Sam the really cool one writes…

Hiya Michelle
So I know that Dark and Kujai are accepted in the world (I think you said it in one of your you tube videos) but as the title suggests how are more gender diverse people treated in different places around the world of COAD? and are there any characters who are trans or gender neutral?

Pretty pretty please with Torak’s mark on a rock can you tell us fa name?

From Sam (super duper guy)

Michelle Replies…

Dear Sam, in creating the clans, I’ve studied the ways of life of traditional or indigenous peoples around the world, and their attitudes to gender differ widely, as do the attitudes of modern people today.  (Thus for example, the Raven and Sea-eagle Clans welcome Dark and Kujai – while I fear that a few of the Deep Forest Clans might be less welcomng, just as they misogynistically sneered at Renn in Oath Breaker when she said she was  Mage.)   I’ve tried to suggest these different attitudes in the books, particularly through the Dark/Kujai story arc, but there would certainly have been more gender diverse people in Torak’s world, as there are in our world today.  However I’ve left that to the reader to imagine, and to try to picture how such people might fare among the different clans.  As for telling you Fa’s name: nice try, but nope!  With best wishes, Michelle