28 of The Best Queer Fantasy Books

The champion queer phantasy books

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

A shy prince falls for his caller bodyguard successful this Ottoman-esque phantasy romance. After a humiliating incidental astatine court, Prince Kadou indispensable beryllium his loyalty to his sister, the queen, by investigating a caller break-in astatine the guild. Alongside his recently appointed bodyguard, the standoffish Evemer, helium discovers a counterfeit conspiracy that could ruin a federation that prides itself connected its princes who tin touch-taste precious metals.

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When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

If you’ve ever wished Aziraphale and Crowley from Good Omens were really a confirmed couple, this gorgeous communicative of Jewish angels and demons is for you. Uriel and Ashmedai person agelong been the lone supernatural creatures successful their shtetl. Together, they survey torah and hardly announcement the centuries going by. But erstwhile a miss from their assemblage goes missing, their hunt to find her takes them each the mode to America and introduces them to the champion and worst the satellite has to offer. Through it all, it’s their relationship and emotion for each different that keeps them going.

Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

In this novella from the writer of The Red Scholar’s Wake, a princess, returned to her mother’s tribunal aft years distant arsenic a overseas hostage, is torn betwixt her feelings for a erstwhile flame, a tendency to beryllium herself successful politics, and a supernatural unit that’s surrounded her for years. Her engagement to Eldris of Ephteria could supply her with the powerfulness and stableness she longs for — but astatine a steep cost. As she struggles to beryllium her governmental savvy to her mother, the fires that person followed her for years promote her to reclaim herself — adjacent if it means giving up the emotion she thought she wanted.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

The archetypal publication successful Rebecca Roanhorse’s superb caller phantasy bid follows a vessel skipper bound for the beatified metropolis of Tova connected the eve of a wintertime solstice celebration. But aboard her vessel is simply a supposedly harmless young antheral with a destiny to fulfill. Xiala knows capable astir destiny and supposedly harmless young men to cognize helium is surely thing but. The bid is inspired by the pre-Columbian Americas and is afloat of prophecies, intrigue, and magic.

The House successful the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

It’s conscionable different time arsenic a lawsuit idiosyncratic for the Department successful Charge Of Magical Youth erstwhile Linus Baker is assigned to sojourn Marsyas Island Orphanage and find whether its six highly unsafe charges are apt to bring astir the extremity days. Considering 1 of the children is the Antichrist, it mightiness not beryllium arsenic improbable arsenic you’d think. But contempt the nonrecreational detachment Linus has truthful cautiously maintained passim his career, helium can’t assistance but beryllium drawn to these unusual children and their magnetic caretaker, Arthur Parnassus. For the archetypal time, Linus finds himself asking who it is he’s meant to help: the authorities helium works for oregon the children he’s tasked with overseeing? The reply conscionable mightiness alteration his beingness for good.

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark

Determined to spot her uncle dethroned, Luca is successful hunt of idiosyncratic consenting to betray their federation — for the close reasons. Touraine was kidnapped arsenic a kid and trained arsenic a soldier. The lone loyalty she knows is to her chap conscripts. But erstwhile the empire sends her backmost to her homeland to assistance quash a rebellion, she finds her loyalty tested successful ways she ne'er knew possible. She mightiness beryllium precisely the idiosyncratic Luca needs to assistance her instrumentality backmost the nation.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Inspired by Indian past and epics, the archetypal publication successful this caller phantasy trilogy follows a captive princess and her maidservant successful possession of forbidden magic arsenic they acceptable retired connected a travel to instrumentality down the princess’s traitorous brother. When Malini inadvertently witnesses Priya’s magical abilities 1 night, she knows that unneurotic the 2 tin alteration everything. Malini wants to instrumentality backmost her kingdom. Priya conscionable wants to find her family. But together, they volition alteration the destiny of their world.

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Cozy phantasy meets each your java store fanfiction dreams successful this breakout deed from Travis Baldree. Tired aft years of adventuring, Viv decides to make a caller beingness for herself successful the metropolis of Thune. The archetypal step: opening up the city’s archetypal ever java shop. But considering astir radical present person ne'er adjacent heard of coffee, that mightiness beryllium much challenging than she primitively expected. With the assistance of immoderate astonishing caller friends, Viv’s imagination starts to travel to life. Unfortunately, immoderate atrocious players from her erstwhile beingness — and extortionists successful the metropolis — are hellbent connected destroying everything Viv has worked truthful hard to create.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

A queen hopeless to conceive a child, but beset by assassins; a loyal lady-in-waiting utilizing illicit magic to support her queen; and a dragonrider surviving crossed the oversea and forced to marque a prime that volition alteration her beingness forever. The stories of these women intertwine arsenic they each look the menace of the dragon known arsenic the Nameless One. If the East and West can’t basal unneurotic and acceptable speech their differing opinions implicit dragons, the Nameless One volition return, and it volition destruct everything.

Silver successful the Wood by Emily Tesh

Rumors astir the “wild man” successful the Greenhollow wood person agelong kept radical away. That’s conscionable good with Tobias, who has agelong since accepted his destiny tethered to the trees. But erstwhile Greenhollow Hall’s funny caller proprietor takes a liking to him, Tobias’s beingness is wholly changed. What does it mean to beryllium a antheral extracurricular of clip erstwhile a antheral successful this clip seems to emotion you? What does it mean to beryllium a antheral of the wood erstwhile the woods yet fto you go?

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

A erstwhile pirate is forced backmost into her aged beingness erstwhile she’s blackmailed by a pistillate whose granddaughter has been kidnapped by a antheral dabbling successful the supernatural. Amina Al-Sirafi would bash thing for her daughter. She gave up a beingness of piracy for her, and present she’ll instrumentality it backmost up again, each to support her beloved girl safe. And if she enjoys her beingness backmost connected the sea? Well, she inactive misses her daughter, truthful let’s permission it astatine that. But her girl isn’t the lone crushed she near her aged beingness behind. When a unsafe fig from her past — a antheral she thought she had killed — returns, she indispensable find who among her friends and unit volition judge the information of each that happened successful their past.

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

This gorgeous humanities phantasy novel, alongside its sequel companion novels A Restless Truth and A Power Unbound, depicts an alternate Edwardian England wherever magic lurks conscionable beneath the surface. When an administrative mistake lands baronet Robin Blythe arsenic the newest liaison to this magical community, his full beingness is flipped upside down. Within the people of a day, helium learns magic exists, meets the world’s astir disagreeable coworker, and is cursed by a set of errant magicians. Now, successful bid to undo the curse, he’ll person to enactment alongside the insufferable Edwin Courcey. But erstwhile they unearth a unsafe crippled affecting each of Britain’s magical inhabitants, they recognize their quest goes acold beyond curses and Robin himself.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

A hopeless woody with a devil saves Adeline from an unwanted marriage, but curses her to a beingness without anyone by her side. With nary 1 from her past, present, oregon aboriginal capable to retrieve her, Addie soon finds retired determination are fates worse than a unspeakable matrimony oregon adjacent death. Death would beryllium a relief. But centuries of going unremembered person taught Addie however to marque the champion of things — until she meets a antheral who remembers her. They’re each the reply the different has been searching for. But the crushed Henry tin spot her is besides the crushed their emotion communicative volition extremity successful heartbreak, erstwhile again.

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

A renowned violin teacher paying disconnected a woody with the devil finds her cleanable last sacrifice: a runaway trans euphony prodigy. But arsenic her fondness for her caller protegee grows, she besides meets a household of alien refugees moving from an intergalactic war. Soon, she’s questioning what sacrifices she’s consenting to marque to support the radical — and the beingness — she’s increasing to love. Light from Uncommon Stars is simply a gorgeous communicative of recovered household dissimilar immoderate other.

The Deep by Rivers Solomon with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes

Inspired by a opus of the aforesaid name, The Deep explores the underwater satellite of the descendants of large women who drowned during the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. To support everyone from the horrors of their corporate past, Yetu holds the memories of her people. But the load is destroying her. Fleeing to the aboveground is her lone escape. But what she discovers determination — a satellite her radical person ne'er known — teaches her acold much astir the past and aboriginal of her radical than she ever could’ve imagined.

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

The archetypal full-length caller successful Clark’s Dead Djinn Universe follows a young detective with the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities. When idiosyncratic murders each the members of a concealed nine dedicated to al-Jahiz, the antheral who lifted the veil betwixt the earthy and supernatural world, Fatma el-Sha’arawi is connected the case. Only the murderer is claiming helium is al-Jahiz, returned to condemn societal injustice successful the modern age. And his unsafe magical abilities endanger to origin unrest connected a planetary scale. Can Agent Fatma, alongside her chap ministry employees and her clever girlfriend, get to the bottommost of who this antheral is earlier it’s excessively late? Or volition their investigations alternatively beryllium that he’s precisely who helium claims to be?

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

A concealed nine of magical academics known arsenic the Alexandrian Society see lone the six astir talented magicians successful the satellite to articulation their ranks. This accidental comes astir lone erstwhile a decade. The six newest recruits are fixed entree to everything successful the Society’s archives successful bid to beryllium themselves worthy. Five volition beryllium initiated. One volition beryllium eliminated. And with lone themselves, their magic, and their wits to trust upon, it volition beryllium a deadly magical contention to the precise end.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

When Jess moves backmost to Malaysia with her parents, the accent of the determination has her proceeding voices. Or astatine least, that’s what she assumes. But the beingness of her dormant Ah Ma soon makes itself known. It’s not voices Jess has been hearing; it’s spirits. Jess’s Ah Ma isn’t funny successful helping her granddaughter succeed, though. No, the aged pistillate made a woody with a unsafe deity — and present she wants Jess to decorativeness retired the presumption of their agreement, immoderate the cost.

The Untimely Undeath of Imogen Madrigal by Grayson Daly

At the Sisterhood of Good Death, a convent shepherding mislaid souls connected to the afterlife, decease is conscionable a regular ritual. But erstwhile a celebrated writer returns not successful tone but successful the flesh, she recruits Maeve’s assistance successful obtaining justness for her wrongful death. Bored of her quiescent life, Maeve agrees to help, and soon the 2 are afloat enmeshed successful the Poet’s Court, wherever heretics and hedonists tally amok.

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

In the queernormative, Persian-inspired satellite of Qilwa, a young nonbinary healer works successful a escaped clinic, helping refugees and hiding the origins of their ain magic. As a practitioner of humor magic, Firuz could look persecution — oregon worse — successful their caller location of the Free Democratic City-State of Qilwa. They cognize this each excessively well, having fled slaughter successful their homeland. But present a terrifying caller plague is sweeping crossed the metropolis — 1 that it is wide to Firuz has its origins successful humor magic. Can they proceed to heal others and observe the root of this caller corruption without sacrificing their ain safety?

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

As the girl of an aged publication eater family, Devon has learned each excessively good her spot successful beingness — and successful the Family. When her lad is calved with an appetite for brains, not books, she makes a woody to prevention his beingness that could trap her wrong her household for good. But Devon isn’t the lone 1 dissatisfied with the publication eater mode of life. When she meets different publication eater connected the outs with the Family and searching for a mode out, she mightiness yet person the last portion successful her program to flight from her chap publication eaters for good.

The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

A hard-drinking thief talks her mode into a squad of pistillate bodyguards being hired to support a young woman from assassination attempts. When a bid of attacks takes place, Delly realizes the risks were not astatine each exaggerated. Soon, she’s falling for a chap bodyguard, and the 2 look for answers astir a magical force with an unsettling fig of allies.

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

When cities scope a definite level of story successful the nationalist consciousness, they tin evolve. Into what? Well, that’s what the recently awakened avatars of New York City — represented by the 5 boroughs — are trying to fig out. The highly divers radical volition person to find each different and fig retired immoderate mode to enactment unneurotic first, though. Even erstwhile they do, the evil forces that kept New Orleans and different large cities from evolving are doing everything successful their powerfulness to destruct the metropolis earlier it tin travel into its own.

The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai

Two young women from precise antithetic backgrounds conflict for the rights of women — and their usage of elemental magic — successful this Egyptian-inspired phantasy novel. A waterweaver forced into matrimony to settee her father’s crushing debts and an earthweaving bookseller with nary prospects find solace successful each different and a radical of extremist women’s rights activists warring for women to get a accidental successful their ain lives. But adjacent arsenic they combat for rights successful their location country, warfare with a neighboring federation looms connected the skyline — and this state wants to hitch retired elemental magic and those who usage it entirely.

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall

Prolific writer of fantabulous queer stories Alexis Hall is present with a 19th-century phantasy caller afloat of fairies, sorcerers, and young ladies hindered by bothersome curses. Miss Maelys Mitchelmore is doing her champion to participate precocious nine erstwhile a curse begins to ruin her beingness and each her chances of keeping her estimation intact. In bid to escaped herself from the curse’s progressively unsafe clutches, she’ll person to look to unsavory sources. Sources similar the infamous Lady Georgianna Landrake, rumored to person murdered her begetter and brothers and beryllium immoderate benignant of enchantress. But with Lady Landrake’s assistance into matters of the magical and otherworldly, it’s much than conscionable Maelys’ beingness and estimation astatine involvement — it’s besides her heart.

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang (August 22, 2023)

In this caller inspired by a martial arts classic, a set of ruthless outlaws who defy expectations and sex norms are prepared to remake past successful an empire who views them arsenic unsafe outsiders. Betrayed and disgraced, the Emperor’s erstwhile arms teacher is recruited by the Bandits of Liangshan, a radical of upland outlaws who garbage to judge the Empire’s hierarchical people structure, adjacent if it means becoming criminals and murderers. The Empire would destruct them — but lone if they don’t destruct the Empire first.