*CHINHANDS*
Terry Pratchett's Nation is kind of like what would happen if you took Island of the Blue Dolphins and Call It Courage, stuck them in a blender, added a pinch of Authorial 'I Hate The Noble Savage Trope; Victorians, I Want *Words* With You' Plot Twist, and whizzed it all together.
And then sprinkled it with a dusting of very emphatically not Judeo-Christian theology.
This is a book where, if you write fic, for all intents and purposes you do not have the *option* of not writing characters of color. The *default* is brown people. Yes, you *have* white folks; yes, some of them are awesome (DAPHNE DAPHNE DAPHNE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE); yes, I would like stories about the Gentlemen of Last Resort.
But, basically, if you're writing a story set in this world and you do not have a POC in there? I will totally think really, really hard about calling you on skanky race issues (and if I don't it will be because you managed to sell me on your story, and that *will* be harder than it sounds), because *seriously*. Smack with a rotten trout, kids, POC are the whole *point*. Okay, yes, also passing Bechdel's Law, but.
Also, I kind of ship the god of death with our protagonist (Locaha/Mau is *canon*, shut it, yes it is). I maybe have a theme.
In summation: YAY.
P.S. Nation is also a book that could be turned into an *awesome* movie. At least, I would have said so before Avatar: the Last Airbender shenanigans. Because if you can whitewash *Avatar*... Nation cannot be too far behind.
And then sprinkled it with a dusting of very emphatically not Judeo-Christian theology.
This is a book where, if you write fic, for all intents and purposes you do not have the *option* of not writing characters of color. The *default* is brown people. Yes, you *have* white folks; yes, some of them are awesome (DAPHNE DAPHNE DAPHNE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE); yes, I would like stories about the Gentlemen of Last Resort.
But, basically, if you're writing a story set in this world and you do not have a POC in there? I will totally think really, really hard about calling you on skanky race issues (and if I don't it will be because you managed to sell me on your story, and that *will* be harder than it sounds), because *seriously*. Smack with a rotten trout, kids, POC are the whole *point*. Okay, yes, also passing Bechdel's Law, but.
Also, I kind of ship the god of death with our protagonist (Locaha/Mau is *canon*, shut it, yes it is). I maybe have a theme.
In summation: YAY.
P.S. Nation is also a book that could be turned into an *awesome* movie. At least, I would have said so before Avatar: the Last Airbender shenanigans. Because if you can whitewash *Avatar*... Nation cannot be too far behind.