LGBTQ+ Fantasy Book Rec List
Few notes:Â All books redirect to goodreads page. My focus is on high/heroic/historic/mythological fantasy, any other genres are stated in the brackets.Â
Please, add books and notes at will but remember to include only these in where either the protagonist or an important side character belongs to LGBTQ+.
(I also have a list here, which Iâm going to update every time someone adds another book to this list)
Rain Wild Chronicles (part of Realm of the Elderlings series), Robin Hobb
The Books of Outremer, Chaz Brenchley
The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
The Tale of the Five Omnibus, Diane Duane
The Last Herald Mage series (part of Valdemar series), Mercedes Lackey
Nightrunner series, Lynn Flewelling
The Steel Remains (part of A Land Fit fot Heroes series), Richard K. Morgan
The Wode Series, J. Tullos Hennig
Mordred, Bastard Son, Douglas Clegg
The Knights of Camelot series, Sarah Luddington
The Mortal Instruments, Cassie Clare
Kirith Kirin, Jim Grimsley
The Fireâs Stone, Tanya Huff
Shadowdance, Robin Wayne Bailey (trigger warning for rape)
Doctrine of Labyrinths series, Sarah Monette
Swordspoint & The Privilege of the Sword & The Fall of the Kings (part of Riverside world), Ellen Kushner
Iskryne World Series, Sarah Monette
Torsere Series, Annabelle Jacobs
Captive Prince Series, C.S. Pacat
Micah Grey series, Laura Lam (a bisexual intersex afab male protagonist)
Gay Knights And Horny Heroes: Tales from the Court of King Arthur, Michael Gouda (very nsfw in a very ridiculous setting. Also spoiler: everyone is gay and horny)
[steampunk]Â Havemercy series, Jaida Jones, Danielle Bennett
[steampunk] A Book of Tongues (Hexslinger series), Gemma Files
[steampunk]Â The God Eaters, Jesse Hajicek
[steampunk]Â Lord of the White Hell, Ginn Hale
[urban fantasy]Â Rifter Series, Ginn Hale
[urban fantasy]Â Autobiography of Red, Anne Carson
[urban fantasy]Â The Vampire Chronicles, Anne Rice
[sf] Bas-Lag Trilogy, China Miéville
[sf]Â Warchild series, Karin Lowachee
[dystopian sf]Â Mind Fuck, Manna Francis
LESBIAN/BI FEMALE CHARACTERS
Good Lesbian Books - itâs worth checking this site; itâs a guide to lesbian books, with books neatly organized into genres and themes
Circle of Magic, Tamora Pierce
Huntress & Ash, Malinda Lo
The Steel Remains, Richard K. Morgan
Chronicles of Tornor, Elizabeth A. Lynn
When Women Were Warriors series, Catherine M. Wilson
The Saga of the Renunciates & Thendara House (from Darkover series), Marion Zimmer Bradley
Lythande, Marion Zimmer Bradley
Elemental Logic series, Laurie J. Marks
Bansheeâs Honor, Shaylynn Rose
Kushielâs Legacy series, Jacqueline Carey
Wolfcry (part of The Kieshaâra series), Amelia Atwater-Rhode
The Dark Wife, Sarah Diemer
The Witch Sea, Sarah Diemer (for free! The link leads to the download page)
Sapphoâs Fables: Lesbian Fairy Tales series, Elora Bishop and Jennifer Diemer
Queenâs Champion: The Legend of Lancelot Retold, Cris Newport
Celaeno series, Jane Fletcher
Sing the Four Quarters (part of Quarter series), Tanya Huff
Fires of the Faithful (part of Elianaâs Song), Naomi Kritzer
Dragon Age: The Masked Empire (part of Dragon Age series), Patrick Weekes
Nantuket Trilogy, S.M. Stirling
By the Sword, Mercedes Lackey
Sword of the Guardian, Merry Shannon
[urban fantasy]Â The Drowning Girl, CaitlĂn R. Kiernan
[urban fantasy]Â Gossamer Axe, Mass Market
[urban fantasy]Â The Red Tree, CaitlĂn R. Kiernan
[urban fantasy]Â The Cirlce, Mats Strandberg and Sara Bergmark Elfgren
[urban fantasy]Â Modern Faerie Tales, Holly Black
[sf]Â Ascension, Jacqueline Koyanagi
[sf]Â Jacobâs Ladder series, Elizabeth Bear
[sf]Â Santa Olivia series, Jacqueline Carey
[sf] Ammonite & Slow River, Nicola Griffith
[sf]Â The Telling, Ursula Le Guin
[sf]Â Dreamships, Melissa Scott
[sf]Â The Stone Gods, Jeanette Winterson
[sf]Â Adaptation series, Malinda Lo
[dystopian]Â The Holdfast Chronicles, Suzy McKee Charnas
Vows and Honor series (part of Valdemar series), Mercedes Lackey (asexual female protagonist. Trigger warning for rape as a background story!)
The Fireâs Stone, Tanya Huff (one of protagonists is an asexual mage princess)
Banner of the Damned, Sherwood Smith (asexual female protagonist)
The Deed of Paksenarrion (part of Paksenarrion series), Elizabeth Moon (protagonist may be read as asexual, she certainly isnât interested in anyone)
[sf]Â Jacobâs Ladder series, Elizabeth Bear (asexual lesbian protagonist)
[sf] short stories: A Fisherman of the Inland Sea (in A Fisherman of the Inland Sea) , Mountain Ways, Unchosen Love (both from The Birthday of the World and Other Stories) , Ursula Le Guin (polyamorous marriages - between two men and two women)
GENDER NON-BINARY & TRANSGENDER CHARACTERS
Farseer Trilogy & Tawny Man Trilogy & Fitz and The Fool Trilogy (part of Realm of the Elderlings series), Robin Hobb (gender non-binary major character)
Eon series, Alison Goodman (one of side characters is trans woman)
Bloodhound (part of YA series Beka Cooper), Tamora Pierce (features a trans woman)
The Bone Palace (part of The Necromancer Chronicles), Amanda Downum (major trans female character)
A Story of the First History series, Mary Gentle (gender non-binary protagonsit)
Children of the Triad series, Laurie J. Marks (one of the species, Aeyrie, is genderless, referred to with gender-neutral pronouns Id, Ids and Idre)
Micah Grey series, Laura Lam (a bisexual intersex afab male protagonist)
TamĂr Triad, Lynn Flewelling (Princess Tamir is born female, but to protect them they are magically transformed into male and raised as a boy. Later in the books they are transformed into female again)
[urban fantasy] The Drowning Girl, CaitlĂn R. Kiernan (main character is in a relationship with her transgender girlfriend)
[dystopia] The Butterfly and the Flame, Dana De Young (trans female protagonist)
[dystopia] Bone Dance, Emma Bull (agender protagonist)
[sf] The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard (an anthology of transgender narratives)
[sf] Vorkosigan Saga, Lois McMaster Bujold (major intersex character, trigger warning? for referring to them with âitâ pronouns)
[sf] The Left Hand of Darkness (part of Hainish Cycle), Ursula Le Guin (intersex society)
[sf] 2312, Kim Stanley Robinson (very broad range of gender and sexual identity)
[sf] Imajica, Clive Barker (one of characters is an interdimensional traveler whose body can shift between sexes)
[post-apocalyptic] Wraeththu series, Storm Constantine (intersex society)