Hi all!
I have not read/listened to a book in a long time and I’d like to get back into it. What I really don’t need is something dark and depressing or anything that will remind me of the real world, because Lord knows the current state of the world is not helping my Major Depression lol.
To illustrate this point, as an adult I’ve reversed my childhood opinions and become be more of a fan of Star Trek than Star Wars. In Star Wars, even though the good guys win, the world is never as good as it was in the past (before the Clone Wars). Star Trek, on the other hand, believes that tomorrow can be better than the past, and good people cooperating can make that possible despite obstacles.
I would like a sci fi or fantasy book that has a happy ending but isn’t overly fluffy the whole time. I would love a queer romance that doesn’t have dramatic/tempestuous relationships, queer baiting, bury your gays, or will-they-won’t-they tropes. I love court/political intrigue, rich world building, and subverted expectations (especially of characters). I hate struggle-in-silence characters, and would much rather see a person struggles met with the compassionate support of a loving partner.
Some books I’ve read or listened to that I enjoyed (although some didn’t necessarily hit all the aforementioned themes) are:
– The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
– The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
– Uprooted by Naomi Novik
– A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
– Heartstopper series
– Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov
– Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke
Two books I could not finish because they were too dark were The Traitor Baru Cormorant and The Expanse series.
Thanks in advance for your help!
by Beary_Nerdy
5 Comments
r/cozyfantasy may be a good place to start.
A wild little suggestion here, but – I LOVE “The Water and the Wild” trilogy by K. E. Ormsbee. It’s written for young folks but I read this trilogy in my late 20’s and I loved it, and I do believe that these books are ones you can read in 8th grade or in your 80’s and still enjoy. There is a very subtle and sweet queer relationship near the end of the trilogy but if you’re keen you’d have seen it coming from the beginning.
I’m sure you’ll get one billion recs for **Project Hail Mary** which is a brilliant and heartwarming sci fi narrated by its main character – a lovable, hilarious nerd who wakes up with no idea who or where he is. He soon discovers/remembers he’s been sent on a suicide mission to another star system to try to save earth. It will restore your faith in humanity, if only for a little while. No real romance at all here, just a guy all alone in a space ship. Which sounds depressing but is fantastic!! Amazing audiobook as well.
You could also take a look at **The Future** by Naomi Alderman. It doesn’t say exactly when it is set, but you could easily imagine it taking place 10-20 years in the future because most of the tech is very recognizable as already available or on the horizon. The book starts with the world’s theee biggest tech gods (basically their version of Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg) all getting an AI notification that the apocalypse is about to begin and they need to get to their billionaire bunkers asap. Then the book rewinds several years to a rag tag group of brilliant techs who think social media is destroying society, so they set out a very creative (and I think actually plausible) way to fix it. It has a nonbinary character, as well as a really well done lesbian romance/relationship.
I also think you
Scatter by Molly J Bragg – it’s about lesbian superheroes and is fun and uplifting to the point I consider it one of my comfort reads. This one has a pretty strong romance plot, if you want something that is focused more on the getting/learning superpowers aspects, read book 3, Aether.
Becky Chamber’s books especially Psalm for the wild built