I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong. For most of my life, I avoided science fiction like the plague; I’m a fantasy girl, through and through. But it turns out that the imagination needed to tell stories about alien races or artificial intelligence is just as vast and exciting as those that focus on dragons and wizards.
I owe this newfound love of science fiction to shaun david hutchinson’s at the edge of the universe. While much of it is based in our contemporary world, the mystery and fear surrounding a shrinking universe that only one person can remember kept me up into the wee hours of the morning trying to figure out what happened to the boyfriend of the protagonist. While I think this book is one of a kind, I know there are other authors out there with amazing stories featuring LGBTQIA+ characters. so if you’re itching for more lgbtqia+ characters in sci-fi and fantasy, here are a few to try.
You are reading: Fantasy books with gay characters
1. blood like magic by liselle sambury
A rich, dark urban fantasy debut that follows a teenage witch who is given a horrifying task: to sacrifice her first love to save her family’s magic. The problem is that she has never been in love, she will have to find the perfect man before she can kill him.
2. sweet & bitter magic by adrienne tooley
tamsin is a powerful witch, doomed to never feel love, and wren is a fountain, a rare type of human made of magic but unable to use it. When a terrible plague makes Wren’s father sick, she makes a deal with Tamsin: if Tamsin helps her catch the dark witch responsible for creating the plague, then Wren will give Tamsin her love for Wren’s father. she. But love negotiations can be tricky, and these two have a long journey ahead of them.
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3. a dark hollow star by ashley shuttleworth
When a series of murders threaten to expose Toronto’s faerie underworld, four teenagers, each holding a key piece of the truth behind these murders, must form a tenuous alliance in their effort to track down the mysterious killer. behind these crimes.
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4. tessa gratton night glow
In the vast palace of the Empress lives an orphaned girl named Nada. She slips into the shadows of the court, invisible except to the great demon of the palace and her true friend, the kirin prince, heir to the throne. When Kirin is kidnapped, only Nada and the prince’s bodyguard suspect that Kirin may have been kidnapped by the Girl-Eating Enchantress, a powerful woman who has plagued the land for decades. Nothing soon finds out that all magic is a bargain, and that she may be more powerful than she ever imagined. but the price the sorceress demands for the kirin may well cost her heart nothing.
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5. a complicated love story set in space by shaun david hutchinson
Shaun David Hutchinson has done it again with this incredible book about two boys who fall in love while lost in space. this book is quirky, romantic and weird in every way. If the title doesn’t give it away, love can sometimes be a bit tricky, especially when you also need to fight aliens.
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6. white’s lost book by cassandra clare and wesley chu
From the #1 new york times bestselling authors cassandra clare and wesley chu comes the second book in the eldest curses series and an exciting new adventure for high warlock magnus bane and alec lightwood, for whom a death. -challenging the mission to the heart of evil is not just a job, it’s also a romantic getaway.
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7. ghosts of the shadow market by cassandra clare, sarah rees brennan, maureen johnson, kelly link and robin wasserman
From new york times and usa todaybestselling author cassandra clare comes an exciting new collection of short stories that follows jem carstairs as she travels through the many markets alternatives from around the world. Ghosts of the Shadow Marketis a Shadowhunter novel.
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8. shatter the sky by rebecca kim wells
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Raised among the ruins of a conquered mountainous nation, Maren only dreams of sharing a quiet life with her girlfriend Kaia, until the day Kaia is kidnapped by the Aurati, prophetic agents of the Emperor, and forced to join their ranks. . Desperate to save her, Ella Maren hatches a plan to steal one of the Emperor’s coveted dragons and storm the Aurati fortress. If Ella Maren is to have any hope of success, she must become an apprentice to the Aromatorio, the Emperor’s mysterious dragon trainer. but she maren is not prepared for the dangerous secrets that she will discover.
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9. when we were magic by sarah gailey
This book is full of black humor! When accidental magic fails and a child ends up dead, Alexis and her friends team up to try to right a terrible mistake. Throughout the book you may also be asking yourself, which is harder to keep secret: your magical powers or being in love with your best friend?
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10. legendborn by tracy deonn
To find answers to her mother’s death, Bree joins a secret society made up of the descendants of King Arthur’s knights known as Legendborn. With a wizarding war looming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take down society or join the fight. Not only is this book full of southern black girl magic, but it also has amazing queer representation.
This book goes on sale on September 15 and you can pre-order it here right now!
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11. the red scrolls of magic by cassandra clare and wesley chu
all magnus bane wanted was a vacation: a lavish trip to europe with alec lightwood, the shadowhunter who, against all odds, is finally his boyfriend. But as soon as the pair settle in Paris, an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that’s hell-bent on causing chaos around the world. a cult that was apparently founded by the magnus himself. years ago. as a joke.
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12. nicki pau preto feather crown
Veronyka is determined to be a Phoenix Rider, so much so that she disguises herself as a boy to join their ranks. While Veronyka hides her own secrets from her, she uncovers the mysteries of her past that could hold the key to saving the empire. continue this series with book 2, heart of flames, and the finale, wings of shadow!
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13. killer by kiersten white
nina and her twin sister, artemis, are far from normal. it’s hard to be when you grow up in the observer academy, which is a little different from your average boarding school. here, teenage girls are trained as guides for the huntresses: girls endowed with supernatural strength to fight against the forces of darkness. But while Nina’s mother is a leading member of the vigilante council, Nina has never embraced the violent vigilante lifestyle. Instead, she follows her healing instincts and carves out a place for herself as the school’s doctor…until the day Nina’s life changes forever.
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14. at the edge of the universe by shaun david hutchinson
One of the best parts of Edge of the Universe was the inclusive cast of characters. I was excited to read a book that not only explored multiverse theory along with changing family dynamics, but also followed lgbtq+ characters without resorting to harmful stereotypes or focusing the story solely on their weirdness; Instead, Hutchinson treats all of his characters with respect and care. giving the reader the opportunity to relate to the story from him, regardless of his background.
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15. sarah fine’s impostor queen
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I loved the powerful opening, the exploration of this fantasy world, and especially the way Elli comes to terms with her forbidden feelings for her handmaiden, Mim. The sequel, The Cursed Queen, also features a bisexual lead, but I haven’t read it yet, so no spoilers!
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16.volunteer machines by tim floreen
the son of the president of the usa. uu. He has enough to worry about before Charlotte, an artificial humanoid, escapes from her creators’ lab and wreaks havoc on the public via the internet. I’ve heard this book described as “gothic, gadget-y, and gay,” so it quickly shot to the top of my to-read list.
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17. we are the ants by shaun david hutchinson
henry has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: the world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button. he just isn’t sure he wants to. Can you imagine having so much power… and so much responsibility? you could take revenge on those who hurt you, but you also hurt your loved ones. This riveting, otherworldly, yet grounded speculative novel by Shaun David Hutchinson is an absolute must-read.
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18. the scorpion rules by erin bow
greta is duchess and crown princess. She is also a daughter of peace, a hostage held by the de facto ruler of the world, the great artificial intelligence, Talis. this is how the game is played: if you want to rule, you must give one of your children as a hostage. a war starts and your hostage dies. Greta will be free if she can make it to her eighteenth birthday. But everything changes when Elian arrives at the precepture. she is a hostage of a new American alliance and defies the machines that control every part of their lives, and is severely punished for it. Ella’s rebellion opens Greta’s eyes to the brutality of the rules they live by and the subtle resistance of her classmates. and greta discovers her own silent power.
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19. the last wizard by lisa maxwell
in modern new york, the magic is all but extinct. the remaining few who have an affinity for magic, the mageus, live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any wizard who enters Manhattan is trapped by the rim, a barrier of dark energy that confines them to the island. crossing it means losing their power and often their lives. the last wizard is full of complex and intricate characters, including some lgbtq+!
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20. city of bones by cassandra clare
clary is drawn into the world of Shadowhunters, a secret group of warriors dedicated to expelling demons from our world and returning them to their own. A fan favorite in this series, Magnus Bane is a bisexual warlock who has lived for hundreds of years.
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21. lady midnight by cassandra clare
Five years have passed since the war that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma and her battle partner Julian navigate the ever-changing world while Julian’s brother Mark, who was captured by the fairies five years ago, has been returned as a bargaining chip. The fairies are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind, and they need the help of the Shadowhunters to do so. Mark’s fairy ex-boyfriend also shows up, but he too is developing feelings for visiting Shadowhunter Christina.
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