Actually, I'm pretty sure I read that before I read Amber, so when I first met Benedict and Julian and Caine I was like "...oh, so that's what that was." :D ...but my public library only had "Sorceror and a Gentleman" so I re-read that one about five times while desperately searching for the other two, which gave me an interesting perspective on the series.
Dewar/Freya! Healing waterfall soulbond sex! hurt/comfort huddling for warmth in a Canadian shack! ...and yet my favorite moment for them is actually that the one bit that *isn't* ridiculously tragic and OTT and ~destined~ is the abortion, because abortion is a perfectly reasonable medical procedure for a woman to choose. ♥ Actually, though, in general, the het relationships in that series are deeply angsty and screwed up and doomed, and the gay relationships in contrast seem refreshingly healthy and drama-free, even down to the lesbian couples among the Argyllites. Which is problematic too, really, but at the time was like a breath of clear water.
Yeah, especially in SF, the characters seem to almost always be not really connected to modern trans / intersex / genderqueer people. They can be well done in their own way, especially when the people involved are nonhumanoid, but it's not really the same thing, and it drowns out characters who are actually trans.
Though I can come up with a small handful of fantasy characters who are pretty explicitly some equivalent of man-hearted women or sworn virgins or similar, and (to me, as a cis person) not obviously poorly done, though I can't say for sure how they'd read to a modern-society trans person. Also, in my not-badly-done lgbt main characters list, I am still coming up with almost entirely gay men and FAAB trans or genderqueer people. Argh.
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Re: reposted reply down here where it belongs
Date: 2010-02-09 11:38 pm (UTC)Dewar/Freya! Healing waterfall soulbond sex! hurt/comfort huddling for warmth in a Canadian shack! ...and yet my favorite moment for them is actually that the one bit that *isn't* ridiculously tragic and OTT and ~destined~ is the abortion, because abortion is a perfectly reasonable medical procedure for a woman to choose. ♥ Actually, though, in general, the het relationships in that series are deeply angsty and screwed up and doomed, and the gay relationships in contrast seem refreshingly healthy and drama-free, even down to the lesbian couples among the Argyllites. Which is problematic too, really, but at the time was like a breath of clear water.
Yeah, especially in SF, the characters seem to almost always be not really connected to modern trans / intersex / genderqueer people. They can be well done in their own way, especially when the people involved are nonhumanoid, but it's not really the same thing, and it drowns out characters who are actually trans.
Though I can come up with a small handful of fantasy characters who are pretty explicitly some equivalent of man-hearted women or sworn virgins or similar, and (to me, as a cis person) not obviously poorly done, though I can't say for sure how they'd read to a modern-society trans person. Also, in my not-badly-done lgbt main characters list, I am still coming up with almost entirely gay men and FAAB trans or genderqueer people. Argh.