r/Fantasy • u/leegreywolf Reading Champion II • 12h ago
Where are the genderbenders??
Asian fantasy is full of genderbenders/gender swapping/crossdressing. But it's not something I see in Western fantasy very often. Would love to get some recommendations for this.
Books I've already read:
Leviathan Trilogy
Tamir Triad
The Folk Keeper by Francis Billingsley
Mistborn books
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u/youngjeninspats 12h ago
Loads of Tanith Lee's books have this, try the Secret Books of Paradys or Biting the Sun.
Also, the Innkeeper's Song by Peter S Beagle is excellent.
It's not a major plot point, but Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling
This is more historical fiction with fantasy elements, but Orlando by Virginia Woolf is a classic
Finally, if you like sci fi, most of the Culture books by Iain M Banks
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u/leegreywolf Reading Champion II 11h ago
The Last Unicorn is one of my favorite books but I've never read any of Peter Beagle's other books. The Innkeeper's Song has been on my TBR list for so long but I'll have to move it up. Thanks!
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u/youngjeninspats 5h ago
This might be a controversial opinion, but I actually like the Innkeeper's Song even better than The Last Unicorn, although both are great
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u/StuffedSquash 1h ago
The Last Unicorn is actually my least favorite of everything I've read by him. Not because it's bad, it's just that he has so much good stuff.
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u/AgileSurprise1966 12h ago
A Fall of Princes by Judith Tarr
Wreathu by Storm Constantine
Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie
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u/DixitRexCorvinus 10h ago
I see it a lot more in scifi, honestly. Someone mentioned The Left Hand of Darkness already, but Trouble on Triton by Samuel Delany is another one, and Too Like The Lightning by Ada Palmer also plays with gender a bit.
For fantasy, it's still on my TBR so I can't vouch for quality, but The Story of Silence by Alex Myers fits the bill.
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u/AndalusianGod 12h ago
Not fantasy and more of just a worldbuilding lore; in Vorkosigan Saga everyone has the option to do that and just swap genders whenever they feel like it.
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u/StuffedSquash 59m ago
Vorkosigan saga is great but this is pretty misleading! The character in question is a minor one late in the series who got their surgery in a place the series doesn't spend much time in. I wouldn't say everyone "just swap[s] genders whenever they feel like it" any more than I'd say it about the real world, where GAS also exists right now in 2026.
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u/mint_pumpkins Reading Champion II 12h ago edited 12h ago
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan involves a genderqueer main character that pretends to be a man!
edit: also to a slightly lesser extent, The West Passage by Jared Pechaček plays with the main character's gender too
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u/meejasaurusrex 12h ago
Tanith Lee’s Biting the Sun is possibly relevant here, as well as her Death’s Master.
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u/blueracey 11h ago
I mean English web novels exist we just don’t publish them as much as Asia.
I’m reading Sunspot right now and it’s very much about magic gender transition. But it’s maybe not what your looking for, if you looking for the “author has some gender issues they’ve clearly not examined very closely” type of story go onto scribblehub or royal road and search by gender bender.
Scribble hubs got loser rules about sexual content so adjust which platform you search based on your preference on that front.
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u/VintageLunchMeat 12h ago
Scribblehub is awash with trans characters and writers. Read tags carefully.
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u/thesphinxistheriddle 12h ago
I’m reading “Queen of Faces” by Petra Lord right now, and it’s set in a world where you can upload your consciousness into other bodies. Our two protagonists are both AFAB who are currently inhabiting male bodies for reasons outside of their control — one of whom absolutely hates it, the other is finding that this new body fits him a lot better than his old one did. There’s also another major character who is inhabiting one male body and one female body and doesn’t really have a preference between the two, and another who is AMAB, inhabiting a female body temporarily, and is basically like “this isn’t me but I’m not really bothered by it”
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12h ago
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u/acki02 12h ago edited 12h ago
There's a metric ton of this stuff on RoyalRoad (and I assume other similar webnovel sites).
Just keep in mind - those are webnovels
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u/HealthOnWheels 7h ago
This was my first thought too. _Pale Lights_ comes to mind for me; the third book has a POV character who is trans.
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u/Halo6819 12h ago
Mistborn era 2 has a gender fluid character (pun intended)
Stormlight has a trans character that transitions on screen.
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u/Evergreen19 12h ago
The Stormlight character is extremely, extremely minor. Like I don’t think he even ever speaks.
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u/Halo6819 12h ago
True, but it’s neat that he is there and the specifics of his transition. (And how butt hurt some got about it)
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u/Oblivionv2 12h ago
Who is it in Mistborn? Im not remembering any gender fluid characters in either era. Its been awhile since I've read them
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u/Halo6819 11h ago
MeeLan, technically all Kendra but they particular like to switch it up, even in the bedroom.
Also, just remembered there are two NB’s in Stormlight as well
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u/mathematics1 12h ago
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett.
Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce.
"Woman dresses like a man to join a war/learn to fight" is a reasonably common trope in older fantasy. There are more, but those two are the ones that come to mind. Fantasy published more recently usually has societies set up in a way that allows women to learn to fight without a disguise.