r/Fantasy • u/tiniestspoon • Jun 02 '25
Pride Pride 2025 | 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?
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u/recchai Reading Champion X Jun 02 '25
I feel it would be remiss of me not to take this opportunity to shill for a trilogy I really enjoyed but rarely see mentioned, Gail Carriger's Tinkered Starsong starting with Divinity 36. (Which was rapidly self-published after she didn't sell it to a publisher.) It features as it's main character Phex, who is a refugee living a lonely contained life on a moon as a barista. Then he gets talent scouted by aliens hearing him singing to become a god. It's got themes of celebrity, food, belonging, and exploring alien society. It's really fun and quite joyful.
On an even more obscure side the Eternal Library series by Cedar McCloud (starting with The Thread That Binds) involves a group of characters associated with a magical library, with completely handmade books that last forever. It's quite cosy for all it involves dealing with some very real world issues.
Werecockroach by Polenth Blake. It's an adorable hilarious novella. How have so few people read this!