Two books I've read recently with aromantic characters

[Holmbo]

I realized that two books I've both read fairly recently have aromantic characters:

A lady's guide to petticoats and piracy has an aromantic and asexual main character. Her life goal is to become a doctor which is hindered by the fact she lives in the 1700s.

The midnight bargain has an aromantic side character. It's a fantasy story about two women who try to avoid marriage, because of they get married they are not allowed to practice magic. The main character is in love with a guy and is torn between wanting to be with him and not wanting to marry. The other woman is aromantic and want to spend her life researching magic. 

I like that both these characters are clearly stated to be aromantic, even though the word of aromantic doesn't exist in their societies.

Have you read any books recently with aromantic characters?

[Jedi]

That sounds cool. What did you think of these books as a whole, would you recommend them?

As to your question: HAVE I?

I have spent the last year reading (or well, listening to) about 20 Horus Heresy novels. Near enough every main character is aromantic. I swear the aromantic community is sleeping on the Warhammer40k space marine. I understand that the setting is not going to be everyones cup of tea, but I would still recommend trying out one book about space marine to see how you like it. They are actually very interesting from an aromantic perspective, and I would so much like to talk about these books with the community! What you have is armies where being asexual and aromantic just kind of comes with the process of becoming a supersoldier. And they spend most of their time with eachother, so they pretty much have their own society where being ace-aro is the norm. The most important relationships in these books are between completely aromantic characters.

Warhammer40k is a big setting, and the series I have been reading can pretty much be considered a setting in itself. But if what I have said sounds in any way interesting, pick up the first book "Horus Rising" by Dan Abnett. If you end up liking it, there's more. It is written in a way that assumes you know a little bit about the setting already, but I didn't know shit when I started x) And I'd be happy to answer questions if something is confusing.

TL:DR Try Reading "Horus Rising". It has ace-aro characters! Any questions, PM me x)

[DeltaAro]

5 hours ago, Jedi said:

What you have is armies where being asexual and aromantic just kind of comes with the process of becoming a supersoldier.

… you could also read Adepta Sororitas books for female characters. I guess since according to the lore, contrary to the Space Marines, the Sisters of Battle are still normal unmodified humans they could theoretically have romantic / sexual feelings. But I mean, they’re space nuns so nothing is going on there…

[Jedi]

3 hours ago, DeltaV said:

you could also read Adepta Sororitas books for female characters.

That's right. I haven't read any books about them, I have only stayed in 30k so far and that's before the sororitas were formed x) But that is an option. There is indeed very few women in Horus Heresy since it focuses so much on the space marines. Those who do show up tend to be pretty cool though. Lots of respect for some of the old ladies x)

[Holmbo]

@Jedi
I read a lot so I'm willing to give Horus rising a try.

I liked both of the books. I would recommend them depending on taste. Midnight bargain has cool world building and magic system. A lady's guide to petticoats and piracy is basically real life 1700s (there's a little bit of fantasy thrown in).  

[Jedi]

15 hours ago, Holmbo said:

I read a lot so I'm willing to give Horus rising a try.

Success!

[Georgi]

Yesterday I've started Tarnished are the stars. It is both SF (forbidden tech, terraforming and moving humanity to another planet) and fantasy-medieval?? or I don't know how to call it... it has a queen, and kind of nobility. And it has an aroace man (he's still not aware, but questioning). And also other LGBTQIA+ characters. Until now, I like it a lot (but I'm just a quarter through it), as it has an interesting world building and also complex goals for each character, imo.

Also, I don't know if you know about the Aroace database of Claudie Arsenault for more books? I find it quite impressive.

I've also read The Midnight Bargain. Funny thing is that I knew there was supposed to be an aroace character in the book, but I didn't know which one in the beginning... so I assumed it was the main character. ?Then started wondering what the hell is she feeling towards that guy ;)))) Then decided to look on the internet and see what character is aroace and figured out it was not her ;))) Was a little bit disappointed, because I liked how in the beginning she was so fierceful against marriage and romance, and... then things happened ;))))

Spoiler

But happy she found what she wanted.

Edited October 11, 2021 by Georgi

[Holmbo]

@Georgi
I'll add tarnished are the stars to my aro reading list too.
I've not had good luck with that database, I've tried three books at random and not liked either of them.

 

[Pyr]

I read The Midnight Bargain and really enjoyed it!

Another aro book I recently read isSummer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman! It's realistic fiction about a teenage girl coping with her sister's death. She's aro-spec and ace-spec. Amazingly, the book actually uses the terms aromantic and asexual. The main character is also a songwriter and musician, anyone into music might like this book. 

[Mell]

I think this book has appeared on this page before but I just finished reading Loveless by Alice Oseman! I absolutely loved it, would recommend, 1000/10. Its about a girl going to college and coming to terms with being aro/ace. I related to her experiences a lot and it made me feel very seen.