Delan the Mislaid

Children of the Triad #1

by Laurie J. Marks

To the Walkers, Delan was a monstrosity, big and clumsy with odd growths sticking out of its back. Controlled by a cruel master, a sorcerer who practices dark magic to keep Delan his slave, Delan discovers new hope when, aided by Eia the Aeyrie, it goes through a metamorphosis that transforms it into the beautiful, winged being it was always meant to be. Learning the truth of its heritage may not be enough to save Delan – and the entire Aeyrie race – from Teksan and his diabolical plans for conquest.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Queer, Science Fiction Fantasy, Gender, LGBT, Ebooks

252 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reminds me so much of the premise & worldbuilding of Wells's Raksura series: outcast discovers they belong to a controversial but also enlightened, powerful, and desirable winged race that provides a longed-for home. But the execution is distinctly Laurie J. Marks: trauma and trauma recovery; what it means to find/build a home when one's sense of self is fractured; the role of trust in relationships, including one's relationship with oneself. And gender! A lot of gender. I liked this a lot. It lacks the refinement of the Elemental Logic series, feels more high fantasy and more rough-and-ready; but that same roughness gives it a pulpy genre vibe, and it's fascinating to see early Marks, different style but same focus, producing dynamics I consistently find compelling. Call it 3.5 stars.

If I can ever get my hands on the sequels, I'd be happy to reread this and then the rest of the series.

[Kagama-the Literaturevixen · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5

Delan is a girl/boy/something that has been raised by a tribe of peasants wich only grudingly did so is almost happy when he/she/it is sold to a traveler by the name of Teksan as a servant.

On the way to Teksans home Delan encounters a strange winged being wich tells Delan that its name is Eia,and its species (Ayerie) has no gender

Delan feels a connection to Eia and before they part,Eia gives Delan a winged pet called and onfrit.

So they arrive in the Walker village where Teksan lives and

It turns out that Teksan is a sorcerer and he harbors a hatred to the Aeyries like most Walkers do. They resent them because they are seen as lazy and forcing the Walkers to beg for the inventions that the Ayerie are able to create (and sell)

Delan becomes sick from Teksans more and more cruel treatment and decides to run away. The pet onfrit wich Delan named Dulcie leads Delan up into the mountains.

There Delan once again encounters Eia and its revealed that (surprise,surprise) Delan is an Ayerie too!

After this the story went overboard and all over the place into a place I wasnt too comfortable with.

I decided to read this since I saw a mention that this book was a bit similar to The Cloud Roads wich I really like.

And yes they are similar they are both set in fantasy worlds where the main character discover that they arent a freak of nature but rather part of a species of winged humanoids.

And yes they both try to explore gender issues.

But there the similarities end. For while I felt that the Raksura series managed to do this in a subtle way and created an understanding for their way of life.

This book wants to achieve the same thing by almost forcing it on the reader.Like the author wanted to see how far she could take it.

This is one of the problems I also had with Santa Olivia.

In the end I couldnt escape the niggling sense that all the good characters were actually women and the bad ones were supposed to be essentially male.

Wont be reading the next one.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marks had certain ambitions when writing this book, I think. She wanted to work with gender roles, the concept of gender in society, and sexuality. The problem is that in the end, she often couldn't escape gender, or at least, her own writing style was too female-coded. Most of the times, the main character Delan seemed very stereotypically female to me. This could partially be seen as due to the fact that Delan, though hermaphroditic, was seen as female among those she lived with. However, the author makes decisions that cause a gender binary where there shouldn't be one: Delan defines as "neither" gender; Eia defines as "both." Delan is neither because id (the gender neutral pronoun in the book) isn't sexually mature. However, this is repeated even after id IS sexually mature. It's problematic.

Additionally, the writing is just... bad, on occasion. The worldbuilding could use some serious work. I have yet to understand what the bit about glass mountains floating through space is about. I also wonder what exactly the situation is with all the different species. The Digan-Lai aren't the same as the Walkers... right? And they certainly aren't human-- though all of the different species are referred to as human, even though they're obviously different species. And Delan had a normal hatch from the egg, but grew into ids strange (compared to the Digan-Lai) looks. So, Digan-Lai come from eggs too? And like the Walkers, the Digan-Lai hibernate. So if Digan-Lai are Walkers, but a different race, does that mean Walkers hatch from eggs too? It's very confusing.

The author often has a reference with no antecedent. For example, Eia's manuscript becomes very important halfway through the book, but no matter how hard I look, I can see no reference to the manuscript before that point. Often, things are so glossed over that it's impossible to tell what's happened. When Delan has sex with two characters, it's nearly impossible to tell. It's somewhat symptomatic of the time the book was written that sex would be treated in that manner, but Marks does it with more things that just sex, leaving me to believe it's bad writing rather than the author being tentative to make sexual situations clear. There are so many characters that I kept forgetting who was who; the book could gain a lot from a character list as well as a glossary.

The book isn't bad. The problem is that Octavia Butler and Storm Constantine have done the same thing-- Constantine and Marks in particular share similarities-- but Marks is lesser on all accounts. The unclear writing style and the inability of the author to display gender neutrality hinder her overall message. The book is worth a read, and if you enjoy this kind of book-- as I do-- it's worth it to buy it as part of your collection. However, "Delan: The Mislaid" is definitely flawed.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite books to have read. I don't have it in me to
write a review that does it justice, but I found a deep and accurate reflection of my experience. Excellent fantasy. Excellent worldbuilding. Excellent heartstrings. Immediately hooked me. In many many ways this book is more progressive about polyamory, physical dysphoria, neuroatypical and queer experiences than almost anything written today. It is a damn shame it's no longer in print.

[Vervada · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something about the way Laurie J. Marks writes magic that is simply bewitching and astounding. There are no clear rules and not much is described (which would normally annoy me), it's written as something as natural and instinctive as another sense, but without losing that feeling of awe that magic usually inspires. The world was fascinating, beautiful and cruel and filled with wonder. I enjoyed learning about the three races and can't wait to find out more about them in the sequels. This is one of the few books I've read in which humans aren't present at all and I have to say I didn't miss them.

In conclusion, even though not quite as good as her later books, namely the "Elemental Logic" series, still gorgeous, gripping and impressive.

[Victoria Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's so sad for me to see this book and series not getting a much higher rating.

Marks' lyrical writing and complex sociopolitical world building, psychological character development, and plot lines are simply superb.

[Rain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story. Warm & fuzzy.

[Kiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of a SF/F trilogy that I absolutely adore. The three books expand in scope in a masterful fashion. They are set in a world inhabited by four sentient races; the aeyries - furred and winged hermaphrodites, the walkers - much like us but egg-bearing, the orchths - six-limbed shamanic singers, and the mers - group-mind swimmers. The series addresses many issues with a beauty and poetry of language - issues of prejudice, belonging, losing and finding oneself, growing up, taking responsibility... she packs a lot into these little books.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Racial clash between fliers and ground walkers, from the POV of a flier child who is secretly raised among walkers by a sadistic sorcerer. OK, but all the suffering just grew tiresome after the first few instances. I see some influence from LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS in the general tone and also in the hermaphroditic fliers.

[kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

god bless this socialist genderqueer race of mages and inventors and artists... and the first thing i ever read that used neopronouns! (ok technically the second book in this series, which i read first)

a comfort read for me that i revisit over and over.

[Julian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great ideas, very heavy-handed execution. Also, important emotional things kept happening between various characters and I didn't even pick up on any of it until the main character reflected on it later. This was not a problem I had with Marks' later books.

[Elena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this one, since I love Marks' more recent series (the Logic books), but I gave it up after about 65 pages. It just didn't hold my attention or make me want to keep reading.

[Cecilia Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similar to Left Hand of Darknes, Marks takes a risk in creating a character that is a Hermaphodite. The pronoun use is clever, instead of "it" Marks uses Freud's Id.