Gay Oriented Fantasy and Science Fiction
There are plenty of books out there. The links below will lead you to lots of titles. My favorites are:
The Last Herald Mage trilogy, by Mercedes Lackey. Most of you probably already know about this famous trilogy. The three novels are Magic’s Pawn, Magic’s Promise and Magic’s Price. The main character is gay, and very appealing. If you’re a gay fantasy fan, you owe it to yourself to read this trilogy. Click on the title to see some readers' comments posted at Amazon.com.
Luck in the Shadows, Stalking Darkness and Traitor's Moon, by Lynn Flewelling. Another fantasy series, very well written. Excellent characters, vivid descriptions, and lots of action. And definitely one of the most engaging gay relationships you're going to find in the fantasy genre. (The first book sets it up, and the second book delivers. The third continues with their excellent adventures.) These novels are great! Click on the title to see some of the comments people have made about these books at Amazon.com. Or click on this handy link to visit her web page.
Death’s Head and Equinox, by Mel Keegan. These are far-future science fiction, with lots of action and battles and stuff. The two lead characters are gay, and there are some good sex scenes. Lots of fun. You can find them at Amazon.com. Last time I checked, Equinox was out of print. (No, I don’t work at Amazon.com or anything. It's just a great place to find books.)
Wraeththu, by Storm Constantine. This is an amazing fantasy. I don’t want to give much away, because it’s so much fun to discover this world on your own. Click on the title to see a page at Amazon.com that contains several short reviews. Storm Constantine is an incredible writer. Check the reader's comments, then buy a copy! She also has an excellent web page with lots of information on her books and other activities. Click HERE to give her page a visit.
Kirith Kirin, by Jim Grimsley. This novel is heroic fantasy in the grand tradition, plus gay lead characters! The magical system is fascinating and Grimsley describes it in beautiful detail. It's a truly wonderful book.
The Living One and Magazine Beach, by Lewis Gannet. The Living One is more horror than science fiction, but both books contain excellent gay characters. Well worth reading. I think The Living One might be out of print at the moment but there seem to be lots of copies available in bookstores. It's even in my local public library. Check the reader comments at Amazon.
China Mountain Zhang, by Maureen McHugh. Traditional science fiction, with a gay lead character. I thought it was well written. It won a Hugo for best first novel. Clicking the title will take you to some reader comments at Amazon.com.
Chimera, by Mary Rosenblum. Science fiction dealing with virtual reality, with good gay and lesbian characters. A memorable book. Last time I checked Amazon it was out of stock, though. You'll need to hunt it down in a used book store or through one of the Internet used book vendors.
Maximum Light, by Nancy Kress. This novel involves an interesting scientific issue (the effect of endocrine disrupters on fertility) and excellent political/sociological commentary. It has surprises, memorable scenes, and touching interaction between the characters. One of the characters (a dancer) is gay, and I was really rooting for him. Kress does an outstanding job with characterization. The three main characters have distinctive speech and ways of thinking, and vivid personalities. I usually like fantasy better than SF, but this novel was gripping.
The Stone Prince, by Fiona Patton. It's a sword and sorcery novel about the heir to the throne who has a male Companion but is forced by politics to marry a noble woman and have children for the good of the country. A sequel is out, and I've heard it has good gay content, but I haven't read it yet.
Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners, by Ellen Kushner. This is a "fantasy of manners" novel. It has lots of swordplay, two gay male protagonists, and is written with lots of style. Definitely worth a look, it's a memorable read.
Drawing Blood, by Poppy Z. Brite. This is a horror novel and gets pretty graphic in the horror department, but it also has a good gay romance element.The characters are memorable. If you like horror at all, you should check this one out.
Apprenticed to Pleasure, Conjuring the Flesh and Sex Rites, by Brandon Fox. Hey, they are sword and sorcery fantasy novels. With lots of sex.
Gay Oriented Fantasy and Science Fiction Internet Stuff
Alternative Sexualities in Science Fiction and Fantasy list. This is a long list of fantasy and science fiction novels and short stories that contain gay characters. It’s a long list, and not everything on it is gay-positive, but it’s a valuable reference.
Lambda Sci-Fi. This is a gay science fiction club in the Washington DC area, and they have a useful web site. It has recommendations, reviews, book lists, links, all kinds of stuff. It’s still under development, but I think its becoming a good resource.
Gaylactic Network. This is another club for gay fantasy and science fiction fans. They publish an excellent monthly newsletter called GaylacticNet. It contains reviews, editorials, news and other information of interest to gay and lesbian SF fans. Click on this link right here to go to the web page where you can get this wonderful resource! It's an archive of their newsletters, with links to various issues in PDF format, so you'll need an Adobe Acrobat reader. Hey, you should have one anyway, and it's free. Don't wait, do it now.
Other
Recommended Internet Stuff
The Onion. This site contains fictional news, and includes an advice column called “Savage Love” written by Dan Savage. It’s an entertaining column, refreshing, and sometimes very funny. Dan Savage is a no-nonsense kind of gay guy, and his advice can be interesting. (Click on the 'a.v. club' dropdown menu and select 'savage love.')
Gay Sunshine Press/Leyland Publications. This is an on-line catalog for one of the largest U.S. publishers of gay literature. Gay Sunshine Press focuses on literary and non-fiction books, while Leyland Publications focus more on things like erotica and gay comics. An interesting web site and an excellent place to find lots of books that might interest you.
APETH. Fiction, pictures and interesting articles about gay people and soldiersthroughout history, including the ancient world. "A Celebration of Virility [with emphasis on the USMC].
Gay Nation. A vast collection of links, dedicated to building a strong internet community. You can use its search engine to look for gay web sites that might interest you.
Gay Amsterdam. Another searchable collection of gay-oriented links.
People with a History. This is a kind of academic site, believe it or not! It's an incredible resource for exploring gay and lesbian history, and also several contemporary social issues such as same-gender marriage. So if you want a break from fantasy, SF and erotica, take a look at this site. It's fascinating.
The Nifty Archives. This site contains an archive of erotic short stories of all kinds.
Bri's Home Sweet Home. A wealth of interesting resources and links for gay surfers, including the gateway to Bri's Bunz Boyz Monthly. As Bri puts it, "Soft porn at its finest, with a heavy helping of eroticism." Check it out!
The Universal Currency Converter™ This is a neat and free Internet tool that lets you enter an amount and convert it from any currency into another currency. Such as converting U.S. Dollars into Dutch Guilders, for example. Hey, at least you can FEEL cosmopolitan, even if you (like me) can't afford to travel!
Metric Conversion Calculators. Nifty javascript calculators to convert between metric and U.S. measurements. Very useful if you're assembling bookcases from Denmark or something like that. (Speaking here from personal experience.)
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