Reading List of Queer-Themed Speculative Fiction

A big part of my motivation for developing this web site was to make it easier for people to locate queer-themed science fiction books of interest to them. In the table that follows, I have organized some of the information which is of interest to me as a reader when trying to decide what to read next. This is a preliminary effort only. As I receive feedback about this page, I will add to it and reorganize it as necessary to meet your needs. Expect the number of books listed here to increase with time as well.

Click on any of the underlined titles to access a Queer Worlds review of that book.

A legend describing the notations I have used in the table can be found by scrolling down or by clicking here.


Title of Book Author Protagonist's Gender Protagonist's Sexual Orientation Queer Supporting Characters? Queer Positive/
Negative Society?
Brothers of the Dragon
(Book 1 of the Dragon trilogy) 		Robin Wayne Bailey m ambiguous no positive
Flames of the Dragon
(Book 2 of the Dragon trilogy) 		Robin Wayne Bailey m ambiguous yes positive
Triumph of the Dragon
(Book 3 of the Dragon trilogy) 		Robin Wayne Bailey m ambiguous yes positive
Minions of the Moon Richard Bowes m gay yes mixed
The Stone That Never Came Down John Brunner m straight yes negative
Ethan of Athos Lois McMaster Bujold m gay yes mixed
Motherlines Suzy McKee Charnas f lesbian yes positive
The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit
(The First Book of Wraeththu) 		Storm Constantine h/m gay yes positive
The Bewitchments of Love and Hate
(The Second Book of Wraeththu) 		Storm Constantine h/m gay yes positive
The Fulfilments of Fate and Desire
(The Third Book of Wraeththu) 		Storm Constantine h/m gay yes positive
The Still David Feintuch m bisexual yes mixed
Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel (editors) various various yes various
Stranger in a Strange Land Robert Heinlein m ambiguous no mixed
Magic's Pawn
(Book 1 of the Last Herald Mage trilogy) 		Mercedes Lackey m gay yes mixed
Magic's Promise
(Book 2 of the Last Herald Mage trilogy) 		Mercedes Lackey m gay yes mixed
Magic's Price
(Book 3 of the Last Herald Mage trilogy) 		Mercedes Lackey m gay yes mixed
The Dispossessed Ursula Le Guin m straight yes mixed
A Fisherman of the Inland Sea Ursula Le Guin various various yes various
Memoirs of a Spacewoman Naomi Mitchison f bisexual yes positive
China Mountain Zhang Maureen F. McHugh m gay yes positive
Beyond Apollo Barry Malzberg m ambiguous ambiguous negative
Stone Adam Roberts variable bisexual yes positive
The Dark Beyond the Stars Frank M. Robinson m bisexual yes positive
Things Invisible to See Lawrence Schimel (ed.) various various yes various
Shadow Man Melissa Scott h other yes negative
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang Kate Wilhelm various straight yes negative

Legend

  1. Protagonist's gender:

    • m = male
    • f = female
    • h = hermaphrodite
    • ftm = female-to-male transgendered
    • mtf = male-to-female transgendered
    • m+h+f = 3 protagonists: one male, one hermaphrodite, and one female (as an example)
    • various = the protagonist shifts throughout the story, or this is an anthology with multiple stories and multiple protagonists
    • variable = the protagonist's gender changes once or more during the story

  2. Protagonist's sexual orientation:

    • gay = male, predominantly homosexual
    • lesbian = female, predominantly homosexual
    • bisexual = both same- and opposite-sex attractions
    • straight = predominantly heterosexual
    • ambiguous = sexual orientation of the protagonist is not clear, or only becomes clear as the story progresses
    • other = some other kind of sexual orientation possible within the context of the story (such as "omnisexual" in a species with many sexes)
    • various = there are several protagonists, or this is an anthology with multiple stories and multiple protagonists

  3. Queer supporting characters:

    • yes = the story features one or more LGBT characters, other than the protagonist
    • no = the protagonist is the only significant LGBT character in the story (there may be other minor ones)
    • ambiguous = the sexual orientation of one or more supporting characters is ambigiuous, but there are hints that the character may be LGBT

  4. Queer postive/negative society:

    • positive = tolerance/acceptance is the norm
    • negative = intolerance is the norm
    • mixed = significant representation of both tolerant and intolerant elements in the society though, overall, the society may lean in one direction or the other
    • various = several different socities are portrayed in this work, or this is an anthology with several different stories