Name: The Guardian's Code (The Bolaji Empire, #1)
Rating: 3.4 (3 reviews)
ISBN: 9781999501204

260 reviews47 followers

December 17, 2022

Deaf reader reviewing books with deaf characters. This book is listed on my ranked list of books with deaf characters.

Unfortunately, the worldbuilding is the weakest part of this novel. I don't find it at all believable that Zehra is the first congenitally deaf mermaid, for a variety of reasons which will be discussed below. Strap in, it's a long ride.

First, let's discuss the inspoporn/supercrip aspect. The book is dedicated to Valmond's "deaf heroes," and the acknowledgments states that: “the people with [disabilities] are heroes just as they are.” This is the rhetoric adopted by people pushing inspoporn narratives. Usually the idea is that disabled people are automatically heroes because they will face discrimination and ableism, which they have to overcome. The idea that anyone who is different in some way is heroic is tired and untrue, as it's usually just extraordinary physical feats that are celebrated--as it is in this novel. Zehra's exceptional genetics and family resources lead to her exceptional combat skills, which is how she is able to overcome discrimination and ableism. (A staple of inspoporn/supercrip narratives; refer to Sami Schalk's works, particularly on the supercrip.)

Now we'll get into why the worldbuilding didn't work:

We begin with Zehra's birth. Mom is having a really rough time, so a doctor gets involved to smooth things out. Cool beans. Except when Zehra finally pops out, she doesn't sing (I'm thinking this is analogous to human babies crying). Bearing in mind that Zehra is the very first deaf-born mermaid in an age where the mermaids have fairly advanced technology (the eldest son is video recording the birth), I'm flabbergasted by the fact that the doctor *immediately* tests her hearing with an eardrum-shattering sonic scream--if she wasn't deaf, she would be after that, I'm sure. And that's how they know she's deaf.

This suggests a couple of things:
-Up until this moment, there have been no difficult births in the presumably millions of years it took to evolve to this point. No other mermaid babies have been born who didn't immediately sing at birth.
-The mermaid's anatomy must be very strange, with vocal cords somehow attached to whatever hearing apparatus evolved (do they have features analogous to humans? Unknown). To clarify on this point, if it were a human baby who didn't cry at birth, adults would immediately assume and test for deafness. It very intrinsically weaves together deafness and mutism, which is a harmful stereotype that we are still fighting today. Deaf babies also cry at birth, since it's an instinctive reaction to a traumatic experience.

Surely the doctor would have tested for other problems before assuming hearing was at fault, *especially* if Zehra is the very first deaf-born mermaid in the literal history of mermaid-dom! Surely other newborn mermaids didn’t sing at birth and they had some other thing going on, like being born without vocal cords or a developmental disability. This suggests that every other mermaid in the entire history of merkind has been 100% functional in every physical aspect. I don’t believe it for a second.

Now for mermaid signed languages:

When it first came up in the novel, I assumed Valmond was taking a page from Jane Yolen's Mermaid's Three Wisdoms (1978). But that doesn't seem to be the case, as signed language doesn't make any sense in the context of the world as described.

So when Zehra finally makes it to school, her classmate Marina introduces herself and the fact that she knows Zehra's race's signed language fluently. There is no explanation for why signed languages exist in this world until much later, when there's a brief mention that mermen use signed language underwater rather than sonar (like whales and dolphins do). It is hinted here that all merpeople know signed language. Then, on page 111 (long after I'd given up hope of ever finding out!): it’s revealed that the Majiwa sign language Zehra uses is an ancient way mermaids used to communicate and most have forgotten it.

You'd think that would settle it, right? Nope, because all that did was open up a whole new can of worms for me:

Who was continuing to use the Majiwa signed language and why, when there were ostensibly no deaf people? What was the original purpose of the language? The fact that mermaids assimilated and started speaking indicates they had the proper speech apparatus to develop spoken language of their own, so why didn’t they? How and why did Marina learn this language if she is not Majiwe? Why did Zehra’s parents conveniently know it? Or if they didn’t, how did they learn it? Why did they decide to use sign language and not raise Zehra orally as most hearing parents do, especially when Zehra is the very first deaf-born mermaid ever (as is brought up repeatedly in the novel)? There are no answers to these questions.

We're not done talking about the signed language! Basically there's so much more that confuses me about it.

Especially Marina. When she first introduced herself so fluently in Zehra's own language, I thought, "Clearly there’s some reason for hearing merkind to have sign language, with different races learning other races’ signs, which means there should be a healthy population of signers who could be paid to interpret." (As noted above, this is not the case.)

But then Marina begins to interpret classes for Zehra, another staple in hearing authors' works (for example, Tim Lebbon and John David Anderson also do this). The problem was immediately obvious: ethics aside, Having Marina interpret means that she is not learning, having to focus instead on making sure Zehra is following along. The girls also goof off a lot, and Zehra helps Marina cheat because she “owes her.” (Red flag!)

And it somehow gets worse. Marina inexplicably turns against Zehra on exam day, somehow coming in second during the physical even though she hasn’t performed well physically all year. She tries to cheat by throwing dirt in Zehra’s eyes and still loses. Then, when their written tests are carbon copies, Marina accuses Zehra of cheating. Alewar (older bro) comes to Zehra's defense and says there is a super convenient way of telling who cheated by checking if one connected their tablet to the other student’s. Marina is dragged off kicking and screaming. I’m nothing but confused???

Apparently Marina has been cheating off Zehra the "entire time," which makes no sense in the first place!

-First of all, how could Marina have known she would able to cheat of Zehra? Wouldn't she have been better off befriending someone she already knew was a high achiever? Why was the turn so sudden? Was Marina pretending to be unskilled at running and fighting, or? Just what is happening?
-Second of all, the fact that Marina is able to interpret all of this information so that Zehra understands it and succeeds academically immediately points to the fact that Marina herself would have understood all of the information she was interpreting. If Marina didn't understand the subject, how would she interpret it? So it doesn't make sense that she was failing.
-Third of all, if it had been a rare spoken language, and Marina was the only one fluent in it, would she have still interpreted? Does that make any sense? Then why does it make sense she would interpret all of the information she herself did not understand into signed language? There's a reason why interpreters in any language have to study for years to be qualified enough to interpret live.
-Fourth of all, let's just say for the sake of argument that Marina was capable of interpreting all of this despite failing classes. It only underscores that Marina had less time and energy to dedicate to her own studies, as she was interpreting for Zehra. Would she have needed to cheat if she, an untrained and likely unqualified teenager who just somehow happened to know another language, didn't spend all her class time interpreting?

There are more things that confuse me as far as signed language but we are going to just move on already to lipreading.

Okay, it's stated multiple times throughout the novel that Zehra seriously struggles to lipread, especially strangers. Makes sense, since lipreading is super hard!

But then...Sigh.

So she sucks at lipreading (fair, same) and then it's noted at several points that she's not lipreading only because it's too dark. Even worse, Zehra is apparently able to understand what Sollix is saying at the banquet and warns everyone (in signs) that the strangers are dangerous.

First of all, no one was interpreting for her, and I'm since their strange accent is noted, I'm sure she wouldn't have been able to catch a single word, especially if she was a bit farther away. (Room sizes and social distancing practices aren't clear.)

Second of all, Zehra's warning gets her kicked out of the party for embarrassing the queen. It suggests that she, and/or everyone, understood her signs. A kinder interpretation is that it was the signing itself that was offensive, but there is never an indication that signed language itself is discriminated against, only that it has fallen out of style/necessity. There just isn't enough information and cohesive worldbuilding!

If you're still here, let's discuss technology.

They are fairly advanced. Zehra has what amounts to an apple watch, with a holographic interface so she can type back and forth with people. Fine.

But what I absolutely cannot wrap my head around is the fact that Zehra has devices capable of converting text to speech, but nothing for speech to text. On the one hand, it makes sense because it is a phonocentric society (Star Trek doesn't showcase any speech to text, either), but on the other hand, the fact that the people in this novel are a militaristic society that is not maximizing the benefits of technology or developing more useful technology is beyond astounding. It is used for dictation, for people with motor disabilities (though of course there may not have been any other disabled mermaids--yet?), and the US military is developing what they call the Robust Automatic Transcription of Speech (RATS) program to record, transcribe, and identify speakers they're spying on.

I was so frustrated when Zehra shows up to class with that tablet and communicates with the teacher via text to speech, but then there is no mention of speech to text. Zehra doesn't even wish such a software existed or conceive of it being invented someday. I still don't understand why the teacher didn't just give her lecture notes or assign a note taker. It is just making accessibility all that more difficult for Zehra, which makes it harder for her overcome, and therefore all the more "heroic." That is inspoporn.

Yet another plot point that irritates me to no end: the final gauntlet challenge is a blindfolded melee, which Zehra loses year after year. Cedar, her bully who happens to be in charge now, is willing to grant her an exception to the blindfolded battle--if she would admit she needs help. Zehra refuses to admit she needs accommodations. That is 100% inspoporn narrative: disabled person struggles to overcome disability itself rather than the unjust society. Internalized audism, much? Deaf people have been fighting for literally over two hundred years now for the right to participate in society with accommodations, and Zehra's choice to turn it down flies in the face of equity.

The message behind Zehra's refusal of even admitting she needs accommodations is that having her needs met is weak and unfair. It is the exact same sentiment as when my professor told me it was "not fair to the other students" if she put the captions on for me, and that I would just have to "listen harder." Imagine if Zehra were blind instead of deaf and they had to pass a visual test of some kind, and she turned down the exception! It literally makes no damn sense.

And how does Zehra manage to get around temporary blindness? Why, by mysteriously and inexplicably gaining the ability to sense disturbances in the air around her and detect and manipulate the emotions/intentions of others nearby, of course! Conveniently, just as this happens, aliens have arrived on the planet with bad intentions, and only Zhera is able to tell (even though they are surrounded by the best of the best warriors, strategists, etc.). And there is never an explanation for this sudden psychic awakening, though through her lifelong love of animals it is hinted she has always been this way? I'm just flabbergasted.

All that aside, at the end of the novel, a random woman, a Trellis queen (whom I can only assume is a reference to an earlier or future novel), emergency lands on the planet and a bear leads Zehra to her. The woman is able to sign fluently through some telepathic means, and randomly asks Zehra if she would like to hear. The woman then cures her hearing immediately and nonconsensually, and Zehra, after experiencing it for a minute, turns this oh-so-wonderful gift of hearing down, saying she can’t miss something she never had. The queen is apparently satisfied and invites Zehra to travel the stars with her. Turned down again.

The purpose of that whole scene is obviously to establish that Zehra totally accepts her identity as deaf. Which is great. But the way this interaction happened is extremely problematic, reminiscent of several different stories about cochlear implant:

-Owoc et al. publish a paper about a 60 year old man who wanted his implants removed, and the surgeon refused on the grounds that the surgeon believed the patient would regret it. When I read the scene I described above, I was ready to believe that something like that would happen--the queen would give Zehra hearing and then refuse to take it away again.
-Or the scene could have gone the inspoporn "baby hears mom's voice for the first time" route, where Zehra joyfully cries and accepts the gift.
-Instead, it went the way of some deaf people who never ask for hearing but are forced to hear: they throw away the cochlear implant (i.e., never wear it). Valid, I'm cool with that.

But my issue is that it just doesn't make sense! I would have loved this scene if it came after she failed the blindfolded melee again. It would give her clear impetus to accept the gift of hearing, because she wanted so very badly to win on her own merit, without accommodations. Her refusal of the hearing would have been so much more powerful, maybe even a tearjerker. So the queen would reward her with a different gift: become psychic! Wow, mindblown! Ka-blooey!

All in all, I feel the story would have been excellent if Zehra was the first psychic, not the first deaf. She could have been the first psychic who happened to also be deaf. It has wayyyyy more plausibility factor, especially for what worldbuilding we are given--if the queen were involved, it would explain how she became psychic in the first place, and why signed language would still be in use (i.e., other deaf mermaids), among other things.

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The Bolaji Empire #1

The Guardian's Code

T.S. Valmond

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T.S. Valmond

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