“She loved the sea. She liked the sharp salty smell of the air, and the vastness of the horizons bounded only by a vault of azure sky above. It made her feel small, but free as well.”― George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords
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Queer book recs from IFM's editors
Mantha's Rec(s)
Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner Series and Tamír Triad
Any chance Mantha gets they recommend Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner Series and Tamír Triad. Both set in the same world but in two different eras, these fantasy series have become so dear to them over the years.
The Nightrunner books are part fantasy, part political intrigue, part murder mystery, all while exploring themes of belonging and identity. And while they don't have genders outside the binary, the two main characters are bi, cis men (with a little gender-nonconformity in there, too.)
The Tamír Triad tells the coming of age story of a trans girl at court in the midst of political upheaval: think Knights of the Round Table but King Arthur is trans.
Flewelling's writing is impeccable. She has a gift for character, detail, and setting that creates immersive worlds. Though not recent publications - the first book came out in 1996 - they were the first books Mantha read that showed them that the sky was truly the limit in fantasy writing.
Lydia's Rec
All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes
Not for the faint of heart, All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes is a historical thriller in which a trans man stows away on an expedition ship bound for the Antarctic from England.
Set just after WWII, the stakes are quickly raised when the ship - the only way the expedition is getting home - is destroyed just shy of their destination. Missing most of the crew and nearly all their supplies, the few remaining members of the expedition must find a way to survive the winter in Antarctica.
Stumbling across a German expedition's camp seems like a stroke of good luck - but where did the Germans go (and would they even believe the war was over?), and what lurks in the darkness just outside of the lamp light?
Sione's Rec
Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata
If you're a short story reader who loves weird, slightly dark speculative fiction (think George Saunders, Miranda July, Alexander Weinstein, Carmen Maria Machado), Sione highly recommends Sayaka Murata's book of short stories, Life Ceremony, which came out in paperback in May.
While the stories don't contain genders outside the binary, there is gay rep, asexual and aromantic spectrum rep, and neurodiversity rep.
But what really gets zir excied about this book are the themes! This is basically an entire short story collection about what's normal, who decides, and how changeable our social norms and taboos are, which opens a window into a future with many queer and neurodivergent possibilities. Ze hasn't been this excited about a new book in a very long time.
Originally published in our newsletter on July 31st, 2023.
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