In a transcript from a talk by Black Fem Geekery about representation of ‘Other’ in sci-fi and fantasy, or more specifically, people of color, many great points are raised. One of my favorites is “Where it often does go wrong is when authors venture into the east or the south, and then suddenly realise that they don’t actually know what to base these fictional places on – or, worse, think they’re creating new things in a vacuum without recognising that where experience is lacking, stereotypes will often rush to fill the gap.” Although her examples are drawn more from movies than from books, I’d throw out that Rothfuss is guilty of this in Wise Man’s Fear, and Peter V. Brett in The Warded Man and The Desert Spear.
https://blackfemgeekery.wordpress.com/2019/04/20/subtle-forms-of-racism-to-avoid-in-sff/
book reviews forevermore 