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Space Unicorn Blues by TJ James
IDs: Lesbian, Sapphic, Physically Disabled, Wheelchair User, Chronic Pain, Asexual, Transfeminine, Transgender, Asian, Māori, South Asian, Mixed-race
Author IDs: Queer, Chronic Pain
Berry’s novel is, I swear, one of the strangest things I have ever read. In this world, unicorns are real. So are fairies, elves, gnomes, etc. These magical creatures, called the Bala, live in space on their own planets. When humans start colonizing space, they discover the Bala, and immediately start fighting in a war with them. Eventually, the humans win, and our story takes place after this battle has been won. The humans have discovered that the magic in the Bala can be used by humans if they physically take it from the Bala’s bodies. Gary, our protagonist, is a half-unicorn, Indian, asexual being who is fresh out of prison. He has to hide his unicorn half, as unicorns are very rare and some of the most valuable Bala of all. Their blood is magic and can heal any injury. Their horns are what causes lightspeed. Without it, all ships have to travel at standard speed. Gary, in attempting to win his spaceship back in a gambling hall, runs into Jenny, our other protagonist. Jenny is a Māori disabled lesbian who uses a wheelchair. She is an ex-soldier, formerly part of the Reason space force that is responsible for massacring the Bala. Jenny also previously held Gary hostage and used his horn to travel at lightspeed.
Through a strange series of events, Gary, Jenny, Ricky (the owner of the gambling hall), and Cowboy Jim (Jenny’s former co-captain) set about on an adventure. The novel has some really interesting critiques of and engagement with ideas of colonization, queerness, race, and disability. The text explores accessibility in space in a number of ways, but perhaps most notably through Gary’s mixed-race identity and Jenny’s disability. Everywhere they go, Gary must hide his identity and the physical parts of him that would identify him as a unicorn. Jenny has to navigate physical accessibility issues pretty much anywhere she goes. There is an interesting tension when they board Gary’s ship. Stoneships, for unicorns, are incredibly culturally important. They are a living system, and must be cared for as such. One way that unicorns and their ship crews do this is by covering the floors in dirt and planting things in this dirt. Sounds nice, right? Yes, except the dirt and plants make it way harder for Jenny to move in the ship, as it doesn’t work well for her wheelchair. This is just one moment among many that interrogate and examine the complexities of conflicting access needs and cultural traditions. Berry does this brilliantly, insisting that these conflicting needs will happen no matter where we are, and asking, what are we going to do about it?