Francesca Lia Block. Weetzie Bat.
A wonderful fairy-tale-like story about a group of
magical friends who form a family of sorts. This book and its sequels are
absolutely and highly recommended. They truly make me believe that
with love all things are possible. (Awww...)
Dorothy Bryant. The Kin of Ata Are Waiting For You.
This is a wonderful story about the power of
dreaming. The plot is basically that an amoral and spiritually empty man
has an accident and finds himself on a remote island where none of the
rules of the normal world apply. It kind of reminds me of Stranger in a
Strange Land, but with a very different approach. Highly recommended,
although I'm not sure it exactly counts as poly... (Note: this book is
also published as The Comforter)
Michael Cunningham. A Home at the End of the World.
This book brings together three very different
characters who put together a triad of sorts. It has a lot of interesting
things to say about relationships and ideas of "family."
Peter Dickinson. King and Joker.
This is a wonderful story, about a royal family
which turns out to have an unconventional structure. The plot is
compelling and the author's writing style is excellent. Quite
poly-friendly.
Candas Jane Dorsey. Black Wine.
Beautifully written SF/F novel telling the story
of a young woman who loses her memory and then finds it again. The author
is an incredible storyteller and has an ability to continually do new
things with words. A main character is involved in a three-way marriage
for a while (portrayed positively). (Caution: the bad guys in this book do
some disturbing things... There may be a few pages you will want to
skip.)
Lawrence Durrell. Justine.
This book - and its sequels, Balthazar,
Mountolive, and Clea - are not precisely about polyamory.
Each of the four books tells the same story from a different point of
view. That story is about a woman, Justine, who is involved with (as
nearly as I can calculate) just about everyone she knows... These
beautiful books have a lot to say about relationships and the multiplicity
of "truth." (They are kind of hardcore - you really have to be into
"literary" fiction.)
Robert Heinlein. Stranger in a Strange Land.
This is one of the classic "free love"
texts, and it inspired the pagan Church of
All Worlds. The relationships are intimate and the sex is sacred,
although you have to put up with Heinlein being, as Joe once put it, "a
sexist, homophobic, narrow-minded bastard."
-------. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
This book is mainly about politics. The moon has
been made into a sort of penal colony, but the people there decide to
revolt and form their own country. Little time is devoted to the
character's personal lives, but in that time Heinlein introduces the
concept of "line marriages."
Tanya Huff. The Fire's Stone.
This is a wonderful adventure story about a prince
who finds himself going on a journey with Chandra, a wizard, and Aaron, a
thief, to recover the stone which holds the local volcano in check. It's
much more than an adventure story; the characters are sarcastic,
realistic, and delightful. I won't spoil the plot by explaining, but the
poly bits are very positive.
Milan Kundera. The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
This is a wonderful and philosophical book (which
often goes off on extremely interesting tangents pondering human nature).
The main character, Tomas, loves his wife Tereza dearly but is unable to
remain faithful to her and must have other lovers. She knows about this
but is very hurt by it.
Mercedes Lackey and Ellen Guon. Knight of Ghosts and Shadows.
Mercedes Lackey has some excellent fantasy books
and some mediocre ones. I expected this to be mediocre and was pleasantly
surprised. It's a great story about using music and magic to fight evil.
Again, I won't spoil the plot by giving away the poly bit. It has a
sequel, Summoned to Tourney, which also has poly content.
Doris Lessing. The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four, and
Five.
A beautiful story/fable about three very different
countries - the peaceful, utopian Zone Three, the warlike Zone Four, and
the nomadic desert Zone Five - and the interactions of the rulers of Zones
Three and Four (in particular) when a divine edict orders marriage between
them. This book has lots of interesting things to say about the relations
between men and women, and between women and women, and how all these
interactions are shaped by our society.
Elizabeth Lynn. The Dancers of Arun.
This book is the second in a trilogy, but it
stands by itself. (It's also unfortunately out of print. Grrr.) The story
is a nicely written fantasy book in which many of the characters have
deep and loving relationships with several people at once.
Vonda McIntyre. Starfarers.
This is a sci-fi book telling the story of a space
expedition which faces being shut down by the government. The central
characters are in a partnership together (in this case a triad, formerly a
quartet) and the book shows how it works without making a big deal of
it. I found that the ideas behind the story were more compelling than
the way the story was told, but it's definitely worth reading.
Larry McMurtry. Leaving Cheyenne.
This is a beautiful love story about two friends
who love the same woman all their lives. I don't read a lot of westerns
(OK, so this is the only one I've ever read) but this one was worth
it.
Anais Nin. Henry and June.
This is Anais Nin's diary during the time when she
was involved with Henry Miller and his wife June, while still being
married herself. Sometimes extremely pro-polyamory, sometimes extremely
anti-polyamory, but always intense! And gorgeously written. (Meg's
little note: I like Anais Nin's writing but whenever she gets on the
subject of lesbianism she pisses me off. You have been warned.)
--------. A Spy in the House of Love.
The main character is Sabina, a woman who cheats
on her husband with some very different men. It talks about the importance
of getting different things from different people. (Here's an excerpt if you're interested.) It's a
beautifully
written book. (All of Anais Nin's books that I've read are relevant to the
idea of loving many people.)
Marge Piercy. The Summer People.
The central characters have been in a stable triad
for ten years. The triad is disrupted by their encounters with the
vacationers on Cape Cod, the "summer people." A good book about real
people whose desires are not always consistent.
--------. Woman on the Edge of Time.
In this book, the main character gets in touch
with people from a future society where multiple relationships are the
norm. Like a lot of books involving social criticism, it is depressing but
it will really make you think.
Robert Rimmer. The Harrad Experiment
I have to say I didn't get much out of this book,
despite its being a poly "classic." Written in the 1960's, it describes a
college where undergraduates live with roommates of the other sex and are
encouraged to be sexually active. It didn't flow well as a story, and it
was gratuitously sexist, heterosexist, and homophobic.
Starhawk. The Fifth Sacred Thing
The story is set about fifty years from now in
California. It deals with the conflict all peaceful societies have had to
deal with - i.e., how to resist violence without becoming violent. This
book is one of the few things that gives me hope that it's possible to do
so. Polyamory and sacred sex are important elements of the utopian society
pictured. Highly recommended.
Irving Wallace. The Three Sirens
An interesting book about a group of
anthropologists who start to question their own assumptions about
civilization and sexuality when they visit an uncharted Polynesian island.
It has well-developed characters, and it's engrossing - when I was reading
this book, I even dreamed about it at night!
Jeanette Winterson. Gut Symmetries.
A gorgeously written book (as per usual for the
author) about physics and relationships. A woman gets involved with a
married man and then with his wife. I loved the book but be warned, it is
a prime example of how *not* to do polyamory. I hope I am never involved
with anyone remotely resembling the main characters!