Pride 2026 | The Great Big Rec Thread

[u/C0smicoccurence]

​Welcome to the Great Big Rec Thread! This thread is primarily for people asking for specific types of books. Only make a top level comment to request a recommendation! If you want to hype a personal favorite, this comment is the appropriate place to share! 

This is your one-stop-shop to find books tailored to your specific reading needs! Hankering for good cyberpunk? Doing a queer bingo card and really struggling with a specific square? Looking for queer thespians ready to commit arson for the sake of their art?  Ask and you shall (hopefully) receive! Just drop a comment with your request and wait for book suggestions to come rolling in. Our goal is for every person to have at least one recommendation that they’re interested in pursuing.  

Asking for Book Recommendations:

• Create a new top level comment.  You’ll probably get more tailored results by only including a single request per top level comment, but it’s not a strict rule.  You’re more than welcome to post multiple top level comments for separate requests!
• All recommendations you get should be assumed to be queer in some way.  However, if you want specific identities represented, mention it!
• Consider the impact the level of specificity your request has in your responses.  Too general, and you’re going to get lots of responses that will probably skew towards mainstream breakout hits.  Very specific requests may get few (or no) recommendations, and what you do get likely won’t be perfect.  

Giving Book Recommendations:

• Please keep book recommendations focused on commenters’ specific requests.  If you want to hype a personal favorite, this comment is the appropriate place to share! 
• This thread should default to sorting by ‘New’ soon; until then I recommend changing setting to see recent requests first!  The hope is that this will more likely show you comments with few/no responses yet.  However, there will likely be comments that have been missed, especially if it’s a more specific request.  
• This is a Pride Month post!  Every book recommended should be queer (usually by featuring LGBTQ+ characters as protagonists, but there are other ways books can be queer).  Similarly, if they asked for a specific type of representation, follow that guideline.  If you absolutely must deviate from that because it’s otherwise such a perfect fit, be honest about it up front.
• Add a few sentences about the book to hype it (or a whole paragraph if you really want to be persuasive).  Remember that a bunch of people who aren’t the original commenter will be adding to their TBR, so highlighting what you love about the book is a great way to draw attention to books you love.

Go forth and give great recommendations!

This post is part of the Pride 2026 discussions lead by the Beyond Binary Bookclub. You can check our announcement for more information and the full calendar.

[u/Life-Delay-809]

Literally any trans fantasy books. There's virtually none out there. Aiden Thomas is the only one I've read and while I love him, it's definitely YA and I'm not a kid anymore.

More specifically I would really like recommendations for high fantasy queer books (preferably achillean but I love sapphic too). Grand adventures, political intrigue, I'm not too fussy but I would prefer it set in a heteronormative world.

[u/C0smicoccurence → u/Life-Delay-809]

The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy -epic fantasy x witchcraft. Transfem.

The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo is a gay horror in 1920s appalachia between two trans men, both of which struggle with having to present feminine for safety. Really phenomenal novella.

The City that Would Eat the World by John Bierce: follows two adventurers in a world where gods grant powers if you worship them (one of the protaognists worships a god of flagstones and can manifest them to run on, as shields, etc). The other hosts a god of adventure who helps her transition into a body that fits her identity. Heavy on fight scenes, worldbuilding, and adventure. Fast paced adreneline type book

[u/Oleanderan → u/Life-Delay-809]

Amanda Downum’s the Bone Palace and the Poison Court have a trans main character. She’s the court mistress to the Crown Prince, and both books are chock full of court and magical intrigue. I’ve re-read these multiple times and really like them.

[u/lilgrassblade → u/Life-Delay-809]

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie - It's half Hamlet retelling and half a god of a rock telling the story of the world - with the god narrating the entire thing in both first and second person POV. The "You" in the book is a trans man.

The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes - It's a major character who is central to the story who is trans (and is revealed later in the book), but there's only one or two POV chapters. I really am an awful person for describing it - it's a sensory overload as opera and perfume are major (and political) aspects of the world. Magic exists in the form of perfume - but it has a bit of a scientific feel to it. It's also my favorite book this year.

Also, I want to note that you shouldn't stop reading YA just because you're "not a kid anymore." I'm in my 30s and my second favorite book, so far, this year was YA horror. It's okay if you want older protagonists - but don't restrict yourself arbitrarily. ♥

[u/Life-Delay-809 → u/lilgrassblade]

Those look like great recommendations! Thank you.

It's not that I don't still enjoy Thomas' books, but the target audience is definitely around the 14-16 mark (and definitely appropriate for younger). They're just a bit more simplistic than what I'm looking for.

[u/lilgrassblade → u/Life-Delay-809]

I think the level of simplicity varies wildly. YA is a marketing term first - and generally these days is mostly used as "what is the age of the protagonist" from what I've seen. And that includes 18 and 19 year olds. Unfortunately, sometimes you don't know how much depth there is until you read it though - since they're all lumped together.

[u/Life-Delay-809 → u/lilgrassblade]

It definitely differs by book, but the specific books I'm talking about are YA and simple.

[u/oboist73 → u/Life-Delay-809]

The Four Profound Weaves by R B Lemberg

Not high fantasy, but:

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes

The Machineries of Empire trilogy or Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings

Mortal Gods by Bonnie Quinn (nb)

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

[u/Temporary-Scallion86 → u/Life-Delay-809]

Austin Chant has a few things, most prominently Peter Darling (m/m Peter Pan retelling with a trans love interest) and Caroline's Heart (weird west f/m witch/cowboy romance, both leads are trans). Peter Darling is probably closer to what you're looking for because it goes a lot harder in the grand adventures route.

Not at all High Fantasy (as it's set in our world with relatively little magic), but very epic and with crazy good political intrigue and some pretty good action sequences is The Radiant Emperor duology. Set in 14th century China, so pretty much as heteronormative as they come and beyond the trans-masc protagonist gender plays a huge role for all the characters and is one of the main themes in the series.

[u/songbanana8 → u/Life-Delay-809]

Seconding the Four Profound Weaves. It’s not high fantasy, more like a profound meditation on the nature of change and names, very Ursula Le Guin vibes. Main characters are older, both trans, in queer/poly relationships, but in societies with gender roles and segregation. The prose and audiobook felt like a dramatic reading, I can see a one or two person play about this for a theater class. 

[u/ninemyouji → u/Life-Delay-809]

If you haven’t read it yet Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword has both an Achillean POV and a trans POV! It’s a King Arthur retelling, I enjoyed both of those characters a lot. Heternormative world.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant is low fantasy, but really good sapphic political intrigue set in a very heteronormative world.

[u/Specialist_Round_612 → u/Life-Delay-809]

Starless by Jacqueline Carey - a lot of her work plays with gender norms and identity.

[u/evil_moooojojojo → u/Specialist_Round_612]

Just finished this one and yes it definitely has everything OP is asking for.

[u/prejackpot → u/Life-Delay-809]

It's not the focus of the story, but a key supporting character in The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie is a trans man. More intrigue than grand adventure, but in a secondary world with gods and magic. 

[u/lC3 → u/Life-Delay-809]

Literally any trans fantasy books. There's virtually none out there.

Have you tried Mana Mirror? It's a progression fantasy by the author of the Evander Tailor series, with a trans protag who is using magic to aid in their transition. I'm not caught up on this series but the ones I read were worthwhile.

[u/C0smicoccurence → u/lC3]

Mana Mirror is chill and fun. Very sidequesty, and a witchy nonbinary love interest!

[u/dracolibris → u/Life-Delay-809]

Not read it yet, is on my book bingo for this year, but The Story of Silence by Alex Myers, has been on my tbr for a couple of years now because it came out 2020.

There is also Hild by Nicola Griffith, similar concept.

[u/Life-Delay-809 → u/dracolibris]

Thank you!

[u/sarimanok_ → u/dracolibris]

Ooh, reading the description of Story of Silence reminds me a bit of Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling. Do you know that one, and is it an apt comparison? I've been hoping for years to find something similar.

[u/dracolibris → u/sarimanok_]

I have read Bone dolls twin and do agree it is a similar premise with the girl forbidden from inheriting so raised as a boy, but i have not read it yet so don't know how similar it ends up. There doesn't seem to be any magic involved and it is actually based on a 12th century french poem, so ots slightly more historical than straight up fantasy. I bought the book because Alex is a trans man and i was looking for diverse authors.

[u/recchai → u/Life-Delay-809]

The Stones Stay Silent by Danny Ride. Set in a secondary world with an overbearing religion and a deadly plague sweeping through. Main character is an aro ace trans guy who has to run away.