IN THE BEGINNING, MAN WAS PREY.
WITHOUT THE GODS, THEY’LL BE PREY AGAIN.
The old gods have fled, and the monsters they had kept at bay for centuries now threaten to drown the city of Valentine, hunting mankind as in ancient times. In the midst of the chaos, a serial killer has begun ritually sacrificing victims, their bodies strewn throughout the city.
Lilac Antonis wants to stop the impending destruction of her city by summoning her mother, a blood god—even if she has to slit a few throats to do it. But evading her lover Arcadia and her friends means sneaking, lying, and even spilling the blood of people she loves.
Alex and Cecil of Ace Investigations have been tasked with hunting down the killer, but as they close in—not knowing they’re hunting their close friend Lilac—the detectives realize the gods may not have left willingly.
As flooding drags this city of cars and neon screaming into the jaws of sea demons and Arcadia struggles to save the people as captain of the evacuation team, Lilac’s ritual killings at last bear fruit, only to reveal her as a small piece in a larger plan. The gods’ protection costs far more than anyone has ever known, and Alex and Cecil are running out of time to discover the true culprit behind the gods’ disappearance before an ancient divine murder plot destroys them all.
Set in an alternate reality which updates mythology to near-modern day, NO GODS FOR DROWNING is part hunt for a serial killer, part noir detective story, and unlike anything you’ve ever read before.
Representation Includes
- Trans lesbian woman protagonist (Arcadia)
- Bisexual woman (Lilac)
Content Warnings
Gore, murder, human sacrifice, child death, pregnancyReviews
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Once a culturally rich world, the planet Aka has been utterly transformed by technology. Records of the past have been destroyed, and citizens are strictly monitored. But an official observer from Earth named Sutty has learned of a group of outcasts who live in the wilderness. They still believe in the ancient ways and still practice its lost religion – the Telling.
Intrigued by their beliefs, Sutty joins them on a sacred pilgrimage into the mountains…and into the dangerous terrain of her own heart, mind, and soul.
Representation Includes
- Lesbian protagonist of Indian descent
Content Warnings
Religious oppression; war and trauma; homophobic government; grief over the death of a girlfriend; allegories for Chinese Cultural RevolutionReviews
- Nicky’s review
- Kate’s review
- Charlie Jane Anders examines the entire Hainish Cycle, with a strong thread of The Telling’s place in it
- Reviews from South Asian reviewers needed
Where to Find
Details
- Published September 11th 2000 by Ace
- ISBN13: 9780441011230
Teenage baker Syd sends ripples of heartbreak through Austin’s queer community when a batch of post-being-dumped brownies turns out to be magical—and makes everyone who eats them break up.
“What’s done is done.”
Unless, of course, it was done by my brownies. Then it’s getting undone.
Syd (no pronouns, please) has always dealt with big, hard-to-talk-about things by baking. Being dumped is no different, except now Syd is baking at the Proud Muffin, a queer bakery and community space in Austin. And everyone who eats Syd’s breakup brownies . . . breaks up. Even Vin and Alec, who own the Proud Muffin. And their breakup might take the bakery down with it. Being dumped is one thing; causing ripples of queer heartbreak through the community is another. But the cute bike delivery person, Harley (he or they, check the pronoun pin, it’s probably on the messenger bag), believes Syd about the magic baking. And Harley believes Syd’s magical baking can fix things, too—one recipe at a time.
Representation Includes
- Agender bisexual protagonist who prefers no pronouns
- Transmasculine love interest who switches between “he” and “they” pronouns and who is demisexual
- Large queer supporting cast
Content Warnings
dysphoria, some misgendering (non-malicious), Break-up, therapy, coming out, divorce, surgery, sex,Reviews
- Alex Brown’s review
- Rainbow and Sunshine’s review
- Rampant Reading’s review
- Mimi’s review
- Utopia State of Mind’s review
- LGBT Representation’s review
Where to Find
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What would the future look like if we weren’t so hung up on putting people into boxes and instead empowered each other to reach for the stars? Take a ride with us as we explore a future where trans and nonbinary people are the heroes.
In worlds where bicycle rides bring luck, a minotaur needs a bicycle, and werewolves stalk the post-apocalyptic landscape, nobody has time to question gender. Whatever your identity you’ll enjoy these stories that are both thought-provoking and fun adventures.
Featuring brand-new stories from Hugo, Nebula, and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Charlie Jane Anders, Ava Kelly, Juliet Kemp, Rafi Kleiman, Tucker Lieberman, Nathan Alling Long, Ether Nepenthes, and Nebula-nominated M. Darusha Wehm. Also featuring debut stories from Diana Lane and Marcus Woodman.
Representation Includes
- Transgender and non-binary protagonists
Content Warnings
Help grow this entry by commenting below or emailing queersffbooks@theillustratedpage.net.Awards
- Nominated for the Lambda Award.
Reviews
- D.N. Bryn’s review
- More reviews from queer reviewers needed.
Where to Find
Details
- Full title: Trans-Galactic Bike Ride: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories of Transgender and Nonbinary Adventurers
- Edited by Lydia Rogue
- Published December 8th 2020 by Microcosm Publishing
- ISBN-13: 978-1621065081
Black Lives Matter meets Attack the Block with a dash of Under the Dome in this stunning story of teens using their talents to liberate a city from unjust police occupation
Jamal Lawson just wanted to be a part of something. As an aspiring journalist, he packs up his camera and heads to Baltimore to document a rally protesting police brutality after another Black man is murdered.
But before it even really begins, the city implements a new safety protocol…the Dome. The Dome surrounds the city, forcing those within to subscribe to a total militarized shutdown. No one can get in, and no one can get out.
Alone in a strange place, Jamal doesn’t know where to turn…until he meets hacker Marco, who knows more than he lets on, and Catherine, an AWOL basic-training-graduate, whose parents helped build the initial plans for the Dome.
As unrest inside of Baltimore grows throughout the days-long lockdown, Marco, Catherine, and Jamal take the fight directly to the chief of police. But the city is corrupt from the inside out, and it’s going to take everything they have to survive.
Representation Includes
- Black gay protagonist with anxiety (Jamal)
- Latinx gay protagonist (Marco)
Content Warnings
racism & racial slurs, gun violence, police brutality, strangulation, anxiety and panic attacks (on-page), attempted murder, physical assault, strangulation, electrocution, kidnapping, hostage situation, and false imprisonmentReviews
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A dark retelling of The Little Mermaid from the author of HUNTING MONSTERS
I suppose if this is going to be recorded somewhere for posterity, I should set the record straight. The ghostwriter will probably cut it all, but hey, it’s the principle of the thing.
Dr. Cadence Mbella is the world’s most celebrated scholar of the atargati: sentient, intelligent deep-water beings who are most definitely not mermaids. When Cadence decides to release a captive atargati from scientific experimentation and interrogation, she knows her career and her life is forfeit. But she still yearns for the atargati–there is still so much to know about their physiology, their society, their culture. And Cadence would do anything to more fully understand the atargati… no matter what the cost.
Representation Includes
- Lesbian protagonist
- Non-binary supporting character
- Genderless aliens
Content Warnings
Military disrespecting and threatening native alien species; Tragic endingReviews
- The Lesbrary’s review
- The Illustrated Page’s review
- Jaymee Goh’s review
- Jess Crafts’s review
- Puck’s review
Where to Find
Details
- Published December 12th 2016 by Book Smugglers Publishing
-
ISBN13: 9781942302407
One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother was shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it.
As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence. A professor follows a missing friend’s trail of bread crumbs to a mysterious secret society. And a young boy with unique abilities seeks refuge in a pro-monster organization with secrets of its own. Meanwhile, more people start disappearing, suicides and hate crimes increase, and protests erupt globally, both for and against the monsters.
At the center is a mystery no one thinks to ask: Why now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark?
The world will soon find out.
Representation Includes
- Ensemble cast including:
- Black bisexual protagonist
- Puerto Rican-American sapphic protagonist
- Biracial, bi-ace, trans protagonist
- Non-binary side character
- Polyamorous relationship
Content Warnings
Police brutality and shooting of a black man; implied sexual abuse of a minor; domestic abuse; drug abuse and overdose; loss of loved ones; suicide; mass shooting; goreReviews
- Theodore McCombs’s review
- Arley Sorg’s review
- Laura’s review
- Jessica Woodbury’s review
- K.J. Charles’s review
Where to Find
Details
- Published September 7, 2021 by Blackstone Publishing
- ISBN: 9781982603724
Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.
When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.
However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.
Representation Includes
- Latino (Mexican/Cuban American) gay trans boy protagonist
Content Warnings
deadnaming (name not on page), misgendering, transphobia, mentions of death of a parent, mentions of past gang violence, bloodAwards
- Locus Award Nominee for Best First Novel (2021)
- Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2020)
- Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Debut Novel (2020)
- Lodestar Award Nominee (2021)
Reviews
Where to Find
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Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn’t Die is an anthology of post-apocalyptic fiction centering queer joy and community in the face of disaster. What does hope look like when everything is lost? Now, more than ever, we need to revel in the bright spots amidst the darkness.
The twenty-three stories (and two poems) contained here, as well as the roleplaying game Dream Askew by Avery Alder, imagine queer community in myriad futures interrupted by collapse. Post-apocalyptic futures glittering and bleak, challenging and eerie.
Glitter + Ashes is here to hold up a torch. Come gather round the fire.
Representation Includes
- 23 short stories, two poems, and a TTRPG
- Various queer identities, including but not limited to:
- Drag queens
- Jewish lesbians
- Queer Native American women
- Multiple trans protagonists and trans writers
Content Warnings
Help grow this entry by commenting below or emailing queersffbooks@theillustratedpage.net.Reviews
Where to Find
Details
- Published September 2020 by Neon Hemlock Press
- Paperback ISBN13: 9781952086106
In this visionary novel by Larissa Lai–her first in sixteen years–a community of parthenogenic women, sent into exile by the male-dominated Salt Water City, goes to war against disease, technology, and powerful men that threaten them with extinction.
Kirilow is a doctor apprentice whose lover Peristrophe is a “starfish,” a woman who can regenerate her own limbs and organs, which she uses to help her clone sisters whose organs are failing. When a denizen from Salt Water City suffering from a mysterious flu comes into their midst, Peristrophe becomes infected and dies, prompting Kirilow to travel to Salt Water City, where the flu is now a pandemic, to find a new starfish who will help save her sisters. There, Kirilow meets Kora, a girl-woman desperate to save her family from the epidemic. Kora has everything Kirilow is looking for, except the will to abandon her own family. But before Kirilow can convince her, both are kidnapped by a group of powerful men to serve as test subjects for a new technology that can cure the mind of the body.
Bold, beautiful, and wildly imaginative, The Tiger Flu is at once a female hero’s saga, a cyberpunk thriller, and a convention-breaking cautionary tale–a striking metaphor for our complicated times.
Representation Includes
- Lesbian protagonist of color
Content Warnings
Sexual assault; cannibalism; pandemic and disease; death of main character’s girlfriend by disease; torture; police brutality; drug use; graphic medical and vivisection scenes; eye trauma; general body horrorAwards
- Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction
Reviews
Where to Find
Details
- Published October 23rd 2018 by Arsenal Pulp Press
- Paperback ISBN13: 9781551527314