Comments on: Gregory Bernard Banks on Disability in Fantasy and Science Fiction

By: maria

maria — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 22:07:26 +0000

Some more suggestions (again, a very incomplete list):
* Has anyone mentioned H.G.Well’s “The Country of the Blind?” http://blogworms.blogspot.com/2005/11/country-of-blind-h-g-wells.html
* http://www.thevalve.org/go/valve/article/science_fiction_and_physical_handicap/
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skallagrigg (the movie adaption is currently on YouTube). As with “The Speed of Dark”, “Skalligrig” gets disability/context right (tho the archaic language used to describe sometimes really grated on me). Probably had bigger impact on me than any book I read last year. And I so want to make a version of that game (read it and you’ll know what I mean!)
* Should also throw in “Wake” by Robert J Sawyer (2010 Hugo finalist). Have *very* mixed feelings about it from a disability perspective (bad science doesn’t help) – love to know what others think!

There are some great fanfic and movie resources too. For fanfic: http://access-fandom.dreamwidth.org/8848.html

By: maria

maria — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 21:15:12 +0000

Elizabeth Moon’s “The Speed of Dark” (2003 Nebula award winner) is written from the perspective of a high-functioning autistic man. Set in near future; storyline basically revolves around the type of neurodiversity vs cure issues *already* splitting the autism community today.

Will come back with more.

By: Cheryl Holland

Cheryl Holland — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:16:01 +0000

Technically Darth Vader’s disabled.

If we’re counting mental as well as physical disability then I’ll add Latro in Gene Wolfe’s Soldier books, as his memory only lasts half a day.

By: Melissa Mead

Melissa Mead — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:24:51 +0000

Clearly, I’ve been sending the wrong stories to Fantasy. My husband and I have a running joke that I can’t write a story without giving SOMEBODY a disability.

Thanks for an interesting article!

By: Josh Jasper

Josh Jasper — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:59:24 +0000

Robert Heinlein’s classic “Waldo”, which actually ended up with Waldoes named after it.

Spider Robinson had one about a blind starship pilot conducting first contact.

By: Blue Tyson

Blue Tyson — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:15:16 +0000

Tad Williams Otherland series has many.

By: Carole McDonnell

Carole McDonnell — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:15:27 +0000

I agree with pretty much everything that has been said. Will also add that there are many –but not enough– stories with disabled folks. It’s easy enough to write stories with disabled folks (stereotypes aside) But it’s somewhat difficult to write when the POV main character has extreme disabilities. Extreme disabilities sometimes lead to a different way of perceiving. A true blind POV character -would be a story with descriptions that rely on all the other senses. A tour de force if a non-blind writer can do that. But then such a story about such a character would probably end up focusing on the disability if the writer isn’t careful. And creating magical disabled characters.

It’s tough to create a story with a POV character with an extreme disability and to not have the story not be totally about the disability, I think. I try to write about disabled characters in all my stories and it is truly difficult to keep the disability upfront in the reader’s mind without at the same time getting mired in it and forgetting the plot. If it’s an extreme disability, the story will have to be about the disability itself, i think.-C

By: Scott Marlowe

Scott Marlowe — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:53:19 +0000

You can throw Elric of Melnibone in there as well, or even Raistlin of the Dragonlance books. Both physically degenerative, but very powerful in other regards. It’s how they wrestle with both that makes each character worth reading.

By: Matt’s Bookosphere 7/02/08 « Enter the Octopus

Matt’s Bookosphere 7/02/08 « Enter the Octopus — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:08:49 +0000

[...] Gregory Bernard Banks on disability in F/SF [...]

By: Berry

Berry — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:30:05 +0000

A few more to consider:

* Sheemi Ruiz from The Dark Tower series (incidental secondary character early on in Book 4, then major secondary player by Book 6)

* Duddits from Dreamcatcher

* the extreme OCD kids in Card’s Children of the Mind

*Greek Hephaestus

* Germanic Weyland/Wayland