MOGAI Reads

Recommendations for fantasy and sci-fi books featuring queer and trans characters

[mogaireads]

Bimonthly superhero feature: Batwoman (Kate Kane) (DC universe)

The second incarnation of Batwoman, Kate Kane is, much like Batman who so inspired her, a wealthy vigilante who uses special technology and weapons to fight crime in the city of Gotham. She is also highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat and investigation.

This second incarnation of Kate is a Jewish lesbian. In a 2013 release, she proposed to her girlfriend Maggie Sawyer.

First appearance: Detective Comics (1952) (non-lesbian version); 52 (2006) (lesbian version)

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Bimonthly superhero feature: Karma (Xi’an Coy Manh) (Marvel universe)

Karma is a mutant with the ability of psychic possession and telepathy. She is a founding member of New Mutants and has been part of various X-Men teams, holding pro-human feelings through the human-mutant conflicts.

Xi’an is one of the first major lesbian charactes in mainstream comics. She is also Vietnamese, she and her family having fled their country during the Vietnam War. She loses one of her legs in a battle, and has it replaced by a prosthetic.

First appearance: Marvel Team-Up #100 (1980)

[mogaireads]

Rat Queens by Kuris J. Wiebe, Roc Upchurch, and Stejpan Šejić (2013)

In a world similar to that of Dungeons & Dragons or Lord of the Rings, the Rat Queens are a gang of four women: a mage elf, an atheist human cleric (whose religion worships a giant squid), a hipster dwarf, and a hippie smidgeon. Occasionally caught between being in trouble with the law and helping defend the town, the Rat Queens and their acquaintances fight menacing enemies and uncover dark secrets, all while looking awesome and neglecting to watch their language in this ongoing graphic novel.

One of the Rat Queens, Betty, is openly into girls and has an on/off girlfriend. The cleric Dee, as well as city watch officer Sawyer and other characters in the town, are PoC.

Triggers: Sex, murder/death, gore, swearing

Recommended by mogaireads

[mogaireads]

Bimonthly superhero feature: Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier) (Marvel universe)

Northstar and his twin sister Aurora began as members of the Canadian team Alpha Flight before joining the X-Men. He has the powers of flight, light manipulation, and super speed and strength.

One of the first openly gay characters in Western comics (and the first to come out in Marvel comics), Jean-Paul married his partner Kyle Jinadu (a black man) in a 2012 publication. He’s also a bilingual ski champion.

Fiirst appearance: Uncanny X-Men #120 (1979)

[mogaireads]

Bimonthly superhero feature: Xavin (Marvel universe)

A member of the Skrull royal family, Xavin becomes a member of the Runaways. Amongst other powers, Xavin possesses the ability of shapeshifting, fire manipulation, flight, and superhuman strength.

Xavin is a Skrull, who can change their gender at will. She most often presents as a woman of colour. She enters a relationship with fellow Runaway Karolina Dean.

First appearance: Runaways #7 (2004)

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Bimonthly superhero feature: The Question (Renee Montoya) (DC universe)

Renee began her run as a detective in Gotham City, but eventually left the job and took on the title of The Question from the original bearer of the name, Charles Victor Szasz. Aside from being a great detective, she is a skilled marksman and martial artist. (She also keeps her sexuality in the recent live action TV show Gotham. Yay!)

Renee is a lesbian woman of colour.

First appearance: Batman #475 (1992)

[mogaireads]

Prosperity by Alexis Hall (2014)

In an alternate 1863, Prosperity follows a rogue named Piccadilly as he finds himself aboard the flying ship Shadowless, whose captain has them on a mission to gather phlogiston from the clouds in the deep sky. Piccadilly finds himself learning not only about what the sky holds, but about the fascinating people around him and, in turn, about himself. Oh, and there’s sky krakens.

Hall has written on his website that he wrote Prosperity with the intention of filling it with queer characters. Piccadilly is an openly bisexual black man, and the two other men on board are openly queer (most likely gay). The captain is genderqueer with they/them pronouns, and the opium-smoking former governess is a lesbian.

Triggers: Sex, murder/death references, swearing

Recommended by mogaireads

[mogaireads]

The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie (2014)

This ongoing graphic novel series follows seventeen-year-old Londoner Laura as she gets tangled up in the exploits of a group called The Pantheon, a group of reincarnations of gods who live like celebrities. The Pantheon is reincarnated every ninety years, but each cycle only allows them to live for two years after discovering their divinity.The gods are simultaneously exactly and nothing like what one would expect, and each have intriguing relationships with one another and with the world they’ve been forcibly reincarnated into.

At least three of the reincarnated gods are bisexual/pansexual, including Lucifer and Sekhmet, and the god Baal is also queer. The journalist, Cassandra, is trans. POC are well-represented, including the main character Laura (the black daughter of a biracial couple).

Triggers: Sex references, murder/death, gore, swearing

Recommended by mogaireads

[mogaireads]

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin (1996)

An ongoing series set in the kingdom of Westeros and the lands surrounding it, ASOIAF is an intricate story from many viewpoints about the struggle for the crown of Westeros, as well as the often deadly relationships between its noble houses. The story blends themes of honour, power, personal conflicts, and revenge.

Two somewhat prominent male characters are in a gay relationship, though this is much more straightforward in the HBO TV adaption Game of Thrones. One of the main viewpoint characters (and arguably one of the most important characters in the series’ massive cast) is a bisexual woman, as is another major viewpoint character who greatly influences many of the kingdom’s conflicts (both of these are left out of the show). A prominent character in the third book and his paramour are openly bisexual. A fair warning, though: the society presented in the series is based off of medieval Europe and carries many similar prejudices. Many of the characters say homophobic things (though the books are not written in a homophobic way), the minor intersex character only exists to be part of a grotesquerie, and many of the characters are misogynists (and there is a lot of rape). Despite this, the women are very well written, and disabled characters and POC are rather well represented.

Triggers: Sex, murder/death, gore, swearing

Recommended by mogaireads

[mogaireads]

Bimonthly superhero feature: Hellblazer (John Constantine) (DC and Vertigo universes)

John Constantine is a working class magician and detective of the occult, perhaps more of an antihero than anything. Despite his rugged appearance, chain smoking, and dry wit, he’s extremely powerful and gifted at all things magic, from exorcisms to summonings. He combines the gritty and the emotional to create a really lovable character.

John is bisexual.

First appearance: The Saga of the Swamp Thing #25 (1984)

[mogaireads]

Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples (2012)

Set on a distant planet, the moon it is at war with, and places in between and far beyond, Saga is about a rogue couple, each from different sides of an interspecies war, and their newborn baby on the run across the galaxy, trying to find somewhere to be safe together. This ongoing graphic novel not only has incredible artwork and witty dialogue, but also explores themes of war, belonging, xenophobia, and family while providing an intriguing mix of fantasy and sci-fi. It balances exciting action with heartfelt and emotional moments to tell a story from the perspectives of multiple people from multiple sides of the greater conflict.

One of the major characters, Gwendolen, is a bisexual (or pansexual) woman of colour. She is an ambitious, driven character with a compelling story to tell and great hair to show off. Two other characters, a pair of journalists, are a gay couple. POC are also excellently featured, including the wife of the main couple, Alana, and their biracial (and bispecies) child.

Triggers: Sex, murder/death, fantasy gore, swearing

Recommended by mogaireads

[mogaireads]

Bimonthly superhero feature: Phyla-Vell (Marvel universe)

The daughter of Mar-Vell and sister of Genis-Vell (both of whom have been Captain Marvel), Phyla has gone under the name of Quasar, Captain Marvel, and Martyr, and she has become a member of the Guadians of the Galaxy. She has superhuman strength, flight abilities, cosmic awareness, and the power of energy projection and absorbtion.

Phyla is a woman of colour and has started a relationship with bisexual female hero Moondragon.

First appearance: Captain Marvel #16 (2003)

[mogaireads]

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)

A future dystopian setting, where women are catergorized into enforced groups, one of which is the Handmaids: fertile women (the only fertile women) who dress in red and serve to ritually sleep with upperclass men in order to bear children. The story depicts one such Handmaid, Offred, navigating her way through this harsh and oppressive society and hoping to find her husband and daughter, someday, somewhere, alive. An interesting take on the future, which is made more interesting by the fact that Atwood doesn't consider is science fiction but strictly “speculative fiction”.

One of Offred's friends from before she was a Handmaid, Moira, is a lesbian, which is known as "gender treason". Moira resists the totalitarian government by running away from becoming a Handmaid and openly voicing her opinions against the government. I would say she was my favourite character. The novel depicts elements of racism as well as homophobia and sexism.

Triggers: Sex, death

Recommended by mogaireads

[mogaireads]

Welcome!

MOGAI Reads is a blog for fantasy and sci-fi book recommendations featuring queer and/or trans characters. Suggestions are welcome! The first posts will be coming soon. You can go here to learn more. Reblog to spread the word!