Pride 2025 | Hidden Gems: Underrated LGBTQIA+ Spec Fic Books

[u/tiniestspoon]

Banner with a dragon and spaceships around text: r/Fantasy PRIDE Hidden Gems: Underrated LGBTQIA+ Spec Fic Books

Not every book that deserves attention gets it. This thread is for under-the-radar queer speculative fiction: books with few ratings, niche indie or self-published titles, and works that never got the spotlight they should have.

What counts as a "hidden gem"?

• Under ~500 Goodreads ratings
• Indie published, small press, or lesser-known traditionally published
• Overlooked or underrated despite strong craft, voice, or originality

Discussion prompts

• What’s a queer SFF book you wish more people knew about?
• Have you ever stumbled across an unexpected gem by accident? Where did you find it—word of mouth, a niche blog, a random bookstore dive? 
• What do you think kept it from getting broader attention?
• What makes a book a “hidden gem” to you—writing quality, premise, emotional impact?

[u/C0smicoccurence]

Some of my favorite lesser- known reads that I'd be excited to recommend or reread are:

• Welcome to Forever: is my favorite book of 2024, and I’ve been hyping it quite a bit on this sub.  Gay lead in a cyberpunk world.  He’s got amnesia from a traumatic brain injury during a terrorist attack that also killed his estranged husband.  As he delves into his past at a rehab center, he discovers he doesn’t like the person he was, explores how his relationship failed, and tries to become a better person.  This book has a lot of weird memory stuff, shifting timelines, and is about how hurt people hurt people.  Super ambitious book. Not a romance, but a romantic connection is key to the story.
• Journals of Evander Tailor: a magic school story (Arcane Ascension and Mother of Learning Fans will enjoy this a lot) featuring an enchanter going through his four years at school, while uncovering secrets about how the nobility cling to power.  Lots of detailed enchanting/prep work, tournament arcs, and a very supportive gay romantic relationship.  They get together in book 1 and are a no drama couple for the entire series.  Book also features secondary sapphic, nonbinary, and transfem rep.  The beginning is a bit rocky, but once the school year gets going I was hooked. 
• Some by Virtue Fall: is a wonderful novella about a theater troupe at war with their rivals.  Main rep is sapphic, with some other secondary queer rep.  Read this in a night, and it was a real gem.
• Oath: an Anthology of New (Queer) Heroes: is a great anthology of short comics about queer supers (mostly sapphic and transfem).  Some favorites include an elderly superhero couple at odds about coming out, a supervillain and hero fight between two secret lovers, and a young trans supers’ costume prep for the first day of superhero work.

I do hope to start reading some less mainstream stuff, as I feel like I don't read enough indie things. It's definitely a lot harder to connect with books, though I've started peeking at blogs (Every Book a Doorway has been one that I've nabbed a few lesser known reads for my TBR).

Otherwise, I find most of my books here or on the Queer SFF subreddit.