#acereads

[agentaletha]

Raybearer

Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself? - Goodreads

Raybearer by Jordan Ifeuko, 2020 Amulet Books

Raybearer is a lovely young adult fantasy novel, the first in a two book series. I read a fair amount of YA, and a good amount of speculative fiction and still Raybearer felt new and exciting. In fact I’d say it’s probably my favorite YA I’ve read so far this year. The world building is unique with a wide variety of cultures (obviously influenced by certain real world countries but with enough departure to not feel just relabeled with fantasy names), interesting magic abilities, a sense of history, and an unusual system of government.

While stories of youths rebelling against oppressive regimes are YA’s bread and butter, this takes a deeper look at justice and inequality. I love that Tarisai’s goal for most of this first book is just to protect her friends and chosen family. There are so many that we don't really get to know all of them, but the ones we do know are perfect. While Tarisai has a strong sense of right and wrong (literally, she gets physical symptoms from injustice) the entire time, the book covers her journey from ignoring it, then trying to save individuals, to trying to affect the whole empire. But even when her purpose is to protect, she still sees systemic injustices and comes up with systemic solutions, wanting to fulfill her role as more than keeper of the status quo. This is a story that questions why things are the way they are and how the status quo is maintained, but also looks seriously at what can be done better in the future. The problem isn’t one bad person abusing their power, the problem is the system that supports and maintains inequalities. I appreciated that there are no scenery chewing villains here - everyone has understandable motives, from lashing out to hurt because they were hurt, to fear, and to how easy it is to dismiss injustices that happen to other people, in other places and justify that that’s just how it is, no point in trying to make a difference. Everyone is treated with compassion, even when they make bad decisions or react from their emotions, which they sometimes do.

I’m really looking forward to the second book! In the words of George Washington from Hamilton,”Winning is easy young man, governing’s harder.” I love seeing what happens next and I’m going to leave it there to not give any more away.

Spoilers ahead as I talk about representation

As for LGBTQIA representation, it’s there but fairly background. Same sex relationships aren’t stigmatized and it seems there’s a bit of an “everyone is bi” default, although all the main on-page romantic relationships are male/female. Gender roles vary by culture but don’t seem to be strictly delineated in the palace although gender does seem to be considered strictly binary. One of the 11 is gay and fairly flamboyant about it - he’s described as a “bleeding-heart poet” dreaming of handsome swains, but that’s about it. However, there is an asexual character and while he’s not the protagonist, he is one of the key players. A little less than halfway through the book, when she is an anointed member of his council, Tarisai asks the Prince to meet her privately at a known lovers’ meeting spot. He’s afraid she has the wrong idea and this is what he tells her:

 “There’s something I should tell you. I don’t...I don’t think I want sex. Ever. And I don’t mean with you, I mean - with anyone. Girls, boys. Anyone.” He stared at the leaves on the ground, smooth brow furrowing. “I mean, I’ve had crushes before. On you, on Jeet, and some of the others. I’ve just … never been interested in the sex part. Sometimes I wonder if I’m broken.”

You aren’t broken, protested the voice inside me. You’re the kindest, most loving person I know. Run. Live.

“But I’m crown prince,” he continued, grimacing, “and I have to have heirs someday, so… I guess - if I could choose anyone-”

The conversation ends there because Tarisai stabs him.

Ekundayo, or Dayo for short, is described as happy, naive, trusting, and having a “big fragile heart”. He is the Crown Prince, but he believes in the best of everyone. He’s well meaning but doesn’t always get it. They don’t have a word for asexual, but the author makes it clear by indicating that it’s all genders he’s not interested in and that he’s not aromantic as well. And the author includes the classic, “I wonder if I’m broken.” On the one hand, broken would go on my ace characters bingo sheet, but on the other, it’s a classic for a reason. Asexuality is already so much more visible than when I finally encountered it over ten years ago that maybe in another ten private wonderings about our brokenness will no longer resonate with the younger generations. I hope so. In the meantime, I already liked him as the soft-hearted prince and this made my heart go out to him. I love that Tarisai’s immediate reaction is “you’re not broken” although she doesn’t get the chance to say that out loud or even finish the conversation. I assume it will come up again in the next and final book. I really don’t know what’s going to happen next and I love that.

In summary, I loved Raybearer and I think it’s a good representation of an ace character that doesn’t fall prey to stereotypes (although I am keeping an eye on how often naive tends to show up) and I highly recommend it as a diverse thoughtful YA fantasy.

[agentaletha]

Ace Character: Raven Stratagem

Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee

Published 2017 by Solaris (cover shows flying machine birds attacking large circular structures )

A sneak ace character showed up in Raven Stratagem, the sequel to Hugo award nominated Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. It’s a military space opera about heresy and loyalty set in a strange and fascinating science fiction empire.

It’s hard to talk about it without spoilers but the character is one of the protagonists of the second book. The narrative is split and follows several different POV characters as they try to accomplish their goals and go about their jobs. One of these is Mikodez, the leader of the Shuos faction, the Empire’s spies and assassins, known for their game making and manipulation. He was briefly in the first book but this one has him front and center. Happily, because he is by far my favorite character in this book and just plain entertaining to read about. He knits, he grows green onions and loves sweets. He also tries and succeeds in presenting himself as a ruthless, heartless, sociopath. He has a bad attention span even with medication and may have taken over his faction because he was bored. He has been in charge much longer and more peacefully than the average. He is clearly ace although the word asexual is never used - rightly as it would be out of place in this society. They don’t have words for straight, gay, bi or trans either. All are acceptable to the point of being unremarkable.

In this culture gender differences are minimal and they have the technology to make changing one’s gender as doable as a haircut. Some factions do it casually, others do not. The opening POV of the book is a Kel character who is male but has a “womanform” which may have made him subject to some discrimination. There are still taboos but they are unique, for example fantasizing about a boss is very bad. Mikodez’s assistant (which is a vast understatement of their role) uses they/them pronouns. Pronouns are never talked about but almost always used correctly, which could be due to author privilege or cultural signifiers not described.

To me the author does a good job of subtlety notifying the reader that Mikodez is ace and he seems to have been identified as such by a decent number of Goodreads reviewers, but it would likely not register with someone unfamiliar with asexuality. He is possibly aro as well - he loves someone but types of love are not distinguished. This person is family member but they do have sex as well, which Mikodez chooses to do occasionally to make him happy.

Have some quotes:

“They were lovers on and off, something the rest of the family regarded with bemusement.... Mikodez didn’t have any particular interest in bedroom gyrations for their own sake, but he liked keeping Istradez happy.”

““You ought to take some time off and try sex with someone who isn’t a Kel. I hear some people find it fulfilling.” Istradez always laughed whenever he heard of Mikodez giving this particular advice.”

This is not a book you should read without having read the first one, but both are very worth reading! They require some initial investment because they throw the reader into the deep end of this world, but I can’t wait to see what happens next!