Polyamory-Related BooksClick on Book Titles to Purchase via Amazon Books. Odds & EndsNot all of these books may be primarily about polyamory, but all of them have something poly-related that caught my eye. |
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The Rise of EndymionDan SimmonsBantam BooksDan Simmons is an excellent writer, and this is one of my favorite of his books. Endymion is the fourth of the authors Hyperion saga (the first three being Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, and Endymion.) To my mind the books really form two pairs, with this latest work being the direct continuation of the storyline begun in Endymion. This book brings a compelling completion to this ground-breaking series. In this newest volume, Raul Endymion is forced to travel through a variety of worlds, and at one point during those travels he comes across an interesting poly situation. The humans on that particular world mostly form triunes (what we would call triads), and a family he is rescued by is no exception. However, they face a difficult choice because of it. Their dying son can be rescued by the physical immortality that the Church offers, but at the cost of all their conversion to the Church, which won't recognize their relationship (both because of the number of partners and because of the same-sex relationship it contains.) Although poly relationships are often included in science fiction, often I feel that their inclusion is somewhat shallow. Simmons here brings us a true story that involves polyamorous people, even if only for a chapter or two, that deserves mention.
Tomcat
rates this book a
10 (Best Available on the Subject)
and says:
Warner rates this book a
10 (Best Available on the Subject)
and says: |
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Miss Manners Guide for the Turn of the MilleniumJudith MartinFireside"Miss Manners?", I hear you ask. Yes, Miss Manners. I've listed this book because of a small section in this book which deals with the current trend for all relationships to be assumed exclusive, a trend that suggests that there is something immoral or immodest about "dating". Miss Manners appears to differ: "...the common pattern is to have a series of exclusive arrangements.... The standard is, in other words, a rather dreary form of serial monogamy, followed by the pain of a simulated divorce.... Miss Manners believes that such a form is both unsuitably restrictive and unnecessarily hurtful."
More wise words from the Mistress of Manners. Good stuff.
Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries & VisionsNaomi Tucker, with Liz Highleyman and Rebecca Kaplan (eds.)Harrington Park Press
As we all know, bisexuals aren't all poly,
and poly people
aren't all bisexual, despite the stereotypes that exist in both
directions. Unfortunately, it sometimes happens that bisexuals
unintentionally convey an anti-polyamorous tone when defending
themselves against that stereotype. Annie S. Murray, in a
article in this anthology entitled Forsaking All Others:
A Bifeminist Discussion of Compulsory Monogamy, attacks
that stereotype and does a good job of defending (responsible)
non-monogamy from a ethical, feminist perspective.
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