list of sorrow

[kindkit]

Because of reasons, I thought it might be interesting to create a list of relatively recent (published 2000 or later) science fiction and/or fantasy novels with no canonical lesbian, gay, or bisexual characters. Not even, say, Bruce the sassy hairdresser who appears in one paragraph. They don't exactly have to take place in the universe without LGB people--if there are no named LGB characters, they qualify, even if the existence of homosexuality is mentioned.

I'll start us off. I'm working from memory here, so corrections are welcome. I'll be adding others' contributions to the list as we go along.

Jonathan Barnes, Domino Men
Suzanne Collins, the Hunger Games series
Ally Condie, Matched
Neil Gaiman, Anansi Boys
Shannon Hale, Goose Girl
Scott Lynch, The Lies of Lock Lamora
China Mieville, The City and the City
China Mieville, Kraken
Naomi Novik, the whole Temeraire series (Apparently a character was finally acknowledged to be gay in the latest one.)
Tim Powers, Declare (I think Guy Burgess may get a mention but he's not really in it)
Terry Pratchett, most of them except Unseen Academicals
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter books 4-7 ("Word of God" doesn't count if it's not in the books themselves, and the first three are exluded because they're before the cutoff date)
Thomas E. Sniegoski, the Remy Chandler series
Jeff VanderMeer, Finch
Ysabeau Wilce, Flora Segunda and Flora's Dare (a tricky case, because there's a character in the books, which are YA, who in a related non-YA story is presented as being gay, but that's unmentioned in the Flora novels)


While we're at it, let's have a special Dishonorable Mention category for books where the only LGB characters are villains.

Kate Griffin, A Madness of Angels (as I recall, the rest of the Matthew Swift series has no LGB characters at all).


What are your additions to the list?

Comments

[liviapenn]

"Harry Potter books 4-6" ?

[ellen_fremedon]

The first three were published before the 2000 cutoff date.

[kindkit]

I meant to write "4-7," excluding the first three, as ellen_fremedom says, because they were published before 2000.

[lilacsigil]

Novik has a gay character in the latest Temeraire book.

[naraht]

It's very interesting that she hasn't included a queer character until now (if that's true--I haven't read any of the books), given her level of involvement in slash fandom.

[liviapenn]

John Granby, the character in question, has been a major character since book one. He just didn't come out to *Lawrence*, the POV character of the novels, until the latest book.

[lilacsigil]

Yes, the character has been there since the start, though I'm finding the POV increasingly limiting of the story, not just for this reason.

[kindkit]

And considering Novik writes slash in her fannish life, it makes me angry that it took her, what, six books before she was willing to make one single character canonically queer?

[st_aurafina]

Yay, good list. I haven't read the last couple of Naomi Novik's books but I understand that Granby came out as gay in the last one?

I'd like to add The Graveyard Book to Neil Gaiman's list, but I can't recall if there were any sassy hairdressers, so I can't be sure. There certainly were no memorably queer characters.

Some YA novels to add:

The Hunger Games series, Susanne Collins (I was actually braced for gayness to be one of the terrible bad decadent things that went on at the Capitol, actually, but no.)

Matched by Ally Condie (This is a book that deals with the idea of government making ideal matches for people and how that doesn't work at all, and yet the author doesn't deal with queer identity at all. It's a screaming vacuum in the book.)

Goose Girl, Shannon Hale (It's a retelling of the fairy tale, so I suppose there's maybe some justification for it being all straight, but I expect anyone in that group of YA writers - Shannon Hale, Libba Bray, Karen Healey, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare - to have queer representation, since I'm pretty sure they all come from fandom.)

[likeadeuce]

(I was actually braced for gayness to be one of the terrible bad decadent things that went on at the Capitol, actually, but no.)

You know, I was thinking it was canonical that [character with sexual exploitation revealed as part of his back story] had been used by men as well as women, but I guess that's not actually stated. (This would add, obviously, to the "capital decadence" interpretation and to the "only gay people are evil" count, not to actual representation of queer characters.)

This is an interesting exercise, Kit, and I realized I can't add to the list because it turns out I only retain lists of books that DO have queer representation rather than ones that lack it -- so thanks for encouraging the other perspective, even if the results are kind of depressing.

[st_aurafina]

That was exactly the character I was thinking of - I thought it was canonical too, but I think I might be mixing it up with fic? (This Cinna-centric fic, probably.)

[kindkit]

I know what you mean--the books I love and remember mostly have queer characters in significant roles--and yet I know I also have that experience of hoping for queer characters and being disappointed. I wanted to quantify the disappointment.

[kindkit]

I've heard--haven't read the books--that the decadence of the Capitol was very queer-coded and gender transgressive, though.

[starlady]

I…don't remember it being that way, but I read the books years ago. There's a lot of body modification that, sadly, the movie didn't cash in on.

[st_aurafina]

The men wear cosmetics/flamboyant colours/dyed and styled hair, is that what you mean? The one good man in the Capitol was identified as dressing very plainly and wearing the barest minimum of makeup.

[kindkit]

Yeah, that's it.

[st_aurafina]

Lenny Kravitz looked really pretty in gold eyeliner though /is basically shallow.

[el_staplador]

[here via someone's reading list] - I think you can pass Monstrous Regiment as well - aren't Lofty and ?Tonker a couple?

[kindkit]

It's implied but never specifically stated. And for my purposes (because of reasons) subtext doesn't count.

[(Anonymous)]

The sequel to Lies of Locke Lamora has a bi male character, non-subtext. Also a lesbian/bi pirate captain.