There are no stars at all for some of us

[sovay]

Hey! Internet! I've just been talking about how much it sucks when a novel kills off its queer characters. Especially when there's, like, one of them and they're the one who doesn't make it. Can someone point me toward a list of books where that doesn't happen? Spoilers, whatever.

Comments

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Mercedes Lackey may not be what I call quality writing (just a guilty pleasure), but her Valdemar books have several queer characters, a few of whom don't die. The Vanyel triology involves 3 queer characters, 2 die (1 in book 1, 1 in book 3), the other lives to a ripe old age- the deaths have nothing to do with their sexuality, though. The Winds and Storms trilogies have another queer character- Firesong (and a queer supporting character at the end) who doesn't die either. In fact, she does the "here's a pair or trio of queer supporting characters" thing in a variety of her books.

There's also the entire social structure of the planet O, in some of Ursula K. LeGuin's short stories (I think in A Fisherman of the Inland Sea)- where a marriage is 4 people, two men, two women, and each person is supposed to be sexually involved with one person of each gender (trying to summarize briefly).

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

There's also the entire social structure of the planet O, in some of Ursula K. LeGuin's short stories (I think in A Fisherman of the Inland Sea)- where a marriage is 4 people, two men, two women, and each person is supposed to be sexually involved with one person of each gender (trying to summarize briefly).

"It's just as complicated as it sounds, but aren't most marriages?" (Mountain Ways)

[sovay]

Mercedes Lackey may not be what I call quality writing (just a guilty pleasure), but her Valdemar books have several queer characters, a few of whom don't die.

I have found myself unable to re-read Mercedes Lackey after the initial adolescent experience, in which I read everything from Arrows of the Queen (1987) through The Silver Gryphon (1996) and then burnt out. I know she was formative for a lot of people, but I think it missed me. I do appreciate the reminder, though!

There's also the entire social structure of the planet O, in some of Ursula K. LeGuin's short stories (I think in A Fisherman of the Inland Sea)- where a marriage is 4 people, two men, two women, and each person is supposed to be sexually involved with one person of each gender (trying to summarize briefly).

Yes! "Another Story, or A Fisherman of the Inland Sea" is the title story in A Fisherman of the Inland Sea (1994); "Unchosen Love" and "Mountain Ways" are collected in The Birthday of the World (2002). Which I love.