The Bechdel Test asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. At the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog Stacey Berg, author of Dissension, tagged five speculative fiction books that blow away the Bechdel Test, including:Santa Olivia, by Jacqueline CareyRead about another entry on the list.
Santa Olivia is an odd and entertaining novel from Jacqueline Carey, better known for the Kushiel’s Legacy fantasy series. Loup Garron is an orphan girl with mysterious powers, growing up in an occupied border town with a mystery of its own. Born without fear, Loup becomes leader of the santitos, child vigilantes who rightsmall wrongs, often with comic effect. As Loup gets older, though, the confrontations with authority become more serious, until she finally takes on the conspirators enslaving the town. A bit young adult, a bit western, a bit meta—the other orphans immediately recognize what Loup is because they’ve read Wolverine comics—and mostly a really great boxing tale, Santa Olivia captures the heat of romance between two young women who have to decide whether personal happiness is more important than the fight for justice. And justice, of course, leads straight to…
--Marshal Zeringue
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