Happy New Year! Whether you’ve made a resolution to read more books or decided to make the switch from Goodreads to Storygraph to make a change in your reading tracking, you’re probably cleaning your TBR and adding a bunch of books you’re looking forward to getting your hands on in 2024.
Just don’t forget about some of the books that came out in December—those poor pages that finally hit the presses right as the holidays rolled in and maybe missed the opportunity to make great gifts!
So here are five indie published queer science fiction/fantasy reads to give a little love to this year:
Tomb of Heart and Shadow
by Cara N. Delaney
Fantasy Romance
lesbian rep
Their marriage was a simple bargain. Love was not supposed to complicate things.
When her reputation-obsessed family issues her an ultimatum – get married or be disinherited – Saria seizes upon what seems like a most convenient solution. She strikes a deal with a stranger – marriage and a child in exchange for freedom and security, away from her manipulative family. That her bride is a sorcerer from the mysterious city of Neeth is not a problem. Or so Saria thinks.
Divorced after a personal tragedy, Taleysin doesn’t expect much from her second marriage. A child and heir to carry on her sworn duty to the city of Neeth, and more importantly, a wife who won’t ask too many questions. The deal with Saria seems to be everything she wants – and nothing more. She will have her heir, and Neeth will remain safe for another generation.
But as the newly-weds slowly get to know each other, their resolve over their practical decision begins to crumble. While Saria becomes ever more curious about Neeth’s magical secrets, Taleysin finds herself growing closer to a woman who was supposed to be nothing more than a means to an end. When a mysterious assailant begins to hunt Neeth’s sorcerers, endangering its secrets and the safety of all, Saria and Taleysin must find a way to work through this shift in their relationship – to save both their marriage and the city.
Overkill
by Lou Wilham
Urban Fantasy
gay & trans rep
Sometimes the hunter becomes the hunted.
Overworked, and underappreciated, Eric Marcelino just wants to hunt the vampires plaguing Ironport, keep his students out of the field, and somehow make it home in enough time to get a full 8 hours of sleep. . . maybe 6.
Tony McMahon and his sister arrive in Ironport looking for a fresh start. Only Tony didn’t count on the instant attraction he feels toward the Huntsman’s golden boy, Eric, nor being drawn into an ancient prophecy set to end the Huntsman forever.
Something strange is brewing in Ironport. With bloodsuckers, the Council of Creatures, and his students breathing down his neck, Eric has to wonder if he’s in over his head and if a potential boyfriend might be the final nail in his coffin. This is gonna suck.
The Last Red Wolf
by Kurtis A. Dolman
Urban Fantasy
gay rep
Lyle Larson wanted more. He wanted friends, stability, and, above all else, a family. Growing up alone, drifting from one foster placement to another, Lyle had always wondered why no one had wanted him, why he never seemed to be enough. Setting out on a new path, moving to a new city, and beginning his college experience, he knew that whatever happened, at least he was moving in the right direction.
Chess Beck wanted freedom. Being a werewolf, let alone the next in line to become the Alpha of his family’s pack, afforded him almost none of the independence that he craved. Between his family influencing his future and The Union of the Wolves’ input on everything else, there seemed to be no opportunity for Chess to choose his own path.
Neither Lyle nor Chess imagined what fate had planned for them when Lyle was assigned to tutor with Chess after struggling early in his first semester. The electricity they experienced could not be described by chemistry alone, after their initial meeting they felt an innate pull between them and the two continue to find themselves inexplicably linked by more than just a passing attraction. The connection and mystery deepens when an accident involving Chess causes Lyle to become the first werewolf turned from a bite in centuries.
Navigating the werewolf world turns out to be a lot harder than Lyle could have imagined, especially when it is rumored you could possibly be the last Red Wolf. The need to uncover the truth of why Lyle was able to be turned and to find out who Lyle is drives the two both closer together and further into danger. With difficult decisions ahead, Lyle and Chess have to decide the future for themselves, their friends, family, and wolves forever.
The Wind Will Guide Us
by Sasha M. Valerio
Fantasy Romance
gay rep
When forever is a harsh reality, how long would you live for the one you love?
After a forbidden romance ends in tragedy, a powerful deity offers a chance to defy mortality.
But every gift comes with a price.
Cursed with repeating cycles of death and rebirth, and driven by a power they can’t contain, the star-crossed lovers traverse the world in search of a place to call home. From the blood-soaked battlefields of Caledonia to the sun-kissed islands of Greece, they watch as civilisations rise and fall, their souls forever bound to the chilling voice on the wind.
With sprawling landscapes, vivid imagery and richly layered characters, “The Wind Will Guide Us” is a novella that blends history and mythology into a haunting tale of love through the ages and souls that never die.
Perfect for those enchanted by The Song of Achilles and The Old Guard, and lovers of atmospheric storytelling in the vein of Leigh Bardugo and Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
Resurrections
by Ada Hoffmann
Fantasy
polyamory rep
This collection of short stories and poems by Ada Hoffmann traverses extraordinary universes packed with faeries, cyborgs, talking otters, punitive gods, lovestruck sea creatures, fossil hunters, extraterrestrials, and much more. Exploring themes of love and self-existence, community and otherness, and perseverance, Resurrections is a wondrous blend of genres and literary forms.
In “Jenny’s House,” a young girl brings a slimy souvenir from a playdate gone wrong to show-and-tell. “Variations on a Theme from Turandot” is the story of a devout slave’s struggle with a stubborn, ruthless princess, replayed as an epic opera every night. In “Transitional Chords,” an unmotivated conservatory student finally connects with music when he falls victim to an otherworldly voice. “Harmony Amid the Stars” chronicles a spaceship’s inhabitants’ descent into madness through a cleaning lady’s diary. “I Sing Against the Silent Sun” is about the unbreakable bond between a fugitive and his ship’s AI.
Each universe contains an intricately crafted history, cast of characters, places, and paradoxes. From layered magical realms to beauty supply storerooms, Hoffmann brings often-overlooked characters and perspectives to life and lets their unfettered reality expand our imaginations. Resurrections is a glimpse into the spectrum of human existence, flitting from world to world in Hoffmann’s spectacular style.
