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Clariel, a fantasy novel with an ace protagonist


Jotari

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Don't know if this is topic worthy or not but Clariel, the fantasy novel that came out last year by Australian writer Garth Nix, features an unambiguous asexual protagonist. Not a case of someone who is likely asexual but someone who outright states she has no interest in sex or romance. Just something interesting I thought might warrant a thread since I can't think of any other examples where a protagonist is portrayed so blatantly asexual (without being inhuman of course).

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:o I've had a story idea for a while now where the main character's name is similar to "Clariel"...and I think she's going to be asexual too! (I'm great at thinking of story ideas but not so great at actually writing the stories.)

I will look into reading this book eventually. Thanks for sharing!

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Sockstealingnome

I knew it was a Garth Nix book as soon as I heard the title. I have the other three in that series so I guess I should add this one to my collection as well.

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Oh sweet mother of god. The Abhorsen Trilogy was my favorite series for a long time, how did I not know Clariel was released yet?

Thank you so much for posting this, you have made my day. Excuse me while I hurry to amazon and don't come up for a breath until I'm finished...

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Oooh that looks really good!! I have so many books on my shelves to read...but it looks like I want to add another. Thanks for sharing that!! :cake:

I love Mercedes Lackey's books, and apparently one of her series includes an ace character...I haven't read that one yet though, so I'm not sure if they are a "blatant" asexual chara or not.

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Wow! Too bad one has to read three prior books to get to this part. :/ (I assume they are good. I just have limited time.)

And here I was just saying in another thread, "how come we can't have strong women protagonists who aren't into sex?"

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Wow! Too bad one has to read three prior books to get to this part. :/ (I assume they are good. I just have limited time.)

And here I was just saying in another thread, "how come we can't have strong women protagonists who aren't into sex?"

Actually it's a prequel so you shouldn't have any trouble jumping right in. I'm about 350/500 pages through right now and I've seen nothing that strictly needs knowledge of the other books to understand. Though the other three books are enjoyable too and also get my recommendation.

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Yeah, I read it without having read the first three and had no issues or confusion. You should be fine jumping in directly. :)

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Oooh that looks really good!! I have so many books on my shelves to read...but it looks like I want to add another. Thanks for sharing that!! :cake:

I love Mercedes Lackey's books, and apparently one of her series includes an ace character...I haven't read that one yet though, so I'm not sure if they are a "blatant" asexual chara or not.

I have Mercedes Lackey's trilogy of Vows and Honor. I love the main female character who is Tarma shena Tale'sedran. Her Goddess made her an asexual, celibate Kal'endral, sword lady or Sword sworn. So she could avenge her clan's demise by bandits. I can definitely relate to Tarma, who is a strong female character!

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Truth and Lies

Hm. This is certainly a book that I shall keep in mind, especially since I am an avid reader of fantasy and have been reading a lot more as of late. Thank you for sharing this. ^_^

:o I've had a story idea for a while now where the main character's name is similar to "Clariel"...and I think she's going to be asexual too! (I'm great at thinking of story ideas but not so great at actually writing the stories.)

I will look into reading this book eventually. Thanks for sharing!

I relate very well to coming up with grand story ideas but being unable to put them down on paper. I dream of the day when the epic fantasy tale that runs in my head will be written.

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  • 1 month later...

Actually got around to finally reading this. Kind of a pity really, not a bad book, but compared to the original trilogy, kind of terrible...

Good to see an asexual protagonist at least..

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Actually got around to finally reading this. Kind of a pity really, not a bad book, but compared to the original trilogy, kind of terrible...

Good to see an asexual protagonist at least..

Yeah that was pretty much my exact reaction to it.

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Actually got around to finally reading this. Kind of a pity really, not a bad book, but compared to the original trilogy, kind of terrible...

Good to see an asexual protagonist at least..

It's sitting on my bookshelf and I've been afraid to touch it because it won't be as good as the original trilogy (favorite book series of all time hands down no questions asked). Now I know.

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Yeah, provides some neat backstory on a character in the trilogy, but it just doesn't have the same feel as the trilogy.

Lots of whining, little worldbuilding, little character building...

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Yeah, provides some neat backstory on a character in the trilogy, but it just doesn't have the same feel as the trilogy.

Lots of whining, little worldbuilding, little character building...

Wait. there's MORE whining after Sam? That's even possible?

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I've been putting off reading this because I'm worried it will disappoint. I loved the other books when I was a teenager. I feel like I might need to reread them first though because I don't remember much about the stories, I just remember them being really good!

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Dodecahedron314

I've been putting off reading this because I'm worried it will disappoint. I loved the other books when I was a teenager. I feel like I might need to reread them first though because I don't remember much about the stories, I just remember them being really good!

Same--I have faith in Garth Nix because he's one of my favorite YA authors, but I've also read too many prequels to be able to get my hopes up too high. Still going to try and find it at the library, though.
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And Now The Weather

Yeah, provides some neat backstory on a character in the trilogy, but it just doesn't have the same feel as the trilogy.

Lots of whining, little worldbuilding, little character building...

Wait. there's MORE whining after Sam? That's even possible?

I kind of liked Sam! Whining and all. This is definitely on my to read list, the Abhorsen trilogy was a lot of fun.

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