Gay fantasy fiction
Home / gay topics / Gay fantasy fiction
These are stories of machines and magic, love, and self-love.”
Meanwhile, Elsewhere: Science Fiction and Fantasy from Transgender Writers edited by Cat Fitzpatrick and Casey Plett (LGBT)
“Brand new from Topside Press, twenty-five transgender writers imagine different worlds in
the #1 post-reality generation device approved for home use!
Using the sword and the pen, the body and the voice, they struggle not just to survive, but to make history.”
What are your favorite LGBT fantasy books?
15 Great LGBTQ+ Fantasy and Sci-fi Books Every Reader Needs: Guest Post by S. Labrecque
Media never has enough LGBTQ+ representation.
And if it does, we’re the side characters in someone else’s story.
Are you sick of this too?
Fear not!
The one safe road between the northern oasis and southern kingdom is stalked by a necromantic terror. But when the Magical Consortium comes for Antonia and her rival Fable, Rook must team up with Fable’s apprentice– grumpy but cute Sun– to save their mentors.
9) “The Sun and The Star” by Rick Riordan
Gay, Bisexual
Genre: MG Mythology Urban Fantasy
Summary: Nico di Angel– son of Hades– can hear his titan friend Bob calling for help in his dreams.
The teenage poet Arthur Rimbaud is on the verge of breaking through to the images and voice that will make his name.
The Shaftali have mobilized a guerrilla army against these marauders, but every year the cost of resistance grows, leaving Shaftal’s fate in the hands of three people: Emil, scholar and reluctant warrior; Zanja, the sole survivor of a slaughtered tribe; and Karis the metalsmith, a half-blood giant whose earth powers can heal, but only when she can muster the strength to hold off her addiction to a deadly drug.”
From Under the Mountain by C.M.
Spivey (LTA)
“19-year-old Guerline knows exactly what is expected of her: be unobtrusive, be compliant, and do not fall in love with her low-born companion, Eva. She has succeeded at only two of those.
Uncover the best LGBT fantasy books for adults and teens that are sure to take you around the world and add a touch of magic to your heart.
Travel across the universe – both real and imagined – with some of the best gay fantasy books, heading to remote islands with seal friends and navigating famous cities reimagined.
Watch friendships ignite into something more powerful as characters transform and discover who they wish to be.
While many of these gay fantasy novels are for adults, find popular and lesser-known LGBT YA fantasy books, meeting your next favorite vampire or wizard.
Of course, we’ll include a little sci-fi, everything paranormal, and devour-worthy graphic novels.
So, what are the best LGBT fantasy books to read right now?
Escaping from slavery in the 1850s, Gilda’s longing for kinship and community grows over two hundred years. It is constantly watched and maintained by a complex living network, which keeps its citizens protected from harm.
This network, called the Gleaming, is made up of extrasensory humans whose perceptions are limited to only the city of Ora and its people.
Anima is one of those humans, and æ take pride in æ work.
But this perfect yet delicate environment is thrown into disarray upon the arrival of a mysterious stranger carrying a cabinet of objects.
Eventually, she’ll have the skills to be able to find out exactly what happened to her father; hopefully, her health issues won’t get in the way too much.
Author Lillie Lainoff has created one of the most enjoyable and adventurous queer fantasy books with her gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers. He’s on the rocks with his girlfriend.
But as time grows short, Arek will discover that true love was beside him all along.
4) “The Wicked Bargain” by Gabe Cole Novoa
Transmasc nonbinary, Gay, Gender Fluid
Genre: YA Latine Pirate Fantasy
Summary: Mar has kept two secrets their whole life: their transmasc nonbinary identity, and their magic.
It is also 1870. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze—the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization’s bedrock for a thousand years—collapses as most of its citizens are murdered. He hides in the Lower City, befriending an uncommon trio: the Shelter’s rageful owner, Larryn, his dark elven friend Hasryan, and Cal the cheese-loving halfling.
To make matters worse, she must learn to ride Mynaria’s formidable warhorses—and her teacher is the person who intimidates her most, the prickly and unconventional Princess Amaranthine—called Mare—the sister of her betrothed. She’s forced to go on the run until she can find the true thief and prove her own innocence. His nosy neighbor certainly thinks so.
But all of that changes when he is alarmingly given a new assignment by Extremely Upper Management: head to Marsyas Island and assess both the conditions of the orphanage there as well as the man running it.
Linus has never had to assess a master of an orphanage before, and what is even more unusual is that he’s not allowed to discuss this assignment with anyone.
Yadriel’s struggles with getting others to accept his identity are very relatable, and this combined with the murder-mystery element, makes for one of the most engaging LGBT YA fantasy books and stories with ghosts on this list.
Read Cemetery Boys: Amazon | Goodreads
Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee
Politics is not usually far away in LGBT fantasy books, and Phoenix Extravagant is no exception.
Set in a world where the protagonist lives in a country conquered by another nation (the Razanei), we follow the moderately talented artist Gyen Jebi.
Having just spent their last prover savings on an artistic entrance exam (without telling their sister) and failing, they find themselves wandering the province and into a job that they absolutely did not expect to get: working for the Razanei at the Ministry of Armour.
This military organization is responsible for the armored automatons that patrol the city and keep order.
Yet, they are seen as a symbol of oppression by Jebi’s people, especially Jebi’s sister, whose partner was killed by the Razanei.
Taking the job is an offer they can’t refuse, especially as they’ll get to find out just what the Razanei are doing deep down in their underground facilities …
One of the more politically-charged gay fantasy books on this list, Phoenix Extravagant contains a very well-imagined society and some very pleasing fantastical creativity.
Dragon book lovers will especially find something great here.
Read Phoenix Extravagant: Amazon | Goodreads
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
If you are looking for queer fantasy books for tweens and teens and love monster-themed novels, be sure to pick up Pet.
What if angels and monsters were real but the angels defeated the monsters years ago and now everyone can live without fear?
That’s the utopian setting for Pet, Nigerian non-binary author Akwaeke Emezi’s excellent LGBT fantasy book that’s both heavy on metaphor and dangerously literal.
Jam, a Black, trans high-schooler, lives in the city of Lucille in an alternate modern-day United States.
Except Baz is missing as the school year begins, and Simon is discovering secrets about himself and his mentor.