10 Queer Fantasy/Sci-fi Books You Should Pick Up tHIS Pride Month
Happy Pride Month everyone! At Maude’s Book Club, we want to celebrate all stories. Our sci-fi/fantasy book club finds unique stories that represent the genres incredibly well. Maude Garrett’s favourite books have a sprinkle of romance in a heavy space epic of a fantastical world.
The books listed below all have wonderful queer stories and LGBTQAI+ characters that anyone can connect with.
When Marcos moves to town, Milo is forced to acknowledge the feelings he’s kept hidden, especially from his religious parents. But as natural disasters begin to befall them closer they become. Milo and Marcos son begin to wonder if the universe itself is plotting against them. This is the young adult debut novel by playwright and creator of the Two Princes Podcast, Kevin Christopher Snipes.
In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders - legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire — until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart. Sixteen years later, Veronyka is an orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders — even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join the ranks.
In this richly developed fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it’s Lei they’re after — the girl with the golden eyes whose rumoured beauty has piqued the king’s interest.
When Andrew stumbles upon Jamie’s house, he’s injured, starved, and has nothing left to lose. A deadly pathogen has killed off most of the world’s population, including everyone both boys have ever loved. And if this new world has taught them anything, it’s to be scared of what other desperate people will do…so why does it seem so easy for them to trust each other?
Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying - from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total. But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgangers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret.
Achilles, “the best of all the Greeks,” son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary King Peleus, is strong, swift, and irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland. after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods’ wrath.
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. When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment.
In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and is set to arrive on the solstice. Her ship carries a passenger described as harmless. His name is Serapio, he is a blind, scarred young man, cloaked with destiny.
Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. 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 to serve a madman’s vengeance. Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land.
Maude Garret has raved about Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. She has been invested in the Grishaverse and she highly recommends these two books. They are fast-paced and incredibly fun to read.
Six of Crows Synopsis: Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew consisting of a convict, a sharpshooter, a runaway with a privileged past, a spy known as a wraith, a heartrender, and a thief with a gift for unlikely escapes, may be the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction — if they don’t kill each other first.
Crooked Kingdom Synopsis: Kaz’s crew succeeded but at what cost? Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties.
Have you added any of the books to your TBR pile yet? If you have, let us know which one you’re looking forward to the most! If you have any recommendations for queer Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels drop them in the comments below.
If you want a fun space to discuss your favourite novels, come join our discord today and become a Patreon member for other great book club perks.
