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aquila1nz
A list of 49 this year, and there are still eligible books out there that I didn't get to. 14 more than last year's, we've come a long way from the 23 in the first year I kept track: 2019. It's amazing how fast the field has increased.
However this might be the last year I post these book by book, the fragmented nature of social media means I'm getting virtually no engagement, so what is the point. I want to talk about books with people, but I no longer seem to find venues to do so. Tell me below if you read some of these and what you thought of them, or ask me about books you might want to read.
Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri πΈ π‘οΈ Very much the middle book of a trilogy, so Malini and Priya start the book separated and things get dark, but there's great story along the way.
Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi π©Έ A dark dystopia with a damaged but surprisingly hopeful bisexual protagonist who messes with the Chosen One trope. YA tropes.
The Red Scholar's Wake π΄ββ οΈ by Aliette de Bodard. Pirate morality may be less cruel than that of the society they prey on. Brain ships and a marriage of convenience in the Xuya Universe. Highly recommended.
A Restless Truth by Freya Marske π’ A deft magical mystery aboard a steamship. I hadn't read the first m/m book in the series and didn't feel the lack.
How to Get a Girlfriend When You're a Terrifying Monster by Marie Cardno πΎ A magic researcher ventures into the Endless, a bit of the Endless follows her back. Short and sweet. NZ author.
Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai π©βπ¬ Frankenstein and made families, from a non-binary SE Asian-American perspective.
The Valkyrie's Daughter by Tiana Warner π YA. Sigrid is a stable hand who yearns to be a valkyrie, when she captures Mariam during a raid on Vanaheim she starts to find out about her origins.
A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys π½πΆ Judy takes her wife and baby along to check out pollutants in the Potomac and finds herself in a First Contact with aliens who consider children an indispensable element of diplomatic talks. Solarpunk.
Last Exit by Max Gladstone π£οΈ Ten years ago Zelda, Sal and their friends played with alternate realities and Sal was lost. Zelda has travelled the highways since, fighting the rot that still seeps in cracks to our reality.
Godmother Night by Rachel Pollack (1996) βοΈ political lesbian witchy mythology fiction: Mother Night (Death) is there when Jaqe and Laurie meet, and becomes their daughter's godparent.
Persephone Station by Stina Leicht π½ A nonbinary crime boss hires a ragtag band of mostly queer mercenaries to protect hidden indigenous aliens on a backwater planet.
Tell Me An Ending by Jo Harkin π Noor, who works at a memory removal clinic whose treatments aren't as permanent as they promised, gets involved with a client, Elena. One of five viewpoint characters.
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Maria Crane π¦ In a dystopia where wrongdoers are given extra shadows, Kris's wife dies in childbirth and the newborn receives a shadow.
We All Fall Down by Rose Szabo π In a magical city in the Mississippi Basin, Jack finds herself entangled in prophecy, along with a newcomer to town and the children of the previous king.
The Stars Undying by Emery Robin 𦻠A Cleopatra and Julius Caesar retelling in space - with a genderbent Mark Anthony, and an uploaded Alexander the Great.
Tahou by KoΜtuku Titihuia Nuttall π These past, present and future stories of Aotearoa and Coastal Salish lands made proximate include several lesbian couples.
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree β A DnD coffeeshop AU - Mercenary orc Viv leaves the business to start a cafe and hires succubus Tandri to work in it. Gentle adventures ensue.
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older π Mossa goes to her ex, Pleiti, at Valdegeld University for help investigating a fall off a rail platform in Jupiter's upper atmosphere.
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher π This fungi threaded retelling of the Fall of the House of Usher has a narrator who comes from a culture where soldiers have their own pronouns, and ka chose that life.
Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse π In book 2 of this mesoamerican secondary world epic fantasy we start to see more of the all female Teek society that bisexual captain Xiala comes from.
The Traitor Baru Comorant by Seth Dickinson (2015) π Baru rises from a colonial school to Imperial Accountant but is trapped between her birth society's mores and those of her Masquerade masters even as she betrays them.
Nothing to See by Pip Adam π―ββοΈ Peggy and Greta are navigating day to day life while staying sober, in a world that would prefer not to admit they exist. NZ author.
Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling 0οΈβ£ Parallel stories of groups of women surviving the arctic north in a dystopic future include some f/f couples.
Lone Women by Victor LaValle π€ Adelaide travels to Montana with the burdens her family left her. She finds women who help her, including a couple. Western horror.
The Faithless by CL Clark π Luca has returned to Balladaire to try and wrest the crown from her uncle, and then Touraine is sent as ambassador to the court. Surely they are too much at cross purposes to trust each other?
To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose π
Anequs is paired with the first baby dragon her people have seen in a long time, to keep Kasaqua safe she will need to go to a dragon school run by the Anglish, people who do not value Anequs' way of life.
The Witches of VardΓΈ by Anya Bergman π― The second book I've read based on the real life Norwegian witch trials in the far north. Includes a secondary character in a lesbian relationship.
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling π¦
Gyre embarks on a high tech, high risk caving expedition, her only company the voice in her ear of a stranger monitoring her from above.
Lost Places by Sarah Pinsker βΊ contains a range of short stories moving between fatalism and hope. My favorite is the girls exchanging science facts on a camping trip.
If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St Jude βοΈ 19 years old and feeling like she is failing at college, soccer and life; estranged from the best friend she is in love with, Avery is about to kill herself when a planet destroying asteroid is announced. YA.
Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn π° A Beauty and the Beast like fantasy about a young woman choosing to be the periodic sacrifice taken by a local witch in 19th Century Germany. Bonus timey wimey curse.
Furious Heaven by Kate Elliott π Book 2 of the genderswapped Alexander the Great in space tilogy has more Sun/Hetty, and a whole lot of plot as Sun strikes into the heart of the Phene Empire.
Audition by Pip Adam π Three giants are crammed in a spaceship, having to choose between staying silent and growing, or talking and moving towards a possible destination. Can they confirm their shared past by talking it? NZ author.
Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo πΊ A researcher chooses to ride the mind of one of the last wild wolves, despite her wife's ethical qualms. Novella.
Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang π Misery is a reluctant messiah in the space religon they have grown up repudiating.
Emergent Properties by Aimee Ogden π A major part of groundbreaking AI Scorn's backstory is that zir two mothers have had a very acrimonious separation. Novella.
The First Bright Thing by J R Dawson πͺ In an alternate history where magic sparks have altered the mid 20th century, three women take a young sister and brother into their circus.
Misrule by Heather Walter π§ This sequel to Malice is set 100 years later, as Alyce rules a Dark Court in the former Briar land while Aurora still sleeps.
The Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing-Giwa π΅ After her lover is killed Enitan heads into the heart of the Empire to recue her sibling - and finds herself working with the new Empress.
Sister Maiden Monster by Lucy A. Snyder π In this pandemic-initiated horror the before is heterosexual fantasy and the after reveals the characters as lesbian, bisexual, asexual and trans even as it drops into eldritch apocalypse. All the trigger warnings.
He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan π The sequel to She Who Became The Sun is just as queer and just as epic, as Zhu fights multiple factions for the role of Emperor.
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh π°οΈ Raised on a secret space station as a perfectly engineered soldier intent on vengeance for the destruction of Earth, Kyr is the most committed of her agemates, until she is selected for the nursery instead of a fighting cohort on graduation, and her view of her world starts to unravel.
Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley π§ββοΈ π€·ββοΈ Two teens, one an exiled witch and one who has always hidden her magic, are forced to work together when a magical plague threatens.
She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran π» A ghost story about a Vietnamese-American teen spending a summer helping her estranged father renovate a colonial mansion and the local girl who helps her.
A Fire Born of Exile By Aliette de Bodard π Mysterious scholar Quα»³nh returns to get revenge but then she meets HoΓ , an old friend's sister, and Minh, the daughter of her nemeses, and her plans are undone by her compassion. Another Xuya universe story.
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma TΓΆrzs π π©Έ Joanna is trapped in the family home protecting a secret library of magical books, her sister Esther fleeing endlessly, hopes she can stay another season with her girlfriend in Antarctica until she recognises the signs that someone is casting spells.
These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs πͺ Choni survived the harsh Kindom schooling, Jun ran from the slaughter of her family to become a virtuoso hacker, both lives were shaped by murderous Esek and the teasing shadow that was once Six, descendant of a traitor.
Saint Death's Daughter by CS Cooney π Lainey is a necromancer with an allergy to violence, raised outside society by an undead servant and her grandfather's ravening ghost. f/nb
How To Get A Date With An Evil Queen by Marie Cardno π Sian and Trillin get trapped in a fairytale world that is determined to force them into very particular archetypes. Novella.
This list was originally posted as a thread on Mastodon.
And here's all the books I read in 2023, not just the queer sff. Thank you LibraryThing for the easily arranged cover images.
Happy New Year!
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Date: 2024-01-04 06:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-12 01:55 am (UTC)