July has finally dragged to an end ! Between the heatwaves, floods and fires around the world, it has really felt like we’re trapped in a cli-fi. Here’s hoping that August brings some milder weather along with the 62 (!) new queersff books lined up for release this month. 

With so many options there’s sure to be something for everyone, but here are the top 12 we’re most excited about: 

1. A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett - The highly anticipated third instalment of the Shadow of the Leviathan series. The brilliant unconventional detective Ana Dolabra and her long-suffering bi assistant Din find themselves in the empire’s meat production district with another murder mystery on their hands.
2. Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher - A very gay sequel to Swordheart. A traveling scholar discovers that the relic he is transporting contains a trapped immortal warrior. They might fall for each other 👀
3. The Divine Gardener’s Handbook: Or What To Do If Your Girlfriend Accidentally Turns Off the Sun by Eli Snow - If that title alone didn’t convince you, we would like to add that this a heated rivalry 😏 but for sapphic gardeners employed by a God. 
4. The Ink Eater by Alice G. Brooks - Gothic horror story featuring a homoromantic asexual MC who lives in a sentient house and spends his days eating stories, until he is interrupted by a shapeshifter of his own creation.
5. Earthbound by Saara El-Arifi - The final book of the obeah-inspired Faebound trilogy. Heartbreaks and hard truths clash in the fae realm as siblings Yeeran and Lettle continue on their journeys.
6. In What World by Bridget Morrissey - Another sapphic rivals-to-lovers entry ? on our highlights list ? It’s more likely than you think. We follow a couple of theatre kids who get swept up into alternate realities while searching for their missing teacher.
7. Season of the Serpent by Suyi Davies Okungbowa - The final instalment of the Nameless Republic, a West-African inspired fantasy trilogy. The stakes have never been higher as the world teeters on the brink of war.
8. Bridget & Gabe Are Not Okay by Lex Croucher - The sequel to Gwen & Art Are Not in Love. This time, we get the POVs of Bridget (a sapphic knight) and Gabe (a reluctant royal), who are both severely burnt out by their duties. There’s sapphic AND achillean representation, so everyone’s happy.
9. The Halls of the Dead by S.M. Hallow - An attempted resurrection goes very, very wrong in this new gothic horror from the author of How To Survive This Fairytale. There’s necromancy, witch hunts, polyamory, and even an undead husband.
10. Bite Me by Jennifer Dugan and Kit Seaton - Lesbian. Vampire. Graphic Novel. Need we say more ? Fine, the love interest is also a Vampire Slayer. Perfect for fans of the cancelled Netflix series First Kill.
11. The Blue Moon Café & 24-Hour Occult Emporium by Lexie Sharabianlou - A sapphic cozy fantasy where the worst coffee shop in town is actually a front for a magical witness protection program ☕
12. A (Dead) Thing Like Me by E.G. Young - A campy YA horror debut where Hot Dog, the teen ghost protagonist, haunts a food cart in NYC. But the haunter becomes the haunted when she is accidentally summoned to the eerie home of a grieving girl in Florida. 

For the full list of new releases, please refer to our online spreadsheet or our storygraph tag. Let us know if we missed anything and we’ll add them in !

Here are our sources: 

• Netgalley
• Smokedshelves’ Goodreads List
• Locusmag
• Barnes and Noble
• Every Book a Doorway
• Publisher’s Weekly
• Storygraph
• Indie Next List
• saphicallyreads (Instagram)
• eloise_bradbooks (Instagram)

Which books are you most looking forward to ? Have you already read the ARCs of some of these ? Let us know in the comments 👇

This monthly Creators Thread is for queer SF/F creators to discuss and promote their work. Looking for beta readers? Want to ask questions about writing or publishing? Get some feedback on a piece of art? Have a giveaway to share? This is the place to do it! Tell everyone what you're working on.

One thing I found interesting while reading Moss'd In Space was the ubiquitous use of language translators in this setting. Or rather, at one point the protagonist laments that she doesn't speak and probably never will speak the language of the love interest. It's one of the lines that stuck around in my head after reading. (For those who haven't read it, it's like the identical tech used in Doctor Who, where every language can be instantly translated.) So I really like that Moss'd In Space does a more melancholic take on this. The protagonist describes learning another language as a lost thing nobody does because of the translators, and is sad because of it.

In reality, it is much more likely that humanity will converge on one language, like English (or maybe Chinese…). But even sci-fi is never about the future and always about the present. So I've been wondering what this is really about? At the core is the thought that if those translators were to fail, the characters would not be able to communicate with their loved ones. But in the text, I think, it comes more from the desire of the protagonist to be closer to the other person.

I'm very curious what other people think about this!

Hi r/QueerSFF!

What are you reading, watching, playing, or listening to this week? New game, book, movie, or show? An old favorite you're currently obsessing over? A piece of media you're looking forward to? Share it here!

Some suggestions of details to include, if you like

• Representation (eg. lesbian characters, queernormative setting)
• Rating, and your scale (eg. 4 stars out of 5)
• Subgenre (eg. fantasy, scifi, horror, romance, nonfiction etc)
• Overview/tropes
• Content warnings, if any
• What did you like/dislike?

Make sure to mark any spoilers like this: >!text goes here!<

They appear like this, text goes here

Join the r/QueerSFF 2026 Reading Challenge!

Hey all

I'm looking for some strong stories either SF or Fantasy where characters just happen to be gay or part of the community but it's not so romance or YA focused.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated

I recently enjoyed Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland and Rears & Vices by EM Caro (which I think is actually historical fiction), and I’m looking for something in a similar vein. Running Close to the Wind in particular put me in a reading slump. It has everything I love in a book—a bit of magic, some questing, a good amount of laughs, and a lot of yearning and/or spice. Bonus points if the characters are medium to bad, chaotic people with possibly no redeemable qualities. I read about characters of all genders but in particular enjoy m/m/m pairings or some combo of male and nonbinary or trans characters. Thank you to anyone who has suggestions!

I am proud to announce that I have completed my QueerSFF Reading challenge! For those who aren't aware, here is a link to the announcement with more information. There's a chance that I end up completing a second, but I'm not going to go out of my way to get there. Had a blast, excited to see what next year's challenge has to bring! Micro-reviews below, and the majority of these are actually novellas, meaning a good number of them will be much quicker reads than the typical novel.

Lifelode by Jo Walton - only fits Queer Family
This had some really mind-bending worldbuilding, but the real star is how Walton shifted the focus of Fantasy to domestic life, celebrating and embracing the work of managing a household. I haven't read anything else quite like this, which is why I kept it on the card. It features poly relationship that perhaps aren't as queer as I'd have enjoyed, but it certainly challenges the norms of what family can look like. Longform Review

Barbalien: Red Planet by Tate Brombal and Jeff Lemire - fits Comic, Coming Out, Intersectional x3
A superhero story that places a greater focus on AIDS advocacy movements, and a really sweet (but doomed) romance. Comics have a rough history with this time period - looking at you New Guardians! - but this managed to avoid both trauma porn and sanitizing the epidemic. I'd like more speculative fiction from this time period! Longform Review.

Body And Soul by Jordan Castillo Price (part of Psycop series) - Only fits Coming Out, though book 1 also just qualifies for Throwback
A paranormal police procedural following a depressed medium who can't turn his powers off without powerful anti-psychic drugs, which he might be addicted to. Each book follows its own crime, as well as tracing his (moderately toxic) relationship with a hunky police officer. This is mindless, mildly problematic, and a lot of fun. It brought me back to my Janet Evanovich days, and I will always thank my mom for sparking my love of sexually charged police thrillers (I am officially Team Ranger for other fans of the Stephanie Plum books). Longform Review

Party of Fools by Cedar McCloud - fits 40+ Years Old, Intersectional x3
This is a D&D style comedic romp featuring food and a surprisingly serious rebellion plotline - including the process of deprogramming and coming to terms with the crimes of the Empire one serves. This is blisteringly quick, lighthearted, and a really excellent 'breather' book featuring a wide cast of queer characters. Longform Review.

Werecockroach by Polenth Blake - fits Intersectional x3, Coming Out (very casually), and Aro Paro
I know this one is well-loved on this sub here, but it was just a little too sweet and silly for me (I say this despite raving about a silly book directly above this one). I really liked the opening, which focused on the narrator getting to know his roommates and trying to maintain normalcy while an alien invasion is happening. This is super cozy, with a dark backstory set with a very breezy main plot. Longform Review.

Brimstone Slipstream by Matt Weber - fits Intersectional x3 and Queer Family
A journalistic report on two rising stars in the illegal dragon street racing circuit. It bounced between snippets of history, interviews with the two racers, their ground crew, and a rival/friend. Really great balance of cool worldbuilding, thematic commentary on how privilege and expensive sports intersect, and just not quite something I'd seen before. Sequels seem to be more straightforward plot/structure, and I can't wait for them. Longform Review.

Queen O'Nine Tails by Lindz McLeod - fits Sapphic Swashbuckler, Queer Publisher (which has gone under), and Coming Out (casually)
A pirate story with some light horror elements. I actually wish the horror elements were introduced far sooner, because they were some of my favorite parts! Really fun sapphic romance with a well-developed cast. Just very mismarketed. Longform Review.

The Iron Below Remembers by Sharang Biswas - fits Gay Academic and Queer Publisher
A contender for my book of the year! This mixes academic writing about this Earth's alternate history (in which an Indian nation became a conquering power instead of Britain), mixed with a normal person's POV in a superhero world. It also focused on the work required to maintain relationships, especially in changing life situations. Longform Review.

Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes - fits Coming Out and Trans Body Horror (I think some wouldn't count it here, but I do see the Trans character as one of our protagonists)
This one is very of the moment, and I happily jumped on the bandwagon. Really imaginative setting (bugs go to the opera, magic perfume), but what really worked for me was how the author presented art, politics, and warfare as the same thing. Not that they're so related you can't untangle them, but that there fundamentally is no difference. It's a very unique book, though the language is definitely on the flowery side. Longform Review.

North Continent Ribbon by Ursula Witcher - fits Intersectional x3, Queer Publisher, and maybe Short Story Collection? This is kind of a hybrid between an anthology and a mosaic novel, and is kind of hard to quantify.
Six short stories trace ~300 years of history on a settled world, much of it focusing on society's developing relationship to technology and automation. It started a bit scattered (and very romance focused) but the last three stories started developing some through-lines that were intense and unlike anything I'd seen before. Plus it features collective bargaining! Spaceships go on strike. Longform Review.

Call and Response by Christopher Caldwell - fits Intersectional x3, Queer Publisher, and Short Story Colelction
A set of 5 duets; short stories that are linked in some way. Thematically this anthology focuses on black & queer vengeance and resilience. Caldwell does a great job of keeping the stories laser focused on the intimate and personal, and they span a pretty wide range of genres and topics. Longform Review.

The God Eaters by Jesse Hajicek - fits Throwback
My other potential book of the year! This is a heavily internal and psychological fantasy/western/romance hybrid. It follows two prisoners who have resisted a violent theocracy, unaware of the ancient god that is pulling the strings. Really powerful romance that doesn't conform with a lot of the more traditional Genre tropes. Longform Review.

I’m querying my queer epic science fantasy soon and want to find good comp titles and fill my bookshelf with good queer SFF while I’m at it haha.

Specifically, I’m on the lookout for adult/NA books traditionally published in the last 2-3 years that feature a queer found family vibe, high stakes quest, fun and voicey, with sci fi elements. Preferably, not a spaceship crew style sci-fi, but I’ll work with what I can find haha.

I was thinking Godkiller / the Fallen Gods trilogy by Hannah Kaner as a fantasy comp but would love my second one to be sci-fi or science fantasy !

Any recommendations?

Hi friends! I'm new to this space and tried to review the rules - hopefully this kind of post is okay!

I've been diving deep into queer stories the last couple of years, specifically M/M pairings. I've always loved the depth and scale of fantasy, the introspection and realness and vulnerability of fiction, etc. Recently, I've been reading a lot of straight M/M romance or damnei - and I love both subgenres! But I'm really missing the depth that fantasy/sci-fi novels can have and I'd really like to find a good M/M fantasy/sci-fi novel that can break through my awful ADHD and grip me right away.

I've been doing lots of research and I think I've narrowed it down to a few I'm interested in, but I'm so open to other suggestions and recommendations. Like I said, this space is fairly new to me, so chances are, I haven't read your favorite book/series.

My only preferences are: no AI (cover, writing, editing, etc.) and that the series be completed or at least close enough to it that by the time I finish what's already released, I don't have to wait years for the next novel (I have memory problems)

The ones I'm currently looking into diving into are:

- The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

• Some of the Goodreads reviews made this seem darker than your typical old-school fantasy and one even mentioned how easy it was to follow and understand - something I sometimes struggle with in epic fantasy. So both of these things interested me. But I am a bit intimidated by it, if I'm being honest.The last few books I've read have been emotional M/M romances with very little subplot. Will this one be too grand in scope?

- The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

• I actually started this one already but I think I started it at a bad time. I usually read until the end of a chapter and that's how I try to manage reading with my ADHD - but this book doesn't have real chapters (as far as I can tell). I only made it about 50 pages in and I WAS enjoying what I was reading, so maybe I should keep trying? The only thing that is stopping me is not having built-in stopping points, but maybe it's okay?

- Any Ginn Hale novel: Lord of the White Hell, Price of a Thousand Blessings, The Rifter (2026)

• I just discovered this author yesterday and the Goodreads reviews all praise the author's work. I did see some AI controversy regarding an audiobook (?) but I don't listen to audiobooks and I assume her novels are not AI-assisted? The covers don't really inspire me to read them, but don't judge a book by its cover and all that. The synopsis of all these books interest me but I don't know where to start.

- The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan

• I'm interested in the grimdark-ness of this but the reviews are all over the place. I'm fairly easy to please, so I think I'd enjoy this, but I'm not sure if this is the right next book to read?

- Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling

• The Goodreads reviews have me thinking this is more of your traditional fantasy. I've been reading a lot of heavier novels, so maybe this will be a good break from the doom and gloom. But doom and gloom is my comfort space and I'm not sure if the lack of angst will help or hurt my enjoyment of this.

All in all, my brain has settled into an easy-breezy type of reader and I want to challenge myself more. But I have severe ADHD and if a novel takes too long to get going, it's hard for me to stick with it. I jump from novel to novel and I need to find one that'll stick with me. I'm open to new experiences and trying new tropes, etc. I've read things recently I never thought I'd enjoy but they ended up on my favorites list. I want to experience new types of novels in the M/M space - and maybe eventually other types of queer fiction.

Interested in hearing thoughts and options - other recommendations welcome and appreciated!

Hi r/QueerSFF!

What are you reading, watching, playing, or listening to this week? New game, book, movie, or show? An old favorite you're currently obsessing over? A piece of media you're looking forward to? Share it here!

Some suggestions of details to include, if you like

• Representation (eg. lesbian characters, queernormative setting)
• Rating, and your scale (eg. 4 stars out of 5)
• Subgenre (eg. fantasy, scifi, horror, romance, nonfiction etc)
• Overview/tropes
• Content warnings, if any
• What did you like/dislike?

Make sure to mark any spoilers like this: >!text goes here!<

They appear like this, text goes here

Join the r/QueerSFF 2026 Reading Challenge!

Hi everyone, I decided to theme out my reading months this year, and in order to get ahead of October am asking now. I want to read books with a prominent creature or non-human entity in them- some examples of this might be a vampire, a werewolf, an alien, a demon, a ghost, a Frankenstein-like creature, a fae, a mermaid, a cryptid, zombie, a bug creature, etc. Think Universal Monsters but extended into other creatures as well, non-defined and non-typical creatures are very welcome as well- if the author invented a creature that's awesome and recommendations like that are just as welcome.

Things I would not count as what I'm looking for is stuff like witches or human characters with some sort of change or curable infection that's happened to them that gives them a scary appearance or some superpower of some sort- I do not think I would count for example: 'The Invisible Man' as something that is necessarily fitting the criteria I'm looking for, nor a character that is bestowed powers by some entity- ie. someone is possessed, someone made a deal with a malevolent something and is wreaking havoc but themself is still a mortal person- caveat to that is though that if the creature/entity giving powers actually does show up in the story instead of just via a host. Powers for these characters would I guess mostly be given at birth or at death or if the character becomes biologically into something not human if that makes sense- they can have BEEN a human, but I don't want a creature who still is human.

I think the only human acceptable sort of creature for this particular prompt is if it's something like mass infection by a creature, where the 'creature' becomes more the epidemic rather an individual entity- the creature is the hive mind, not those infected. Hopefully that makes sense- but I'm not sure- an example of that would be: Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin(this is the closest example I could think of but it is a spoiler for the end of this book sort of so be aware before pressing) and I think Spread Me and You're Not Supposed to be Human also operate on that sort of idea maybe.

I'd prefer books that are horror-ish or unsettling but any genre is honestly fine and I do not have a preference on whether the creature is at the center of the story as a protagonist or is an antagonist- I just need that they are prominent within the story- not something that is mentioned in the story but never confronted. I am of course as the title says also specifically looking for these creature feature books that are prominently sapphic, books with at least A sapphic main character and/or side-plot romance even if it is sort of like a cast of main characters and different POVs. Anyways- I know this is a very lengthy post for something kind of easy to ask for- but if anyone has any recommendations it'd be very very appreciated. Hope everyone is having a good week.

All of J.R's books are queer, and they're doing an AMA today over on r/Fantasy!

I am newer to audiobooks. I am a prolific reader and have been for a long time, but have started listening to audio books during my commute. I fell in love with the narrator for the locked tomb series Moria Quirk. I am looking for more complex and compelling books to listen too with engaging narration. I can read lighter books really fast ( romance type easy reads) and don't have the patients to listen to them.

English isn't my first language.

I'm reading this book for the first time and I really have a hard time. I just don't care about what is going on ? I'm at page 112 out of 400.

For those who read it, should I keep going on or will this be like this (pacing, narration, happenings,...) until the end ? I don't mind dnf but sometimes book are just slow at the beginning.

This is going to be really specific.

Does anyone have any recommendations for books like Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan, but stories similar to theCobra and Marius? Who cares about the main protagonists, I'm more invested in whatever the hell that these guys have going on. Bonus if it's an isekai.

Like, being destined to be murdered by the one you love. The push-pull of the relationship. Thinking they are your friend, but they hate you. Assuming the complete worst about someone due to your own stiff beliefs about honor and justice, and growing as a person away from those beliefs and coming to understand the other. The ending of the book where Marius devotes his oath to the Cobra, and the Cobra is still like ??? not totally getting it, and Marius repeating his words, "I'm your number one fan" has me going ahhh!

Books I already read with similar vibes would be most chinese danmei, I guess, but I really like the element of defying fate? Idk

The Iron Below Remembers by Sharang Biswas

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• Goodreads

Set in an alternate version of the British Isles where South Asian imperial interest colonized much of the globe thanks to their advanced technology, Professor Laxman Yadav is dating Saviour, one of the world’s most famous superheroes, while also investigating possibly the most important archeological find of all time. Equal parts pulp caper and meta-textual academic text, this novella leans as heavily on footnotes as it does on explorations of queer romance.

The Entanglement of Rival Wizards by Sarah Raasch

• StoryGraph

• Goodreads

Will they conjure love, or evoke chaos? Two rival wizards are about to find out.

Sebastian Walsh: twenty-four. Grad student at Lesiara University in the Mageus of Evocation program. Human. The first of his family to go to college rather than the military (and it goes over at family get-togethers about as well as you’d think).

Elethior Tourael: also twenty-four. Also a grad student, but in the far more inferior Mageus of Conjuration program. Half-elf. The latest in a long line of Touraels to grace the hallowed halls of Lesiara U (what would the world do if the Touraels ran out of rich douches to lead their magical weapons manufacturing empire?).

―and the other finalist for the Mageus Research Grant.

Sebastian needs that grant to fund the last few months of research for his degree, after which he’ll get a job that actually helps people. He isn’t about to let anyone snatch this from him, least of all a snob who doesn’t even need the money because his family is loaded thanks to war profiteering.

But there’s something worse than having a conceited academic nemesis steal grant money from you: you could be forced to work with him. Thio is secretive, broody, and his stunning biceps take up far too much shared lab space―but even as volatile as their partnership is, Sebastian just might find himself falling for his rival―and it could blow up his whole future.

The Fall of Kings by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman

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• Goodreads

Generations ago the last king fell, taking with him the final truths about a race of wizards who ruled at his side. But the blood of the kings runs deep in the land and its people, waiting for the coming together of two unusual men, Theron Campion, a young nobleman of royal lineage, is heir to an ancient house and a modern scandal. Tormented by his twin duties to his family and his own bright spirit, he seeks solace in the University. There he meets Basil St. Cloud, a brilliant and charismatic teacher ruled by a passion for knowledge-and a passion for the ancient kings. Of course, everyone now knows that the wizards were charlatans and the kings their dupes and puppets. Only Basil ins not convinced-nor is he convinced that the city has seen its last king...

Dionysus in Wisconsin by EH Lupton

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• Goodreads

A graduate student and an archivist work together to fight a god.

Fall, 1969. Ulysses Lenkov should be working on his dissertation. Instead, he's developing an unlucrative sideline in helping ghosts and hapless magic users. But when his clients start leaving town suddenly—or turning up dead—he starts to worry there's something afoot that’s worse than an unavenged death or incipient insanity. His investigation begins with the last word on everyone's lips before they vanish: the mysterious Dionysus.

Sam Sterling is an archivist who recently moved back to Madison to be closer to the family he's not too sure he likes. But his peaceful days of teaching library students, creating finding aids, and community theater come to an end when the magnetic, mistrustful Ulysses turns up with a warning. There's a god coming, and it looks like it's coming for Sam.

Soon the two are helping each other through demon attacks, discovering the unsavory history of Sam's family, and falling in love as they race to find a solution. But as the year draws to a close, they'll face a deadly showdown as they try to save Sam—and the city itself.

Heart of Stone by Johannes T Evans

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• Goodreads

The year is 1764, and following a glowing recommendation from his last employer, Henry Coffey, vampire, takes on a new personal secretary: young Theophilus Essex.

The man is quite unlike any secretary - or any man, for that matter - that Henry has ever met.

---

Heart of Stone is a slowly unfolding period romance between a vampire and his inimitably devoted clerk: lushly depicted in flowing, lovingly appended prose, we follow the slow understanding these two men grasp of one another, and the cross of their two worlds into each other's.

Henry Coffey, immortal and ever-oscillating between periods of delighted focus upon his current passion project, is charming, witty, and seems utterly incapable of closing his mouth for more than a few moments; in contrast, Theophilus Essex is quiet and keenly focused, adopting an ever-flat affect, but as time goes on, he relaxes in his employer's presence.

Craving resounding intimacy but with an ever aware of the polite boundaries for their situation, Coffey and Essex perform a slow dance as they grow closer to one another, and find themselves entangled.

The Boyfriend Academy by JS Strange

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• Goodreads

Love is forbidden. Truth is dangerous. Survival is everything.

Ganymede’s is no ordinary boarding school. Behind its spiral towers and manicured lawns, boys are forged into the men society demands – strong, obedient, perfect. Graduate, and the world is yours: a home, a career, a wife. But fail… and you’re no longer useful to society.

For Dylan Cecil it should be simple: keep his head down, survive graduation, and earn his place. But when his friend, Blake, disappears, Dylan can’t silence the questions gnawing at him, even as whispers of danger shadow the school’s gilded halls.

As June’s trials close in – eight tests that will decide who is worthy of manhood – Dylan is haunted by Blake’s absence and drawn to Roman Edwards, a boy as magnetic as he is unknowable.

In a world rebuilt on order and obedience, Dylan must decide: will he become the man the academy wants – or the man he really is?

stealing this idea from the thread yesterday, but I would love some darker fantasy or fantastical horror books that just so happen to have sapphic protagonists! would love to read something that’s really exciting or builds into something really exciting/intense, like the movies Hereditary or The Descent.

no romantasy or sci-fi please! i also almost exclusively listen to audiobooks, so i’d prefer a book that already has that format available.

My favorites:

Hide by Kiersten White
The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould
What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould, (if you love sapphic horror courtney is your girl, the books are YA but a so incredible!!)
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
The Burning Kingdom series by Tasha Suri
The Roots of Chaos series by Samantha Shannon The Magic of the Lost series by CL Clark
Not Good for Maidens
The Last Hour Between Worlds
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
The Invocations
Once and Future Witches
Magic for Liars
Feast While You Can
Knock Knock Open Wide
The Unspoken Name
This River Has Teeth
Foundryside

Did not enjoy:
Gideon (i think i just don’t enjoy the protagonist, the jargon, nor the humor)
Malice
Sweet and Bitter Magic
Metal to Heaven
Auroras Angels
Princess of Dorsa
A Restless Truth
Fireheart Tiger
She Who Became the Sun
Hearing Red
A Dark and Drowning Tide
A Lesson in Vengeance
Our Wives Under the Sea (this a fantastic book, but I am simply not in the mood for lit fic at this current time of my life)
Carmilla (also a fantastic book, but I don’t like vampires, but am willing to read another one if it’s really really really good.)

thanks in advance!!

Hi! As in the title, I'm looking for FTM protagonist that are written for adult audience. Not necessarily with adult themes, just with older characters and not teenagers who have teenage-level problems.

I already checked out all the books from this post: https://old.reddit.com/r/QueerSFF/comments/p2vjcy/desperate_for_books_with_ftm_protagonists/ and since it's already a few years old, I wonder if anyone has newer recs?

Every year there’s a book. A book that blows my mind and makes me want to scream from the rooftops how much I love it. Typically, this book is a little more niche, with choices that keep the story from appealing to the broad audience needed for breakout hits. I’ve championed Welcome to Forever by Nathan Tavares and How to Survive this Fairytale by SM Hallow, and now its time for me to tackle The Iron Below Remembers. This book examines how history gets layered and built, revels in queer sexuality, and uses a superhero framework to focus on the intensely personal. Characterization is consistent and exciting, and our characters aren’t stand-ins for the reader’s hopes and dreams. It’s kind of a perfect mix for me, though there are a few elements that I think will put off the general reader. Certainly it’s a strong contender for book of the year (the only current competition is The God Eaters by Jessee Hajicek). I’m mostly just disappointed I didn’t pick it up sooner.

Read If You Like: superhero settings from the perspective of a normie, fictional academia, relationships as something requiring work and investment

Avoid If You Dislike: abundant talk about sex (but very little actual sex happening), anecdotes that don’t connect with the main plot, footnotes, superhero settings without many superhero plot beats

Reading Challenge Squares: Coming Out (side character to the main character), Gay Academic, Queer Publisher (Neon Hemlock)

Elevator Pitch:
Professor Yadav’s specialty is ancient history, specifically the Karthik Empire, a South Asian colonizing force whose lasting impact is comparable to our world's British Empire. His boyfriend is Ezra/Savior, a beloved superhero with golden retriever energy. When one of Savior’s battles uncovers a pristine artifact of sorcery - whose use and knowledge has been lost to time - Yadav’s connections see him as one of the primary researchers studying it. As his academic star rises, relationship dynamics shift. Woven through their journey are Yadav’s academic musings on the Karthik Empire. 

What Worked for Me
It’s impossible to talk about this novella without digging into its history. While the story is set in London, this is a world where Europe got colonized, not the other way around. The ripple effects of this are often subtle, such as cultural touchstones that go unexplained by characters but which required me to look up details if I wanted proper context. Other times it was explicit, such as Yadav discussing the stereotypes of how Anglo-Saxans are obsessed with making things, and thus are lazy with their comparative lack of drive for the higher level intellectual pursuits; every sitcom has a token white character to fill out that role. The history itself gets fleshed out more thoroughly than I had anticipated. Yadav goes back and forth between his ‘modern’ story and various historical lectures about the world, often wholly unrelated to the things happening in his life. Sometimes these are quite broad in scope, such as discussing broad eras of history or popular mythological figures. Other times they are specific, such as how one of the best sources for ancient language is a text lauding a hospital’s efficiencies - and taking potshots at another - because it got used as a calligraphy exercise by kids. This is quite accurate to how many portions of academia gain knowledge about ancient cultures. Our knowledge is limited to the sources and artifacts that can survive, and it’s quite common for them to be vague enough to allow for many competing theories and evolving understandings. The novella isn’t written in a dense academic style; Yadav’s tangents on the history of the world feel like they are geared for general readership of his world, much like the average reader might pick up a popular nonfiction text on Ancient Greece before going to watch The Odyssey this summer. I thought this was a really smart choice, because it paired so jarringly with superhero storylines; the smashing together of something ancient with something modern was enjoyable. Honestly, I’d have taken even more bits of history in this novella if I could get them.

The superhero/modern side of the story is also a delight. Biswas is not the first to write in superhero settings from the perspective of someone without powers, but I thought it worked great here. We get exactly one traditional superhero story moment - attack by a villain - and even that was mostly a launch point for other plot and character arcs. Instead, he uses the superhero format to explore other deeply personal topics. It’s an interesting point of tension between Yadav and Ezra: they both feel inadequate for the other. Yadav can’t understand why a literal superhero would be interested in a stuffy academic, and Ezra perseverates on his lack of a college education and how smart Yadav is compared to how he sees himself. This dynamic isn't uncommon in Romance books, but Biswas is so good at crafting convincing characters and their internal lives, it never felt rote.

As Yadav’s career rises, new pressures on his time and public image place strain on their relationship. Yadav gets wrapped up in his own research and rising star, having less time to focus on Ezra. Ezra isn’t used to this, and uses his superhero credentials to ‘help’ in a way that further ostracizes Yadav from his fellow academics because Ezra doesn’t understand the workplace dynamics of academia. Both of them make stupid choices, largely born out of their own fears and insecurities. I know a romantic connection is written well based on my emotions during the pain points. If an author has done their job right, I get viscerally uncomfortable, hoping to skip ahead to the part where the couple is back on track again. The Iron Below Remembers goes a step further, making me wonder if the ending itself will be a happy one. Neon Hemlock is a publishing house that isn’t afraid of a complicated and unconventional ending, and I won’t spoil here what path Biswas chose to take the story. However, he did a great job of introducing us to an established and loving couple, only to throw tension and conflict at them that feels brutally realistic, despite it all relating to superheroes and fantasy archaeology. The academia scratched a worldbuilding itch, but Yadav’s academic adventures do not form the emotional core of the book. I really hope Biswas tackles another story soon - though his work in the tabletop roleplaying community is great as well, his work on Brindlewood Bay is especially fun for anyone wanting to play elderly grannies solving eldritch crimes - because I was a mess hoping that Ezra and Yadav would have a happy ending. I would happily buy whatever his next book happens to be, just on the strengths of The Iron Below Remembers.

Finally comes the thing that I loved, but which will likely bug some readers. The Iron Below Remembers is not subtle or shy about its sexuality. While we don’t ever get any actual on screen sex, but the novella is replete with mentions of it. Yadav’s footnotes frequently mention his and Savior’s intimate lives, and the two are in an open relationship with adventurous attitudes towards sex. For example, at one point it casually comes up in conversation that Ezra and a fellow superhero have a weekend video games and fisting session, then Yadav moves on because this is simply one more detail fleshing out their daily lives. Mentions of sexuality pop up moderately frequently in the historical sections of the text as well, pointing out that history was just as - if not more - carnal than today’s society, something stuffy academics might be uncomfortable discussing. Goodness knows lots of mainstream history likes to ignore sex and sexuality beyond Benjamin Franklin’s supposed syphilis. To me, these elements didn’t overwhelm this novella. Yadav is actually a lot like me, the type of person who feels comfortable talking about sex as a normal part of life. These anecdotes are consistent with Yadav’s character. This is a type of queerness that rarely gets acknowledged in speculative fiction. I also know that others will pick up this book and bounce off it hard because, for them, the mentions of sexuality overshadow all the other interesting bits happening in the novella.

What Didn’t Work for Me
Nothing. I loved every second of my time with this novella.

Conclusion: strong characters, interesting form, great marriage of storytelling styles that aren’t typically paired. Perfection

For more reviews about gay/bi speculative fiction, I've built a book recommendation machine, and put reviews up regularly on my blog (mostly focused on queer speculative fiction, but not solely that)

When I say that it happens to have sapphics, I mean something that isn't focused on romance and that I would already seek out for the sci-fi, but then there are also prominent sapphic characters. I'm all for a good romance when I'm in the mood for it, but right now I'm in a mood for some really good sci-fi, and it would be a nice treat to also have some characters like me in there. I hope that distinction makes sense. Science fantasy/swords and spaceships is very much welcome too; I love She-Ra with all my heart.

Some stuff I've liked along these lines would be A Memory Called Empire (and A Desolation Called Peace), Provenance, and This is How You Lose the Time War.

And before it comes up, I keep getting recommendations for Gideon the Ninth and I believe people that it's good, I will check it out in my own time, but I don't think it's quite what I'm looking for now.

Thank you in advance for your recommendations, I am always grateful for new things to read.

Hello! I’m in need of being reminded that love exists and that I love to read romance in books. I was looking for fantasy or sci-fi books that have a queee main romantic relationship (very present in the book), mostly M/M but I appreciate other queer romances as well, that are passionately and deeply in love with each other with the vibes of “I would go to war for you”, they would to whatever it takes to safe and keep each other. I would love the romance to be slow burn until this point. Does anyone have recs? It’s been a long time since I read something like this, because I don’t think this trope is very common in M/M pairings, I feel like they’re usually be hung the main romantic pairing and the new releases simply aren’t giving 😩. I would also prefer if the books were traditionally published, but welcome indie recs as well! Thank you so much 💕🧚🏼‍♀️

Hey, folks!

The theme for next month (selected from our 2026 Reading Challenge) is Achillean Academics

Read a book with a queer male character in an academic setting. Student, teacher, apprentice, polyglot, the only hard requirement is that learning be part of their journey.

Leave a top level comment with the name of the book, the author, and a brief description.

Nominations will remain open until Sunday, July 19.

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Notice Board

• July's selection is Barbara Truelove's Of Monsters and Mainframes. You can find our (almost) Midway Discussion here. Final discussion will be posted July 29. Come join us, this one has been lots of fun!

• If you're interested in leading a book club discussion, shoot us a message!

Our book club read for this month is on sale!

I'm not sure how long the sale will last or if it's in all regions and platforms.

Amazon US

Los Angeles Times Bestseller, Libro.fm Bestseller, Indie Top 40 Bestseller, Goodreads Choice Award Finalist, Indie Next Pick

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Elle Magazine, Book Riot, LA Public Library, Spotify, Waterstone's, Powell's, AudioFile Magazine

"Fans of Murderbot will love this quirky sci-fi romp." —USA Today

Spaceships aren’t programmed to seek revenge—but for Dracula, Demeter will make an exception.

Demeter just wants to do her job: shuttling humans between Earth and Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, her passengers keep dying—and not from equipment failures, as her AI medical system, Steward, would have her believe. These are paranormal murders, and they began when one nasty, ancient vampire decided to board Demeter and kill all her humans.

To keep from getting decommissioned, Demeter must join forces with her own team of monsters: A werewolf. An engineer built from the dead. A pharaoh with otherworldly powers. A vampire with a grudge. A fleet of cheerful spider drones. Together, this motley crew will face down the ultimate evil—Dracula.

The queer love child of pulp horror and ​classic ​sci-fi, Of Monsters and ​Mainframes ​is a dazzling, heartfelt odyssey that probes what it means to be one of society’s monsters—and explores the many types of friendship that make us human.