Discussion: Fictional Disabilities
In science-fiction and fantasy, you invariably run into fictional disabilities and allegories. Do these “count” as disability? What makes them work successfully in a book?
Browsing: science fiction
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Review: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans
An accurate, respectful, and deftly handled portrayal of Tourette’s Syndrome, from an author who has the condition himself.
Disability Metaphors in Sci-Fi and Fantasy
While I don’t think disability metaphors are sufficient disability representation, I do think that they’ll come up naturally in many stories, and that they’re relevant to the discussion of disability in SFF.
Redefining Heroism
Science fiction and fantasy tell us that anything can happen, and yet disabled people are often told that their narratives don’t fit into the genres.
Review: The Islands at the End of the World by Austin Aslan
The Islands at the End of the World excels on many levels—but from a purely disability perspective, it fall short of its mark.
Review: Stranger by Rachel Manija Brown & Sherwood Smith
Stranger represents a case where verisimilitude—the appearance of plausibility—succeeds where a more realistic representation of disability might have failed.
The Mystical Disability Trope
At its core, the Mystical Disabled Person trope is about a disabled character—frequently mentally ill, developmentally disabled, and/or blind—with some sort of unusual ability. This trope is varied, flexible, and depressingly common.
Interview with Shaunta Grimes about Viral Nation
Shaunta Grimes’s Viral Nation is the rare YA dystopian novel with an autistic protagonist; we were keen to sit down with the author to discuss the book, its sequel Rebel Nation, and its protagonist Clover Donovan.
Interview with Shannon Hale about Dangerous
A one-armed astronaut superhero is the lead in Dangerous, the unusual new novel by NYT bestselling and Newbery Honor-winning author Shannon Hale, who sat down with us for a great interview.
Review: Dangerous by Shannon Hale
The first time I’ve really seen someone in a book who is just like me, and she turns out to be a superhero.