What I've Been Reading: February 2025
Welcome to another edition of What I’ve Been Reading, the (semi) monthly roundup of the speculative fiction I’ve read lately and my take on the novels’ disability representation and overall quality and enjoyability. As always my ratings and Fries Test assessments will be added to the ongoing spreadsheet tracking disability representation in speculative fiction novels.
I’m happy to say that all the books I’ve read this month have been really good (I’m honestly a little surprised, it can be hard to find books I really enjoy that also have good disability representation, but this month has been all winners). So if you’re looking for reading recommendations, this is the roundup for you. Happy reading!
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
She Who Became the Sun is a fantastical queer reimagining of the Hongwu emperor's rise to power in 14th century China and features a cross-dressing monk, a tormented eunuch warrior, and multiple disabled characters. Despite some minor pacing issues, I found the novel extremely compelling. It doesn’t shy away from the violence and brutality of empire building, or the pain of disability and queerness in an ableist and heteropatriarchal world (CW for violence, transphobia and gender dysphoria), while also making space for disabled and queer joy. I was pleasantly surprised by the text’s treatment of a main character’s acquired disability. Without downplaying the extreme physical pain, loss of function and social stigma her disability brings, the text frames her disablement as a clarifying opportunity for self-development and a complex part of her fate.
Overall rating: 7/10
Disability rating: 8/10
Fries Test: pass
He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan
This immediate sequel manages to be even more compelling—and brutal—than its predecessor, She Who Became the Sun (CW transphobia, gender dysphoria, violence, sexual assault, sadomasochism and self-harm). While I thoroughly enjoyed the first novel, He Who Drowned the World is where this story really finds its stride and its consequences. The novel features multiple disabled and queer main characters engaged in a good deal of court intrigue and complex power plays. Like the first novel in the series, the text’s portrayal of disability is nuanced. The novel treats disability at once as a marker of the worlds brutality, an aspect of fate, and simply a fact of life.
Overall rating: 8/10
Disability rating: 8/10
Fries Test: pass
Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Set in a dystopian near future where a plague deprives settlers of the ability to dream and the only cure is bone marrow stolen from indigenous people, Marrow Thieves follows a Métis boy forced to flee north through the Canadian wilderness with his found family. The style of the novel is clearly inspired by indigenous theatre, and at points the world-building, imagery, and dialogue feel far more theatrical than novelistic (an effect that’s fully realized in the audiobook). The novel is a strong contribution to indigenous Canadian literature and really captures the apocalyptic horrors experienced by North American indigenous communities past, present, and (perhaps) future. Although not its main focus, the text has a fair bit to say about disability. There are multiple disabled side characters and the plot itself is driven by settler society’s perverse drive for a cure at any cost. The novel poses many insightful and provocative questions about family, care, indigenous identity, colonial exploitation, storytelling and our relationships with land and nature, but personally I was most struck by its treatment of hope and its absence. It asks, what motivates us to move forward when hope is not an option?
Overall rating: 7/10
Disability rating: 8/10
Fries test: pass
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
Speculated to be a 2025 Hugo award nominee, this historical fantasy does not disappoint. The novel is about two siblings from Halifax, a red cross nurse and a Canadian soldier during the first World War. The subject, themes and atmosphere are reminiscent of many famed Canadian war novels (Think Barometer Rising with less incest, plus The Wars with a fantasy twist). Alongside a stark focus on the near apocalyptic brutality of trench warfare, and the haunting uncertainty of a loved one missing in action, Arden’s addition of ghosts and a supernatural fiddler to the front feels fitting and barely ahistorical. As you might expect of a war novel, many of the characters are disabled. One of the point of view characters has a war injury that causes her to limp, nearly all of the main characters are traumatized, and one of them is an amputee. Although all the disabilities portrayed are acquired in war, the text doesn’t dwell on disability as tragedy or loss, and the characters are realistically impaired while still being highly competent and capable.
Overall rating: 8/10
Disability rating: 8/10
Fries Test: pass
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