{"id":33500,"date":"2016-10-26T06:30:15","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T17:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=33500"},"modified":"2016-10-24T18:37:25","modified_gmt":"2016-10-24T05:37:25","slug":"mothers-as-main-characters-in-sff-how-do-i-count-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2016\/10\/26\/mothers-as-main-characters-in-sff-how-do-i-count-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Mothers as Main Characters In SFF — How Do I Count Them?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Francesca<\/a>

Francesca Annis as Jessica<\/p><\/div>\n

Last week I posted on the character of Jessica <\/a>in the Science Fiction classic, Dune<\/em>, observing—among reflections on her many sterling qualities—that she is “still one of the very few…[characters I can think of in SFF ]…where being a mother is central, not peripheral, to her part in the story.”<\/em><\/p>\n

I have by no means read all the available fiction in SFF, but I still had to put on my thinking cap. So although I am going to suggest a few more “Great Mums of SFF” now, I am hoping you may be able to help me out with a few more names.<\/p>\n

\"boneshaker_cover_front\"<\/a>Just to be clear, here are the criteria:<\/p>\n

— the character doesn’t have to be the main character in the book but does have to be a central character with major page time.<\/p>\n

— being a mother has to be central in some way to the character’s role in the story, rather than a background fact that otherwise doesn’t really affect the character’s arc. (For example, this would rule out Mara in the Empire series, where motherhood is not really a significant part of her arc: imho.)<\/p>\n

— the character can appear in any form of SFF: from magic realism, through paranormal and steampunk to epic fantasy; from near future dystopia through space opera to hard Sci Fi. The book can also appear in Junior, YA, or adult SFF.<\/p>\n

\"UK<\/a>

UK cover<\/p><\/div>\n

OK, here’s the rest of my little list, besides Jessica:<\/p>\n