There are also Fives from Cherry Wilder's Tapestry Warriors series.
In the books, a classic Five (not counting the kids) consists of three able-bodied adults, with one explicitly the head of the family; an oldster, possibly a blood-relation to one of the younger members; and a Luck, who might for example have dichromatic eyes, be albino, have survived a terrible accident... (I liked the way care of the elderly and acceptance of the somewhat odd are engineered into the society.)
The first book, The Luck of Brin's Five, starts when an explorer from Earth crashlands in the mountains near a family of humble spider-weavers who are mourning the recent death of their last Luck. Ah... they don't exactly ask him if he wants to marry them, but it works out okay for various reasons. (Trouble happens when less-friendly authorities start looking for the creepy alien (who is a member of our family dammit) and they go on a bit of a roadtrip.)
Sorry about the anonymous comment - I'm cat-i-th-adage on LJ.
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There are also Fives from Cherry Wilder's Tapestry Warriors series.
In the books, a classic Five (not counting the kids) consists of three able-bodied adults, with one explicitly the head of the family; an oldster, possibly a blood-relation to one of the younger members; and a Luck, who might for example have dichromatic eyes, be albino, have survived a terrible accident... (I liked the way care of the elderly and acceptance of the somewhat odd are engineered into the society.)
The first book, The Luck of Brin's Five, starts when an explorer from Earth crashlands in the mountains near a family of humble spider-weavers who are mourning the recent death of their last Luck. Ah... they don't exactly ask him if he wants to marry them, but it works out okay for various reasons. (Trouble happens when less-friendly authorities start looking for the creepy alien (who is a member of our family dammit) and they go on a bit of a roadtrip.)
Sorry about the anonymous comment - I'm cat-i-th-adage on LJ.