I should never go trawling random shared interests. Everything I like, there is some asshole who likes it too, and it just makes me cranky.

*throws all the Gay in Cyteen at an unnamed LJ user's head*

Not actually giving a shit about orientation is one of the reasons I like Cherryh. Far from the only, just to be clear: I like the dry humor and the interesting ideas and the always intriguing, occasionally adorable characters.

But I also like the fact that in Cherryhland, people are queer, and nobody really cares.

Cyteen? Text and subtext all over the place. It's only noteworthy because sex is all mixed up with the plot -- and let's note that in that story, sex and reproduction are fairly separate and none of the hetero liaisons are all that healthy either.

Merchanter books -- there's at least one scene where our male protagonist thinks some other guy is trying to pick him up, and he's perturbed more because he's in a generally difficult situation than because OMG! Gay germs!

In Fortress in the Eye of Time there's a throwaway mention of a soldier (!) stuck guarding a dangerous woman because he's proof against her feminine wiles "by his own preference" --which could mean he just doesn't go for redheads, but c'mon, tell me you read it that way.

And it's just not a big deal. When it comes up at all, it's usually a plot point, never the defining character note, and while the queer people are generally good people, inasmuch as Cherryhian ambiguity allows for good guys and bad guys -- they're good guys for better reasons than authorial PCness.

I guess it's a good thing that she handles it so well that her books are accessible even to homophobes. :P But damn, talk about selective reading.

And in conclusion, because I am a huge dork:


Cherryh is love.


<center><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v99/mllemanon/miscart/cherryhbar.jpg" width="525" height="75" border="0"><br><a href="http://mhari.livejournal.com/137210.html">Cherryh is love.</a></center>