With Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire has drawn in readers with her examination of what happens when a portal fantasy ends. But with each new review, we’ve found that the book has struck a chord for another reason—one which plays into a much larger conversation about diversity, representation, and improved visibility for asexual/ace people.
Nancy, the protagonist of Every Heart A Doorway, identifies as asexual, making her part of an increasing number of ace leads in fantasy and science fiction in recent years. While asexual characters—and authors—remain underrepresented, ace representation is growing in literature, with more protagonists defining their sexual orientation outside of the binary of heterosexuality and homosexuality. Additionally, many works that previously didn’t define the orientation of their characters are now explicitly, canonically, stating that their protagonists are asexual.
Below, we’ve highlighted five books that feature asexual leads, and we hope that you’ll share your own suggestions in the comments. As author Lauren Jankowski has pointed out, the publishing industry has a long way to go in terms of making asexuality more visible, and many ace authors turn to self-publishing to share their stories—we’d love to help spread the word about any and all stories featuring strongly-written, complex characters that fall on the spectrum of asexuality, so please keep the recommendations coming!
Clariel from Clariel by Garth Nix
The protagonist of a prequel novel to Nix’s Old Kingdom series, Clariel is a complex but not unsympathetic character—stubborn and conflicted about some aspects of her life (who isn’t?), she’s also bright and independent, refusing to accept a role as a passive pawn in her own existence. She’s also quite comfortable with her (apparently aromantic) asexuality, a subject which comes up early on in the book; having experimented with sex out of sheer curiosity, she has no inclination to repeat the experience with either men or women, and consistently deflects the interest of potential romantic/sexual partners.
Clariel’s desires and frustrations are extremely powerful and compelling forces within the novel, and while there’s a separate (spoiler-filled) conversation to be had about her eventual fate, her assured asexuality is presented as simply a fundamental part of who she is, well before a maelstrom of magical and political complications violently disrupts her hopes and ambitions.
Emras from Banner of the Damned by Sherwood Smith
The world of Sartorias-deles recognizes a variety of sexual orientations: elas (one who prefers women), elan (prefers men), elandre (prefers both), and elor (“for the person who prefers to remain asexual”). Early in the novel, scribe-in-training Emras refers to being elor as a preference, a problematic viewpoint because it implies that one can decide their orientation; but later, she has occasion to realize that being elor is not a choice but simply a way of being. A charged moment with her best friend Birdy and the pretty Anhar leads to an unspoken invitation to join them in bed—a situation that Emras flees due to a deep sense of revulsion, and which prompts a realization:
Love had bloomed—of a kind. I was very sure that I was in love with Birdy. Thinking about our conversations made me air-light, drenched me with color, and I liked to linger over his image in every detail, from his old tunic to his hair escaping from his braid in tufts, and his big ears, his beak of a nose. He was Birdy, but when he was close to me, his breath hot and shaky, his hands reaching, I wanted peace and air.
For the first time, I comprehended that love, at least for me, had nothing to do with sex. I was elor—I didn’t want him, or her, or anyone. Not in that way.
Being elor is part of Emras’ character arc, but it doesn’t define her in the same way that being a scribe does. In fact, the two dovetail quite well: A scribe is expected to remain neutral, uninvolved, always used to putting oneself second behind the events that they’re transcribing. Being unconcerned with sexual entanglements gives Emras an advantage within her field and allows her to become the scribe-slash-guard to the land of Colend’s Princess Lasva, who has impulsively married Prince Ivandred of Marloven Hesea, in league with Colend’s enemy.
Kevin from Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey
Kevin is not the main character of Guardian of the Dead, but he is an integral part of the book. Early on, he comes out as asexual to the book’s heroine, his best friend Ellie Spencer. Although the reader sees Kevin from Ellie’s point of view, the conversation is delicately handled. Ellie’s older sister is a lesbian, and as she remembers how difficult it was for her to tell their parents, she offers support to Kevin without questioning him too much. This is obviously a good, caring introduction to this part of Kevin’s life, but one critique of Kevin’s characterization is that he doesn’t really get to explore his ace status after that. He’s still important to the plot, but when another character expresses romantic interest in him, he dismisses the possibilities of a relationship purely because of his asexuality, rather than exploring the spectrum of romantic options that are available.
Jughead from Archie Comics: Jughead #4 by Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson
Earlier this year, a casual aside in one of the relaunched Archie Comics established that Jughead Jones is canonically asexual. It wasn’t a huge coming-out, just acknowledgement of a fact that already exists in this new take on the universe.
At New York Comic-Con in 2015, writer Chip Zdarsky explained that “historically [Jughead] has been portrayed as asexual. They just didn’t have a label for it, so they just called him a woman-hater.” But Jughead isn’t misogynist, Zdarsky went on; he’s friends with Betty and other girls, he simply doesn’t experience the same hormone-fueled decisions as other teenage guys. Zdarsky decided against creating a romantic plot for Jughead, he explained, “because there is enough of that in Archie. I think something like asexuality is underrepresented, and since we have a character who was asexual before people had the word for it, I’m continuing to write him that way.”
Tori Beaugrand from Quicksilver by R.J. Anderson
Tori Beaugrand is many things: hacker, engineer, good friend, Girl With A Secret. She’s also asexual, an element of her life which is explored in depth throughout this book. Over the course of a few flashbacks, she meditates on her one attempt at a sexual relationship, and how she tried to talk herself into enjoying it. Now, however, she’s realized that she just isn’t interested. As she tells her friend Milo:
“I mean, it didn’t help that he was a selfish pig who wouldn’t take no for an answer. I would have broken up with him anyway, even if I’d liked the physical stuff. But going out with him made me realize that I wasn’t shy or uptight about sex. I simply wasn’t interested.”
Milo accepts this, and the two end up having an extremely close relationship. Milo clearly wants it to be sexual, but he also respects Tori’s orientation, and she asserts his importance in her life:
“I’m serious,” I insisted, stepping in front of him so he’d have to look me in the eye. “I hate it when people talk like friendship is less than other kinds of—as though it’s some sort of runner-up prize for people who can’t have sex. I had a boyfriend once, but I never liked being with him the way I liked being with you.” I held his gaze, refusing to falter or look away. “You’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had, Milo. And that is everything to me.”
R.J. Anderson talks about first discovering Tori’s asexuality, and then working to represent it well, in this fantastic post!
For further reading, we suggest Sheepfarmer’s Daughter by Elizabeth Moon, Dust by Elizabeth Bear, and Ignition Zero, an ongoing webcomic written and illustrated by Noel Arthur Heimpel.
Top image: Clariel cover art by Sebastian Ciaffaglione, one of the redesigned covers for Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series
*puts a few of these on the to read list*
*notices she did not order Every Heart a Doorway for the library*
*immediately puts it in an ordering cart* Lots of good buzz, don’t know why that wasn’t already in a cart.
I believe Liz Drake in Amanda Downum’s Dreams of Shreds and Tatters would also qualify. (And I thought Dreams was an excellent and creepy book.)
The one that always comes to mind for me is Sleepy in The Black Company.
Ace here, and thanks for this list!
ONE DAY ONE OF MY BOOKS WILL BE ON IT.
I am filled with determination.
Paks is ace? Or was it a different character?
The Breq from Ancillary Justice/Sword/Mercy isn’t interested in a sexual relationship, although she has some experience of it (trying to stay as vague as possible)
Crowley and Aziraphale from Good Omens must count as protagonists.
As should pretty much any other fiction where Angels are significant characters.
Sulien from Jo Walton’s The King’s Peace and The King’s Name. Although in her case there’s trauma involved, and it’s not clear what her orientation would have been without it.
Dumbledore, Gandalf … do we see a theme here?
Tarma shena Tale’sedrin (and any of the Swordsworn) from Mercedes Lackey’s Vows and Honor series. She’s Goddess-touched, but chose to be so – does that count?
@5 Paksenarrion is ace. She almost regrets it because of Saben, but is quickly reminded he was happy to be her friend if they couldn’t be lovers. Also, in the “prequels” about Gird and Luap, the two young characters who become the first paladins are pretty much ace, platonic hetero life partners IIRC. Not all the paladins in the setting are ace/aro, nor is chastity a requirement, but it seems to be prevalent in the Girdish and Falkian orders.
@9 – Dumbledore is homosexual, so I don’t think that counts (celibate, possibly, but celibate does NOT equal asexual). Unless you’re just arguing it from a book only perspective (although I tend to take the author’s word on such matters).
You might also consider the Dwarves in Middle Earth. Most of them are more interested in their craft to bother with something minor like sex, with the resulting children. I always thought Tolkien had got the average geek – slash – nerd culture down to a T with that little snippet in the Appendixes; but he was also picturing a default asexual culture.
And then there’s Moonglum and his many assorted aliases throughout the Multiverse. Moorcock got it right giving him little to no interest6 in sex. Moonglum solves problems and provides assistance: Elric breaks hearts, including his own.
@12 – yes, book only perspective. Whatever once he was up to, D was not up to anything at Hogwarts as far we can tell from text.
Actually, as I think about it, all of the HP professors seem to fit that mold. Are any described as being married or dating?
Would Sparrow from Emma Bull’s Bone Dance count?
What I like about this list is that all these characters assert their asexuality. Too often the examples we get are people who just don’t seem to have any sex (and no romance) throughout their lives, or that we know of. Many people from Harry Potter have been mentioned here, but there is no sex in any of the books, you can only infer it from the fact people had children (and even then, all those people might have been conceived without any sexual attraction). In the world of Harry Potter, very few of the characters have a job and children, and apart from Mrs Granger, all of them are men (I’m told Mrs Chang has a job too, but I couldn’t find a confirmation. There might be others but nobody I’ve asked has been able to find them). The Case of Amelia Bones is worth mentioning, as a powerful witch with a relative at Hogwarts; the relative happens to be her niece, even though there was no reason not to make her her granddaughter. So JK Rowling clearly doesn’t want to show parents raising children while having a job, or just neglects to do so. When having children is the only sign that sex sometimes occurs, it’s easy to say in those conditions that most of the cast is asexual.
If a person is not showing any attraction to any gender, that doesn’t mean they’re aces; if a person rejects another character’s flirt, it could be just about that one character, or that person not wanting to have a relationship at that point; if a person is in an asexual relationship, the relationship could easily be considered as friendship with no mention of the contrary. That’s why it’s difficult to find representations of asexuals: they have to explicitly say they are, otherwise you have to observe them for a really long time to convincingly present them as aces. You can’t just show people not having sex.
And the question of the reproduction of dwarves is a running gag in some settings, like the Discworld or Les Fantastiques Aventures de Morgoth (worth a read if you understand French). Depending on the setting, it would make as much sense to say that sexless golems are asexual.
Banner of the Dammed is an incredible story. Emras is fascinating not just because of the asexuality, but because her narration while factually accurate is still unreliable. It’s a complex and compelling piece of characterization and world building.
I guess pretty much every (Loyalist) Space Marine from Warhammer 40k would also qualify. Interestingly, one of them, Uriel Ventris of the Ultramarines series (which is, luckily, one of the better-written ones about this universe), is also known to demonstrate quite a few Aspergers traits throughout the books, which makes him the only neurodiverse protagonist in SFF I’ve read about so far.
Scott_MI mentioned Bone Dance by Emma Bull, I second this. Outstanding book and was hoping it was on this list when I saw the subject matter.
My UF series, Require: Cookie, has an ace lead. :)
@14: Asexuality does not equal simply not having sex. There are lots of reasons people might not have sex. Asexuality is more complicated than tat.
@10: While I love that book, and yes, technically Tarma is literally described as asexual, I don’t like to present her as an example of asexuality in books because she’s not a healthy example. Tarma isn’t born asexual, it’s not her natural state. She becomes asexual through her vow to the Warrior, which she makes because of an angsty backstory of violence and rape. As much as I love her character and the books, she’s an example of someone who becomes asexual through violence and being broken; too many people in real life assume asexuals are only asexual because of past trauma, and it’s simply not true.
#13 Dwarves are mostly male – Tolkien says in one of his notes that there aren’t many female Dwarves and some choose not to get married. And the female Dwarves do have beards like the men(hence Terry Pratchett’s send up). So they may only SEEM to be asexual. ;-) Personally, I think he stuffed up early in his writing and tried to fix it. In one of his stories he has the seven Fathers of the Dwarves put to sleep so as not to arrive in Middle Earth before the Elves, forgetting there had to be Mothers of the Dwarves. (That was hastily rewritten too).
Akili from Greg Egan’s novel Distress was asexual.
Bruce Sterling’s novella, Taklamakan, is a great story involving an ace urban intruder, Chinese ethic cleansing, and self-replicating robots, among other things. Absolutely blew my mind.
@18 If you are looking for neurodiverse, then Jim C Hines has received praise for the presentation of one of his characters, Nicola Pallas, as having Asperger’s.
@25
Finally checked it out. I see, it has librarians, too? Fantastic! Thanks a lot!
Sheepfarmer’s Daughter, and the rest of the Deed of Paksennarion/Oath of Fealty series by Elizabeth Moon is absolutely amazing. It was written before we really had the language to identify asexual, but she describes the feelings exactly.
i think I had read somewhere that Nancy from Every Heart a Doorway was ace but must’ve forgotten bc I was pleasantly surprised when I came across it in the book. It’s a really good story and was made even better with the addition of an ace character.
And It’s not canon, but some people think that Katniss from the Hunger Games (books, not movies) is ace. It’s been a few years since I’ve read them, but I could see that. She seems to have very strong feelings first for Gale and then for Peeta, but they’re more romantic than sexual and I think the only reason she [spoiler] has kids at the end is bc she wants kids, not necessarily bc she is sexually attracted to Peeta, tho it’s debatable obviously.
SF authors in general pay much more attention to work, politics, non-sexual interactions, and settings than do mainstream (“contemporary realism”) authors, for whom sexual and romantic interactions serve as the main drivers of most plots (parent-child relationships come second). SF, historical fiction, mystery fiction have non-relationship “hooks” and plot lines that bring in the genre reader – the ace characters need not be relegated to anonymity or side-kick status, because sexual / romantic relationships aren’t bearing the burden of driving the plot. I can’t recall many contemporary realism novels that have ace characters – Keri Hulme’s The Bone People seems to be the one often mentioned. (The Bone People is a terrific novel, trigger warning, child abuse is a major theme.)
As for neurodiverse characters in SF, Elizabeth Moon’s The Speed of Dark features a high-functioning autistic spectrum protagonist – this is probably a tribute to her son, who is an HFAS person. Another excellent novel.
How about gender fluid? I know it’s not the same obviously but I want to bring attention to the Mask of Shadows duet by Linsey Miller!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33918885-mask-of-shadows?from_search=true