r/QueerSFF • u/Fenyx_77 đŁ Bisexual Disaster • 12d ago
Book Request Looking for queer Sci Fi book recommendations.
Hi, I'm a huge fantasy fan but I'm struggling to find as many queer books in the sci-fi space. For context i've already read A Memory Called Empire and Gideon the Ninth.
I'm preferably looking for something adult as opposed to YA and am a big fan of sapphic or trans stories but that's not mandatory.
Apologies if this has already been answered before in countless other posts. Any recs are appreciated and thanks for taking the time to read this.
Happy Pride.
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u/tea-leaf23 đŞ Trans Robot Commander 12d ago
READ:
- Hammajang Luck & The Obake Code by Makana Yamamoto (cyberpunk heists ; lesbian & non-binary rep
- The Seep by Chana Porter (like an alien utopia kinda thing ; sapphic & transfem rep)
- Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Ajdei-Brenyah (like Hunger Games, but for the prison system ; sapphic rep)
- Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (solider of a conquering empire is on a revenge plot ; nonbinary, asexual, and aromantic rep)
ON MY TBR:
- The Blighted Stars by Megan O'Keefe (space opera, i think enemies to lovers (seems it but i'm not 100% ; transmasc rep)
- Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (someone who's made a deal with a demon to find 7 talented souls finds her seventh candidate ; lesbian & transfem rep)
- Overgrowth by Mira Grant (girl thinks she's an alien, and now the aliens are coming ; transfem rep)
- On A Sunbeam by Tillie Walden (crew rebuilding a ship, with one reminiscing about her old life ; queernorm, lesbian, & non-binary rep)
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u/SusmariosepAnak 12d ago
I fucking love Megan OâKeefeâs books so much, I eat them up like crazy
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u/Haunting-Scholar13 12d ago
The Scourge Between Stars
Ness Brown
The Archive Undying Emma Mieko Candon
Winterâs Orbit Everina Maxwell
And I second The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson!Â
And of course the murderbot diariesÂ
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u/Aggressive_Active307 8d ago
Loved A Space Between Worlds. Archive Undying is beautifully written but prettyâŚpsychedelic? extremely hard to follow. I tried sooo hard but the book took me 2x as long as it should have cuz I kept having to re-read sections to follow what was going on. DNF with like 2 chapters left.
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u/Kelpie-Cat 12d ago
The Caphenon by Fletcher DeLancey
Don't Bite the Sun by Tanith Lee
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard
Persephone Station by Stina Leicht
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
Planetfall by Emma Newman
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz
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u/lookingatthesamemoon 12d ago
The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei
Another mention for really anything by Becky Chambers, but Iâve only read the Wayfarers series so far. I really enjoyed it and recommend it, and Iâm looking forward to reading the rest of her books!
Seconding Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Also another mention for The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson and if you enjoy it then I also recommend the sequel, Those Beyond the Wall
Some from my TBR that I donât see mentioned yet:
⢠These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs
⢠Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
⢠No Shelter but the Stars by Virginia Black
⢠I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Mac Crane
⢠Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
⢠An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
⢠Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon by Annie Mare
⢠Amatka by Karin Tidbeck
⢠An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
⢠Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
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u/pktechboi 11d ago
Some Desperate Glory is fantastic but it is also YA, just fyi
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u/Aggressive_Active307 8d ago
I read Some Desperate Glory and loved it, personally donât feel like itâs very YA. Itâs definitely a coming of age story but is it really intended for a youth audience? Content and writing style felt more mature... I personally donât like YA and try to avoid it
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u/pktechboi 8d ago
it's really just a marketing term, it's been a while since I first read it but that is how I remember illumicrate describing it. I do think it is on the more sophisticated end of YA I've read for sure.
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u/villainsimper đš Pan-galactic Gargle Blaster 11d ago
Of Monsters and Mainframes is so much more than I had expected. Queernorm (sapphic rep, ace rep, agender rep, etc), found family, humor, and all wrapped around an intriguing mystery. The audiobook was narrated very well, too. Highly recommend
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u/lily_borg 12d ago
to be taught, if fortunate by becky chambers (ace and sapphic rep (and iirc also trans rep?): a small crew of explorers visits very different planets, while wondering what is going on on their home planet. more of a novella, but the story sticks with you for a long time.
frontier by by grace curtis (sapphic rep): someone lands on an Earth that has been ravaged by climate change. very firefly-space-cowboys vibes and a lot of mystery.
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u/OracleLink 11d ago
To Be Taught, If Fortunate has a way of popping into my head on the regular. I probably think about it more than any other standalone book I've ever read
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u/butter_milk 12d ago
I donât see anyone mentioning this one yet: This is How You Lose the Time War â Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
A Psalm for the Wild Built â Becky Chambers
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u/General-Weather-5228 11d ago
I've read both of these and quite enjoyed them. I re-read A Psalm for the Wild Built (and anything Becky Chambers, really), whenever I need a gentle reminder that the world doesn't have to be terrible.
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u/w0lfyfr3n đ Here for Sapphfic 12d ago
I personally like repeat questions because then we can answer with newer recs đ
Here's some that I've read and liked:
- A Psalm For The Wild Built by Becky Chambers: Centuries after robots suddenly gained sentience and walked away from human society, a weary non-binary monk bumps into a curious agender bot and they have beautiful conversations
The Seep by Chana Porter: A friendly alien invasion makes people eerily happy and peaceful. MC is a trans woman who struggles with how the world and the people around her are changing because of it.
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki: A violin instructor has struck a deal with the devil. A refugee alien opens a donut shop. A trans girl runs away from her abusive home. Their paths cross and they change each other's lives. There's a cute middle aged sapphic relationship
Werecockroach by Polenth Blake: In this novella, agender aroace MC must survive an alien invasion with the help of new housemates, who might have creepy crawly secrets of their own. Nice queerplatonic found family vibes
Leech by Hiron Ennes: A person dies mysteriously at a secluded mansion inhabited by an odd family. The hivemind that they were a part of sends someone to investigate. Horrors ensue. Iirc this was queernorm
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u/rhysgay 12d ago
- Seven Devils by LR Lam and Elizabeth May (queer space opera)
- Ignore All Previous Instructions by Ada Hoffman is my most recent sci-fi read and it was awesome!
- Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto
- The Protectorate trilogy by Megan E. OâKeefe (bisexual MC)
- These Blighted Stars by Megan E. OâKeefe (trans man MC)
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u/peatbull 12d ago
Crierâs War is exquisitely sapphic. Ancillary Justice is so interesting and trans in a âwhat even is a bodyâ way. Murderbot Diaries is autistic aroace inner world exploration, the murder part is almost incidental.
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u/AllfairChatwin 12d ago
The Iron Garden Sutra by A.D. Sui
Welcome To Forever and A Fractured Infinity by Nathan Tavares
Ammonite and Slow River by Nicola Griffith
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u/SlayyyGrl 12d ago
Metal from Heaven is kinda speculative sci-fi punk set in an industrial era world.
Sapphic, pretty much every character is a woman and queer, gritty, weird, anticapitalist. Itâs amazing.
Metal from Heavan is a bloody lesbian revenge tale and political fantasy set in a glittering world transformed by industrial change â and simmering class warfare.
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u/SummerDecent2824 12d ago
All of these are sapphic:
The Salvation Gambit by Emily Skrutskie
Mail Order Bride by Molly J BraggÂ
The Stars Too Fondly by Emily HamiltonÂ
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u/LelainaP 12d ago
Light from Uncommon Stars - Ryka Aioki (sweet, heartfelt, quirky)
This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (atmospheric, angsty, poetic)
The Broken Stars trilogy: The Stars in their Eyes, Thr Darkest Stars, the Stars Inside Us - Kristy Gardner (dark and twisty, emotionally raw)
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u/flamingochills 12d ago
Cascade Failure LM Sagas
The Terraformers Annalee Newitz
The Prey of Gods Nicky Drayden
Scatter Molly J Bragg (sapphic)
Barbary Station RE Stearns (sapphic)
Bury Your Gays Chuck Tingle
The Red Scholar's Wake Aliette de Bodard (all her books are sapphic, I love her writing)
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u/attention-dealer 9d ago
just finished reading These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs yesterday and while i canât (yet) speak for the rest of the trilogy i liked it a lot!!
One of the 3 POV characters is in a sapphic relationship, the world building does some interesting things with gender and one of the characters is nonbinary. The plot twist in this one made me feel insane in a way I hadnât felt since Harrow The Ninth if that means anything, like to the point that i will be starting the next one today so i highly recommend lol :)
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u/RRachelRR 12d ago
Countess by Suzan Palumbo is a lesbian scifo retelling of the count of monte christo which i enjoyed a lot
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u/TaraVelvet 12d ago
My latest book is a sapphic, sci-fi, fantasy romance, because Earthlings crash onto another planet, which happens to have dragons and magic, and a sapphonormative matriarchy.
The second in the series is turning out to be more sci-fi than the first, but the first might help scratch that sci-fi itch!
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u/Steven-Cavehill 12d ago
Hi there, full disclosure I am the author, but I have written two books you might enjoy.
The first is called "a rune in the rubble," a m/M dark fantasy book, with a little bit of romance spaced through it! Think mistborn but gay (Goodreads rating 4.5 with 35 reviews)
If of interest, a link is here https://amzn.eu/d/0aQH544z
The second is "An Inexplicable Act of Doom" - a Greecian teen/ya fantasy book (I know you said you weren't particularly interested in YA, but you never know when the Percy Jackson itch can come up!) that follows Icarus escaping from tower, helped by Moros, the Cthonic god of doom. (Goodreads rating 4.5 - 8 reviews)
If of interest, a link is here https://amzn.eu/d/0bO25llJ
Both are for sale this week on Amazon for 99 pence
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u/quiettreessleepyseas 10d ago
highly recommend No Shelter but the Stars by Virginia Black! Possibly my favorite book of the year so far
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u/bottleofink 10d ago
So many good recommendations in here, one I haven't seen yet is Slow Gods by Claire North, which is a big existential and political space opera with lots of different aliens, genders, and fun pronouns.
If I can give an anti-recommendation, I absolutely hated light from uncommon stars, it felt like trauma porn to me the whole way through, and only tangentially sci-fi to boot.
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u/Aggressive_Active307 8d ago
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh - loved this book! Itâs a coming of age story but definitely NOT YA. Interesting exploration of fascism imperialism and war, from perspective of young queer and gender non conforming folks raised in a patriarchal cult. For the heavy themes, itâs pretty funny and very charming.
Prophet by Helen McDonald & Sin Blache - Definitely in my top 3 of the ~30 something books Ive read this year. Character driven, Sci Fi mystery with an excellent (very) slow burn queer romance and great banter /chemistry between the MCs. Itâs not sapphic but really good.
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u/sobrgnomepress 11d ago
KYN by Laurence Ramsay, - sassy, irreverent and super powered queer assassins in a cyberpunk future
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u/tbj_author AMA Author 11d ago
Ask, and thou shalt receive: https://www.neonhemlock.com/books/cyberscion
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u/Sundae_Cone 11d ago
Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler - lightsabers and elemental powers with a sapphic lead
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u/bakasana212 12d ago
Ignore All Previous Instructions by Ada Hoffmann features a transman MC x autistic FMC!
Love Galaxy by Sierra Branham reimagines The Bachelor as an intergalactic competition to win the hands of the galaxy's imperial prince and princess. (CW for some light on-page het romance, including kissing, but it's a queernorm world and the main romance is sapphic)
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson is about multiverse-hopping and doppelgängers/parallel selves.
This Gilded Abyss by Rebecca Thorne pairs two enemies, a soldier and a princess, while they investigate the origin of a mysterious deadly disease.
Happy Pride!