The List: Fiction With/About Plural CharactersCompiled by Amorpha (almost everyone contributed at some point, so we lost track of who was working on it).Disclaimer: This list is VERY far from being complete. We haven't read all thse books ourselves, or even most of them. In cases where we've written one and reviewed it-- or if someone else has reviewed it-- the link to the review is provided. Eventually we'll make the names of the books link to the Amazon.com listings for them. If the author has a webpage (to explain why they wrote this dreck, etc.), we'll link that too. Author: Ann Adams Title: The Silver Boat Categories: Children's, fantasy Notes: This book and its sequel, The Silver Boat II, appear to be some kind of 'safe place for your inner children' thing. Author: Elaine Marie Alphin Title: Picture Perfect Categories: Young adult, mystery Note: Something about a teenage boy whose friend mysteriously disappears. Not sure how multiplicity figures into the plot here, since we haven't read it. Author: Piers Anthony Title: Macroscope Categories: Science fiction Note: Published in 1969, this is considered by some to be Anthony's best book. (The only books by him we've read are from the Xanth series, which are primarily concerned with bad puns and panty jokes.) The main character here is plural, though we can't tell if it's presented in a positive or negative light (at least one review we've read says it's positive, however). This page discusses the character in terms of the idea that there is no such thing as a 'real' or 'true' personality for any given individual. William James has more to say about this. --Julian Author: Aileen Armitage Title: Annabella Categories: Romance, horror Note: This page has a plot synopsis-- scroll down. We're not sure if this is about multiplicity or just the old "seemingly good girl lives a double life" plot, but Amazon lists it under a search for 'multiple personality.' Author: Sheila Martin Berry Title: My Name Is Legion Categories: Mystery, suspense Note: The victim advocate for the plaintiff in the Sarah trial in Wisconsin wrote this novel after the trial ended, apparently as a tribute to her client(s). No word on whether Sarah and her system know about it.--Azusa Unfortunately, to judge from the first chapter, the clunky prose and the burdening of every cliche upon Sarah's fictive counterpart would seem to do little after the author's intent of destigmatising multiplicity; and stands as an excellent example of why we must be our own voices of advocacy. --Ruka Read the first chapter Interview with the author explaining why she wrote the book. Author: Gene Brewer Title: K-PAX Categories: Drama, science fiction Note: This book was the basis for the popular movie. The Prot character in the movie was not multiple, although another one of the characters was an extremely stereotypical "MPD" patient. Title: On A Beam Of Light Categories: Drama, science fiction Note: Sequel to K-PAX. Author: Edna Buchanan Title: Nobody Lives Forever Categories: Mystery Note: This, the author's first novel, was described by even the lowest-common-denominator Entertainment Weekly (not flatteringly) as "Sybil meets Nightmare on Elm Street." Amazon reviewers describe it as full of sex and gore, and mutilated kittens. It was made into a TV movie in 1998, and sounds just bad enough for TV-movie treatment. Maybe the author's webpage can explain it? --Shiu Author: Dale Carlson Title: Triple Boy Categories: Young adult Note: The story seems to be about a boy who discovers there are others sharing headspace with him, and he happens to have a 'psychiatrist friend who helps him make sense of things.' Does this mean integration or cooperation? Haven't read it, so we don't know.--Shiu Author: Deborah Churchman Title: Cross A Dark Bridge Categories: Mystery, horror, romance Note: Man meets mysterious young woman with tragic past... fill in the rest yourself. Not sure if there's anything new being done with the concept here. Author: Mary Higgins Clark Title: All Around The Town Categories: Mystery Note: The main character was kidnapped as a child by a crazy couple who molested her and killed chickens to scare her; now twenty years later she has MPD. Whee. The mystery here is that someone kills their abuser and of course everyone immediately suspects them of doing it, so their therapist has to find out if they did or didn't. Pretty down the track. You've got the scared host who doesn't know what's going on, the one who tries to seduce the therapist, the token male, etc... --Tamsin Author: Caroline B. Cooney Title: The Perfume Categories: Young adult, horror Note: There's an evil twin, yaaaawn. The main character smells some perfume at a bad tacky Goth store that somehow causes her 'dark twin' to wake up inside her. Of course, the dark twin just wants exclusive control of her body, etc, etc. How come no one's dark twin ever just wants to wear a trenchcoat and eyeliner and write tragic poetry? --Yushyu Author: Dennis Danvers Title: Circuit of Heaven Categories: Science fiction Note: It's mostly a cyberpunk sort of thing with people plugging themselves into computers and all, but also features articially constructed multiple systems. Reviewed on Pavilion. Author: Henry Denker Title: Labyrinth Categories: Suspense, legal thriller Note: Another multiple killer novel, although it touches cursorily on the issue of responsibility among system members. Author: S.K. Epperson Title: Nightmare Categories: Horror, suspense Note: S.K. Epperson is apparently known as a writer of bloodbath horror novels. The only new thing here is that it's plural clients at a clinic who are turning up murdered, rather than being the murderers themselves. A page about the author Author: Anthea Fraser Title: Presence of Mind Categories: Horror, suspense Note: Amazon lists it under the "multiple personality" category, but another website lists this book as being about a girl who's possessed by the spirit of a painting, or the person depicted in the painting, or something along those lines. Haven't read it, but we might end up doing so, since some of us will always go for a subtle supernatural thriller where dead bodies don't go flying everywhere. Author: C.S. Friedman Title: This Alien Shore Categories: Science fiction Note: One of only a few books to portray a plural system in a positive light, and not being in need of 'curing' even if the system originated from trauma. Mini-review by Astraea-- scroll down. A fan page for This Alien Shore Author: David Gemmell Title: Dark Moon Categories: Fantasy Note: One of the characters has a "dark twin" who shares his body, but it seems to be done better than it usually is, since rather than the "dark one" being The Demonic Evil Which Must Be Cast Out So The Good One Can Have The Body, the two of them are shown to work together and reject integration at the end, realizing that they're stronger as a team. A review on the plural_watching Livejournal community. Author: Elizabeth Hand Title: Winterlong Categories: Science fiction Note: A reader says this book has a good depiction of a plural character, although her role in the plot is minor. Author: Jean Marie Haugen Title: Dove in a Window Categories: Suspense, mystery, religious fiction Note: Summary of the book, although it doesn't mention the Christian angle. Author: Robert Heinlein Title: I Will Fear No Evil Categories: Science fiction Title: The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress Categories: Science fiction Note: We just never could like Heinlein much-- anyone want to read it for us? Author: Tanya Huff Title: Sing The Four Quarters Categories: Fantasy Note: A reader says this involve a character who dies and moves into the body of someone else. Author: David Jacobs Title: Me, Myself & Irene Categories: Comedy, movie tie-in novelization Note: If you liked the movie (WHY??), then, uh, you'll probably like the book. (And if you like this kind of thing, then this is the kind of thing you'll like.) Author: Shirley Jackson Title: The Bird's Nest Categories: Drama, suspense Note: Written in 1954. Shirley Jackson did as much research as she could at the time, and her biographer suggests that she may even have been plural herself, hence her fascination with the subject. This fictional work contains many elements which later became standard in "true stories of MPD"-- the others doing things to embarass the clueless host and then sticking her out front to deal with the fallout; the host waking up in a hotel room far from her home and finding her closet full of clothes she didn't buy. One wonders how much the authors of the subsequent "true stories" were influenced by this book. --Azusa Author: Stuart Kaminsky Title: Hard Currency Categories: Mystery Author: Wanda Karriker Title: Morning, Come Quickly Categories: Mystery, suspense Note: Karriker is a member of the ISSD; this is her first novel. As far as I can get, the plot goes something like this: SRA is everywhere, in your town, in your church, in your kitchen cabinet, etc. Oh, and anyone who believes in the possibility of false memories is in on the conspiracy. --Azusa Author: Daniel Keyes Title: The Fifth Sally Categories: Mystery, horror Note: Another killer multiple novel, by the author of The Minds of Billy Milligan, no less. Keyes said he spent hundreds of hours in interviews with Milligan-- so why, after all that, why on earth did he have to go and write something as stereotypical as this? Author's webpage Author: Stephen King Title: The Dark Half Categories: Horror Note: Reviewed on Pavilion. Title: Dark Tower series Categories: Horror, fantasy Note: Reviewed on Pavilion: The Drawing of the Three Wolves of the Calla The plural character in "Dark Tower" developed an evil personality from being hit over the head or something. (Well, Boris Sidis believed head injury might trigger multiplicity in some cases, so it's not completely improbable. --Julian) She integrates, but then comes back later in the series and becomes multiple again so she can get impregnated with a demon child, and one of the other characters compares multiplicity to recurrent warts (to explain why she doesn't stay integrated). Several readers, even some fans of his older works, have expressed the opinion that Stephen King should just stop writing. I'm forced to agree.--Azusa Author: Barbara Konig Title: Our House Categories: Drama Note: Translated from German, it's debatable whether this is really about multiplicity. A young woman converses with characters who represent aspects of her own personality. Anyone read it? More about Our House Author: Dean Koontz Title: Cold Fire Categories: Horror, suspense Note: Reviewed on Pavilion, by Ruka. Dean Koontz loves writing about monsters and toaster powers, so his take on multiples is rather predictable. Well, actually, the problem is that it starts out looking like the premise could be good and creative, but then just dead-ends in the same old junk. Our verdict: Avoid at all costs. Author: Mercedes Lackey with Holly Lisle Title: When The Bough Breaks Categories: Urban fantasy Note: Part of a series. Elves in the modern era drive race cars and help kids in trouble; this time around it's a cute little psychic girl whose dad abused her and now she has a killer alter who can blow stuff up. It's badly written and predictable from start to finish, and there are toasters, lots of them. Our verdict: another one to avoid at all costs. On top of that, one of Astraea's correspondents says whole chunks of it were lifted from When Rabbit Howls, including the wise all-knowing Irish ISH. Author: Laurie J. Marks Title: The Watcher's Mask Categories: Science fiction Note: One of the few books on the list we can recommend, this one has an intriguing plot twist in regards to multiplicity. Author: John Maxim Title: Mosaic Categories: Suspense Note: Another killer multiple plot, this one featuring government-programmed killer multiples. Whee. Author: Laura J. Mixon Title: Proxies Categories: Science fiction Note: Reviewed on Pavilion. Author: Shani Mootoo Title: Cereus Blooms At Night Categories: Drama Note: Looks like a kind of magical realism novel, and also features themes of gender identity. An academic study of themes in Cereus Blooms At Night.. Author: Ed Moses Title: Nine Sisters Dancing Categories: Suspense, mystery Note: Author's webpage Author: Jonathan Nasaw Title: The Girls He Adored Categories: Mystery, horror Note: Another serial killer plot, etc etc etc, blood spewing all over, barf bags that way. Also reviewed on Pavilion. Author: Chuck Palahniuk Title: Fight Club Categories: Drama Note: Basis for the movie. Opinions seem to be divided on whether Fight Club is really about multiplicity or not; we haven't read the book or seen the movie, so can't really give an opinion, but we're including it here anyway because it always comes up when someone asks about fiction with plural characters. Author: Pier Pasolini Title: Petrolio Categories: Drama Author: Terry Pratchett Title: Carpe Jugulum Categories: Fantasy, humor Note: Reviewed on Pavilion. Title: Maskerade Categories: Fantasy, humor Note: Part of the "Discworld" series of fantasy books, both feature a plural character who uses multiplicity to her advantage. Author: Matt Ruff Title: Set This House In Order Categories: Drama, romance, mystery Note: Reactions to this book in the multiple community have been mixed. It features a functional system which is capable of living and working together without integration; on the other hand, it's also got rogue unruly alters running awry and abuse flashbacks. The author did his research better than most non-plurals, mostly over the Internet; on the other hand, some plurals feel he didn't give his sources enough credit. Some readers have found the narrative difficult to follow. Reviewed on Pavilion: Jinkies^David's review Amorpha^Ruka's review Author's webpage Author: Alan Russell Title: Multiple Wounds Categories: Mystery Note: Another book about a multiple on trial. According to readers we've heard from, the only even potentially interesting thing about it is that everyone in the system seems to be named after figures from Greek mythology (though this turns out to be for a really lame reason) . Within the first hundred pages, though, we get the system's therapist being so scared of them that she keeps a stun gun and pepper spray in her desk and the slut personality trying to seduce a cop. Oh, and it's got the most improbable integration ever. Author's homepage Author: Sidney Sheldon Title: Tell Me Your Dreams Categories: Mystery, drama Notes: Looks like All Around the Town, another 'unaware multiple accused of murder' plot, and probably just as predictable. Author: Scott Sommer Title: Hazzard's Head Categories: Drama Author: Joanne Soper-Cook Title: Waking the Messiah Categories: Drama, religious Note: This one is really about reincarnation, although it's listed under the 'multiple personality' category on Amazon. More about Waking the Messiah Author: Robert Louis Stevenson Title: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Categories: Mystery, horror Note: Yeah, figured we might as well include it here. Author: Sean Stewart Title: Mockingbird Categories: Drama, urban fantasy Note: Reviewed on Pavilion. Author: Rebecca Stowe Title: Not The End Of The World Categories: Young adult fiction Note: The main character here is 12. While it's good to see younger systems depicted, of course the big secret is that she was sexually abused. Maybe it's a good novel as far as depictions of abuse go, I dunno, but why do people think that we benefit from these unending depictions of victims and psychopaths? --Azusa Author: Sheri S. Tepper Title: The Marianne Trilogy Category: Science fiction Note: The main character in this series shares her head with a younger version of herself. Sheri Tepper is known for writing science fiction with feminist themes, although her misandric attitudes have annoyed some readers. Author: Thomas Tryon Title: The Other Categories: Mystery, gothic horror Note: A correspondant mentioned this in a list of books featuring plurals. Astraea say this is not really about multiplicity but rather about identical twins. We haven't read it-- has anyone else? Author: Walter J. Williams Title: Aristoi Categories: Science fiction Note: Positive portrayal of multiplicity as a chosen way of existing. Author: John Wilson Title: The Disappearance of Lyndsey Barratt Categories: Mystery, suspense Note: Yet another killer multiple plot, this one involving a system whose communication sucks so badly that one of them helps in the investigation against the evil killer alter without knowing that they're in the same body. This should get some kind of Worst System Management Ever award. --Yushyu Author: Zane Title: Nervous: A Novel Categories: Erotica Note: Haven't read it, but almost any erotic story involving multiplicity is guaranteed to feature the tired old cliches of sex maniac/submissive/dominant/etc personalities. |