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Next up in Books I Read for Yuletide And Therefore Technically Could Not Talk About Until January: Diane Duane's super eighties fantasy series The Door Into Fire, The Door Into Shadow, and The Door Into Sunset, which I read in order to beta

genarti's excellent fic Outdwelling.

I think I should mention that all I knew about these books going in was that they are dearly beloved by many of my friends, and that the series as it currently stands culminates in an epic polyamorous marriage between five people, a dragon, a fire elemental, and possibly also a goddess, because WHY NOT.

I did not know in advance about the undead dragon mpreg, but that is also a thing that happens. SO NOW YOU KNOW.

Anyway, the first book follows Herewiss, a dude who is on a quest to tap into his latent magical powers and also rescue his prince-in-exile boyfriend from the various consequences of his own stupidity. Along the way he bumps into an amoral fire elemental who eventually falls in love with him and love triangle ensues, but not really, because polyamory; also he overcomes his backstory angst.

Then in the second book it turns out that this is actually an EPIC about how the prince-in-exile boyfriend really needs to retake the throne to stop the LONE POWER -- er, sorry, I mean THE DARK -- from destroying the world, in a vague and amorphously entropic fashion. I do not care much about this. But I do like the protagonist of this one, a lady sorceress who abruptly finds herself the unwilling mental host of a whole bunch of UNDEAD DRAGONS, after which culture clash ensues. (Warnings, though, for an unexpectedly graphic and disturbing sequence in Segnbora's backstory angst, and also for one of those no-longer-anything-but-hilarious-to-me scenes in which a character realizes their love for another person only to have that other person immediately plummet off a cliff to his doom.)

The third book is mostly epic battles and discussions of the responsibility of ruling. At the end of it I remain slightly confused about several things. First of all, I am puzzled by how the whole marriage-reproductive system works! (It's mentioned offhand in the first book that everyone is required by law to reproduce before they can get married? Possibly reproduce twice? But this is never brought up again, unless I missed something, and seems like . . . a strange rule . . .) Also: IS HASAI STILL PREGNANT AT THE END seriously I'm really confused by this I need to know!

But MOSTLY I am just full of fond nostalgia for super eighties fantasy epics set in sexually Utopian fantasy worlds where no one had homophobic hangups and all the plots featured some kind of cheerful pansexual polyamory. I kind of want to compile a master list, but for this I need assistance!

The ones that spring initially to mind:
- these books
- Tanya Huff's Quarter series

Which doesn't seem like much, but I know there are more! I know there are more that I've read! BRAIN.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, I love Vonda McIntyre! Read Dreamsnake. Ignore the unfortunate villain and concentrate on the genetically altered post-apocalyptic healing snakes. It's basically about trauma and healing, with serious issues but very sweet, with bonus everyone-is-bisexual.

For true cracktasticness, READ HER STAR TREK NOVELS. They are awesomesauce.

The Entropy Effect is barely subtextual Kirk/Spock, with time travel and lots of hurt-comfort. Sulu gets a major story and a love interest - this is really well-done. There are very cool alien characters, including crewmembers who are intelligent jaguars and dinosaurs - both female, by the way.

Enterprise: the First Adventure, also very well-done, lots of (deliberate) comedy. The Enterprise has to transport a traveling circus of varying artistic quality and ends up making first contact with an alien race. First contact is one of McIntyre's big themes, and she's really good at it. There are hilarious backstage shenanigans, a really good backstory for Janice Rand, a woobie Vulcan named Steven, and adorable flying horses. I really like it.

It's mentioned offhand in the first book that everyone is required by law to reproduce before they can get married? Possibly reproduce twice?

This is correct, and I think it's because homosexuality is so totally accepted and prevalent that it's to ensure that there's replacement-level population growth. Herewiss and Freelorn both have kids who make brief appearances.

There's something somewhat analagous to this in the Liaden books: you are required to give your clan one heir, but your sex life is up to you. Your reproductive life is up to the clan, who may marry you off for limited terms to produce one child per marriage. This applies to both sexes.

Tell me about Liaden. I keep hearing them mentioned, but I know nothing other than that they're space opera. Would I be likely to like them?

Also, where do I start? The other thing I've noticed is that there seem to be tons of them.

There certainly are tons of them at this point.

There are two first series that have intertwining characters. The first series starts with a rescued-Cinderella story that I personally am ape for. (She gets to be a starship captain.) You can read a healthy chunk of "Conflict of Honors" at the Baen site.

http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/1587870029/1587870029.htm

They've tried to do sort of a reentry into the universe that starts with "Fledgling"; however, the lead character is somewhat aggressive and bad with people (chip on her shoulder) so you may or may not find it pleasant to be in her head. http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/1439132879/1439132879.htm

And a third option that is in the middle of the main series but that I find pleasantly standalone is "I Dare" in which the undervalued cousin (he can't fly starships) winds up running for his life with trusty companions. http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/1892065037/1892065037.htm

I forgot to answer on whether you'd like them. So, up-front, no representation of non-heterosexual characters, a strong focus on happy endings with marriage and children. The only race representation is Liaden vs. Earth vs. various truly alien aliens. Liaden have "golden skin" and are shorter than average.

That said, they're space opera with a focus on an intricate etiquette system that is, to me, great fun. The language is heavily modal, and the various appropriate bows and appropriate speech modes are fun. There's an enormous Georgette Heyer influence. And spaceships! And derring-do!

I love them. I don't know if it would hit any of your guaranteed kinks

At this rate I will have read more Star Trek: Extended Universe novels than I will have seen actual Star Trek! (I'm not actually sure this is a bad thing.)

Yeah, that's how she discusses it - I was kind of sad not to see Herewiss' kids again, actually - but I am SO CONFUSED about how it works. Do you have to actually reproduce, or is an earnest effort enough? What about if you're infertile? How is this actually policed, especially for dudes? Does this world's version of Jane Eyre involve someone popping up at the wedding to dramatically declaim that Rochester cannot possibly go through the wedding because Adele is not really his daughter and he has never had children? SO MANY QUESTIONS.

- and Sunspark has never reproduced, iirc! So is their marriage not legal? Important questions!

Edited 2013-01-16 20:32 (UTC)