Hi, I was wondering if you could recommend any LGBT fantasy that isn’t based in a highschool? Thanks
Hi! Thanks for sending in this question, I would be glad to!
Books I recommend: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (Review) Ensemble cast of criminals pull off a heist in a magical original setting, during the rise of a fascist regime. YA.
With Roses in Their Hair by Ennis Bashe (Review) (Read Here) Lesbian retelling of Tam Lin in a fantasy/dystopian setting. Adult short story.
Peter Darling by Austin Chant (Review) A trans and gay reimagining of Peter Pan. Adult.
Quoria by Calhoun Crimin (Read Here) An early 20th century-inspired fantasy setting starring a con man-turned-detective who gets in way over his head solving magical crimes. YA appropriate.
Amberlough Dossier by Lara Elena Donnelly (Review) Speculative rather than strictly fantasy (it takes place in a non-magical original 30s-inspired setting), the series is about spies and revolutionaries facing the rise of fascism. Adult.
Heartwood ed. Joamette Gil (Review) A collection of non-binary comics from various authors, all with fae inspiration. YA appropriate.
Huntress by Malinda Lo (Review) Two girls must go on a journey to the city of the fairy queen to restore the balance of nature. YA.
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (Review) A fantasy comic about a shapeshifter, and the villainous Lord Blackheart she works for. YA appropriate.
Taproot by Keezy Young (Review) A gardener who can see ghosts gets involved with something bigger when his ghost friends find themselves transported to a creepy forest on another plane of existence. YA appropriate.
Books I’m excited about (but haven’t read): Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron (Goodreads) It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again. Sixteen-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee, and finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her step sisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all–and in the process, they learn that there’s more to Cinderella’s story than they ever knew… YA. (Blurb from Goodreads)
Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden (Goodreads) By night, Razia Khan is one of the most sought-after dancing girls in the desert city of Bikampur. Later in the night, she is its most elusive thief. When Razia finds herself dancing for the maharaja's son, the handsome prince Arjun, she knows that she's playing with fire. As a trans girl, known as a hijra, she can never be a wife to any man, and as the former crown prince of the Sultanate of Nizam, she guards her identity carefully, lest her father's assassins find her. But in the dragon-riding prince of Bikampur, Razia sees not just a ticket out of the gutter, but a kindred spirit. (Quoted from NoveList)
Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta (Goodreads) When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the newest reincarnation of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries into a teenager, and together they must break the curse that keeps Arthur coming back. YA. (Quoted from Goodreads)
Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst (Goodreads) Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds. Her marriage will seal the alliance between Mynaria and her homeland, protecting her people from other hostile lands. But Denna has a secret. She possesses an Affinity for fire—a dangerous gift for the future queen of a kingdom where magic is forbidden. YA. (Quoted from Goodreads)
Pet by Akweke Emezi (Goodreads) In a near-future society that claims to have gotten rid of all monstrous people, a creature emerges from a painting seventeen-year-old Jam's mother created, a hunter from another world seeking a real-life monster. YA. (quoted from NoveList)
Spellhacker by M.K. England (Goodreads) Magic was a natural resource until a corporation used a magical earthquake as an excuse to make magic a controlled substance - and an outrageously expensive one. Diz and her friends run an illegal magic-siphoning operation, and are about to pull their last heist. YA. (Paraphrased from Goodreads)
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James (Goodreads) A mix of fantasy and African history and myth. Tracker is sent to track down a boy who disappeared three years ago, and must break his rule of working alone, joined by a shapeshifting man/leopard, and other strange characters. Adult. (paraphrased from Goodreads).
The City We Became by N. K. Jemison (Goodreads) An evil stirs in the underbelly of NYC, threatening to destroy the city and her 6 avatars. Adult. (paraphrased from NoveList)
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (Goodreads) Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages. Adult. (Quoted from Goodreads)
Ash by Malinda Lo (Goodreads) In this variation on the Cinderella story, Ash grows up believing in the fairy realm that the king and his philosophers have sought to suppress, until one day she must choose between a handsome fairy cursed to love her and the King's Huntress whom she loves. YA. (Quoted from NoveList)
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan (Goodreads) Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for...and the most demeaning. This year, there's a ninth. And instead of paper, she's made of fire. YA. (Quoted from Goodreads)
Shark by Kevaughn Ryder (Goodreads) Silver Shark, youngest of the royal family of Near Shallows, has been having strange dreams for many nights. He barely remembers them, except for a handsome man with a beautiful smile.On his first trip to the surface, Shark is horrified to discover that the man is human; a creature feared and hated by those of his underwater kingdom. In his confusion, Shark commits unspeakable treachery: he saves this human from drowning. Age range unknown. (Quoted from Ryderworlds.wordpress.com)
Everfair by Nisi Shawl (Goodreads) Everfair is a wonderful Neo-Victorian alternate history novel that explores the question of what might have come of Belgium's disastrous colonization of the Congo if the native populations had learned about steam technology a bit earlier. Fabian Socialists from Great Britian join forces with African-American missionaries to purchase land from the Belgian Congo's "owner," King Leopold II. This land, named Everfair, is set aside as a safe haven, an imaginary Utopia for native populations of the Congo as well as escaped slaves returning from America and other places where African natives were being mistreated. Adult. (Blurb from Goodreads).
The Deep & Dark Blue by Niki Smith (Goodreads) After a terrible political coup usurps their noble house, Hawke and Grayson flee to stay alive and assume new identities, Hanna and Grayce. Desperation and chance lead them to the Communion of Blue, an order of magical women who spin the threads of reality to their will. Middle Grade. (Quoted from Goodreads)
The Deep by Rivers Solomon (Goodreads) Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu. Adult. (Quoted from Goodreads)
Crier's War by Nina Varela (Goodreads) After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, Designed to be the playthings of royals, took over the estates of their owners and bent the human race to their will. YA. (Quoted from Goodreads)
A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson (Goodreads) After meeting a handsome Dalucan soldier, Aqib bmg Sadiqi, a fourth cousin to the royal family and son of the Master of Beasts, struggles with his family's expectations and the love he feels for Lucrio. Adult. (Blurb from NoveList).
