guess it wasn’t very good because it didn’t get accepted. I should rework it and try again. I wanted to do a series of stories about her and her colorful friends.
@8:48 I’ve only read the first Cormoran Strike novel, but I don’t remember any other disabled characters.
Actually, you can add Taura to the list of disabled characters in the Vorkosigan series. Remember the genetically engineered super soldier whose faulty design included some nasty problems? She was loved, given scope for her talents, and mourned after she died on her own terms. In this series, none of the disabled characters are ultimately alone in their disability. In fact, all of them turn out to be strong and valued.
If you’re delineating your definition of disability to physical but are including neurodiversity and mental health (which I think you should be), then Carol O’Connell’s entire Mallory series meets the Fries test and usually meets the extended Fries test. They’re fantastic. Fiction, novel, detective.
*delimiting (not delineating – autocorrect strikes again!)
Everfair.
Stones From the River, by Ursula Hegi. The narrator was a dwarf in a small German town in the years from post WW1 through post WW2. Because of her condition, nobody really pays much attention to her but she sees and hears everything. I found it to be a very compelling story that has stayed with me while hundreds of other stories have faded away
@11:24 Cool. By ‘alone’ I meant the lone disabled person in their circle.
@8:35: Nisi, I forgot! Everfair, of course. Yay!
@9:20 It’s been so long since I read that book… Are there other disabled characters apart from the narrator?
@4:54 I do include neurodiversity, yes. And I can see how Mallory (I assume you’re talking about Mallory herself) qualifies as disabled. But are there other disabled characters? It’s been so long since I read them I honestly don’t remember.
Total failure on my end after a day of browsing.
I may found one disabled character or maybe two but in those cases it’s a prop or the character dies. :(
By curiosity, does addiction (drugs, alcoholism) count as a disability ?
@10:54 I so hear you, sigh. I don’t know about addiction. I haven’t thought about it before. But I think it should be included, yes. You?
Would the Lincoln Rhyme novels pass? (Character seen in The Bone Collector movie.) The character is (I think) always the only disabled character but he has tremendous agency, nor is he cured or killed. He does “educate” a younger able partner but arguably she exists, narratively, to enable him.
Have you read the great YA novel Good Kings, Bad Kings?
@11:29 If Rhyme is the only crip character then no, they don’t pass the test.
@11:39 I haven’t, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. If I were including YA it would most definitely be on the list.
Would Anne McCaffrey’s brain ship series count?
@3:28 I don’t know. I’ve only read one, a looong time ago…
And maybe we can add Nicol and the quaddies in Falling Free (where they fight back against being defined as obsolete and disposable), Labyrinth, and Diplomatic Immunity. Bujold’s starting point for the Vorkosigan novels is difference, and Miles exists against the backdrop of a culture that fears mutation and birth defects (and investigates a case of infanticide in Mountains of Mourning). A favoured Bujold device is to use genetic engineering as a frame for difference. Mark is worth noting for the themes of physical and mental abuse that shape him (literally). Taura, as Sara mentions, is a wonderful character, again fighting disposable obsolescence. Koudelka and Bothari, and Nikki, are great mentions by Alea too. Lots of characters.
I think McCaffrey’s brainships could count too, with their interactions with each other, although with almost excluded bodies.
In Speed of Dark the central character is part of a special group of like people (being commercially supported/exploited), but I can’t recall if he interacts with the others. I recall Moon was inspired by her son to write this.
I’m sure there would be novels with deaf characters (I know this is a contested area in terms of disability in deaf communities) but I can’t think of any I’ve read (there are great autobiographies). I just looked online and found this: Islay by Douglas Bullard, which is referred to as having culturally deaf characters, by a deaf author.
About 20 years ago I read “Stones From the River” by Ursula Hegi, whose main character is a Little Person (Trudy). I believe this book passes the test if memory serves me correctly. I loved this book because it was the first book I ever read with a strong character with a disability who stands up to Nazis.
Re Elizabeth Moon’s Speed of Dark, the novel is about a community of neurodiverse characters and how they live, earn a living and form relationships, in the contemporary world. The plot concerns how they respond to challenges from their employer and negotiate legal and societal obstacles to get what they want for their lives and for people in their community. I haven’t read the Haddon in years, but my memory of it is that it’s nothing like as rich in neurodiversity as the Moon novel, which preceded it (I think) by one year.
Re McCaffrey, her short stories and novels do feature other differently abled characters than the narrative protagonist, and as the stories evolved and the novels began to appear (30+ years after the initial stories) she created a community of differently abled characters with concomitant services, fiscal and legal structures, and so on. She was a pioneer for exploring the established norms of ableness in her sf within the paradigms of feminism; nobody else was doing it.
@7:36 I’m not sure the Hegi counts. Are there other disabled characters apart from Trudi?
@7:11 That’s great information, thank you! I’ve added Bullard.
@6:14: Excellent! I’ve added both Moon and McCaffrey.
Mishell Baker continues the Borderline characters into a second book “Phantom Pains.” Also if you are including short stories, Raymond Luczak has a forthcoming book of short stories where the main character in each story is a disabled/Deaf queer. In some stories there are multiple disabled/Deaf folks. The book title “The Kinda Fella I Am” which will be on sale in a few months. The book is now being sent out to reviewers.
The Ice Queen, Alice Hoffman. Two people injured physically and psychologically by being struck by lightening.
I am by no means a literary snob, but tend to read materials that don’t make me use my brain so I can relax. I have an anxiety disorder and I find that reading silly romance and mystery and historical novels tend to help me relax. Therefore, I can tell you there are boat loads of novels out there with disabled heroes and heroines.
This does not likely fit into the categories regarding the question you are putting forth. I have read the requisite number of books considered appropriate and intellectual adult reading material. Some of it captured my interest. However, I have to admit not having read much, if anything, about heroes and heroines with disabilities.
On a personal note, I have a disability of my own. I had Polio when I was a small child, and I now have post-polio syndrome. I am 67 years old and finding it increasingly difficult to walk without an aide such as a walker or a cane. I am told that this particular disability causes muscular deterioration and I may soon enough be in a wheelchair. What I am thankful for is that I have been able to ambulate for as long as I have. Personally, I feel quite capable of kicking ass and taking names.
I have to confess that I have not read most of the books that you have put forth in your article. It looks as if I need to broaden my horizons. An humble thank you for giving me new insights and helping me to broaden my horizons.
@5:38 Got it, thanks. I’ve changed Borderline to the Arcadia Project series, and added the Luczak
@10:16 I’ve added the Hoffman but included a question mark. I haven’t read it, but looking at a synopsis makes me wonder if it quite fits. I’d love to get others’ opinions on this.
@10:17 Please clarify. Do you know any books with disabled main characters or not? If you do, will you please, please tell me what they are?! I don’t care what genre and I don’t care how fluffy or how weighty. I just want to see crips of every kind on the page. Also, I think it’s possible you’ll find a wheelchair quite liberating after the difficulty of crutches/canes/walkers. I did, anyway.
Neurodiversity is a big part of Friedman’s This Alien Shore.
Updraft, Cloudbound, & Horizon qualify –
Discussed here: http://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/favorite-bit-fran-wilde-talks-cloudbound/
@11:41 Got it, thanks.
@11:41 Cool! I added them as Bone Universe series. Let me know if that needs adjusting.
Actually, the Lincoln Rhyme novels do pass the FRIES test; the movie does not. In the novels, the partner has several serious medical issues of her own. I had forgotten since it has been years since I read any of the books. Also, as a number of critics have pointed out, many times both the victims and the villains have major impairments. I think I’m going to have to go back and read some of the books again.
@12:13 I added the series to the list yesterday! Thanks
Does autism count? In Evan’s Ladies, he marries a relatively high-functioning autistic lady. My current novella has a man who has mild autism but mostly childhood PTSD.
@1:07 Autism counts. Who wrote Evan’s Ladies? Is there more than one disabled character?
thank you!
This is a bit more small press, but one of my friends did a collection of stories with friends called “Accessible Love Stories” and it is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Accessible-Stories-Christy-Leigh-Stewart-ebook/dp/B007OLFDQ4/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510164556&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=accessible+love+storeis
@10:13 I followed the link and was taken aback by the phrase ‘wheelchair-bound’ in the publisher’s blurb. I’ll see if I can find out more about it.
I haven’t read it yet, but someone told me about Handi-gang by Cara Zina. It was published only three months ago (in french). The main character is disabled teenager. He is mad against the society, so he decides to found a gang with his friends (able and disabled) to protest against it. From what I heard, it passes the test.
@11:04 Cool. Thank you. I went to Amazon France and looked it up but couldn’t tell if it was designed for adults or young readers. I’ve given it the benefit of the doubt and added it to the list.
Oh yes, I have checked and the book is aimed at adults.
@12:00 Great. Thanks.
In my TBR list, I have two anthologies focusing on persons with disabilities — one has not come out yet (but am eagerly looking forward to):
Desires Reborn, erotica by Penny Pepper (only available as a Kindle ebook, afaict).
Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction, published by Uncanny Magazine that will be released 2018.
I keep thinking there’s at least one resource that provides recommendations — in addition to Disability in KidLit you had mentioned. I’ll add the info, if I can find it.
Oops! I hadn’t read the most recent details for the Uncanny Magazine KS, thus I hadn’t realized you will be one of the contributors. My bad!
Speaking of crowdfunded works, Steampunk Universe (publisher: Alliteration Ink) will consist of “[a] diverse steampunk anthology from your favorite award-winning authors featuring disabled and aneurotypical characters.” It has been successfully funded, but has not come to print yet.
@8:45 I’ve added DPDSF, the Penny Pepper, and Steampunk Universe (I didn’t know about that). Thanks.
I found one more anthology: Accessing the Future, published by Future Fire.
If you’re interested in resources, Autostraddle provides an intersectional crop syllabus (https://www.autostraddle.com/crip-lit-an-intersectional-queer-crip-syllabus-333400/) — which has more of an academic perspective.
While I researched #criplit, I found a page on #criplit, if you’re familiar with that tag? http://www.fiikus.net/?cripfic
Erk, I meant #cripfic above.
Rise Again by LJ Hamlin (work injury, chronic pain)
The Zero Protocol by Victoria Zagar (autism, PTSD)
Blood Borne by Archer Kay Leah (struggles to walk from old injury)
Dragonborn by Meghaen Friday (one of the MCs can’t always walk)
Seventh by Rachel White (aftereffects of a debilitating illness, including being shunned)
The Seer by Jordan Reese (debilitating side effects of being a seer)
By the Numbers by Nicole Dennis (severe OCD)
Blind Man’s Wolf by Amelia Faulkner (one of the MCs is blind)
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (leg injury)
The Princess Affair by Nelle Starke (severe dyslexia – I wasn’t sure if that counted, but better to include than not)
Hexed by Reece Jordan (blind)
Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson (injuries/chronic pain)
Nexus by Mary Calmes (blind)
The Painted Crown by Megan Derr (war injuries, chronic pain) (this is me, full disclosure)
And there’s also Angel Martinez’s Offbeat Crimes series, but I wasn’t sure it qualified, b/c it’s paranormal and all the disabilities are paranormal (like the vampire who can only drink skim blood, and a man who can never get angry b/c if he does bad bad things happen, and others). But none of their disabilities are ever fixed, and they do cause them difficulties and they are sneered at by the rest of the paranormal world, so I thought it might count, or that someone at least might like them (they’re a favorite of mine, AM is a great writer).
I wouldn’t include Anne McCaffrey’s Ship series. If I recall rightly they’re horribly negative, depicting the disabled character as stereotypically pitiable. I think John Wyndham’s The Chrysalid’s may well be a good one to add though. Also, possibly, Theodore Sturgeon’s More Than Human (there was certainly one disabled character in that as well as other very “different” characters although I can’t recall if any were technically disabled). There’s also Philip K. Dick: The Clans of the Alphane Moon. And though you’re not looking for films, The Incredible Shrinking Man is really quite interesting (again, it stretches the definition of disability a bit perhaps). And I think Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, is a pretty decent story, though I think it only has the one disabled character.
Finally, my novel-in-progress is stuffed full of disabled folks (I’m a 3′ 3″ wheelchair-using dwarf myself) and the story that it’s based on is in my self published collection: Daisy Gator’s Little Book of Remarkable Persons. Several of the stories in that have been previously published, and I had a story in the Defying Doomsday anthology too.
But you’re right, there are hardly any decent books for adults out there with well-depicted disabled characters. I suspect it’s extremely difficult to get able-bodied readers to identify with realistic as opposed to sensationalized and inaccurate disabled characters, so such books don’t get published. (I have very little hope of finding a traditional publisher for my novel-in-progress, and even if I do, even less hope of selling a ton of books. I doubt I’m a good enough writer (yet!) to pull off the trick of convincing able-bodied readers to love my very disabled characters.)
@1:06 Thanks for the cripfic link. The ones I recognise have only one crip character, so I’ll wait to see if anyone can recommend specifics. I’ve added Accessing the Future, though I’m not sure if individual stories pass the Fries Test.
@4:18 The only title I recognise on that list is the Bardugo, and that’s YA. Are the others? To be included on the list a book must be written for adults, and it must have two or more disabled characters. And those characters must not be killed or cured.
@6:01 That’s how I remembered the McCaffrey, too, but it’s been so long since I read them I bowed to others’ judgement. But after your comment I’ve taken it off. Thank you.
I only recall on disabled/different character in The Chrysalids though, again, it’s been an age since I read it. Maybe time for a reread.
I’ve added the Dick (it’s one I haven’t read) and am mulling More Than Human.
I’d put the McCaffrey brain novels back on the list. The shellpersons are not pitiable. Sometimes there is reference to the sad physical state of the bodies in the shells but the shellpersons are not pitiable at all. They administer/run cities, save populations, travel the galaxy, run successful businesses, and sometimes form romantic relationships with unshelled persons. Frighteningly positive and full of agency, all of them, and they have no problem kicking authority’s butt, if they aren’t the authority already. Years ago, there was some controversy over the brain novels because the shellpersons usually started out in debt because of the cost of their installation and training. Some people saw this as enslavement. Also, I know some people don’t see the shellpersons as properly “disabled” since their prostheses (ships, stations, city works) actually make them sort of superhuman and hugely valued.
@11:01 One of my problems with this series is neatly encapsulated in a sentence from the Wikipedia entry: “The parents of babies with severe physical disabilities — but fully developed and exceptionally talented brains — may allow them to become ‘shell people’ rather than be euthanised.” And everyone seems to accept that as a righteous thing. Then, as you say, there are the indentured service issues. As for their prostheses making shellpersons almost superhuman, your right, which to me is a strike against them: disability as superpower. I want fiction that shows crip as human, real people. So I’m going to say No to this one.
Anne McCaffrey belonged to the TANSTAAFL generation. In that generation, it was better to be dead than useless and a burden and every debt needed to be duly paid. This was an integral part of identity and self-worth. I’m not sure we can judge her through today’s lens. Still, I think you’re right, her “brain” series is not the kind of crip experience you want to explore here.
Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi features a protagonist with a chronic debilitating pain illness.
… and another character has a prosthetic limb.
@2:53 It’s already on the list.
Mangoverse series by Shira Glassman (gluten intolerent protag, multiple others)
Come to Grief by Dick Francis (amputee, cancer)
Honor Harrington series by David Weber (multiple prosthetics, multiple others)
@8:16 Thanks for those.
My apologies; rhe link in your first line does not show up highlighted on my tablet, so I didn’t realize that there was a separate list. :-)
If you’re including romance novels, Ethan, Who Loved Carter by Ryan Loveless has a main character with Tourettes and another with a traumatic brain injury. The book includes one of my least favorite tropes in gay romance, but I had no problems that I can remember with the depictions of the disabilities. (I’m neuroatypical but not in the ways the characters are.)
I am studying Bechdel test for a class and happily stumbled upon your article which is extremely helpful! Thank you! Ever since “Me Before You” came out I have been made aware of how common the “disabled person dies” trope is. If you want to find some books that pass your test I would suggest looking up “VSA Arts Literary resources” . I remember a few great books on that list via the VSA arts Kennedy Center website.
I know this article is about books but just in case your interested I write, direct and produce films featuring disabled characters that I post online here http://cripvideoproductions.com and here http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com . All of my films have more than one disabled character, and people of color and nobody dies or gets cured. The actors are all disabled in real life.
Bujold’s other series include disabled characters.
“The Sharing Knife” has Dag as a main character, who is missing an arm below the elbow. His uncle-in-law Cattagus suffers from damaged lungs.
In “The Curse of Chalion” it can be argued that both Cazaril and Ista suffer from severe PTSD, though they do get better (in the case of Ista not until the following book, however). Umegat’s groom is nameless AFAICT, but lost tongue and thumbs to torture. Orico suffers from at least one chronic disease, likely diabetes, but dies from it by the end.
Eric Flint’s and David Drake’s time-traveling Belisarius series include some more disabled characters among the secondary ones. Justinian is blinded, Calopodius is also blinded during combat, but becomes a communications specialist. Agathius lost his legs during combat, but continues to serve as a staff and logistics officer.
Checking the list, I’d say “This Alien Shore” leans heavily onto disability as superpower trope. I’m also unsure about the Honor Harrington series; with one exception most disabilities are readily fixed by technology.
The Vorkosigan books actually have a number of disabled characters. If you count psychiatric disability as well as physical disability, you’ve got Debauer, Koudelka, Bothari, Miles, Mark, and Illyan after he gets his chip destroyed. The quaddies are not disabled as such, but disability is one of the themes that Bujold returns to several times, and the quaddies are part of the conversation she is having with the readers about what constitutes a disability.
@5:06 No worries!
@9:17 I’m counting all genres of adult fiction
@11:20 I’ll check them out, thank you.
@12:18 Thanks
@12:53 I’m not a fan of disability-as-superpower trope, and while that, for me, counts as a narrative prosthesis I’m not sure it disqualifies it for the test as written. Clearly I’ll have to do some more thinking about this. Right now I’m travelling and don’t have time so I’ll leave it on, but this is definitely a discussion for a future date. But yep I’ll get rid of Honor Harrington, thanks
Once Upon a Marquess, a delightful Victorian romance by Courtney Milan, contains characters who have OCD / are neuro-atypical. As well as avian jokes and felines. :)
My forthcoming Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach passes the test. Protagonist and major supporting character are both disabled. They are there for the story, not for any educational reason. Neither of them die or are cured.
I believe this series qualifies:
Samurai Kids by Sandy Fussell. First book is called White Crane.
It’s about a group of kids who train as samurai, each with a disability. The main character has one leg, another is blind, another has extra digits.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3020180-white-crane
Also two books by Octavia Spencer: Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective (plus a sequel). Major supporting characters have a hearing disability and asthma.
My suggestions are YA titles by the way.
@12:09 Got it. Thanks!
@1:47 Not doing YA, though. Sigh.
If autism spectrum disorders qualify, then Nevada Barr’s Destroyer Angel passes the Fries test. One of the main characters (Heath) is paraplegic, another (Leah) is on the autism spectrum, and they interact, collaborate, and argue (is there extra credit for disabled people who have their own individual opinions?), throughout the book. Both of them nearly die, repeatedly, but so do all of the other characters in Destroyer Angel. At one point while reading it, I wondered if the book was going to end like Hamlet, with the stage littered with dead bodies and Fortinbras riding in to tidy up. But all the key people live to fight another day, Heath and Leah included.
Several of Barr’s other books feature Heath, but I can’t recall other individuals with disabilities in them, so those don’t meet criteria.
@7:28 Thanks for that. Added.
Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law series has two central characters with physical disabilities among an ensemble cast. Sand dan Glotka was a master swordsman who has been left with permanent disabilities after being tortured and become a torturer himself, and Logan Ninefingers who is missing one finger and possibly by modern standards has mental health issues too. They’ve both survived to the end of the book but I can’t remember if they’ve spoken directly to each other. The cast only assemble together at the end of the book.
@3:44 I’m unsure whether I’d count a missing finger as a disability. I suppose it depends on the finger, the attitude of the person, and others’ attitude towards them. Thoughts?
I see your point. There’s not enough in the book specifically to draw conclusions. Which leaves me to wonder why I identified him as disabled. And beyond being as inclusive as possible, I think its that in the opening chapters I identified his behaviour as feeling familiar from my own experience. Even if in his case its from a completely different cause and goes on to resolve. It probably says more about my need to identify with a character and my personal experience of disability.
@2:18 We’re so hungry for representation…
JK Rowling’s detective books (written as Robert Galbraith). Main character and detective Cormoran Strike is an amputee. Plot in no way revolves around his disability, but the everyday issues are very much there.
Rick Riordan’s Norse trilogy (YA fantasy) has a minor character who is a magic wielding elf who is deaf.
Both pass the Fry test.
@11:00: I’ve read the first Cormoran Strike novel; it does not pass the test because if I recall correctly he’s the only disabled character.
And as I’m only looking at fiction for adults, the Riordan trilogy doesn’t make the list, either. Sigh.
Such a picayune….lol. Christine Feehan’s novels have many characters with ( granted fictionalized, exotic )handicaps. Does it cou t when one reads just for the fun of it?
@1:52: Well, I’m with Pauline Kael on this one, “If art isn’t entertainment, then what is it? Punishment?” Yes, please do send me some of Feehan’s titles. Fun is most definitely good!
Christine Feehan: Her Ghostwalkers series are my favorites. She also has a Dark series about a race of beings she calls Carpathians just to start with. If you decide you wish to read any, I may have them on file to share with you. I was born sexually confused and so only some of the male female sexuality appeals to me. This has always been a source of frustration for me. I shared this with Sharon, but don’t share with my other two sisters as they are much too prosaic. I believe I must be bisexual although all of that has been stuffed in a box.