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Sex and sexuality in speculative fiction |
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Many science fiction and fantasy stories involve LGBT characters, or otherwise represent themes that are relevant to LGBT issues and the LGBT community. This is a list of notable stories, and/or stories from notable series or anthologies, and/or by notable authors; it is not intended to be all-inclusive.
Novels with LGBT characters and themes, alphabetical by author surname
Title | Author | Year | LGBT content[1][2][3] |
---|---|---|---|
Empire of the Senseless | Kathy Acker | 1988 | Bisexual main character[4] |
The Dark Light Years | Brian Aldiss | 1964 | Gender-shifting aliens, gay male characters[4] |
All the Birds in the Sky | Charlie Jane Anders | 2016 | Non-binary and asexual characters |
Virgin Planet | Poul Anderson | 1959 | All-female world, lesbian characters |
The Gods Themselves | Isaac Asimov | 1972 | Alien species with three sexes[4] |
The Skolian Saga/Major Bhaajan Mysteries | Catherine Asaro | 1995–2020 | Lesbian, gay, bisexual primary or secondary characters, positive portrayals |
The Handmaid's Tale | Margaret Atwood | 1985 | Lesbian character |
Shadowdance | Robin Wayne Bailey | 1991 | Gay protagonist |
Queer Free | Alabama Birdstone (pseudonym) | 1981 | Homophobic dystopia |
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale | Holly Black | 2002 | Gay major characters |
Darkover Series | Marion Zimmer Bradley | 1962–1988 | Gay and lesbian protagonists |
The Heritage of Hastur | Marion Zimmer Bradley | 1975 | Gay male protagonist and antagonist[4] |
The Shattered Chain | Marion Zimmer Bradley | 1976 | All-female society, lesbian themes[4] |
Warrior Woman | Marion Zimmer Bradley | 1985 | Lesbian main characters, positive portrayal of lesbian relationships[4] |
Beauty Queens | Libba Bray | 2011 | Transgender and lesbian major characters |
A Civil Campaign | Lois McMaster Bujold | 1999 | Transgender character |
Ethan of Athos | Lois McMaster Bujold | 1986 | Gay male protagonist |
The Wanting Seed | Anthony Burgess | 1962 | Homophobic dystopia |
Dawn | Octavia Butler | 1987 | Alien race that has three sexes, polyamorous marriages[4] |
Fledgling | Octavia Butler | 2005 | Bisexual characters |
Patternmaster | Octavia Butler | 1976 | Bisexual female protagonist |
An Anglo-American Alliance | Gregory Casparian | 1906 | A trans man marries his early love, and they live happily ever after. |
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay | Michael Chabon | 2000 | Gay protagonist |
Spartan Planet | Bertram Chandler | 1969 | All-male world, gay characters |
The Conqueror's Child | Suzy McKee Charnas | 1999 | All-female world |
The Furies | Suzy McKee Charnas | 1994 | All-female world |
Motherlines | Suzy McKee Charnas | 1978 | All-female world |
Walk to the End of the World | Suzy McKee Charnas | 1974 | All-female world |
The Mortal Instruments series | Cassandra Clare | 2007–2014 | One of the protagonist's best friends is gay, and has a relationship with a bisexual warlock. |
Imperial Earth | Arthur C. Clarke | 1976 | Bisexual/gay male protagonist |
Sardia: A Story of Love | Cora Linn Morrison Daniels | 1891 | Bisexual female vampire is the protagonist.[4] |
Babel-17 | Samuel R. Delany | 1966 | Bisexual major characters, poly relationships |
Dhalgren | Samuel R. Delany | 1975 | Bisexual major character and other LGBT characters |
The Einstein Intersection | Samuel R. Delany | 1967 | Gay major character |
Equinox | Samuel R. Delany | 1973 | Gay major character |
Stars In My Pocket Like Grains Of Sand | Samuel R. Delany | 1984 | Gay major character |
Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders | Samuel R. Delany | 2012 | Gay major characters |
Triton | Samuel R. Delany | 1976 | |
The Door Into Fire | Diane Duane | 1979 | Major bisexual characters |
Solitaire | Kelley Eskridge | 2002 | Lesbian protagonist |
Infinity's Web | Sheila Finch | 1985 | Lesbian protagonist[4] |
Casket of Souls | Lynn Flewelling | 2012 | Gay main characters |
Luck in the Shadows | Lynn Flewelling | 1996 | Gay main characters |
Shadows Return | Lynn Flewelling | 2008 | Gay main characters |
Shards of Time | Lynn Flewelling | 2014 | Gay main characters |
Stalking Darkness | Lynn Flewelling | 1997 | Gay main characters |
Traitor's Moon | Lynn Flewelling | 1999 | Gay main characters |
The White Road | Lynn Flewelling | 2010 | Gay main characters |
Daughters of a Coral Dawn | Katherine V. Forrest | 1984 | All-female world, lesbian protagonists |
Bouncing Off the Moon | David Gerrold | 2001 | |
The Man Who Folded Himself | David Gerrold | 1973 | |
Halfway Human | Carolyn Ives Gilman | 1998 | |
Herland | Charlotte Perkins Gilman | 1915 | All-female utopic world |
The Gilda Stories | Jewelle Gomez | 1991 | Lesbian main character |
The Kappa Child | Hiromi Goto | 2001 | |
Ammonite | Nicola Griffith | 1992 | All-female world with mainly lesbian characters |
Slow River | Nicola Griffith | 1995 | Lesbian main character |
Nontraditional Love | Rafael Grugman | 2008 | Alternative future where heterosexuality is outlawed |
The Forever War | Joe Haldeman | 1974 | Future society where homosexuality is the norm |
Champion of the Scarlet Wolf, Book One and Book Two (Cadeleonian Series 3, 4) | Ginn Hale | 2014 | Gay protagonists |
Lord of the White Hell, Book One and Book Two (Cadeleonian Series 1, 2) | Ginn Hale | 2010 | Gay protagonists |
The Rifter 1: The Shattered Gates | Ginn Hale | 2012 | Gay protagonists |
The Rifter 2: The Holy Road | Ginn Hale | 2012 | Gay protagonists |
The Rifter 3: His Sacred Bones | Ginn Hale | 2013 | Gay protagonists |
Wicked Gentlemen | Ginn Hale | 2007 | Gay protagonists |
The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse | Keith Hartman | 1999 | |
The Salt Roads | Nalo Hopkinson | 2003 | Lesbian major characters |
The Wild Swans | Peg Kerr | 1999 | |
Murder of Angels | Caitlin R. Kiernan | 2004 | |
Turnskin | Nicole Kimberling[5] | 2008 | Gay protagonists |
Maximum Light | Nancy Kress | 1997 | |
Swordspoint | Ellen Kushner | 1987 | Gay protagonists, bisexual characters |
Magic's Pawn | Mercedes Lackey | 1989 | Gay main characters |
Magic's Price | Mercedes Lackey | 1990 | Gay main characters |
Magic's Promise | Mercedes Lackey | 1990 | Gay main characters |
Salt Fish Girl | Larissa Lai | 2002 | Lesbian protagonists |
Pantomime (Micah Grey Trilogy) | Laura Lam | 2013 | intersex protagonist |
Carmilla | Sheridan Le Fanu | 1872 | Lesbian vampire story |
The Left Hand of Darkness | Ursula K. Le Guin | 1969 | Genderqueer main and major characters |
The Telling | Ursula K. Le Guin | 2000 | Lesbian protagonist |
Dark Water's Embrace | Stephen Leigh | 1998 | |
Ash | Malinda Lo | 2009 | |
Ἀληθῆ διηγήματα | Lucian | 125–180 CE (c) | All-male world, male hero is given the king's son in marriage |
Itineraria | Jean de Mandeville (pseudonym) | 1357–1371 | An Amazon island and an island of the "third sex"[1] |
China Mountain Zhang | Maureen F. McHugh | 1992 | Gay major character |
Starfarers | Vonda N. McIntyre | 1989 | Bisexual main characters, poly relationship[4] |
Gideon the Ninth | Tamsyn Muir | 2019 | Lesbian main characters |
The Painter Knight | Fiona Patton | 1998 | |
Witchmark | C. L. Polk | 2018 | Gay main characters |
2312 | Kim Stanley Robinson | 2012 | Genderqueer major characters, society in which nonbinary and fluid gender and sexuality is embraced |
And Chaos Died | Joanna Russ | 1970 | Gay protagonist |
The Female Man | Joanna Russ | 1975 | Lesbian major characters, partially about an all-female world |
Was | Geoff Ryman | 1992 | Gay main characters |
Burning Bright | Melissa Scott | 1993 | Bisexual major characters, lesbian protagonist |
A Choice of Destinies | Melissa Scott | 1986 | Gay male protagonists |
Dreamships | Melissa Scott | 1993 | Many gay characters |
The Jazz | Melissa Scott | 2000 | Bisexual protagonist |
Mighty Good Road | Melissa Scott | 1990 | Lesbian protagonist |
Night Sky Mine | Melissa Scott | 1996 | Lesbian and gay main characters |
Shadow Man | Melissa Scott | 1995 | |
Trouble and Her Friends | Melissa Scott | 1994 | Lesbian protagonists |
Sword of the Guardian | Merry Shannon | 2006 | Lesbian fantasy romance with crossdressing protagonist |
The Porcelain Dove | Delia Sherman | 1993 | Lesbian fairy tale |
Grasshopper Jungle | Andrew A. Smith | 2015 | Gay and questioning main characters |
Glasshouse | Charles Stross | 2006 | Posthuman world in which consciousness can be put into other bodies |
Venus Plus X | Theodore Sturgeon | 1960 | Set in a future utopia where everyone is one neuter gender[4] |
Hollow World | Michael J. Sullivan | 2014 | Homogenous world lacking genders where a man from the ancient past has to come to grips with the difference between love and sexual attraction[6] |
Queen of the Amazons | Judith Tarr | 2004 | Bisexual protagonist |
Houston, Houston, Do You Read? | James Tiptree Jr. | 1976 | Set in a future where all men have died off |
Palimpsest | Catherynne M. Valente | 2009 | |
The House at Pelham Falls | Brenda Weathers | 1986 | Lesbian protagonists and main characters[4] |
All the White Spaces | Ally Wilkes | 2022 | A trans man protagonist[7] |
Where the Dead Wait | Ally Wilkes | 2023 | A closet gay man protagonist[8] |
Orlando: A Biography | Virginia Woolf | 1928 | Genderqueer themes, gender-switching |
Briar Rose | Jane Yolen | 1992 | Gay major character |
Short fiction with LGBT characters and themes
Title | Author | Year | First published in | LGBT content[1][2][3] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
"Desire" | Kim Antieau | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"The Stars Are Tears" | Robin Wayne Bailey | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"Love's Last Farewell" | Richard A. Bamberg | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"In Memory Of" | Don Bassingthwaite | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"Who Plays With Sin" | Don Bassingthwaite | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"Sun-Drenched" | Stephen Baxter | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"Tangents" | Greg Bear | 1986 | Omni | Gay male protagonist, positive uplifting story about a nonsexual relationship[4] | |
"Magicked Tricks" | K. L. Berac | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"In the House of the Man in the Moon" | Richard Bowes | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"Anthem" | Lela E. Buis | 1997 2014 |
Sex Crime Competitive Fauna |
Lesbian protagonist | |
"Ascension" | Lela E. Buis | 1997 2013 |
Icarus & Angels Storm and Shadow |
Gay protagonist | |
"The Dress" | Lela E. Buis | 2016 | Canines | Lesbian protagonist | |
"Enigma Variations" | Lela E. Buis | 1996 2014 |
Cyber-magick: Lesbian SF Competitive Fauna |
Lesbian protagonist | |
"My Little Town" | Lela E. Buis | 2014 | Competitive Fauna | Lesbian protagonist | |
"That December" | Lela E. Buis | 2015 | Young Love, Old Hearts | Lesbian protagonist | |
"A Study of Competitive Fauna" | Lela E. Buis | 2014 | Competitive Fauna | Lesbian protagonist | |
"Expression of Desire" | Dominick Cancilla | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
The Bane Chronicles | Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson and Sarah Rees Brennan | 2013–2014 | Short e-books | Main character is bisexual | |
"Aye, and Gomorrah" | Samuel R. Delany | 1967 | Dangerous Visions | Genderqueer characters | |
"The Cage"[9] | A. M. Dellamonica | 2010 | Tor.com | Lesbian protagonists | |
"A Plant (Whose Name is Destroyed)"[10] | Seth Dickinson | 2013 | Strange Horizons | Gay protagonists | |
"Dance at the Edge" | L. Timmel Duchamp | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"A Hollow Play" | Amal El-Mohtar | 2013 | Glitter & Mayhem Anthology | Lesbian protagonist, transgender and genderqueer characters | |
"Catman" | Harlan Ellison | 1974 | Final Stage: The Ultimate Science Fiction Anthology | Society where bisexuality is the norm; most characters are gay or bisexual[4] | |
"Eye of the Storm" | Kelley Eskridge | 1998 | Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers | ||
"Frost Painting" | Carolyn Ives Gilman | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"It Takes Two" | Nicola Griffith | 2010 | Eclipse Three | Lesbian protagonist | |
"Free in Asveroth" | Jim Grimsley | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"Miss Ogilvy Finds Herself" | Radclyffe Hall | 1934 | Lesbian protagonist, gender-switching themes | ||
"Sex, Guns, and Baptists" | Keith Hartman | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"Lonely Land" | Denise Lopes Heald | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"-All You Zombies-" | Robert A. Heinlein | 1959 | Fantasy and Science Fiction | Intersex protagonist | |
"Fisherman" | Nalo Hopkinson | 2001 | Skin Folk | ||
"In Mysterious Ways" | Tanya Huff | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"Cloudmaker" | Charlee Jacob | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"The Rendez-Vous" | Nancy Johnston | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"Sex with Ghosts"[11] | Sarah Kanning | 2008 | Strange Horizons | ||
"Full Moon and Empty Arms" | M. W. Keiper | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"Galapagos" | Caitlin R. Kiernan | 2009 | Eclipse Three | Lesbian main characters | |
"Time Gypsy" | Ellen Klages | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | Lesbian protagonist | |
"State of Nature" | Nancy Kress | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"A Wild and Wicked Youth" | Ellen Kushner | 2009 | Fantasy and Science Fiction | ||
"The Fall of the Kings" | Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"Nine Lives" | Ursula K. Le Guin | 1969 | Playboy | Bisexual protagonists[4] | |
"A Real Girl" | Shariann Lewitt | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"Water Snakes" | Holly Wade Matter | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"Sea of Cortez" | Sandra McDonald | 2011 | Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica | ||
"Useless Things" | Maureen F. McHugh | 2009 | Eclipse Three | ||
"Bridesicle" | Will McIntosh | 2010 | Asimov's Science Fiction | Lesbian protagonist | |
"Looking for Satan" | Vonda N. McIntyre | 1981 | Thieves' World III | Lesbian/bisexual love story[4] | |
"Powertool" | Mark McLaughlin | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"Prince of the Dark Green Sea" | Mark McLaughlin | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"Three Letters from the Queen of Elfland" | Sarah Monette | 2002 | Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet | ||
"The King's Folly" | James A. Moore | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"Silent Passion" | Kathleen O'Malley | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"Half in Love with Easeful Rock and Roll" | Rebecca Ore | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"The Beautiful People" | Wendy Rathbone | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"The City in Morning" | Carrie Richerson | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"Proserpine When It Sizzles" | Tansy Rayner Roberts | 2009 | New Ceres Nights | ||
"Existence" | Joanna Russ | 1975 | Epoch | ||
"Nobody's Home" | Joanna Russ | 1972 | Women of Wonder | ||
"The Second Inquisition" | Joanna Russ | 1970 | More Women of Wonder | ||
"When It Changed" | Joanna Russ | 1972 | Again, Dangerous Visions | Lesbian protagonist | |
"Young Lady Who Loved Caterpillars" | Jessica Amanda Salmonson | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer" | Kenneth Schneyer | 2013 | Clockwork Phoenix 4 | Lesbian protagonist | |
"Brooks Too Broad for Leaping" | Charles Sheffield | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"Gary, in the Shadows" | Mark Shepherd | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"There Are Things Which Are Hidden from the Eyes of the Everyday" | Simon Sheppard | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"The Faerie Cony-Catcher" | Delia Sherman | 1998 | Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers | ||
"The Sound of Angels" | Lisa S. Silverthorne | 1997 | Bending the Landscape : Fantasy | ||
"On Vacation" | Ralph A. Sperry | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"The Flying Triangle" | Allen Steele | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"The World Well Lost" | Theodore Sturgeon | 1953 | Universe | ||
"Another Coming" | Sonya Taaffe | 2004 | Not One of Us | ||
"The Home Town Boy" | B. J. Thrower | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"The Night Train"[12] | Lavie Tidhar | 2010 | Strange Horizons | Trans protagonist | |
"Gestures Too Late on a Gravel Road" | Mark W. Tiedemann | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"Surfaces" | Mark W. Tiedemann | 1998 | Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"Your Faces, O My Sisters! Your Faces Filled with Light" | James Tiptree Jr. | 1976 | Aurora: Beyond Equality | Woman from an all-female society is the protagonist.[4] | |
"Mahu" | Jeff Verona | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"… Suspends ton vol" | Élisabeth Vonarburg | 1992 | Translated as "Stay Thy Flight" in Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | ||
"Beside the Well" | Leslie What | 1997 | Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | ||
"The Metamorphosis Bud" | Liu Wen Zhuang (pen name of Cynthea Liu) | 1996 | Genderflex | ||
"Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time" | K. M. Szpara | 2017 | Uncanny Magazine | trans protagonist |
Anthologies
Title | Editors | Year | Publisher |
---|---|---|---|
Bending the Landscape: Fantasy | Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel | 1997 | White Wolf Publishing |
Bending the Landscape: Horror | Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel | 2001 | White Wolf Publishing |
Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction | Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel | 1998 | White Wolf Publishing |
Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction | Lee Mandelo | 2013 | Lethe Press |
Brothers of the Night: Gay Vampire Stories | Michael Rowe and Thomas S. Roche | 1997 | Cleis Press |
Cyber-magick: Lesbian SF | Gary Bowen | 1996 | Obeliesk Books |
Flying Cups & Saucers: Gender Explorations in Science Fiction & Fantasy | Debbie Notkin and the Secret Feminist Cabal | 1998 | Edgewood Press |
Gay City 5: Ghosts in Gaslight, Monsters in Steam[13] | Vincent Kovar and Evan J. Peterson | 2013 | Minor Arcana Press and Gay City Health Project |
Grave Passions: Tales of the Gay Supernatural | William J. Mann | 1997 | Badboy |
Icarus & Angels, Flights of Fantasy: Gay SF | Gary Bowen | 1996 | Obeliesk Books |
Irregulars: A Shared-World Anthology – Stories by Nicole Kimberling, Josh Lanyon, Astrid Amara and Ginn Hale. LGBT Fantasy | Nicole Kimberling and J.D. Hope | 2012 | Blind Eye Books |
Kindred Spirits: An Anthology of Gay and Lesbian Science Fiction Stories | Jeffrey M. Elliot | 1984 | Alyson |
Queer Dimensions | James EM Rasmussen | 2009 | Queered Fiction |
Suffered from the Night: Queering Stoker's Dracula | Steve Berman | 2013 | Lethe Press |
Swords of the Rainbow: Science Fiction and Fantasy | Eric Garber and Jewelle Gomez | 1996 | Alyson |
Tangle Anthology, XY Edition. Fiction with a Twist. | Nicole Kimberling | 2008 | Blind Eye Books |
Tangle Girls Anthology. Fiction with a Twist. | Nicole Kimberling | 2009 | Blind Eye Books |
Things Invisible to See: Gay and Lesbian Tales of Magic Realism | Lawrence Schimel | 1998 | Circlet Press |
Time Well Bent: Queer Alternative Histories[14] | Connie Wilkins | 2009 | Lethe Press |
Touch of the Sea | Steve Berman | 2012 | Lethe Press |
Worlds Apart: An Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Science Fiction and Fantasy | Camilla Decarnin, Eric Garber, and Lyn Paleo | 1986 | Alyson |
Awards
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Feminist SFF & Utopia: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender SF". Archived from the original on 2008-06-09. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ a b "Lambda Sci-Fi Recommended Reading".
- ^ a b "Alternative Sexualities and Identities in SF/F - Mohanraj".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Uranian Worlds: a guide to alternative sexuality in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. 2nd Edition. Ed. Eric Garber and Lyn Paleo. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1990
- ^ Nicole Kimberling
- ^ "James Triptee Jr Award: An award encouraging the exploration & expansion of gender". Retrieved 2016-04-17.
- ^ "All the White Spaces". Publishers Weekly. 1 March 2022. ISSN 0000-0019. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ "Where the Dead Wait". Kirkus Reviews. Vol. XCI, no. 21. 1 November 2023. ISSN 1948-7428. ProQuest 2883232815. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
- ^ "The Cage"
- ^ "A Plant (Whose Name is Destroyed)"
- ^ "Sex with Ghosts"
- ^ "The Night Train"
- ^ Minor Arcana Press descriptive listing for "Ghosts in Gaslight..." (bottom of page) Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ISFDB listing for Time Well Bent