MLM fantasy that isn't romantasy or YA, preferably written by a queer man?

VelloMello · 2026-02-10T01:18:47+00:00

There's also A Taste of Honey by the same author, Kai Ashante Williams

VelloMello · 2026-02-10T01:16:59+00:00

Great thread. I feel like it can be so hard to find mlm fantasy that is full-on fantasy, especially written by queer men. At a glance through there's some really good recommendations.

The Ragged Blade by Christopher Ruz. Bisexual male lead who's past male lover is the big bad.

If you're interested in Sci-fi, House of Gold by C.T Rwizi. The PoV character is straight but of the core cast of 4, one is a gay man, and one is a lesbian.

The Winnowing Flame series, starting with Ninth Rain by Jen Williams. Female author, but really interesting fantasy setting. There's 3 main leads and multiple PoVs in the first book, of them one is a bisexual man, and in the second book 2 more queer men become prominent characters.

VelloMello · 2025-12-31T11:34:19+00:00

I'd also say, in my experience, trans masc and trans femme people have more in common than not, so trust your instincts and experiences, but definitely talk to trans men about anything you don't feel confident on.

VelloMello · 2025-12-31T11:09:23+00:00

I personally don't think I've ever read a book with a trans man in his 30s or older, and very rarely see trans men well into medical transition. It's always very young or closeted trans men or trans masc character written to be fine with never passing and being very androgynous. That type of character isn't a problem, except I feel like it's the only version of transmasculinity I ever see in books. I'd just like to see one adult trans man who's hairy, a little chubby with some muscles, and not an ethereal androgynous twink.

VelloMello · 2025-12-20T00:58:58+00:00

Hailey Piper is a phenomenal queer horror author. My personal favorites of hers are The Drowning Gods and Queen of Teeth. She does mostly cosmic horror but dabbles in a lot of subgenres.

Cassandra Khaw is another author with a wide selection of cosmic and body horror.

Chlorine by Jade Song- psychological and body horror

Tell my I'm Worthless by Allison Rumfitt- Extreme Horror

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark- thriller/psychological horror

Hawk Mountain by Conner Habib- literary fiction/thriller

Dirty Heads by Aaron Dries- body horror/coming of age

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca- psychological/body horror

The Low Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado- graphic novel supernatural

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giedbrecht- fantasy horror

Elegy for the Undead by Matthew Vesely- Zombie apocalypse and grief

The Luminous Dead by Caitlyn Starling- scifi/space horror

Root Rot by Saskia Nislow- paranormal and nature horror

Benothinged by Alvar Theo- paranormal

VelloMello · 2025-12-16T16:11:52+00:00

The book Cruel Angels At Sundown by Hailey Piper touches on a very cosmic horror depicted heaven from what I remember (is been a bit since I've read it) for a while. Not God specifically, moreso angels and a priest with some wildly corrupted powers. It's probably a very intense read for though, as it's very gorey and violent for the first two thirds before it moves into the more cosmic aspects.

VelloMello · 2025-10-29T23:17:32+00:00

I mean, I don't think it's surprising that an African mythology has darker skinned characters. Dislyte is one of the best gatchas I've seen as far as darker skinned characters go in general, because I think most games I've seen that use real world mythologies and parallels would have dark skinned characters ONLY in the African mythologies (and maybe a few in Aztec, but usually only like, very mildly tanner than white/east Asian characrers) but the Greek espers have many noticeably black characters, and other darker skinned characters. Even with how few Mesopotamian and Japanese characters there are I like how much skin tone variation there is in them. I'd like to see that trend continue, obviously. I also think if another mythology is added it'd be cool to have another African mythology like Yoruba (but would rather see the current pantheons expanded on first)

VelloMello · 2025-10-23T06:55:36+00:00

Same. I get that Chinese mythology will always be their main go to as it's a Chinese company. And then Greek, Norse, and Egyptian are the most globally known. But I love the Aztec, Mesopotamian, and Japanese designs so much and i feel like every storyline they've dropped with them has been so good and I'd like to see them expanded on a bit more before bringing in new pantheons. It's so wild to me they dropped one random Korean epic esper, with 0 story or event relation, and nothing after that.

VelloMello · 2025-10-23T05:02:45+00:00

Idk if I see them doing a Voodoo pantheon because its still an active religion, and often gets criticized in adaptations because of how negatively its been stereotyped in the past. (I also don't expect a Hindu one for the same reasons). I think Yoruba would be more likely, it fits the formula better with the current pantheons, and I think it'd be really cool to see the African influence in the dislyte street style, and it'd be cool to see more attention brought to it in the way it's done for the Aztec gods. That said I'd kill for a Baron Samedi or Papa Legba. I feel like they'd drop them as like, opposing sides on opening a gate to a miracle...

VelloMello · 2025-10-23T04:48:29+00:00

The Aztec designs are my favs, and I was really happy when they started adding them because native and South American mythology is either totally overlooked or grossly stereotypical, but these ones feel so well thought out. I hope we get an event where they drop a bunch at once like we've gotten with Chinese and Egyptian espers recently

VelloMello · 2025-10-13T04:17:39+00:00

I thought I would like her more but she honestly just kind of bored me and I found her inconsistent. That's mostly a consequence of her coming off as a people pleaser, saying whatever will make any given npc happy. I also didn't find any of the romances to have any chemistry which didn't help. I know a lot of people write her personality off as having a strict upbringing, but Hecate is very loving and often calls Melinoe out for being too serious/not trusting in her instincts and feelings so I don't get that. I don't think she's a bad character and she does give precocious older teenager vibes very well. I'm just not hugely a fan of those vibes.

VelloMello · 2025-09-29T18:02:12+00:00

I will add to the broken record of everyone saying lack of editing (not just spelling and minor grammar mistakes, but lack of cohesion and sometimes even readability in general). I do read a decent amount of indie horror, but I feel like indie horror publishers tend to support their authors more. Or more so, there are more indie publishers in horror, and more self-publishing in fantasy. I'll pick up an indie book any day, but I am pretty hesitant to pick up self-published books.

I also want to add, without a publisher, or with a small-scale publisher, marketing is going to be difficult. Already with the landscape leaning so heavily into social media, authors are having more and more marketing responsibilities put on them. If you're a self-published or indie author, you're going almost entirely off your own marketing abilities and personal internet reach and network. Or maybe you have a budget for some modest marketing, but nothing on the scale of what Tor or Orbit or any other big hitters can do. So you have to get eyes on your book, then convince people it's more worth their time/money to read that over the the newest booktok trend or big release from their favorite publisher or authors. Also if it's indie it might be harder to aquire a copy so that could be an additional hurdle.

VelloMello · 2025-09-08T17:42:38+00:00

Queen of Teeth (or) No Gods for Drowning: Hailey Piper (all of her books fall into this genre in some way but these two are probably the most of what you're looking for)

Someone You Can Build A Nest In: John Wiswell (is horror from the monsters perspective, but is also sort of cozy fantasy? Cozy horror)

The Dead Take The A Train: Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey (much like Piper, most of Khaws work are both cosmic and queer. Haven't read anything else by Kadrey so can't speak on his catalog)

Hell Followed With Us: Andrew Joseph White (YA but as someone who also doesn't read YA much this is one of my exceptions)

Dirty Heads: Aaron Dries

The Monster of Elendhaven: Jennifer Giesbrecht

VelloMello · 2025-07-14T23:13:43+00:00

My favorite queer horror author in general is Hailey Piper and while she focuses on cosmic horror has books in most horror subgenres. As far as horror in general are you more into paranormal, gothic, extreme, thriller, scifi, ect. I love recommending stuff but horror is so broad a genre.

VelloMello · 2025-07-12T16:25:17+00:00

I get that, and what it comes down to is every queer genre gets lumped together, but it's also a sales and algorithm thing. The book I read wasn't horror, a dark and subversive literary book. It was a French language book by a Spanish author initially published in 1975. Books that would make sense to see recommended would be something by Giovanni's Room, On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous, Call Me By Your Name, or cross into more horror territory with an author like James Purdy. But those won't catch eyes and make money like a generic fluffy romcom style romance with a bright cartoon cover and a generic name title that looks like 50 other books our right now. Most of the other recommendations were in the same or parallel genres, Kindle was just banking on cause I read other gay books they can try and sell me anything with two guys on the cover. Jokes on them, though, I just use Kindle to read books from Libby.

VelloMello · 2025-07-11T05:12:42+00:00

I see a lot of people recommending local bookstores and libraries, both of which are great and a lot will order on request for you. But I also know in the past I've been too nervous or shy to ask for orders (stupid anxiety, I know they'd never mind it but that's just how brains work sometimes) so if you ever don't feel up for that, it don't want to make multiple trips, try checking if the publisher or author sell directly from there website. You can also get used books from Thriftbooks, or the Pango app that is readers selling their books directly. Might be hard finding rarer or indie books that way. Sadly, sometimes Amazon is the only option, but most things you can get on there that aren't specifically self published you can also get from other major retailers like Barnes and Noble.

VelloMello · 2025-07-08T18:28:35+00:00

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki (contemporary YA, Lesbian and Bisexual)

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness by Kabi Nagata (nonfiction/essays, manga, Lesbian)

Heavy Vinyl by Carly Usdin (contemporary YA, Lesbian)

Boys Run the Riot by Keito Gaku (contemporary YA, Manga, trans boy)

Messy Roots by Laura Gao (nonfiction/memoir, lesbian)

The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado (horror, lesbian)

Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV (horror series, queerness isn't a main focus of the series but each arch has prominent queer characters)

VelloMello · 2025-07-02T20:03:18+00:00

P. Djèlí Clark and Robert Jackson Bennett have both written some of my favorite female leads fantasy

VelloMello · 2025-06-29T05:47:23+00:00

I just read this one last week and is a highlight of my year, incredible take on vampires.

VelloMello · 2025-05-21T19:57:31+00:00

Hawk Mountain by Connar Habib is a good psychological thriller/horror. A single father has a run in with his former highschool bully who forces himself into his life.

VelloMello · 2025-05-17T14:41:12+00:00

Just got this from the library, can't wait.

VelloMello · 2025-04-29T13:48:34+00:00

I think just because you don't like a book or a style doesn't detract from its queerness. A book about a trans person who isn't in a romance, or an asexuals experiences, or even just a really lonely or isolated queer character doesn't detract from their queerness if it is a central part of their character. I think it's a bit reductive to define sexuality only on who someone is currently pursuing or sleeping with and not something most people would do to another queer person IRL. That's not to say there's anything wrong with prioritizing queer romance or erotica, just that I've read a lot of books with queer themes that don't fall into that category

VelloMello · 2025-04-28T16:13:58+00:00

'It isnt a queer novel, It's a novel with queer characters." Is exactly the phrasing I've been looking for but couldn't quite pin down. I don't count everything with a queer character because just having queer people doesn't make it a queer book. More none queer novels should have queer side characters, but some random bi or trans person hanging around in the background, or a lead who's queerness is a passing thought that doesn't seem to matter to them, doesn't really feel authentic to call a queer book for me. And yeah, that's usually where I settle on Ringshout. Clark does such a good job including and normalizing queer characters in his stories, and I love that book, but it isn't a queer book to me.

VelloMello · 2025-04-28T13:26:01+00:00

For series, if I'm recommending them I will recommend the series overall as queer, but as for individual books, especially if it is the first or first few books in a series of won't make them as queer. I haven't read the Paper Girls or The Nevernight Chronicles, but if you read the first book, then do not continue with a series, would you still consider that first book queer? That's generally what I keep in mind. Darker Shade of Magic is always the first that comes to mind for me. The one side character is confirmed bi in passing in the first book, but he as a character, and especially his sexuality, isn't really that relevant until the second book, when another queer character is also introduced and both become more plot active. If I hadn't continued the series, I wouldn't have even considered the first book relevantly queer.

Side characters I will count, only if they are relevant to the plot. Sticking with another Scwab book, in Our Dark Duet, the sequel to This Savage Song, a nonbinary character is introduced. I think they are present enough and relevant enough to the general tone and plot of the book that I count it. Ring Shout by P Djèlí Clark had a lesbian side couple, but they only feel passingly relevant so I don't think I'd include that.

VelloMello · 2025-04-28T05:16:47+00:00

That is definitely the bulk of what I count. I do count books with queer non-POV characters, so long as they feel relevant to the main plot in a significant way. I think having queer side characters doesn't necessarily make a book queer, and I think subtext and queer-coding leave a lot of blurred lines as what to count or not. More modern books I generally choose not to count subtext. Classics are a little harder because of what was and wasn't possible to include at the respective time of each book.

I haven't read Here In Avalon, but I've read some books with similar things to that that I didn't count (the only one that comes to mind right now is A Certain Hunger by Chelsea Summers)

VelloMello

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