Author of Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash Tasha Suri’s The Jasmine Throne, beginning a new trilogy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, in which a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies on a dark journey to save their empire from the princess’s traitor brother.
Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin.
Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.
But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.
Representation Includes
- Lesbian protagonists in a fantasy world based on India
Content Warnings
From the author’s site:- Explicit violence including immolation and self-immolation
- Gender-based violence (this does not include sexual assault)
- Homophobia and internalised homophobia
- Suicidal ideation
- Self-mutilation
- Abusive family dynamics
- Child murder
- Body horror (plant-based, cosmic)
- Forced drug use and depictions of addiction/withdrawal
Awards
- Include whether the book was nominated for or won any awards. This information is typically listed on Goodreads. If there are no awards, simply delete this section.
Reviews
- Rainbow and Sunshine’s review
- May’s review
- Reads Rainbow’s review
- Lex Kent’s review
- To Other Worlds’ review
Where to Find
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Dragons. Art. Revolution.
Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter or a subversive. They just want to paint.
One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers.
But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes—and the awful source of the magical pigments they use—they find they can no longer stay out of politics.
What they can do is steal Arazi, the ministry’s mighty dragon automaton, and find a way to fight…
Representation Includes
- A non-binary protagonist from a Korean-inspired fantasy country
Content Warnings
War, death, violence, torture, imprisonment, earthquake, bombing, some characters discuss eating a cat but the cat livesReviews
Where to Find
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Kris Starr used to be famous. Rock and roll. Sold-out shows. Literal magic. Empathic talents and screaming fans.
But he has a problem or two. He’s having a hard time writing new music. It’s Midwinter, which means he’s surrounded by depressing holiday cheer. And he’s in love with Justin, his manager, who has a talent for rescuing almost- or once-famous bands … and who’s hiding secrets of his own.
Justin Moore, on the other hand, is very good at keeping those secrets — he’s had to be for years. One secret involves a demonic inheritance that would make him a target of suspicion. Another involves his past.
And the third involves Justin’s feelings for Kris Starr, rock and roll icon and now his client … and a powerful empath of his own.
Representation Includes
- Both male protagonists are bi/pan.
- Justin’s human heritage is Filipino-American.
Content Warnings
Fictional prejudice (anti-demon), offscreen violence (in context of domestic relationship), “outing” of demon hertiageReviews
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Immigrant. Socialite. Magician.
Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society—she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer, Asian, adopted, and treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.
But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.
Nghi Vo’s debut novel The Chosen and the Beautiful reinvents this classic of the American canon as a coming-of-age story full of magic, mystery, and glittering excess, and introduces a major new literary voice.
Representation Includes
- Bi/pan Vietnamese-American, adopted immigrant protagonist
- Multiple bi/pan supporting characters
Content Warnings
Racism and xenophobia; homophobia; pregnancy and abortion; domestic abuse; deathReviews
Where to Find
Details
- Published June 1st 2021 by Tordotcom
- Hardcover ISBN13: 9781250784780
Mulan meets The Song of Achilles in Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun, a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from an amazing new voice in literary fantasy.
To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything
“I refuse to be nothing…”
In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…
In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.
When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.
After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother’s abandoned greatness.
Representation Includes
- Genderfluid lesbian protagonist (Zhu Chongba) who is Chinese and also
spoiler
becomes an amputee (missing hand) partway through the book. - The other main character/protagonist is Ouyang, who is both gay and a eunuch.
- Ma, a major POV character and Zhu Chongba’s love interest, expresses attraction towards multiple genders
Content Warnings
Gender dysphoria, mentions of sexual assault, mentions of slavery (Ouyang’s backstory involves slavery, war themes, murder, death, violence, child murder (off-page), starvation, death of parents, death of sibling, misogyny and patriarchy, misgendering, internalized homophobia, ableism, amputation, non-consensual castration, brief mention of cannibalisms, hurt to an animal, death of an animal, mention of vomiting, plague, mass illness, quarantining, off-page torture, bombs, death by fire, death of queer character’s love interestReviews
- Utopia State of Mind’s Review
- May’s review
- Liz Bourke’s review (Tor)
- Liz Bourke and Alex Brown’s review (Locus)
- Lee Mandelo’s review
Where to Find
- Amazon
- IndieBound
- WorldCat
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.
Representation Includes
- East Asian physically disabled bisexual protagonist (Wu Zetian) [sometimes uses a cane or wheelchair]
- East Asian mentally ill bisexual protagonist (Li Shimin) [PTSD, alcoholic]
- East Asian bisexual protagonist (Gao Yizhi)
Content Warnings
violence, murder, torture, human sacrifices, abuse (domestic, child), alcohol addiction, forced alcohol consumption, forced body modification (organ removal, footbinding), misogyny and sexism, femicide, rape threats, needles, discussions of colonization, discussions of sexual assaultReviews
- Author’s (Xiran Jay Zhao) “review”
- Melanie’s review
- Anna’s review
- Lucie V’s review
- Silvia’s review
- Era’s review
Where to Find
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Even gods can be slain….
The Hokkaran empire has conquered every land within their bold reach―but failed to notice a lurking darkness festering within the people. Now, their border walls begin to crumble, and villages fall to demons swarming out of the forests.
Away on the silver steppes, the remaining tribes of nomadic Qorin retreat and protect their own, having bartered a treaty with the empire, exchanging inheritance through the dynasties. It is up to two young warriors, raised together across borders since their prophesied birth, to save the world from the encroaching demons.
This is the story of an infamous Qorin warrior, Barsalayaa Shefali, a spoiled divine warrior empress, O-Shizuka, and a power that can reach through time and space to save a land from a truly insidious evil.
Representation Includes
- Asian lesbian protagonists
Content Warnings
Sexism aimed at main characters; Violence, sometimes graphic; Repeats stereotypes about Chinese and Japanese people and culture, including racial insults (see reviews for more discussion of this).Awards
- Locus Award nominee for Best First Novel
- Otherwise Award longlist
Reviews
Where to Find
Details
- Published October 3rd 2017 by Tor Books
- ISBN13: 9780765392534
Combining the social commentary of The Handmaid’s Tale with the white-knuckled thrills of Red Rising, this epic space opera follows a comfort woman as she claims her agency, a soldier questioning his allegiances, and a non-binary hero out to save the solar system.
First Sister has no name and no voice. As a priestess of the Sisterhood, she travels the stars alongside the soldiers of Earth and Mars—the same ones who own the rights to her body and soul. When her former captain abandons her, First Sister’s hopes for freedom are dashed when she is forced to stay on her ship with no friends, no power, and a new captain—Saito Ren—whom she knows nothing about. She is commanded to spy on Captain Ren by the Sisterhood, but soon discovers that working for the war effort is so much harder to do when you’re falling in love.
Lito val Lucius climbed his way out of the slums to become an elite soldier of Venus, but was defeated in combat by none other than Saito Ren, resulting in the disappearance of his partner, Hiro. When Lito learns that Hiro is both alive and a traitor to the cause, he now has a shot at redemption: track down and kill his former partner. But when he discovers recordings that Hiro secretly made, Lito’s own allegiances are put to the test. Ultimately, he must decide between following orders and following his heart.
A stunning and sweeping debut novel that explores the power of technology, colonization, race, and gender, The First Sister is perfect for fans of James S.A. Corey, Chuck Wendig, and Margaret Atwood.
Representation Includes
- A bisexual protagonist (The First Sister)
- A Japanese nonbinary protagonist (Hiro)
- A Hispanic panromantic asexual protagonist (Lito)
Content Warnings
Sexual slavery, sexual assault (off page), violence, war, death and graphic injury, amputation, PTSD, denial of bodily autonomy, forced surgery, blackmail, execution, untreated mental illness, dysphoria, implied torture, mentions of child abuse, forced gender presentationReviews
Where to Find
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F. C. Yee’s The Rise of Kyoshi delves into the story of Kyoshi, the Earth Kingdom–born Avatar. The longest-living Avatar in this beloved world’s history, Kyoshi established the brave and respected Kyoshi Warriors, but also founded the secretive Dai Li, which led to the corruption, decline, and fall of her own nation. The first of two novels based on Kyoshi, The Rise of Kyoshi maps her journey from a girl of humble origins to the merciless pursuer of justice who is still feared and admired centuries after she became the Avatar.
Representation Includes
- Bisexual girl protagonist
- Sapphic love interest
- Second-world fantasy inspired by Asian cultures; East Asian-based main cast
Content Warnings
Violence; death/murder (of loved ones); parental neglect; starvation; mentions of mass murderReviews
Where to Find
Details
- Published July 16th 2019 by Amulet Books
- Paperback ISBN13: 9781419740954
Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom is the highly sensational, ultra-exciting, sort-of true coming-of-age story of a young Asian trans girl, pathological liar, and kung-fu expert who runs away from her parents’ abusive home in a rainy city called Gloom. Striking off on her own, she finds her true family in a group of larger-than-life trans femmes who live in a mysterious pleasure district known only as the Street of Miracles. Under the wings of this fierce and fabulous flock, Dearly blossoms into the woman she has always dreamed of being, with a little help from the unscrupulous Doctor Crocodile. When one of their number is brutally murdered, the protagonist joins her sisters in forming a vigilante gang to fight back against the transphobes, violent johns, and cops that stalk the Street of Miracles. But when things go terribly wrong, she must find the truth within herself in order to stop the violence and discover what it really means to grow up and find your family.
Representation Includes
- Asian-Canadian trans girl protagonist
- Trans women supporting characters of diverse races and presentations
Content Warnings
Transphobia and transmisogyny; murder of a trans woman; police brutality; sexual exploitation; abuse; racism; self-harm.Reviews
- Luna Merbruja’s review/interview with Kai Cheng Thom about the memoir and magical/fabulist aspects
- Jacob Wren’s review
- Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian’s review
- Megan Milks’s review
- Gwen Benaway’s review
Where to Find
Details
- Published November 2016 by Metonymy Press
- Paperback ISBN13: 9780994047137