It’s a good time to be a queer fantasy and science fiction fiction lover. Writers are exploring gender, sexuality, and other queer topics in endlessly creative ways—and they’re telling some damn good stories while they do it.
Is there any better genre to explore queerness than fantasy and science fiction? (I’ll admit that as a queer SF lover, I’m a little biased here.) As writers dream up new worlds, they’re also free to look at queerness in radically new ways. Here are six books whose writers do just that! Some of these books are brand new, while some are considered classics, but all of them embrace the beauty and liberatory potential of queerness.
Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
Many of Octavia E. Butler’s works explored new ways of approaching gender and sexuality (consider, for instance, the alien race the Oankali in her trilogy Lilith’s Brood), but if you’re interested in how Butler approaches queer themes, Fledgling is the place to start. Shuri is a vampire who’s struck with amnesia after her community is attacked. As Shuri gradually regains her memories and reconnects with her people, she builds tightly-knit relationships with the humans she feeds on.
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
This is How You Lose the Time War tells the story of Red and Blue, two time-traveling agents who journey across eons and universes in a game of cat and mouse. Their attacks gradually turn into flirtation and then love, forcing them to choose between their warring empires and each other.
Spear by Nicola Griffith
It’s hard to choose just one of Nicola Griffith’s books to put on a queer reading list, since queerness is fundamental to her work as a writer. If you want to get a taste for her work, though, start with Spear: a retelling of the Arthurian story of Sir Percival, here reimagined as a girl named Peretur. The way Griffith plays with pronouns throughout the book will be a balm and a revelation to readers who have ever felt constrained by gender roles.
If you like Spear, also be sure to check out Griffith’s novels Hild, Menewood, and Ammonite.
What Moves the Dead (Sworn Soldier #1) by T. Kingfisher
In What Moves the Dead, nonbinary war vet Alex Easton learns that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying. When Easton rushes to the Ushers’ home to visit, they discover that the situation is far more horrifying than they imagined. If you like this horror novel, then I’ve got good news: The sequel, What Feasts at Night, just came out, and it’s just as good as the first book.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Left Hand of Darkness is considered by many to be one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, so if you haven’t read it yet, now’s the perfect time to do it. The novel follows an envoy from Earth named Genly Ai as he tries to convince the people of the planet Gethen to join a confederation of planets. However, in order to understand the Gethenians, Ai has to learn to understand their gender: every Gethenian is androgynous, and can become male or female at will.
Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse
Black Sun, the first in Rebecca Roanhorse’s series set in a world based on pre-Columbian American cultures, features an unforgettable ensemble cast. The cocky ship captain Xiala is tasked with transporting the mysterious Serapio to the city of Tova, where a woman named Naranpa serves as Sun Priest. As their fates collide and Serapio steps into his terrifying destiny, the novel explores nonbinary identities and features unforgettable queer characters.
(featured image: Saga Press)
