Buzzfeed List and Nine Worlds Workshop Table

My Loncon report is still in progress. In the meantime…

While at the con, I found out I am on a Buzzfeed List. Initially it was called “21 of the Best British Sci Fi and Fantasy Writers you Should be Reading” but then it changed to the more clickbaity headline of “21 of the Best British Sci Fi and Fantasy Writers You’ve Probably Never Heard of.” Aww yeah. Damien Walter, the compiler of the list, said on twitter it had about 60,000 views though, which is roughly the total amount of views of this blog over the past 3 or so years I’ve been running it. *blinks*

At Nine Worlds, I ran a workshop on writing LGBTQI characters in SFF. A few days before this, I put out a call on Twitter for character portrayals in SFF that were either positive, negative, or conflicted. I collated most of them into a table. Initially I was going to print them out for attendees, but I had no idea how many people would show up. I probably would have printed about 20, which wouldn’t have been enough–about 50 or so people came to my workshop! So here’s the list. There’s plenty on here I haven’t read. Feel free to comment with thoughts, additional examples, spark debate, etc. If I have time, I’ll come back and update the table now and again to reflect the comments.

Positive
Negative
Conflicting Answers


Otherbound, Corinne Duyvis
Baron Harkonnen, Dune
The Last Herald Mage Series, Mercedes Lackey


Characters in Mark Charan Newton’s books (transgender, gay, etc)
Illario, Mary Gentle
Austin & Robby in Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith


Bonnie in Rapture of the Nerds by Charlie Stross and Cory Doctorow
Jack Randall in the Outlander series
The Steel Remains, Richard Morgan


The Culture Novels, Iain M. Banks
Problematic portrayal of a gay man in Windrose Chronicles, Barbara Hambly
Andrew in Buffy


Malinda Lo’s work
Riddick at one point offers to turn a lesbian character straight in the latest film.
Cutter and Judah in the Iron Council by China Mieville


Transgender character in Shadows on the Moon, Zoe Marriott
 
Izana from Knights of Sidonia


Transgender character in Eon/Eona, Allison Goodman (plus crossdressing-but-straight protagonist)
 
Orson Scott Card


Vintage: A Ghost Story, Steve Berman
 
Willow in Buffy (bi-erasure)


Daja in Will of the Empress, Tamora Pierce
 
Anne McCaffrey (blue and green dragonriders)


Anthem in Coda, by Emma Trevayne
 
Darwin in The Four Realms by Adrian Faulkner


Nick in The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
 
The Forever War, Joe Haldeman


Kylie Chan novels
 
 


Lord John Grey in the Outlander series
 
 


Havemercy & sequels by Jones & Bennett.
 
 


Susan Ivanova and Talia Winters from Babylon 5
 
 


Okha Soyan in Bloodhouse, Tamora Pierce
 
 


Pen in the Skyscraper Throne series, Tom Pollock
 
 


Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
 
 


Ro in Owl Stretching by K.A. Laity
 
 


Makaria and Hypatia in Romanitas by Sophia McDougall
 
 


Nyx in Infidel, Kameron Hurley