Book recommendations (LGBT fantasy, sci-fi, romance, horror)

Woollybear

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OH!!!

Season Two of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (~2015 or so) has a wonderfully gay prince and his lover, a Romeo/Juliet set up. They are not the main characters, but it's a fantastic series and might suggest a quirky/unique twist for your query. Worth watching both seasons, though season one has little to do with your question here.
 

Cobalt Jade

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Oh, and for horror.... anything by Clive Barker.
 

DorianFrost

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I second Gideon the Ninth, This is How You Lose the Time War, and Iron Widow. All excellent books for very different reasons.

Peter Darling by Austin Chant is a lovely novella if you're interested in a Peter Pan re-imagining/sequel where Peter is a trans man and gay.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala is an excellent horror centering a genderfluid protagonist. Be prepared for some transphobia from antagonistic side characters though.

The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard is the first book in an alternate history series with fallen angels and Vietnamese dragons. It deals with themes of diaspora. Several of the main and supporting characters are gay/lesbian or bi.

The Tarot Sequence by K.D. Edwards is an alternate earth series where there are anthropomorphic personifications of the major arcana in a tarot deck, though you might want to check content warnings given it does deal with some dark themes. The main character is gay, being bi is considered the norm in that society, and more LGBTQ+ characters come into the series in later books.

Not a book, but if your interested in a full-cast, narrative podcast Juno Steel on the Penumbra Podcast is amazing. It's sci-fi noir detective with a fair bit of humor, though it gets more serious as it goes. It's a world where being queer is regarded as the norm, no one ever gets misgendered. The main character is bi and nonbinary, and the cast is filled with a variety of other LGBTQ+ characters including at least one who is ace/aro. They're on the fifth and final season now.
 
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Scarlet Prince

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I second Gideon the Ninth, This is How You Lose the Time War, and Iron Widow. All excellent books for very different reasons.

Peter Darling by Austin Chant is a lovely novella if you're interested in a Peter Pan re-imagining/sequel where Peter is a trans man and gay.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala is an excellent horror centering a genderfluid protagonist. Be prepared for some transphobia from antagonistic side characters though.

The House of Flaming Petals by Aliette de Bodard is the first book in an alternate history series with fallen angels and Vietnamese dragons. It deals with themes of diaspora. Several of the main and supporting characters are gay/lesbian or bi.

The Tarot Sequence by K.D. Edwards is an alternate earth series where there are anthropomorphic personifications of the major arcana in a tarot deck, though you might want to check content warnings given it does deal with some dark themes. The main character is gay, being bi is considered the norm in that society, and more LGBTQ+ characters come into the series in later books.

Not a book, but if your interested in a full-cast, narrative podcast Juno Steel on the Penumbra Podcast is amazing. It's sci-fi noir detective with a fair bit of humor, though it gets more serious as it goes. It's a world where being queer is regarded as the norm, no one ever gets misgendered. The main character is bi and nonbinary, and the cast is filled with a variety of other LGBTQ+ characters including at least one who is ace/aro. They're on the fifth and final season now.

Oh, very cool. Yeah, I’m a huge podcast fan.

If anyone else likes queer MCs and horror podcasts, The Magnus Archives is pretty entertaining. So is Stellar Firma, a comedy/sci-fi podcast that is hilariously anti-capitalist (if you’re into that sort of thing) (god knows I am).
 
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DorianFrost

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Oh, very cool. Yeah, I’m a huge podcast fan.

If anyone else likes queer MCs and horror podcasts, The Magnus Archives is pretty entertaining. So is Stellar Firma, a comedy/sci-fi podcast that is hilariously anti-capitalist (if you’re into that sort of thing) (god knows I am).
Awesome!

Oh, I love The Magnus Archives! I haven't heard Stellar Firma though, I'll definitely have to check that one out.
 
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Scarlet Prince

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Awesome!

Oh, I love The Magnus Archives! I haven't heard Stellar Firma though, I'll definitely have to check that one out.

It's very interesting! Be aware that they have a vague outline of the scenes they do, but it's also partially improvised, which makes it a bit weird. It's from the same voice actors / writers as The Magnus Archives, which is why I picked it up. It's extremely funny but definitely different than anything else I've ever listened to. It's complete and it's shorter than TMA.

On that note, I heard "The Magnus Protocol" (a sequel to the original TMA) is supposed to start coming out in October, since the Kickstarter campaign went well.
 
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DorianFrost

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It's very interesting! Be aware that they have a vague outline of the scenes they do, but it's also partially improvised, which makes it a bit weird. It's from the same voice actors / writers as The Magnus Archives, which is why I picked it up. It's extremely funny but definitely different than anything else I've ever listened to. It's complete and it's shorter than TMA.

On that note, I heard "The Magnus Protocol" (a sequel to the original TMA) is supposed to start coming out in October, since the Kickstarter campaign went well.
Good to know.

I'd heard about that, though I didn't know when it was going to start coming out so thanks for the info :)

Hello From The Hallowoods is another good horror podcast with lots of queer rep - somewhat gentler in vibes than TMA, but rather good. Not finished yet though. That one has only one narrator doing all the voices most of the time. Also wonderfully anti-capitalist.
 
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eqb

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Does anyone have any recommendations for recent books with LGBT protagonists?

Lots of good recommendations, to which I add Heather Rose Jones's Alpennia series, historical fantasy with lots of LGBTQ characters.

And since we can list our own, I wrote a near future SF/political thriller series with Watson and Holmes as black queer women. The first book is called A Study in Honor. (It even won a Lammy award, she says shyly.)
 
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inksplatter

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Hello, these are a couple of YA books with F/F romances:

1) Ruinsong by Julia Ember (this has sign language representation too!)

2) Sweet and Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley
 
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Lots of good recommendations, to which I add Heather Rose Jones's Alpennia series, historical fantasy with lots of LGBTQ characters.

And since we can list our own, I wrote a near future SF/political thriller series with Watson and Holmes as black queer women. The first book is called A Study in Honor. (It even won a Lammy award, she says shyly.)
Oh hell yes freak yeah for the win, just saying, everypony should be checking this out. And, well, everything else that eqb has out there.

I'm a short story freak, so I can't recommend highly enough her short story collection, cuz that's me, but do check out her other stuff because omg so good.
 

Friendly Frog

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*taking notes*

Seconding the recommendation of Jordan L. Hawk. Lots of LGBT protagonists. I particularly enjoyed the Hexworld series (fantasy mysteries & M/M romance in gaslight fantasy setting with shapeshifters and a magical police force) and the Spirits series (gaslight fantasy & M/M romance with spiritualism, inventions, mediums and vengeful ghosts. Also includes a trans character.)

Mira Grant's (Seanan Mcguire's horror nom de plume) Into the Drowning Deep. Two LGBT main characters. Sci-fi adventure where a well-equiped science vessel tries to find out what happened to its reality TV predecessor that was found adrift with all hands lost. It's not a spoiler when I say it's murder mermaids and she did them oh, so well.

Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher. Fantasy adventure & M/M romance with paladins, a murderous maze and gnoles which are a delightful practical race of sentient badger-like creatures.
 

eqb

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Oh hell yes freak yeah for the win, just saying, everypony should be checking this out. And, well, everything else that eqb has out there.

I'm a short story freak, so I can't recommend highly enough her short story collection, cuz that's me, but do check out her other stuff because omg so good.

Thank you so much. If I have my way, I'll write that third volume of Janet Watson, not to mention my #NotMansfieldPark with magic and polyamory.
 

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If I have my way, I'll write that third volume of Janet Watson, not to mention my #NotMansfieldPark with magic and polyamory.
And if I have my way, you'll write that :)

Did I mention I always get my way?
 
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KGBwrites

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Dread Nation by Justine Ireland - MC is a kickass bisexual black woman in an alternate version of history where the US Civil War is interrupted by a zombie apocalypse.
 
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Anna_Hedley

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Well, my wallet is a lot lighter and my Kindle library is a lot fatter after reading this thread.
 
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Diana Hignutt

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My 20 year-old, out-of-print, Spectrum Award-nominated fantasy novels have a trans protagonist, and were well-regarded once upon a time, Moonsword and Empress of Clouds, you can find used copies cheap, or even in some libraries, and there is still a Kindle of Moonsword available.