Asexuality and Asexual Characters in Books & Comics - a Collection

[Sandra B]

I wrote a non-fiction book called Asexual Perspectives 47 Asexual Stories, Love, Life and Sex, ACElebration of Asexual Diversity, and interviewed 46 asexuals around the globe for it, and across the asexual spectrum, many whom are from this site, here is the link if you want to check it out https://amzn.to/2Lk5en3 

 

I kept getting asked questions by asexuals in private message about love, life, sex, and relationships, such as do asexuals masturbate or watch porn? How can a relationship work with a non-ace person and can anyone actually find love with another asexual. (There is an asexual person in the book that has been with another asexual for 4 years, which is a really good interview story to read.)

 

I was also asked things like, can you help me to discover where I fall on the asexual spectrum. So I thought it was about time I answered these questions for more people in the form of a book, and get the perspectives of many different people across the asexual spectrum, and around the world, to answer these questions and so many more, so there would be perspectives for asexuals to resonate with and really help you in your own asexual life journey. (The interviewees also helped me in my own personal asexual journey too, just reading them as I was interviewing people.)

 

This book is good because it does not just give text book definitions of sub categories of asexual orientation across the asexual spectrum, it shows you them, through the interviewee's answers and the personal details they share. It answers most questions you could think of about love, life, and sex, from an asexual point of view, including those you feel afraid to ask!! 

 

I hope you like it and would love to know what you think?

[Scott1989]

"Not pouned in the butt by anything, and that's ok" and "Not pouned in the butt by my book "Not pounded in the butt by anything, and that's ok", and that's ok", both short stories by Chuck Tingle (yes, him that make messed up homo erotica books) not only feature asexual characters but are both asexual stories!

[paperbackreader]

@Scott1989 What..just what are you talking about xD

 

Also ❤️ your new rank rofl, here's a spider-man picture for you 

[Scott1989]

This post will hopefully explain all:

 

The thread will also explain Chuck Tingle in general!

 

Also thanks for the pic!

[Tunhope]

Can I add two of my own works please? Firstly, a short story called Scar Ghyll Levels (Kindle ebook only).

The background is the grim reality of life in a lead mining area of nineteenth century England. The story describes the blossoming of love between two  young mine workers. They struggle to understand the nature of their relationship at a time when asexual and asexuality were unfamiliar terms, and when the church strictly adhered to biblical teaching. There is unobtrusive use of dialect and mining terminology.

 

Secondly, a contemporary novel, Ace in the Picture (ebook and paperback). This is the third story about a gay polyamorous quad who live in north east England. One of the four men is suspected of art fraud. The senior investigating officer is Detective Sergeant Nick Seabrooke. He knows he is asexual, but he struggles to understand his place on the ro/aro spec. TW occasional intimate passages and frequent use of swearing.

 

Thank you

Both by Jude Tresswell

[Strange-quark]

Wrote this in one of the book threads already, but.

Fiction. Iain Banks. 

Whit – SA main character. 

The Steep Approach to Garbadale – SA supporting character, but disclaimer: shaimlessly sexual main character. 

[Feliz]

The books I mentioned in this post are no longer available anywhere.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Feliz
Books no longer available!

[maybeimamazed]

On 5/19/2017 at 8:45 AM, Aarineko said:

How to be a normal person by TJ Klune is THE BEST ... I laughed so hard when I read it ... I like it because it actually explain asexuality really well without it being the main topic 

For those who have doubt it's absolutly not the asexual character that tries to be normal

I finished this book last night and had to search for "Gustavo Tiberius" in the search bar to see if anyone had ever mentioned it on AVEN.

 

Because OMG. New favorite book. I genuinely laughed and cried, That doesn't happen very often when I'm reading a book. Romance usually bores me, but this one is so, so, so, sooo sweet I can barely handle it.

[Tunhope]

@brehasolo it's one of my favourites too. There's a sequel which is 'How to be a movie star.' Sweet and funny too.

[Karst]

Elizabeth Bear's Ancestral Night features a main character who, because she's still recovering from an abusive relationship, has had her sexual and romantic desires turned off on a neurological level.  It's a fascinating piece of science fiction.

[Karst]

I know it's already on the list, but The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula Le Guin, is one of my all-time favorites.  It's by no means the only story she wrote that explores sexuality and gender- her novel The Telling has a lesbian of color as the main character, and her short story "The Matter of Seggri" is a thought experiment about a planet where there are far fewer men than women, and the inequalities this creates.

Back on topic- The Left Hand is a science fiction novel about a planet where the inhabitants are physically androgynous, and a very confused cis man from Earth sent there as an envoy.  It's wonderful both for the scope of the writer's imagination and the quality of the prose.

[Eutierria]

Saw this on Amazon recently - thrilled with the representation!

 

[Chasing Headlights]

Hello and good morning!

 

For AAW I am considering suggesting/reviewing a-spec books on my blog and I was wondering what are you favourites? 

 

The book doesn't need to be about asexuality itself but it would be nice if it it would be stated in some manner.  So feel free to drop the title, author and maybe genre below, also if it's a side or main character. Thank you Xx 

[Evobessive]

Well the Shadowhunter series (the mortal instruments) have an asexual character, though it's not very obvious, one of the spin off books from this series, 'The red scrolls of magic' elaborates on this charecters sexuality a lot more. The character is a side character, but still pretty important. If you watch the series of the books, the charecters even more important.  

[PINKunicorn]

Hey. So I haven't read this book yet, but it's on my reading list. The book is called 'Let's talk about love' by Claire Kann. The main character, Alice, is asexual. 

[Iam9man]

50 minutes ago, PINKunicorn said:

Hey. So I haven't read this book yet, but it's on my reading list. The book is called 'Let's talk about love' by Claire Kann. The main character, Alice, is asexual. 

Highly recommend this book. A eye opening description of what it’s like to be a romantic ace. Plus the book is very well written and the main character is just adorable 😊

[Iam9man]

I’d also recommend The Invisible Orientation by Julie Sondra Decker.

[Iam9man]

Genres:

 

Lets talk about love: YA

The invisible orientation: non-fiction

[Chasing Headlights]

3 hours ago, PINKunicorn said:

Hey. So I haven't read this book yet, but it's on my reading list. The book is called 'Let's talk about love' by Claire Kann. The main character, Alice, is asexual. 

 

2 hours ago, Iam9man 🐧 said:

Highly recommend this book. A eye opening description of what it’s like to be a romantic ace. Plus the book is very well written and the main character is just adorable 😊

I have this on my list as well  glad to hear it is a good portray ♥ 

[Blaiddmelyn]

A few I like...

 

How to be a Normal Person by TJ Klune. Genre is probably comedy more than anything but the story focuses on a romance involving an ace guy, and the topic of asexuality is treated respectfully.

 

Perfect Rhythm by Jae. Genre is lesbian romance and focuses on a relationship between an ace woman and a non-ace woman.

 

Vicious  and Vengeful by V.E. Scwab. One of the protagonists is hetero-ace. Genre is scifi/urban fantasy I'd guess. The relevant character isn't the nicest person but then, few of the characters in the story are.

 

Anomalies by Joey Goebel. It's open for interpretation but you can read one of the main characters as ace (and even if she isn't, she's still relatable. I read it before I knew I was ace, and I related a lot to her). I honestly can't think what genre one could ascribe to this - it's a very unique book.

 

[Homer]

 

[Chasing Headlights]

13 hours ago, Gelewolf said:

A few I like...

 

How to be a Normal Person by TJ Klune. Genre is probably comedy more than anything but the story focuses on a romance involving an ace guy, and the topic of asexuality is treated respectfully.

 

Perfect Rhythm by Jae. Genre is lesbian romance and focuses on a relationship between an ace woman and a non-ace woman.

 

Vicious  and Vengeful by V.E. Scwab. One of the protagonists is hetero-ace. Genre is scifi/urban fantasy I'd guess. The relevant character isn't the nicest person but then, few of the characters in the story are.

 

Anomalies by Joey Goebel. It's open for interpretation but you can read one of the main characters as ace (and even if she isn't, she's still relatable. I read it before I knew I was ace, and I related a lot to her). I honestly can't think what genre one could ascribe to this - it's a very unique book.

 

That's a great list. I like the sound of all of them, thank you so much

[Iam9man]

23 hours ago, Gelewolf said:

Perfect Rhythm by Jae. Genre is lesbian romance and focuses on a relationship between an ace woman and a non-ace woman.

I second this one too. Well written storyline, good character development and handles the ace element really tactfully 👍

[Chasing Headlights]

On 8/26/2019 at 8:40 PM, Iam9man said:

I second this one too. Well written storyline, good character development and handles the ace element really tactfully 👍

sounds perfect. Thanks! I'm filling my electronic basket as I type

[Homer]

Merged the topic "Give me your asexual book recs" with this one.

Homer

Moderator World Watch

[Chasing Headlights]

I read an ARC called Death At Eden's End by Jo Allen 

 

It has an Asexual side character. She even uses the word and is very unapologetic about it 😍 even though her role in the novel is minimal. 

[Tunhope]

Follow up to Ace in the Picture although can be read alone ... Body Parts And Mind Games by Jude Tresswell. It's Book 4 in the County Durham Quad crime series. (Foci are organ trafficking and far-right nationalism) Detective Nick Seabrooke (asexual and  reluctantly homoromantic) continues to explore his relationship with the quad, as they do with him. Happy ending! TW - refs to intimacy and one explicit scene. Buy details on blog at https://polyallsorts.wordpress.com

[TeddyMiller]

On 5/20/2017 at 11:30 AM, Guest Deus Ex Infinity said:

I'd be grateful for any sci-fi ace recommendations

In the sci-fi novel To Be Taught, If Fortunate, by Becky Chambers, one of the the four crewmembers, Chikondi, is asexual.  It's not a big part of the plot, just one page where the narrator talks about the other crewmembers and her relationships with them.

[Catpaws]

Also in the science fiction genre, and I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned before, is the book (and the subsequent second, third, and fourth books, and maybe even an upcoming fifth) from Martha Wells that start with All Systems Red.

 

The main character, SecUnit, is probably an obligate asexual as it is an android that lacks genitalia completely, but it makes several wonderfully judgy comments over the course of the series about how glad it is that it doesn't have to deal with any of that business. It also makes a point of being addressed as "it" rather than any gendered terms, which is also unusual to see in fiction, and in the process the story makes some good points about societal conventions of gender and gendered labels.

 

I love this series to pieces. I had one friend who couldn't get into it because of the first person narration and "snarky attitude", so fair warning, but that type of protagonist is absolutely my jam. I recommend these stories to anyone, anywhere, all the time.

[iff]

convenience store woman by sayaka murata

 

keiko Karakura is a 36 year old woman, working 5 days a week in a Convenience Store, where she has been for the last 18 years. She lives for the convenience store including doing her own shopping in the store she works, her breakfast coming from the store, her lunch from the store and dinner from the store.  This  brings societal pressure from both family and friends to form a relationship and to start a family (she admits to having "no awareness of her own sexuality", she seems to be very sex adverse in the novel and probably asexual (asexuality is mentioned in my edition on page 37). She also seems to be on the autism spectrum. 

 

As a cover for her unwillingness and difficulty at dealing with the questions on her relationship status, she decides to enlist a former colleague Shirhaha to play the role of a boyfriend/partner but he seems an awful person (misogynistic, lazy). I think the pressures that keiko faces are very relateable to problems other asexuals face, trying to appear and fit in with a society that doesn't really understand a lack of interest and lack of sexual attraction.

 

----

A possible asexual character is in the woe to live on by Daniel woodrell. 

The character has no objection to marrying and settling down that he doesn't have feelings for but I don't feel there is enough in the novel to make a call. Woodrell has featured a probably asexual main character in tomato Red and a probably asexual character in the Maid's version.