Fandom/Canon Name: Twenty Planets by Carolyn Ives Gilman
What's awesome about it: Twenty Planets is a loosely connected series of books set in the same universe. There are a few crossover characters, but each novel/novella is definitely a stand-alone. Gilman writes great characters, my favorite being Tedla from Halfway Human.
Tedla is an asexual, agender person from a planet called Gammadis where they have 3 biological sexes: male, female, and neuter. Halfway Human takes this premise and sets up a really complex world where gender and class struggles are framed in totally different ways by having a third gender. Neuters are stigmatized and looked down on by the rest of the population, but Tedla's experiences show that there is a lot more going on than meets the eye.
Dark Orbit, the most recent novel, is also wonderful. Another planet is being explored in this story, and here the population is adapted to living underground in total darkness. So there are some really amazing descriptions of how the society uses their senses of touch, sound, and smell to understand their world.
Where to find: You can get the novels from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. The ebook for Halfway Human runs about $5, and a used paperback is only $2+shipping on Amazon.
If you're a fan, check out twentyplanets. It's a new community that I created to, hopefully, meet other fans and and discuss the series with each other.
Also, check out this beautiful portrait of Tedla from a wonderful artist on tumblr: LINK. (Pic is SFW, but blog is *not*).
Twenty Planets
What's awesome about it: Twenty Planets is a loosely connected series of books set in the same universe. There are a few crossover characters, but each novel/novella is definitely a stand-alone. Gilman writes great characters, my favorite being Tedla from Halfway Human.
Tedla is an asexual, agender person from a planet called Gammadis where they have 3 biological sexes: male, female, and neuter. Halfway Human takes this premise and sets up a really complex world where gender and class struggles are framed in totally different ways by having a third gender. Neuters are stigmatized and looked down on by the rest of the population, but Tedla's experiences show that there is a lot more going on than meets the eye.
Dark Orbit, the most recent novel, is also wonderful. Another planet is being explored in this story, and here the population is adapted to living underground in total darkness. So there are some really amazing descriptions of how the society uses their senses of touch, sound, and smell to understand their world.
Where to find: You can get the novels from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. The ebook for Halfway Human runs about $5, and a used paperback is only $2+shipping on Amazon.
If you're a fan, check out
Also, check out this beautiful portrait of Tedla from a wonderful artist on tumblr: LINK. (Pic is SFW, but blog is *not*).