What are you reading in 2026?

[Cadence]

I’m listening to an audiobook of The Left Hand of Darkness - since my cardiac and autonomic troubles of recent years, listening is often easier for me than reader - and was suddenly struck by a thought I haven’t had before. In the years since 1969, when Le Guin wrote this book, neutral/inclusive have become entirely routine in a lot of communities. Few readers now would blink if all the Gethenians were described as they/them except for the days of kemmer each month.

Just started reading The Left Hand of Darkness and had the same thought.

Just picked up a copy of it earlier today to start later in the week...

 

[Autumnal]

We’ll meet up here again to discuss it.

 

[Pale Violet Light]

I went on to wonder if Ann Leckie had Left Hand in mind much when make she/her ubiquitous in the Radch books.

I have a lot of trouble with visualizing stuff, so I need help with every possible visual cue. As a result, I hated the pronoun gimmick in Ancillary Justice - everyone was just a genderless blob and I couldn’t tell who was who. Which is not how that world actually works- they can differentiate sex and gender as well as we - they’re just not hung up on pronouns!

In addition, i found the more biologically-based gender questions Le Guin was asking more interesting than the (IMO) shallower linguistic/societal issues Leckie is addressing. Also the sequels were pants。

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Which is not how that world actually works- they can differentiate sex and gender

These things are irrelevant unless you want to breed with someone. You might as well complain that it didn't include the characters' eye colour.

 

[Pale Violet Light]

It is one of the most important ways we differentiate people - one of many, to be sure. Anyhow, I don’t just want to know about dangly bits: I want eye color, hair color, skin color, height, build, and favourite jacket. This enables me to build a rough mental model that I can then attach the various mental and other traits to.

Also, there should be a maximum of 26 major characters, and all their names must start with different letters.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It is one of the most important ways we differentiate people - one of many, to be sure

Largely for social reasons - clothing, hair etc. It will be a lot less clear in a society that does not consider gender significant. But it’s not uncommon for novels not to give any sort of physical description of characters. It’s not really important, imagine them however you like. Narrator’s, in particular, are often undescribed, and sometimes unnamed.

 

[Pale Violet Light]

It’s not really important, imagine them however you like.

I find visual guides very useful - if asked to do it myself they all end up like invisible stalkers, which makes action scenes confusing and romance scenes very odd indeed.

I have a similar problem with visual media. When I started watching anime I hated the ridiculous appearances and lurid hair colors (“aren’t they supposed to be Japanese?!?”). But after watching some with less diverse and more “realistic” designs I totally changed my tune. Use as much hair dye as you need, as long as I can tell them apart.

 

[Cadence]

Largely for social reasons - clothing, hair etc. It will be a lot less clear in a society that does not consider gender significant. But it’s not uncommon for novels not to give any sort of physical description of characters. It’s not really important, imagine them however you like. Narrator’s, in particular, are often undescribed, and sometimes unnamed.

I have aphantasia, so I'm not going to be picturing them clearly as anything. And I'm not super with names I haven't seen a bunch.

One of the things that helps me most in books is when the author provides some other descriptors besides the name that somehow gets brought up so I can keep track of who is who - especially early on, or if they haven't been seen for 200 pages. In fantasy it might be species, occupation is nice, some physical trait, or tick. Instead of "I saw Fred around the corner... Fred said....", throw in that it was "the Groll" or "the commissioner" or "red head" or that they're "tapping their cane" or something like that for one of the "Freds".

In that sense, the gender doesn't usually help me, unless there is only one woman or one man who would fit in that slot, or if there are two (say police officers) and one is the man and one the woman.

 

[Pale Violet Light]

One of the things that helps me most in books is when the author provides some other descriptors besides the name that somehow gets brought up so I can keep track of who is who - especially early on, or if they haven't been seen for 200 pages.

I find this incredibly helpful too, though it is sometimes done inelegantly. Also, use of epithets can throw me for a loop if the connection hasn’t been well established previously.

 

[Voadam]

I started in on Parade of Horribles, the latest Dungeon Crawler Carl book.

I had read the first seven books in late '24- early '25 when I was in the hospital and then recovering and dealing with health stuff and the high engagement style of the chapter framing and plot and generally enjoyable reading experience was really good for me then. But then I fell into my pattern of not really having enough gas for novels after close reading so much nonfiction constantly all week for my job. I have recently been reading a bunch of trashy Dynamite Comics though (Army of Darkness crossover stuff) on my ipad from a bundle of holding I got a while ago and it got me back into a sit and reading fiction mood so I have started again with the new DCC and it is pretty fun and engaging as I had hoped. However some referenced details are really hazy after about a year in between in the series, to the point I half questioned if I had missed a book. Also I have lost track of a bunch of relevant details of the secondary characters (maybe half the offscreen crawlers who are referenced).