Babel-17

Samuel R. Delaney’s 1966 novel Babel-17 is a science fiction novel that won a Nebula award in 1967 and was nominated for a Hugo award.

The novel explores the idea that language shapes thought and thus the protagonist, Rydra Wong, is a poet and linguist who has a seemingly supernatural ability to decipher languages. She of course is the only person in the universe who can help the alliance interrupt a series of sabotage attacks that are closely associated with an unknown language, Babel-17.

She must assemble a scrappy, but lovable crew. Doing so involves naked wrestling matches, extreme body modification, a bisexual triad, and some ghosts. In fact there’s a lot of nudity throughout, perhaps one of the many reasons this great book hasn’t been adapted into a film.

We meet her navigator, which is in fact three people who are bonded and in love with one another. The romantic bond is a key part of why they are able to work as a single unit.This is how navigation works in this world, it’s all triads. Rydra finds two men who had just lost the third and helps them find a new woman to round out their team. Incidentally, this woman had been dead, but isn’t anymore and only speaks Swahili, but they all learn to communicate, because language is important.

We also learn that Rydra herself had once been part of a famous triad who’s adventures had been chronicled in a series of adventure novels. Her triad fell apart when the other two members died (space adventuring is dangerous), but she’s open to the idea of trying again. However, Rydra says that if she did try again, she would rather it be all women, because she thinks it would be simpler.

Delaney takes the time to make it clear that these aren’t just pods of three people who navigate, they share a bed, they play wrestle, they flirt, their romance is not just an abstract sci-fi conceit, they are clearly in love.

Although it’s never explicitly stated, it seems that most people in this universe are bi, or at the very least bisexuality is so common that it’s unremarkable. When you have humans body-modifying themselves into giant golden cats, gender just seems less important.