Earlier this year, Chic-mate Ronya F. McCool reviewed JY Yang’s The Black Tides of Heaven, and I was intrigued. I finished that series recently and decided to round up a few more titles whose characters are nonbinary or trans*. Representation matters–and I was rewarded with several works that were thoughtful, humorous, and all-around great examples for a range of ages, interests, and orientations. I hope readers enjoy them as much as I have!
The Tensorate Series, JY Yang. As noted, this series begins with The Black Tides of Heaven. Non-binary writer Yang’s spectacular story focuses on two twins born into royalty in a culture where people are non-binary through childhood; they choose their gender instead of gender being assigned at birth. Twins Mokoya and Akeha must evade their mother as she deals with a rebellion. The Machinists are discovering mechanical, scientific means to create the same kinds of technologies (from communication to travel) that the ruling Protectorate has been able to do with magic (“slackcraft”), and this newfound science, and the recruitment of the twins, gives the Machinists the ability to overthrow their ruler—the twins’ mother. The worldbuilding is excellent—it’s described as “silkpunk.” The story continues in The Red Threads of Fortune, The Descent of Monsters, and the Tor.com story “Waiting on a Bright Moon.” Probably can’t tell I couldn’t get enough of the story, huh? There is a reason Black Tides was nominated for the World Fantasy award, the Hugo, and a few others. So go get started.
That Inevitable Victorian Thing, E.K. Johnston (2017). I know E.K. Johnston as the writer of Ahsoka—for all those of us who ever wondered what happened to that character after the Clone Wars. In That Inevitable Victorian Thing, Johnston introduces us to an intriguing world set in an alternate history where Queen Victoria I bestowed her throne on her eldest daughter, and where her heirs married among the people of the British Empire instead of making alliances with royalty from other countries. Victoria-Margaret, the Crown Princess who’d really rather run around incognito, Helena, the daughter of a famous geneticist, and August, the young heir of a shipping magnate, bond the summer before Margaret’s impending arranged marriage. Without giving too much away, there is some great queer representation in this book. I will say it’s slow at the beginning and a little difficult to get into, but worth the dedication.
Witch Boy, Molly Ostertag (2017). This delightful and insightful junior graphic novel is a direct allegory for trans* discovery. Young Aster is born into a clan of magic users, where women always learn magic and men always learn how to shapeshift. Aster isn’t interested in figuring out how to shapeshift; he doesn’t have the knack for it. He is interested in sneaking into the girls’ magic lessons, absorbing as much spell knowledge as he can before getting caught. Told to respect the divisions between male and female, Aster practices magic on his own—at night, alone, and with his new friend Charlie, who knows nothing about shapeshifting or that magic even exists, but who does have an open mind and a daredevil attitude. When an evil force starts hunting new shapeshifters, Aster and Charlie figure out a way to save the day—and it involves putting all of Aster’s magic into practice. Witch Boy conveys an enjoyably positive message about not just allowing people to be themselves, but encouraging and fostering them. Continued in The Hidden Witch (2018).
The Secret Loves of Geek Girls (2016) and The Secret Loves of Geeks (2018), Hope Nicholson, editor. These nonfiction graphic anthologies collect essays, comics, and other illustrations about the lives and loves of female authors and creators—everyone from Margaret Atwood to Noelle Stevenson to geek girl fans of all kinds (gamers, comics readers, etc)–in the first volume and everyone, male, female, NB and more, in the followup. The entire rainbow is represented: from a visual story about what it means to be ace, to someone experiencing constant misgendering, to hookups at conventions and romance found in the waiting lines for galactic adventure movies. Pieces range from advice, to memoir, to just downright (earnest fluff). Both are perfection. Even if readers don’t connect with every single story or panel (I did not), there’s a story in here for everyone. And that’s the joy of these much-needed books.
Do you have any additions? Note them in the comments below! Let’s keep the chain going.
I really enjoyed That Inevitable Victorian Thing. It does have some other representation problems, but gender identity is not one of them. There’s not enough hopeful future SF out there.