Physically challenged main character

Pthom · Oct 18, 2007

Azraelsbane said:
... I need someone in a wheelchair in my novels! *snicker*

...

Note: I'm in a wheelchair, don't jump down my throat for the "humor."

I was going to just reply in the gender balance thread, but I think this is a subject worthy of discussion on its own.

In all seriousness, I think a main character, whether female or male, who was confined to a wheelchair would be very compelling. I don't believe I've read a story, fantasy or otherwise, where this was the case. (I'm ransacking the far back, dusty corners of my mind and come up blank.)

I did, one time, investigate a story idea where at least the pivotal character, if not the hero, was completely inable to function as a human on a physical level, but who had incredible powers mentally. I dropped the idea in favor of another story line but I may bring it back to the desktop--if I can figure out how to do so without resorting to cliche or stereotype.

Any thoughts on this? Let's include all speculative fiction in this discussion, not just fantasy.

MidnightMuse · Oct 18, 2007

To Ride Pegasus - Anne McCafferey, MC is completely parapalegic but develops his mind into having complete control of his physical body as well as expanding outwardly. He goes on to found an entire group (read: sequels) of like talented individuals.

There was a program I liked as a kid wherein the lead Private Eye was a blind man (title escapes me)

And I remember a young adult book I read (as a young adult) Follow My Leader - main character - teenage boy - blinded at the beginning of the story.

JoNightshade · Oct 18, 2007

::Jo jumps up and down, waving hands frantically:: My MC is in a wheelchair! Mine is, oh mine is! Buy my book!!! (When I gets published...) Incidentally, Az has been very helpful.

BTW if you've never read Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles series YOU NEED TO. Everyone needs to. The MC is not in a wheelchair but he has major physical obstacles to overcome before he can even begin to participate in the society where he's born. (He lives on a planet where military strength is paramount and all the males are like 6 feet tall; he is very short and has super brittle bones.)

ETA: The Warrior's Apprentice is the first book of his series. Buy it. Now.

WendyNYC · Oct 18, 2007

Lincoln Rhyme in The Bone Collector was a quadriplegic.

Gray Rose · Oct 18, 2007

Miles Vorkosigan (L.M.Bujold) has severe physical disabilities (brittle bones). Watch him have an interstellar military career despite, or maybe because of, his handicaps!

Seriously now, a disabled MC would be GREAT,

MidnightMuse · Oct 18, 2007

That sounds compelling. *jots down note*

Gray Rose · Oct 18, 2007

JoNightshade said:
::Jo jumps up and down, waving hands frantically:: My MC is in a wheelchair! Mine is, oh mine is! Buy my book!!! (When I gets published...) Incidentally, Az has been very helpful.

BTW if you've never read Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles series YOU NEED TO. Everyone needs to. The MC is not in a wheelchair but he has major physical obstacles to overcome before he can even begin to participate in the society where he's born. (He lives on a planet where military strength is paramount and all the males are like 6 feet tall; he is very short and has super brittle bones.)

ETA: The Warrior's Apprentice is the first book of his series. Buy it. Now.

Jo, great minds, no kidding,

Azraelsbane · Oct 18, 2007

Look at what my attempts at hiking through the woods in my chair has led to...

Hapax Legomenon · Oct 18, 2007

I remember in A Game of Thrones one of the characters gets dropped off a turret and becomes a paraplegic.

It was interesting-- I bet it'd be hard for a little kid that's such a monkey like him to adjust, and it showed a lot about how he would have managed.

That was SUCH a good book...

JoNightshade · Oct 18, 2007

Okay, so to actually discuss this issue... I have a novel that I wrote a few years ago that I had been trying to shop around before the one I'm currently querying (I think the one I have right now has a better possibility of landing me an agent).

Now, there are a few small problems with the story I have been made aware of since I joined AW (this site is awesome), but I think there are two major issues that are stopping agents: the characters are "old" (late thirties/early forties), and the MC has mild spina bifida. I got a LOT of comments on this one that were like, "I love this but I don't know how I would sell it."

Based on this I get the idea that many people think that they would have a hard time "selling" a book with a disabled MC. I could be totally wrong. But I'm wondering if agents are thinking, "Who the heck would my audience be?"

Gray Rose · Oct 18, 2007

JoNightshade said:
Based on this I get the idea that many people think that they would have a hard time "selling" a book with a disabled MC. I could be totally wrong. But I'm wondering if agents are thinking, "Who the heck would my audience be?"

I would definitely pick up such a book. And older MCs are great IMHO.

FennelGiraffe · Oct 18, 2007

Anne McCaffrey wrote The Ship Who Sang and sequels. The MC, Helga, was born with severe birth defects. She was encapsulated in a life-support shell, which was later wired into a space ship so that her nerve impulses operate the ship directly.

Lois Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan has already been mentioned.

Also, I can't call any specific titles to mind, but there are a number of SF novels where the MC has prosthetic limbs, even eyes. While they aren't usually portrayed as being handicapped, quite a few do touch on issues of getting used to the prostheses and what their limitations are.

Sassee · Oct 18, 2007

I have a character who was trying to pound her way outta my head for a while. She has albinism (which is usually just a lack of clarity/depth perception and sensitivity to light, not actual blindness) *and* her dad's impaired vision, which means she sees almost nothing beyond a foot in front of her face. Not with normal vision, anyway. She has the ability to see raw magic.

Awesome character, I think... but I don't have a storyline for her yet

I would love to read about a strong character with some sort of physical condition outside the norm.

JoNightshade · Oct 18, 2007

In comics, there's Captain Marvel, Jr. and one of my favorite characters, Oracle.

veinglory · Oct 18, 2007

My upcoming novel has a main character that becomes paralysed, but this is rather before wheelchairs were invented.

There is a classic romance novel with a hero in a wheelchair called 'A Man Like Mac'.

Azraelsbane · Oct 18, 2007

JoNightshade said:
Based on this I get the idea that many people think that they would have a hard time "selling" a book with a disabled MC. I could be totally wrong. But I'm wondering if agents are thinking, "Who the heck would my audience be?"

Roughly 1/3 of the world is disabled in one way or another. I don't think agents would have an issue with such a thing. And if they did, I doubt you'd want them representing you anyway.

veinglory · Oct 18, 2007

Apparently Harlequin didn't see it as a problem: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0373709110/?tag=absolutewritedm-20 ... twice http://www.amazon.com/dp/0373705336/?tag=absolutewritedm-20

JoNightshade · Oct 18, 2007

So what you're saying is, my book just sucks?

dolores haze · Oct 18, 2007

veinglory said:
My upcoming novel has a main character that becomes paralysed, but this is rather before wheelchairs were invented.

There is a classic romance novel with a hero in a wheelchair called 'A Man Like Mac'.

I remember. His nickname was "Mac the Mouth."

Shweta · Oct 18, 2007

Not disability, but for physically challenged -- Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom children's series. The protagonist is a severe asthmatic and starts off book 1 by almost dying.

I am ambivalent about this, because I love that he's doing it, but he does it well enough that I had to take time-outs so he wouldn't trigger my attacks...

TheIT · Oct 18, 2007

In Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series, Thomas Covenant was a leper.

Ravenlocks · Oct 18, 2007

JoNightshade said:
I think there are two major issues that are stopping agents: the characters are "old" (late thirties/early forties), and the MC has mild spina bifida. I got a LOT of comments on this one that were like, "I love this but I don't know how I would sell it."

Based on this I get the idea that many people think that they would have a hard time "selling" a book with a disabled MC. I could be totally wrong. But I'm wondering if agents are thinking, "Who the heck would my audience be?"

Those agents should consider that maybe not everybody wants to read about 20-somethings with perfect bodies. We just do because it's a lot of what gets published...

One of the most memorable fantasy MC's I've come across was an "older" woman (probably 40's, maybe late 30's; I don't recall if her exact age was ever stated) who had to go on a dangerous quest with her two beloved adolescent children in tow. It lent a lot of depth to the story, more than if she had been some young thing with no real worries or cares. It was a Patricia C. Wrede book, but I forgot the title.

And in Judith Tarr's book titled... er, my memory is clearly shot, but anyway, in a book by Judith Tarr, I never forgot the line where she says one character steps up to take a closer look because her eyes aren't the best. Just that one little physical problem suddenly makes the character so much more real.

Ravenlocks · Oct 18, 2007

TheIT said:
In Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series, Thomas Covenant was a leper.

He was also a rapist, but I guess you can't have everything.

JoNightshade · Oct 18, 2007

Ravenlocks said:
Those agents should consider that maybe not everybody wants to read about 20-somethings with perfect bodies. We just do because it's a lot of what gets published...

And you'd think that from the movies as well. I want my literature to reflect real life, not some fluffy fantasy universe where everyone is 25 and gorgeous.

I just finished reading Paladin of Souls, which was really good... the MC was probably in her forties. She kept thinking things like 'How can I do this at this point in my life? My youth was wasted.' But then of course she discovers it's never too late.

Gray Rose · Oct 18, 2007

JoNightshade said:
And you'd think that from the movies as well. I want my literature to reflect real life, not some fluffy fantasy universe where everyone is 25 and gorgeous.

I just finished reading Paladin of Souls, which was really good... the MC was probably in her forties. She kept thinking things like 'How can I do this at this point in my life? My youth was wasted.' But then of course she discovers it's never too late.

Oh yeah, Bujold chews through all taboos. Middle-aged MCs, disabled MCs, romantic couple with a 20-years-old difference (in which the older man is described as having gnarly feet). But that was AFTER she published her first fantasy novel (Spirit ring) and Shards of Honor. The romance in Shards of Honor is not standard, but neither is it outrageously different.

Jo, why won't you write a short story with your protagonist? If it sells, you'd be able to use that to convince the reticent agents

Physically challenged main character

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