Sci fi stories that include queer characters and themes. Return to general Sci Fi
Note: these books are currently sorted by release date, with newest first.
Word Count: 59337
Summary: The Brimstone. Demon owned and—mostly—demon operated. Shax, an exiled prince of Hell, has gathered only the best misfits for his motley crew. You've been with us from the rescue of a runaway angel in a psychedelic nightmare jungle to the house that Poe built. Now share some in-between moments with the Brimstone crew – flash fiction snippets plucked from various spots in each personal timeline, from Shax and Verin's youth in Hell to after the events of Beside a Black Tarn. The Brimstone Journals, Collection Two also includes an exclusive short story, never published as part of the blog series. Leopold meets his formidable grandmama, much to his father's dismay.
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Summary:
Music and magic. Steampunky science. The Dissolution is coming.
Eighteen year old recluse Sam van Oen lives with his aunt, takes online college courses, works in technical support, and tries not to remember the freak storm that killed his parents ten years ago. But anxiety and reclusion bring up memories he doesn’t want. Just as Sam gathers courage to send in his application for college away from home, the temperature drops and the sun goes dim. Ice forms in August, and a portal opens in his fireplace. This time, Sam can't run. This time he's sucked in. Now Sam must survive in the flourishing capital of ten alien species, home to thousands who can change the Symphony underlying the universe and alter reality. Sam’s anxiety attacks and fear of crowds transforms the Nether into a frightening, expansive city. To find his home again, Sam must learn to control the music inside him, while devastating voids threaten to destroy the Nether and everyone he has grown to love. "Simply Put, This is a Brilliant Book. Read it Now." -Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Blog If you're looking for an awesome ride across multiple homeworlds filled with magic, science, music, and diverse alien species, don't miss the first book in William C. Tracy's Dissolution Cycle! The Dissolution Cycle (Epic Space Opera, LGBT): Book 1: The Seeds of Dissolution Book 2: Facets of the Nether Book 3: Fall of the Imperium Book 4: Tales of the Dissolutionverse (Novella collection)
- Fantasy
- Fantasy - Heroic
- Fantasy - LGBTQ+
- Fantasy - New Adult
- Fantasy - Steampunk
- Fantasy - Weird Fantasy
- Fantasy - Young Adult
- Sci Fi
- Sci Fi - Alien Races
- Sci Fi - Aliens
- Sci Fi - First Contact
- Sci Fi - Galactic Empire
- Sci Fi - LGBTQ+
- Sci Fi - New Adult
- Sci Fi - Science Fantasy
- Sci Fi - Space Opera
- Sci Fi - Steampunk
- Sci Fi - Young Adult
Word Count: 14000
Summary: As a security officer on an interspecies ship, Growlan Raskli's experienced in heading off species-specific aberrant behaviors in order to keep the peace. But when her captain asks her to find out what's bothering their sole human crew member, Raskli's out of her depths. She hardly knows anything about humans and she's not a psych doctor. Something's definitely upset Human Jen, something to do with human holidays. The more time Raskli spends studying humans and interacting with the intriguing Human Jen, the more personal the assignment becomes. Determined to lift the dark cloud from Human Jen, Raskli will do whatever it takes—within safe parameters, of course.
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Summary: 1899 years after the Catastrophe, Bridges is run by the Mob. As its steam-driven infrastructure fails, a new faction rises. Can she stop them? The Red Dog Conspiracy follows the story of 22-year-old small-time private eye Jacqueline Spadros beginning from her first major case: the missing little brother of her best friend, whose murder ten years before in front of her still haunts her nightmares. The only clue? A Red Dog stamp across the alley from where the boy was last seen. Dodging the man - seemingly mad - who has publicly threatened her life, placating her brutal, sadistic father-in-law, and dealing with her feelings about her ex-lover, while being married to one of the city's biggest drug lords: Jacqui is a busy woman. Her life is about to get much busier. From the very first page, Jacqui is dragged into a web of lies, secrets, and betrayals which both endangers her life and the lives of those she loves. Dark, gritty, violent steampunk crime fiction which keeps you guessing to the very end. If you like crime fiction, noir, Victorian/historical, gritty steampunk, psychological thrillers, hardboiled mystery, hard sf, dystopian, or mafia romance you will love this set. This digital box set comprises Act 1 of a 13 part serial novel. Included in this set: The Jacq of Spades: Part 1 of the Red Dog Conspiracy The Queen of Diamonds: Part 2 of the Red Dog Conspiracy The Ace of Clubs: Part 3 of the Red Dog Conspiracy If made into movies, this set would be rated R for bad language, graphic violence, smoking and alcohol use, child kidnapping, teenagers murdered (a serial killer is on the loose), and sexual content (Jacqui is married, after all). Welcome to the Family.
Word Count: 75000
Summary: The one secret which could destroy everything ... After financial disaster and the zeppelin bombing, the city of Bridges is reeling. Three of the four Families are implicated, and an inquest is called to investigate. After her failure to prove Jack Diamond's guilt in David Bryce's kidnapping and the deaths of her friends, private eye and mobster's moll Jacqueline Spadros has had enough. While she and her former lover Joseph Kerr try to learn who killed their family friend, they also begin making plans to leave the city. But the secrets Jacqui has kept over the years are coming back to cause her serious trouble. Will she be able to escape Bridges? Or will she be forced to face the terrible consequences of her lies and trickery once and for all?
Word Count: 18000
Summary: “Welcome, Mr Reese and Mr Connor... I trust your special day was all that it was cracked up to be? And what better way to compliment your union than with a honeymoon across time, eh? We here at TimeLabs are the premier time travel company and our guides are highly trained. Anything you want, anywhere you want to go... The possibilities are very nearly endless...” Sam and Zak take a Time Tour for their honeymoon, visiting some of the events through time which have captured their interest, including the very first Olympics. A five-star time machine for transport, luxury meals, fine wines—what could be more perfect? TimeLabs Inc. Tom loved his master, his job and the wonderful society he lived in—until one day, somebody hacked his tattoo and his world changed forever. Tattoo Kel meets his first alien and falls in love with her. Except... Alien Love Story Evan and Joey step through a door and find themselves in a whole new world where mythical creatures are as real as they are. Love Spider General Parker Rodriguez didn't believe for one second in the existence of flying saucers with little green men conducting random probes, but he still knew that Aliens were out there. And when they came, he would be ready. E-Contact And a dystopian short, My Day At The Beach TimeLabs Inc is a collection of six science fiction short stories, all with a romantic theme. Not explicit. Suitable for both teens and adults.
Word Count: 44366
Summary: The Brimstone. Cargo ship, hive of thievery and profiteering. Captained by a demon prince and manned by a crew that puts any batch of misfits to shame. You've come along with a cargo of anti-gravity cows and one of jeweled-toned potatoes. You've shared the horrors of frogs and nightmares. Now share some, more or less, quieter moments with the Brimstone crew—small snippets plucked from various spots in each personal timeline, from Shax and Verin's childhood in Hell to after the events of Beside a Black Tarn. The Brimstone Journals, Collection One also includes an exclusive holiday short story, never published as part of the blog series. Shax would probably like to keep it that way, but too bad.
Word Count: 75000
Summary: She just wanted an easy case ... Private eye Jacqueline Spadros, recovering from her harrowing experiences the week prior, wants nothing more than a simple, straightforward case - preferably one the Spadros Family won't find out about. Aristocratic jewel merchant Dame Anastasia Louis, aka "The Queen of Diamonds," seems to be offering the perfect arrangement. But Jacqui can't leave the madman "Black Jack" Diamond's crimes unpunished. And the more she learns, the more she begins to believe that this particular job wasn't such a good idea after all ...
Word Count: 139579
Summary: When things begin to go wrong, they have a habit of going spectacularly wrong, Lord Telluris Marat discovers. Robbed of his visions and his ability to prophesy, he still has his will to fight and his ability to command an army. But the enemy he faces now commands weapons that rival his worst nightmares. Emily struggles with her own visions, and finds herself caught between worlds. Jake Montagna, the president of the interplanetary mining company, has gone off the deep end and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. If only they were in broadcast range of the authorities, Emily could do something. But Arhanna is far out of normal shipping lanes. To stop Jake, she’ll have to do it herself.
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Summary: Un appel de détresse mystérieux amène l’équipage de l’Hermès jusqu’à un vaisseau militaire en perdition… et désert. À l’intérieur, du sang et des viscères jonchent les couloirs, et un seul survivant, prisonnier d’une cellule de détention. Attiré par le bel homme traumatisé, l’agent de com’ de l’équipage, Isaac Ozawa, prend Turk sous sa responsabilité, lui offrant la gentillesse et la chaleur dont il a besoin après les horreurs qu’il a vécues. Isaac sait d’expérience ce que c’est qu’être différent, d’être un paria, et cela renforce leur lien. Jadis pilote prometteur, il a vu son cerveau être endommagé lorsque l’implant devant servir à piloter les puissants chasseurs de la flotte n’a pas fusionné correctement. Le cerveau de Turk n’en mène pas plus large. Le résultat d’une expérience militaire ratée, ses compétences naturelles ont été augmentées à un niveau dangereux. Lorsqu’un amiral sans morale et avide de puissance kidnappe Isaac et se sert de lui pour convaincre Turk de devenir l’arme cataclysmique dont il rêve par-dessus tout, les deux hommes et leurs compagnons se lancent dans une bataille éperdue pour leur liberté…
Word Count: 82516
Summary: An inhabited planet is not what an interplanetary mining company hopes to find while in search of rare mineral deposits, but the low-tech natives should be won over by a few ‘miracles’, right? Emily Nandi, the mining company’s legally mandated xenologist, isn’t so sure. The planet’s social structures are complex, fascinating and frustrating – she advocates research and caution rather than the seat-of-the-pants first contact the company president wants. Investigator Shadow is convinced ghosts are watching him until a fellow investigator disappears, plucked from his harduk’s back without a trace. When he reappears at the city gates, naked, half-frozen and ill, he brings back a harrowing tale of strangers on a ship high above the planet. From this shaky beginning, suspicion and misunderstanding fuel one culture-clash driven disaster after another, punctuated by apocalyptic prophesies from the oracle, Telluris. This is no way to get to know one’s long-lost cousins from Earth.
Word Count: 35656
Summary: When Shax stumbles across rumors of an experimental house that responds to the occupant’s brain functions, creating scenarios to please and delight, naturally he wants to steal it. While stealing an entire house sounds impossible, the demon prince has a cunning plan. But a night at the ballet heralds the return of a troubled and hunted Julian Parallax. He brings ominous news to whisper in Shax's ear and forces Ness to battle a new emotion – raging jealousy. With nefarious plots in the background and an overabundance of Poe references, even Shax’s scheming may not be enough to get the Brimstone crew out alive this time.
Word Count: 75000
Summary: In a far future city divided between violent crime families, mafia wife Jacqueline Spadros has kept her private detective business a secret so far. But then the little brother of her murdered best friend vanishes from his back porch. Can she risk the Family's anger to save him? When the scoundrels begin stalking her, can she afford not to?
Word Count: 25745
Summary: When a steel trap of celestial and infernal politics threatens to close around them, Shax and Verin flee Earth’s system in a stolen ship, leaving everything behind. It’s an elegantly simple plan, with a new ship and a new life as carefree brigands among the stars. But the ship seems to hate them, and in order to have any sort of life they need funds. A frightened man offering them a contract to deliver three mysterious crates comes just in time, and Shax is sure their troubles are over. Out of his environment and in over his head, Shax scrambles to understand the players and the consequences of his new life. With cargo that’s not what it seems, shadowy motives around every turn, and a gorgeous rogue named Julian for a dash of added confusion, Shax’s grand schemes of a new start may be his demise before he can even begin.
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Summary: Stories for Chip brings together outstanding authors inspired by a brilliant writer and critic, Science Fiction Writers of America Grandmaster Samuel R. “Chip” Delany. Award-winning SF luminaries such as Michael Swanwick, Nalo Hopkinson, and Eileen Gunn contribute original fiction and creative nonfiction. From surrealistic visions of bucolic road trips to erotic transgressions to mind-expanding analyses of Delany’s influence on the genre—as an out gay man, an African American, and possessor of a startlingly acute intellect—this book conveys the scope of the subject’s sometimes troubling, always rewarding genius. Editors Nisi Shawl and Bill Campbell have given Delany and the world at large, a gorgeous, haunting, illuminating, and deeply satisfying gift of a book. Nisi Shawl is a writer whose work has been published at Strange Horizons, in Asimov’s SF Magazine, and in anthologies including Dark Faith 2, Dark Matter, The Moment of Change, and The Other Half of the Sky. Her story collection, Filter House, was one of two winners of the 2009 James Tiptree Jr. Award. She is a cofounder of the Carl Brandon Society and serves on the Board of Directors of the Clarion West Writers Workshop. She lives in Seattle. Bill Campbell is the founder of Rosarium Publishing and the author the novels Koontown Killing Kaper, My Booty Novel, and Sunshine Patriots as well as the essay collection, Pop Culture: Politics, Puns, and “Poohbutt” from a Liberal Stay-at-Home Dad. He coedited, with Edward Austin Hall, the groundbreaking anthology Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond. He lives in Washington, DC.
Word Count: 36600
Summary: Undercover agent Liam Connell stared at his captor. He looked like a pirate from a holovid— black trousers, a white, puffy-sleeved shirt, and a purple sash wrapped jauntily around his waist. Wavy black hair fell to his shoulders and ... Connell couldn’t believe it. He actually had gold hoops hanging from his ears. The pirate ran his forefinger lightly down Connell’s cheek and smiled. “Mmm! Mmmm! What do we have here?” Just what had Connell gotten himself into? (M/M Romantic Sci-Fi) Word Count 36,600
Word Count: 7150
Summary: In a four-gendered world where correct gender identity is law, Venk struggles with his inability to choose one sexual orientation over another. His body has matured, but he still shows the multi-colored crest of a juvenile, someone who has not yet presented proper orientation. With his family losing patience and others beginning to whisper, Venk must find a way to change his crest or be labeled an aberration. But the only choice he sees is a dishonest one.
Word Count: 25000
Summary: Exiled to Earth for perhaps the worst failure in Irasolan history, General Teer must assimilate or die. Earth is too warm, too wet, too foreign, but he does the best he can even though human males are loud, childish louts whom he can't imitate successfully. When a grieving seaplane pilot strikes up a strange and uneasy friendship with him, he finds he may have been too quick to judge human males. They are strange to look at, but perhaps not as unbearable as he thought.
Word Count: 63220
Summary: Alan Stewart, First Lieutenant on the space ship Qatar, and Captain Robin Lang of the Huan Police Force, have been best friends since their days in the Space Academy, despite the fact that Stewart is homosexual and Lang has a wife and son, Max. However Max is growing up and their friendship is threatened when Lang believes Stewart has designs on his son. When Max, now an adult and a recent recruit to the Qatar, is assaulted in a gay bar, Lang accuses Stewart. In an attempt to protect his son at all costs, Lang finds himself drawn into a dark conspiracy of murder and blackmail. Meanwhile, Stewart has his own battles to fight. Apart from defending himself against Lang’s accusations, he discovers the young man he is falling in love with, Michael Banner, is the one man on the ship who is out of bounds, untouchable. Lives and love hang in the balance as Lang and Stewart search for the truth.
Word Count: 66500
Summary: Aviana Aquila does not have much, but she does have structure. No home but whatever she is currently assigned to, no family, and the closest to a relationship she has is a not very clandestine affair with her emotionally inhibited commanding officer, with whom she dreams to run away. As an Imperial soldier, ever on deployment, she knows she may die at any moment. As a commander, she knows she will need to order people to their deaths. After years on years, she is dull to all of that, existing to exist. But when an Alliance Admiral comes aboard on what was just supposed to be a routine mission, her structured semblance of a life is completely overturned. The Admiral is not a normal being, and possibly insane. Yet her presence may save Aviana in more ways than one and make her rediscover the woman she loves. A stand-alone book in the Worlds of the PACT universe.
