Diversity in Fantasy & Recommendations

When I die, my gravestone is going to read “Jananee – remembered for heroically fighting in the war for diverse characters”.

Yes, this is a tad melodramatic (as is my style) but seriously, fantasy authors (well any author, but in particular those that write fantasy) have NO excuse not to include diversity in their fiction. You are literally MAKING UP your  own world. You have so much power in your hands to create diverse characters with complex backgrounds, epic relationships and a story that they can call their own. Are you going to tell me that no one in your fantasy world is a Person of Colour? The no one is part of the LGBTQI + community? I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe that. If you’re able to feasibly make dragons, magicians and unicorns exist then why can’t you create diverse characters?

I know a lot of authors try to hide behind the “oh, I don’t want to mess up the representation” excuse as a pardon for their lack of representation. This is such a cop out. If you can put time and effort into researching for your novel in order to, say, effectively build  a world or develop a language system, then why can’t you put in the time and effort to create well-rounded diverse characters when essentially, it just requires you as an author to do your homework? I feel like authors do not understand the importance of including diverse characters in their work and therefore find it acceptable to just forget them all together- well let me tell you, IT IS IMPORTANT. It’s as important as having an interesting plot, it’s as important as having a dynamic world, it’s important because it is one more thing that envelops your reader into your story.

I just want to put a disclaimer out there because it is the way of the world that these types of posts require disclaimers. I am not here to offend ANYONE and there is nothing wrong with being White, straight or anything else that constitutes the majority. What I am trying to get at is this should not be the only thing that I read in my fiction because not only does it get boring and repetitive after a while, it also takes away so much of the exposure minorities need.

But all of this aside, today’s blog post is here to celebrate some of the authors that have beaten the odds and have included diversity spectacularly in their fiction. Whether it be high fantasy or urban fantasy, the books presented below will captivate you with their characters and keep you wanting more. Feel free to leave some of your own suggestions in the comments – I am always looking for new books to devour ;).

Onto the recs!

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S I X   O F   C R O W S 

{ L E I G H   B A R D U G O }

Honestly, I feel like every time I open my mouth it’s to rave about this book. THAT’S BECAUSE YOU SHOULD READ IT. Not only do we have characters from diverse backgrounds (INEJ MY BABY) but we also have canonically bi and gay characters as well as a disabled protagonist. If that wasn’t enough, the plot and the world building and the EVERYTHING is fantastic as well so it is well worth the read.

Also the feels will rip you apart so that’s always a bonus.

p.s. Crooked Kingdom has yet to be released but we all know it’s going to be awesome anyway so I’m gonna recommend it. #sorrynotsorry

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T H E   R A V E N   C Y C L E

{ M A G G I E   S T I E F V A T E R }

So when I am not raving about Six of Crows, I am probably going to be raving about the Raven Cycle. Now I have come to the realisation that it is hard to talk about the diversity in this series without major spoilers occurring so all I’m going to say is this – there is a main gay and main bi character and they are both my SMOL CINNAMON ROLLS THAT MUST BE CHERISHED.

But seriously. Read these books. You won’t regret it.

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T H E   L U N A R   C H R O N I C L E S

{ M A R I S S A   M E Y E R }

I could go on and on about how spectacular The Lunar Chronicles is in terms of plot, world-building and characters but instead I am going to insert a quote from Marissa Meyer that I found:

“I wanted the world to feel authentic and real, and the idea that all these characters doing amazing things would be white seemed ridiculous to me. The world isn’t made of only white people, so fictional worlds shouldn’t be either.”

FANTASY AUTHORS TAKE NOTE.

Marissa Meyer is not only fantastic but she gets it and it is so obviously translated in The Lunar Chronicles. Not convinced? I’m just gonna leave this picture of all the main characters right here…

credit

(yeah, I told you so.)

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T H E   W R A T H   A N D   T H E   D A W N 

{ R E N E E   A D H I E H }

This book is inspired by A Thousand Nights and as a result, draws on the Arabian backdrop for its setting. With this backdrop comes a whole book full of diverse characters and a very vivid exploration of the culture and the customs of the time. Although not necessarily her own unique world, Renee Adhieh has done a wonderful job at bringing it alive in the YA context.

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T H E   C R O W N ‘ S   G A M E

{ E V E L Y N   S K Y E }

This is a recent read but one that definitely deserves mentioning because it is AMAZING. The diversity in this book stems from the setting – an alternate Russia – and therefore obviously extends to the characters and is also a great example of how brilliant a book can become due to a research on the author’s part.  The setting, characters, and obvious study the author did into Russia and it’s culture adds a lot of magic to the book and makes for a downright fantastic reading experience.

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That’s all for today friends! It safe to say that I will have a lot more to discuss about diversity in the future and hopefully many more recommendations to go with it. If you want to read my other post about diversity, this one with a focus on Harry Potter, check it out here.