Updates & What I've Been Reading

Introducing Imperfect Speculation

In the interest of posting more frequently and motivating myself to read more, write more, and think more, I’m planning on diversifying my content a bit in the new year. First, I will be expanding my focus to include more fantasy and other forms of speculative fiction and I’ll be adding a new project where I briefly review the books I’m reading and evaluate their disability representation. With these changes in mind, I’ll be changing the name of this publication to Imperfect Speculation (hopefully the new name won’t get me bumped to your spam filter, but please keep an eye out just in case).

For my new segment, I plan on reading a variety of speculative fiction novels drawn from lists of award nominees (especially the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards) and personal recommendations. I will then evaluate them based on a few criteria and add them to an ongoing spreadsheet hosted on the blog. One of the main criteria I will be assessing is whether or not the novels pass the Fries Test. The Fries test is a simple pass/fail test of disability representation (inspired by the Bechdel test) proposed by Kenny Fries:

“Does a work have more than one disabled character? Do the disabled characters have their own narrative purpose other than the education and profit of a nondisabled character? Is the character’s disability not eradicated either by curing or killing?”¹

In order to pass, the answer to all three questions must be yes. As I’ve discussed before, the Fries test is not a perfect measure of representation. There will be texts that promote harmful and ableist stereotypes that pass, and equity minded texts that fail, but it's a useful starting point (and valuable metric for a spreadsheet).

What I’ve been reading

The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

Although it doesn’t feature any disabled characters, I really enjoyed my time with this 2024 Hugo nominee. The Saint of Bright Doors is a beautifully written and complex tapestry that examines themes of colonialism, racial hierarchy, state violence, intergenerational trauma and revolution. It moves seamlessly between the magical and the mundane revealing the hidden powers and oppressive intentions we allow to be invisible simply by looking away.

Overall rating: 8/10

Disability rating: 3

Fries Test: fail

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Winner of the 2024 Hugo award, Some Desperate Glory is a YA space opera centred around the deradicalization of a teen girl living in a dystopian hyper-militarised society. The YA tropes and required suspension of disbelief won’t be for everyone, but the way this work captures and unpacks the impacts of indoctrination and hierarchical thinking, while being a delightful and engaging read is remarkable and especially valuable for younger audiences. In terms of disability representation, the text features a handful of physically disabled side characters (war injuries, mild vision impairments), and a traumatized main cast, and its treatment of eugenics and body-based hierarchies is a worthy topic for a future essay.

Overall rating: 7

Disability rating: 7

Fries Test: pass

Babel by R. F. Kuang

Critically acclaimed and winner of the 2023 Nebula award, Babel is an alternative history of 1830s England that examines British imperialism, colonialism, racial inequity and the necessity of violent resistance. It features a mixed race main character desperately grappling with the violence and extraction underlying his every material comfort and academic opportunity. Despite the lack of disabled characters, Kuang’s remarkably compelling prose, perfectly real characters, and skillful examination of imperialism and resistance, has made Babel one of my all-time favourite books.

Overall rating: 10/10

Disability rating: 5/10

Fries Test: fail

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

This delightful 2023 pirate adventure is set in a rich fantasy version of the mediaeval Indian ocean and follows a middle-aged muslim woman dragged out of retirement for one last job. The plot is compelling, full of unique fantasy elements, fascinating characters and deep friendships. The cast includes multiple queer characters, and although it does not address disability or disabled identity directly, it does include multiple main characters with acquired disabilities. Chakraborty has managed to craft a thrilling bildungsroman centred on a middle-aged mother and I love it.

Overall rating: 8/10

Disability rating: 8/10

Fries test: pass

Witch King by Martha Wells

Winner of the 2022 Locus award, and Hugo and Nebula nominee, this rich fantasy novel follows a demon in human form in two timelines. In the past he fights an invading force of death wizards, and in the present he attempts to uncover and escape a political plot against himself and his family. The complex world and rich characters feel both unique and deeply real. Among the many languages spoken in this world is a once prominent sign language known as “witchspeak”, which has come under threat by conquerors. Although there’s only one named disabled character (a nonspeaking woman who communicates through witchspeak), the text’s treatment of sign as a fully realized and culturally significant language is compelling and commendable disability representation.

Overall rating: 9/10

Disability rating: 8/10

Fries test: fail

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

Overall, I was disappointed by this Hugo Award winner. There were some fun fantasy elements (who doesn’t love a bone-dog), but the characters felt one-dimensional and the setting somewhat generic. It does include some disabled elderly characters, but overall I found it lacking.

Overall rating: 5/10

Disability rating: 5/10

Fries test: pass

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

The first book in the award winning Murderbot series, this novella follows a cyborg/robot character owned by a predatory resource extraction company. The cyborg character is coded as autistic and while I can definitely see why she is so beloved by some in the neurodivergent community, I found the autism coding a little heavy-handed and the story itself somewhat generic.

Overall rating: 6/10

Disability rating: 6/10

Fries test: fail

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1. “The Fries Test; on Disability Representation in our Culture” by Kenny Fries