Halfway Human

The novel follows the life of Tedla, an asexual being from an evolutionary offshoot of humanity. It is neither male nor female and refers to itself as a “bland.” On their home planet blands are kept at a near-slave class, considered to be not human and much less important than either male or female. Blands are mentally, physically and sexually abused by their human masters, normally called guardians.

Tedla is found by a social worker named Val Endrada on the planet Capella, light-years away from its home planet of Gammadis, just after trying to kill itself. The existence of the bland off-planet sets into motion a political confrontation between the powers on both planets.

The work was generally praised by critics at the time of publication and has since been called "groundbreaking."^[2] Fellow writer Lisa DuMond reviewed the book in 1998 and suggested that it would likely be included on the Hugo and Nebula ballots for that year.^[3]