I feel like I've just been reading this or that and struggling to get really invested. I'd prefer to get into a series but would be fine with standalone recs too! Honestly not too much or a stickler for genre as long as the writing is good.
My recent favorites: The Locked Tomb (this is the ticket for me. I've read it 3+ times over the past couple years), The Vampire Chronicles (my fave is The Vampire Lestat), and Lolita (not queer fantasy but I love the writing style). Also a big fan of LOTR and have been listening to the audiobooks on loop fwiw.
So far I have NOT enjoyed any Locked Tomb "readalikes" that have been recommended to me. I found All Systems Red and The Unspoken Name to both be pretty poorly written. And I just couldn't get into The Fifth Season.
I generally like:
-well-written, artful prose
-a strong narrative voice, heavy character interiority
-queerness that is present but not necessarily a focal point
-deep, complicated characterization; subtle and realistic character interactions
-morally grey characters
-mystery, gothic vibes, high stakes; death and SA/CSA as thematic subject matters
-female characters (who are taken seriously by the author, written as complicated as the male characters are)
Generally do not like:
-YA
-romance as a genre
-flat characters, unnatural dialogue
-little to no character interiority/solely physical descriptions and actions
I will be very grateful to anyone who gives me a good rec 🙏
by alengthofrope
8 Comments
Fantasy/Sci-fi isn’t my usual genre, but I recently read Ruben Reyes, Jr’s short story collection, *There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven*, and think you may like it. Several of the stories feature gay characters and most have US immigrants, mostly from El Salvador.
(Edit: To be clear, it is a sci-fi/fantasy-focused collection. One of the stories, for instance, has a character buy an AI/robot with the personality of his late father, hoping this iteration of him will be more accepting of his sexuality. Another has people emigrating to Mars, as the climate on Earth has become too bad, and the oceans acidic. One story isn’t sci-fi but is in a choose-your-adventure format where a young El Salvadoran boy is deciding whether to immigrate to the US and make decisions along the way).
A Memory Called Empire and its sequel A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine. Doesn’t have SA/CSA as a theme and isn’t gothic but otherwise hits all your marks.
Not super deep, but I really liked *Translation State* by Ann Leckie, it’s a slice-of-life Sci-Fi told through multiple POV’s where the humans are unusual among species in having a fixed gender.
Becky Chamber’s Wayfarers series is a set of loosely connected books telling character driven stories about how different species live together in a shared outer space. I find her to be a sort of spiritual successor to Ursula LeGuin in both subject matter and writing style, if that helps at all.
A bit old school, but try Valdemar, by Lackey. Either Arrows of the Queen or Magic’s Pawn are good entry points.
Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar books are very gay friendly and have a number of gay protagonists. Magic’s Pawn, Magic’s Promise, and Magic’s Price feature Vanyel Ashkevron, a mage who is gay. There’s no real sex, so if you’re looking for spicy scenes, you won’t find them, but you’ll find a lot of gay issues and relationships being presented really well.
You might like Gideon the Ninth. Its got that dark gothic vibe with necromancers and stuff. The main character is gay and its not super in your face about it. The writing is pretty dense but in a good way, lots of internal monologue and character development. Not YA at all, gets pretty dark and violent. The relationship between the two main characters is complicated and messy. Only thing is the dialogue can be kinda modern/memey sometimes but honestly it works with the story.
Also check out This Is How You Lose the Time War. Its about two agents from opposing sides who start leaving letters for each other. Really beautiful writing, not your typical sci-fi book. The queer romance develops slowly through their letters.
This is How You Lose The Time War