#of fire and stars

[julianakorner]

[haveyoureadthismgyabook]

Series info:

Book 1 of Of Fire and Stars

Book 2: Of Ice and Shadows

[chardoodles]

I just read “of fire and stars” in two days much like the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I couldn’t put it down. other books have taken me like weeks or months to get through, having a sapphic romance is such a breath of fresh air

If anyone has any other suggestions to read please send them my way

[illustration-alcove]

Jacob Eisinger’s illustrated book cover for Audrey Coulthurst’s Of Fire and Stars.

[sapphiction]

Denna saying " I suppose it was my turn to help you breath again" I can't cope

[queer-books-bracket]

[tomesofthetrade]

“Partnerships can be built, but love can't be coaxed.”

- Of Fire and Stars

[ansacht]

Instead of the same movies and books being remade into movies and series over and over again….can we maybe get any of these?

Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn

The Coral Dawn Trilogy by Katherine V Forrest (Daughters of a Coral Dawn, Daughters of an Amber Moon, Daughters of an Emerald Dusk)

Ash by Malinda Lo

Huntress by Malinda Lo

Secondborn Series by Amy Bartol (Secondborn, Traitor Born, Rebel Born)

Of Fire & Stars Series by Audrey Courthurst (Of Fire & Stars, Of Ice and Shadows)

Of Playing the Role of Herself by KE Lane

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Circle of Magic Series by Tamora Pierce (Sandry’s Book, Tris’s Book, Daja’s Book, Briar’s Book)

Should probably tag that some of these are 🌈 gayyyyy in the best way.

[truetgirl]

Man am I glad I'm not making these posts on the even-numbered days of the month because yesterday I had one of the worst bouts of time blindness of my life and that really put a bit of a crimp in the rest of my day. But anyway! Today we’ll talk about:

Mare and Denna (or Amaranthine and Dennaleia, if you’re a narc lol) from Of Fire and Stars as well as the sequel Of Ice and Shadows.

Y’know that classic fantasy/historical fiction plot where a betrothed noble falls in love with someone other than their intended spouse and things get seriously complicated about it? Honestly I’m not sure why I don’t see that trope with queer characters fucking everywhere, it’s prime material.

In any case, that’s one of the standout features of Mare an Denna for me; they initially play out a version of that cheesy old story and its really nice to see queer people get to just be in such a narrative. Actually, extend that to the setting, too. It’s remarked upon at several points that relationships between people of the same gender are a thing, and it’s treated neutrally. Mare even says at one point that if she were to have a false marriage to get her father off her back, then she’d rather it be to a woman just so lack of children isn’t questioned. This idea is not questioned for its inherent queerness, but rather because it would be Mare running from her problems.

But, I get ahead of myself! A summary, for any who have not read these books (go read these books, for the love of all that is good in this world). Denna is a princess of a mountainous northern realm called Havemont. She is, however, the younger of two sisters, and so her sister is the one in line to inherit the throne.

As such, Denna is betrothed to prince Thandilimon, heir to the throne of Havemont’s southerly neighbor: the kingdom of Mynaria. Denna has prepared her entire life for this marriage, and we pick up with her at the age of 17 (iirc) when she’s made the journey to Mynaria for final preparations before the wedding later that year.

Thing is, part of that prep involves learning to ride a horse. It’s not common to learn in the mountains of Havemont and a very important social expectation on the plains of Mynaria. The best available teacher? Princess Amaranthine, Thandilimon’s older sister (by about 2 years). With whom Denna starts to feel things she has never felt before.

Mare herself, btw, is very GNC, explicitly shirking traditional feminine roles, clothes, and expectations of her noble duty as a woman of status. Being royalty, she’s expected to one day run a household and produce heirs for a husband, in a marriage likely born of political importance. There’s a delightful lack of homophobia in this setting, but this kind of things is something that still seems to cause issues, at least in Mynarian society.

The other big spanner in the works is that Denna, unbeknownst to anybody in Mynaria, was born with the ability to wield magic. Specifically, she has what is known as an affinity for fire magic. This is a BIG problem, because the tenants of Mynaria’s religion and antagonistic relationship with a magic-using kingdom to their east leave magic outlawed and those with the ability to use it persecuted. Basically in a world with no homophobia and magic, this frequently feels like a metaphor for persecution of queer people in the real world.

I’ll spare most of the details from here, but suffice it to say that they have a wonderful, often fraught, and phenomenally cathartic story and relationship. Their love for one another is never in question, only their situation beyond that. Two girls loving each other is unremarkable in this world, what cause problems is the shenanigans that ensue when one of said girls is involved in a vital political marriage. It’s so fucking nice to just see queer people as part of this world and get to engage fully with other weighty themes, some of which are still quite relevant to real world queer people. Read these books, I am begging you, I need more people to talk about them with.

[desdasiwrites]

– Audrey Coulthurst, Of Fire and Stars

[vulturevanity]

21st night of September Thursday

[yuumei-art]

Starfire Dance~

[simplyjustagirlsblog]

i love laura palmer

[flowerytale]

Louise Glück, from “Stars”, Poems: 1962–2020

[without-ado]

Ring of Fire October 2023 l Bray Falls

[lilymarch]

the woman dies.