Vanyel, the last Herald-Mage part 2
Since I started reviewing and keeping track of juvenile and YA books (which started in earnest when working for the Monkey) I have not been able to read ANYTHING with out evaluating it. Whether this is good or bad, it's true. So, there is one more thing about this series, and about this author that I want to bring up. Vanyel is gay. The hero of this semi-epic fantasy story is gay.
I really couldn't figure out how to fit that bit of info into the review, mainly because his being gay has no bearing to me on whether or not I liked the series/story. But, it occurs to me when faced with a customer/patron who would like to read books about gay characters this and other books by Mercedes Lackey would be good picks. In several of her books, especially her Valdemar books, there are gay and lesbian main and supporting characters. They're there living their lives, saving the country and it's just normal. Yes, there are still conflicts. In Vanyel's case his family had a very difficult time accepting that he was gay, he was first-born male to a landholder and was supposed to get married, have heirs and take over the land. But his becoming a Herald-Mage was also difficult for his family to deal with, but in a different way. Vanyel spent a great deal of time trying to figure out who he was in relationship to those around him because he was gay, but even more because he was the most powerful Mage in history.
The other reason I wanted to bring this up is I can't think of any other high fantasy books where the main characters are gay. It seems to be somewhat common in sci-fi, but seriously, I can't think of any other high fantasy. It's just part of my internal list making and databasing I would like fleshed out. Can anyone help me out here?
I really couldn't figure out how to fit that bit of info into the review, mainly because his being gay has no bearing to me on whether or not I liked the series/story. But, it occurs to me when faced with a customer/patron who would like to read books about gay characters this and other books by Mercedes Lackey would be good picks. In several of her books, especially her Valdemar books, there are gay and lesbian main and supporting characters. They're there living their lives, saving the country and it's just normal. Yes, there are still conflicts. In Vanyel's case his family had a very difficult time accepting that he was gay, he was first-born male to a landholder and was supposed to get married, have heirs and take over the land. But his becoming a Herald-Mage was also difficult for his family to deal with, but in a different way. Vanyel spent a great deal of time trying to figure out who he was in relationship to those around him because he was gay, but even more because he was the most powerful Mage in history.
The other reason I wanted to bring this up is I can't think of any other high fantasy books where the main characters are gay. It seems to be somewhat common in sci-fi, but seriously, I can't think of any other high fantasy. It's just part of my internal list making and databasing I would like fleshed out. Can anyone help me out here?
posted by Chrissy at 2/27/2006 12:57:00 PM
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