My name’s Sarah (she/her/hers), and I am an asexual lesbian who loves science fiction and fantasy, especially queer science fiction and fantasy.
I created this website as a resource for anyone looking to find queer science fiction and fantasy books. It largely grew out of a text list I’ve kept for the last several years.
The contact email for this site is queersffbooks@theillustratedpage.net, but the fastest way to get in touch with me is through Twitter (@coolcurrybooks).
Is this for side characters or just protagonists?
Protagonists only! I’m tired of queer recommendation lists being dominated by books with cis, straight, allo leads who happen to have a queer best friend.
Also, while I’m not going to promise that this list will be 100% human characters, I’m going to avoid listing robots or aliens as representation when it falls into potentially harmful stereotypes (robots aren’t ace or nonbinary representation).
Where do the content warnings come from?
I source the content warnings from Goodreads reviews, which means they might not be 100% accurate or complete. You can always comment if you know of content warnings that need to be added!
Does this book have good representation?
That’s probably the #1 thing that people want to know, but it’s tricky to answer because representation can be so subjective. I don’t want to be providing any sort of “verdict” on whether or not a book’s representation is good, so that’s why I’m linking to reviews.
How do you choose the reviews you link to?
The vast majority of reviews I link to are by queer reviewers. In the few cases of reviews not by queer people, it’s because the book had intersecting identities and I couldn’t find a reviewer who matched all of the protagonist’s identities. For instance, if a protagonist is both queer and disabled, I want to make sure to provide reviews by disabled reviewers, and I may not be able to find queer disabled reviewers.
For books with trans protagonists, I draw off of this list of reviews of trans books by trans reviewers. Otherwise, reviewers may be queer reviewers I already followed, queer reviewers I found while creating this database, or queer authors.
If you have a review you would like to be included, please comment on the post!
How do you choose the books in the database?
First and foremost, this needs to be a book with a queer PROTAGONIST, where queer characters and their stories are central. Obviously, it’s also got to be a science fiction or fantasy book.
At the moment, it’s almost all books I’ve read and can thus markdown whether or not the queer characters survive and other such information. There are a few books in here that I haven’t read, and I do plan to keep adding more.
Can I comment on the specific entries?
Please comment on the entries! Especially if you know of more content warnings or helpful reviews, but even just if you have thoughts about a book.
Hi, thank you for this fantastic database! I’d like to suggest
Girls Made of Snow and Glass
Melissa Bashardoust
Of the two protagonists, one is a black-coded WLW.
Content warnings for suicidal ideation/self harm, and physical/emotional abuse committed by parents.
There is a F/F pairing, and the story containts no explicit sexual content. The queer protagonist does survive and ends up in a happy, living romantic relationship.
This book also contains an important platonic familial relationshp between the two protagonists, as it is a feminist Snow White retelling and places emphasis on the friendship between the Snow White figure and the stepmother figure.!
Someone DM’d me your tweet about this database and OMG I can’t stop thanking them.
“Jiwe” is an African fantasy short story with an Intersex protagonist. It does not reference any real-life cultures, communities or myths. As to intersecional identities: there are people with disabilities and who struggle with mental illness.
It’s also violent and has misogynistic utterances/events all said or done by characters themselves, and taken from real-life stuff I’ve heard men/boys say.
Any sexual content is not explicit, but implied.
If it’s something you’re interested in, here’s a link: bit.ly/jiweting.
I’m okay with emailing a free copy, however, since it’s already been out a year.
If this is the place to leave recs:
The Crimson Empire Trilogy (A Crown for Cold Silver, A Blade of Black Steel, and A War in Crimson Embers) by Alex Marshall is stunning.
It’s a queer ensemble and though no-one’s sexuality is ever stated explicitly the central character could certainly be interpreted as pansexual. (She’s also over 5o which I think is a category worth having?)
Since the books are structured much like A Song of Ice and Fire (with multiple point of view characters, many of whom are Important) I would also put it in the polyamory category. It’s F/M/M and the characters involved are an East Asian cis woman, a disabled East Asian trans man, and a Black cis man.
Content warnings for strong violence, horror elements, and sex.
There’s a bunch of other great rep as well but these were the categories you mentioned needed fleshing out on Twitter!
Sorry! Got too excited and didn’t read all the way through:
Pan protagonist and her female love interest both survive. They’re not “together” at the end but it’s very much a hopeful new beginning and heavily implied that they will get together in the near future.
Polyam triad all survive and are together.
This is LOVELY. Thank you for compiling this fantastic resource.
A few recs:
Title: Inkmistress
Author Audrey Coulthurst
Queer Identities: The protagonist is a bisexual woman who has a relationship with a man and a woman in the course of the story. It is a setting without homo/biphobia
Content warnings: ritualistic cutting/self-harm
Whether or not there is a romantic relationship, and if there is one, what type is the pairing (F/F, M/M, M/NB, F/M, etc): f/f and f/m
Whether or not the story contains explicit sexual content: implied
Whether or not the queer protagonist survives: yes
Whether or not the queer protagonist ends up in a romantic relationship with all members alive: yes
Whether the book contains any important platonic relationships, such as friends or family: (I can’t remember! If they do end up together though, its a m/f couple)
Title: Of Fire and Stars
Author: Ann Coulthurst
The protagonist’s queer identity and any intersecting identities: two wlw princesses, one bisexual the other I’m not sure. Other minor characters are also in same-sex couplings
Content warnings: none
Whether or not there is a romantic relationship, and if there is one, what type is the pairing (F/F, M/M, M/NB, F/M, etc): f/f
Whether or not the story contains explicit sexual content: yes (like, PG-13)
Whether or not the queer protagonist survives: yes
Whether or not the queer protagonist ends up in a romantic relationship with all members alive: yes f/f
Whether the book contains any important platonic relationships, such as friends or family: as a court drama, family is a big tension. The setting doesn’t have homophobia, however the duty of the princess to marry her betrothed prince (and not his sister) creates the turmoil.
Guardians of Mirra Trilogy (Through the Portal and Beyond the Darkness are published)
Jessica Grace Wright
Protagonist is bisexual. Other main character is homosexual.
Content warnings: child abuse
M/M
No Sex
They survive
No queer characters die
Lots of platonic relationships. The protagonist leads a group of runaway foster kids and they treat each other as family. Other bonds are formed throughout the books
Title: Our Bloody Pearl
Author: D.N. Bryn
The protagonist’s queer identity and any intersecting identities: Nonbinary (agender)
Content warnings: Mild gore and drowning
Whether or not there is a romantic relationship, and if there is one, what type is the pairing (F/F, M/M, M/NB, F/M, etc): NB/M between a canon asexual man and the possibly aro ace protagonist
Whether or not the story contains explicit sexual content: No sexual content.
Whether or not the queer protagonist survives: Survives and is happy at the end.
Whether or not the queer protagonist ends up in a romantic relationship with all members alive: Both for the main NB/M pair and the side F/F pair survive and have a happy ending.
Whether the book contains any important platonic relationships, such as friends or family: Found family is a primary theme of the book.
You mentioned you were looking for more aromantic fiction and queerplatonic relationships, so if short fiction is ok: one I rarely see on lists but I really liked is the novelette Come Drink With Me by Michelle Kan, billed as an “aromantic Chinese fairytale”.
Title: Come Drink With Me
Author: Michelle Kan
Identities: Aromantic, Asian
Relationships: queerplatonic F/M
Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Quiet Mood
No Romance, No sexual content
Queer protagonists survive
Self-published, standalone, Novellas and Novelettes, under 100 pages
Content warnings: house fire
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43692510-come-drink-with-me