Many baddies from from science fiction have been depicted as disabled. We can point to Davros from Doctor Who and almost every baddie from Star Wars. Coding disability with evil had been a trope for too long. Here are some science fiction and fantasy books that look to buck the trend. See more from Bookriot:
Disability rep in books is often lacking — and good disability rep, even more so (although I’d like to think that’s changing). The topic of disability in sci-fi and fantasy is rich for discussion and critique, especially the ableist tropes of magic/tech “curing” disability or erasing it. Amanda Leduc wrote a book exploring fairy tales and disability titled Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space, in which she looks at how fairy tales have shaped how people think about disability and creates a new way of looking at things.
“[We] support and perpetuate a culture where the emphasis is on the cure rather than societal change—where the aim of the narrative is to eradicate the disabled life rather than change the world so that the disabled life can thrive. The stories we tell need to be different,” writes Leduc.
