Books with Disability Metaphors, esp Fantasy/Supernatural

I'm looking for books that engage with disability as a metaphor, but especially in the fantasy/supernatural genre — vampires/werewolves as a metaphor for chronic illness, fairies who are born without/lose their wings as a metaphor for ambulatory disabilities, a non-magic user in a world of magicians who has a 'missing sense' as a metaphor for blindness, etc.

I'm not opposed to recommendations that aren't metaphors, that just have disabled characters existing in speculative fiction settings, either, I'm just more interested in metaphors.

I would prefer adult fiction, but I am not opposed to teen or even middle grade recommendations.

Fledgling (which from what I've heard is vampires as an HIV/AIDS metaphor) is on my list already, and I did enjoy Gathering Blue (physically disabled protag in dystopian MG fiction). So far, that's what I have. Anyone know anything else?

The first one that comes to my mind is Clifford D. Simak: Way Station, where a deaf-mute girl has some extra gifts of healing / mind control. Probably not what you were looking for :-)

>2 bnielsen: Hey, I'll take what I can get! Disabled characters existing in spec-fic settings was on my list. Thank you for the recc, I will check this one out! :)

Well, the disability in Borderline is front and center, not metaphorical, but it's a banger of a book.

P.S. I'd never heard that Fledgling was a metaphor for AIDS/HIV. Octavia Butler's writing contains a lot of metaphorical miscegenation and mixed race (or species) people.

>1 GraceCollection: I enjoyed Otherbound which kind of straddles the line between metaphor and reality in terms of the disability. Six of Crows is definitely in the "disability in spec-fiction" category more than metaphor, but I love the representation. The Lunar Chronicles has both disabled characters textually and metaphorically (for example, there's a character who is incapable of using illusion magic that's ubiquitous in her culture which is treated as a disability, along with a character who is an amputee.) There's also a character who has a textual disability but it comes about through supernatural means (her people begin to suffer mental deterioration if they don't use their magic, and she is unwilling to, leading to her mental decline.) There's also Ordinary Magic about a girl in a world dominated by magic who is unable to interact with it. Dead Collections has a vampire chronic illness metaphor as well.

On the side of magical elements to disability, there's the always fantastic Ella Enchanted, if you haven't read it before. There's also Heartseeker, about a girl unable to tell lies without experiencing extreme pain, but who also has the ability to see when people lie. The Locked Tomb series also has supernaturally-related disability, but I have no idea how to explain it without giving major spoilers.

There are probably some more I'm not thinking of at the moment, so I might be back later with more suggestions. Speculative fiction with disabled characters and/or disability metaphors is kind of my thing. Also, sorry most of these are YA and a few MG. There's just not as much adult spec-fiction I could think of that really had disability themes.

Okay, there's Lycanthropy and other chronic illnesses : a novel by Kristen O'Neal, which is contemporary to the point of people finding and supporting each other online. It has lots of teens in it, so it may be YA, technically? Good, though.

>4 vwinsloe: Thank you for the suggestion! As for Fledgling — that's simply what I've heard. I haven't nabbed myself a copy yet, so it's possible I got some bad info, or a personal interpretation, one of those that isn't necessarily wrong but is not what the author had in mind.

>5 RosetheReader: Thank you for the huge list!! Some of these I had heard but did not know what they were about, but most are new to me — the concept of Ella Enchanted has always fascinated me, but I had no idea the film was based on a book! These are thorough suggestions, which I really thank you for. Even if they're for a younger audience, I'd rather know about them and give them a try than to not know about how many choices I have!

>6 karenb: This one looks like a blast. Thank you so much for sharing!

Update!

I've managed to snag a copy of Fledgling and a copy of Ella Enchanted, and I've got Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses on its way! I started Ella Enchanted already, I figure I could finish it by tonight. Loving it so far! Much more charming than the film, in my opinion.

For anyone else interested in this topic, I found Moonfall through tagmash, which seems really interesting, although I haven't found a copy to read yet! In a world where every person is born with two heads, the protagonist's single-headedness is a disability.

I'm putting Moonfall on my list.

It reminded me of Molly Gloss's novella, Outside the Gates, in which a boy with an unusual ability to speak to animals is outcast and finds a community of others.

>8 GraceCollection: I'm glad you're liking Ella Enchanted! It's a favorite of mine! Also, that book sounds super interesting. Will definitely add that to my list!

P.S. I did come back to bring up another book I thought of (though it's solidly in the MG age-range): My Diary from the Edge of the World about a girl whose younger brother is being chased by a "Cloud" which is a magical metaphor for terminal illness.

>10 RosetheReader: I have finished Ella Enchanted since my last update, and I must say it's a lot deeper and more thought-provoking than the film. I loved it!

Added to my list! Sounds great!

Also, >6 karenb: I've started Lycanthropy and Other Illnesses, which came in yesterday, and so far it is amazing! The descriptions of her illness are so evocative, and although it is a little "hip" and internet-slangy, I appreciate being able to read a book about an adult. Teen lit, especially dystopia and magical realism, has a lot of unique and thought-provoking premises and approachable prose, but I sure can get tired of reading about high-schoolers.

Definitely in the metaphorical: the always brilliant Nicola Griffith's So Lucky about a successful executive who develops MS.

Sarah Pinsker's We Are Satellites has a rapidly adopted brain enhancement technology and considers what that means for people who can't or won't use it.

These don't do the metaphor thing as much, but do have some good and interesting representation:

I second >4 vwinsloe: 's recommendation of Mishell Baker's series Borderline, Phantom Pains and Impostor Syndrome: the protagonist was a film director who is a bilateral leg amputee with BPD in a Hollywood whose creativity is fueled by fairyland; another character had a severely traumatised childhood after being taken as a changeling.

And Emma Newman's Planetfall series each has a protagonist with a different mental issue, I was very sorry that publication was stopped before we got a book that logically connected the first book to the last one.

Claire O'Dell's near future civil war Sherlock pastiche A Study in Honor has a Watson with an arm prosthesis.

In Jo Walton's Among Others Mori walks with a cane after an encounter with fairy in which she lost far more than that.

Since it hasn't come up, Miles Vorkosigan, the protagonist of most of Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series is born with brittle bones in a culture that kills babies with any defect, but that is also now spacefaring with advanced medical options. Start with The Mountains of Mourning (novella) or The Warrior's Apprentice.

Rosemary Sutcliff was a 20th century British historical writer for children and adults who grew up with rheumatoid arthritis, several of her books have protagonists with disabilities or who are othered in other ways, but Warrior Scarlet (1958) about a boy with a weak arm who fails his manhood test is possibly the most interesting. It's bronze age Britain, no fantasy as such. Of it's time, obviously.

Thank you so much for expanding my list!! These are very thorough recommendations, and I'm super excited about them — We Are Satellites has especially caught my eye, but these are now all on my list to look for!

I've acquired a copy of Cinder from the Lunar Chronicles, and after searching for a copy of my own in vain (and hearing A LOT of chatter from the grapevine about the books) I checked out a copy of the first volume of The Locked Tomb series from the library.

I finished Fledgling. I'm not sure where the article I'd read was coming from with an HIV/AIDs interpretation but I also cannot find the article again. Nonetheless, the main character's amnesia is still a disability. I felt intimidated by this work for some reason so I had been putting off starting it, but once I read a chapter I couldn't figure out what it was that had intimidated me. I really enjoyed it.

>14 GraceCollection:

I am loving this thread again, as approaching from disability is something I'd never thought of with (for example) Fledgling. May have to reread a couple of things after this.

(Glad you liked the book I rec'd.)

>15 karenb: I LOVED that one! Ended up on my top 5 of the year, it did.

That's something I really like about books, is being able to approach it from an angle I hadn't considered ad unlock a whole new work by viewing through a different lens!

Just thought I'd pop in — I've got a book that other posters of this thread might enjoy!

Because You'll Never Meet Me

Ollie lives in an isolated rural cabin because of his allergy to electricity, while Mortiz, who has a pacemaker, is bullied at school because he was born with no eyes. Although they could never meet in person, they begin exchanging letters. This is a teen/YA coming-of-age book with light sci-fi, a dash of mystery, and a pinch of romance. I really loved the characters and their growth over the story.

Also wanted to mention: >5 RosetheReader: I started the Locked Tomb. I've only read GtN and HtN but I'm kind of obsessed with this series now. Thank you so much for the recc!!

Perhaps Wizard of Pigeons would be of interest. Really well-written liminal fantasy, meaning it is ambiguous whether the protagonists has mental health issues and he is a wizard only in his mind, or if there is actual magic taking place.

>17 GraceCollection: So glad you're enjoying it! It's really a fantastic series!

>18 SandraArdnas: Putting it on the list, thank you for the suggestion!

I've been reading the Wayward Children series lately, and I feel like you might enjoy it! It has both disabled characters in general, but also deals with situations in which magically-caused situations are a disability allegory. For example, there are characters who end up aging abnormally as a result of magic, leading to them having difficultly interacting with others. Or a character who is resurrected and needs regular electrocution to properly function. (Also, despite the name, it is definitely adult fiction and is written as such, even though it's sometimes described as being "young adult".)

>21 RosetheReader: Putting this on my list! Thank you.

>1 GraceCollection: Hunter's Moon by Sarah M. Awa uses werewolves as a metaphor for chronic illness and is also #OwnVoices :)

>23 ThinklingsBooks: Going on the list! Thanks for the suggestion.