It’s been a sad reality for some time that queer characters run a much higher risk of getting killed, many of them fridged to further non-queer storylines. And while I support individual author’s decisions to kill off individual characters, it can get frustrating and exhausting in aggregate. So if you, too, are tired of queer death, here are ten books in which the queer characters don’t die. (This necessarily means there are slight spoilers ahead, but I’ve done my best to keep crucial details vague.)
The Godserfs Trilogy by N. S. Dolkart
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While the LGBTQIA+ storylines don’t really appear until the second book, they’re worth waiting for. Though I love stories about falling in love, I also really appreciate the chance to see established and/or married queer people thriving. This series has both, and also a supportive environment for a trans child. Each successive book is better than the one before, culminating in an amazing capstone novel full of humour and heart.
Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather
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Nuns on an interstellar mission of mercy uncover a conspiracy, and even though that’s plenty for a brief novella, there’s also a quiet and beautiful romance. Thoughtful and brave, this story isn’t about religion vs. government, but truly about good vs. evil.
The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher
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This is not the “Snow Queen” you remember: it’s better. Gerta sets out to rescue her friend Kay from a magical and mysterious lady, but she has no idea what to expect. Fortunately, a talking raven, a robber girl, and the mystic strength of the reindeer are there to help her. Kingfisher always finds ways to make you laugh, cry, and sigh, and this is one of her best.
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
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Yetu is the historian for her mermaid kindred, the living repository of memories so awful that they threaten the peaceful life they have built below the sea. For the mermaids were born from pregnant women thrown from slave ships, heirs to unspeakable trauma. But the intensity of those memories is slowly driving Yetu to despair. She must discover the will to put her own needs before those of the community, and also find a way to let memories of love speak louder than horror. Also, Yetu is implied to be on the spectrum (and not because she’s a mermaid, or any other dehumanising reason like that. She just happens to have particular sensitivities and neurological differences), which is extra cool.
The Name of All Things by Jenn Lyons
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Janel is a paragon of Disaster Bisexuals, and a genderqueer queen to boot. (Well, technically she’s a count.) She’s stronger than ten fighters combined, can talk to horses, and she doesn’t need any fridging to motivate her. She’s plenty motivated on her own to save her homeland, her friends, and maybe her world. Note, though, that this is the second book in the Chorus of Dragons series and you really need to read the first one, which is somewhat less queer.
Armed in Her Fashion by Kate Heartfield
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This is a very well-researched book, except for the parts that are entirely fabricated. Like for instance the Beast of Hell emerging from the earth and recruiting soldiers, all of whom are transformed into strange chimeras. But Claude, a transman and a soldier, doesn’t want to be anything other than what he is. He’s part of a larger cast of colourful characters
The Merro Tree by Katie Waitman
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This book was way ahead of its time in its depiction of a beautiful pansexual, polyamorous relationship between two men of different species. It’s still extremely timely in its defense of the arts, too.
The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera
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The love between Shizuka and Shefali is truly epic. Their relationship defies demons, overthrows empires, and transcends legends.
Full Fathom Five by Max Gladstone
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Kai’s job is to create and monitor gods for profit. Yeah, no big, just manipulating the fabric of the universe while she’s also contemplating issues of colonialism and her relationships. She also happens to be a transwoman. Badass.
City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders
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Humans on January have always lived on the edge of a knife, existing on the non-rotational planet in the thin band of dusk between the frozen night side and the boiling sun side. Sophie lives on an even thinner edge, a queer girl in a city of endless rules, expected to stay in line and produce babies. But her love, her curiosity, and her tenacity leads her to other cities, to other paths, and ultimately to a magnificent and transformative revelation.
Honorable Mentions
Because this is SFF, dead doesn’t always mean forever. The following are books in which a queer person technically dies, but gets better. I won’t reveal who dies, but please be aware that slight spoilers follow.
Down Among the Sticks and Bones and Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire
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Even among the many wonders of the Wayward Children series, Jack and Alexis’s love is something special. Death (and various other forms of Gothic mayhem) is more of a challenge than an absolute to a mad scientist like Jack, and thank goodness for that. Also, Jack’s OCD is treated with respect and thoughtful research.
The Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff
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In a series overflowing with blood and murder it’s still surprising and tragic when this particular character dies. But adherents to the goddess of murder don’t play by the same rules, fortunately for all of us who love queer love.
The Shadow Quartet by Lila Bowen
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Rhett is a bisexual transman of colour in the Wild West, a time and place made even more unforgiving by the presence of monsters. Gorgons, shapeshifters, vampires and more stalk the towns and deserts, and Rhett is charged with hunting the bad ones down. His journeys are action-packed adventures, but also full of self-discovery and moments of tenderness.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
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The queer death is a bit more permanent in this one, but there is some form of endurance beyond the grave. And in a trilogy about necromancers that’s already broken all the rules, I suspect we’ve not seen the last of quite a number of characters.
Breath of the Sun by Isaac R. Fellman
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This won the Lambda this year for LGBTQ SFF/Horror, and I want to make everyone read it immediately. However, it’s important to note that there is a queer death in it, and it is not reversed, although it happens before the book begins. I thought it was worth including, though, because there are other deep and meaningful queer relationships, and because there’s so much peace and joy that our queer narrator discovers for herself.
Just wanted to point it out as I am a pretty huge fan of the Craft Sequence novels in particular:
Kai is indeed a transwoman, but the dark-skinned woman with the glowing green hand beside her is also queer! Her name is Teo Batan. While she isn’t as prominent (in terms of plot or queerness) in Full Fathom Five, she has a major role in a previous novel, Two Serpents Rise — she’s in a relationship with an artist called Sam, and the main character’s best friend.
Also, the sequel to Full Fathom Five, called The Ruin of Angels is perhaps even more queer! It features two lesbian relationships in the forefront, and perhaps some subtle shipping between two transpeople. Nobody queer dies in any of those novels, so do give the Craft Sequence in general a go — if you do, keep in mind it is not ‘in order’ and meant to be read out of sequence; book 3, 2, 5 (this is Full Fathom Five) then 4 and 1, and finally 6. I personally recommend 3, 2, 1, 4, 5 and then 6, but the former is fine 🙂
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet features several queer relationships, and I was sure that the sweetest surprise pair-up (female human/female dinosaur-like alien) was going to result in one of them being killed off—but no! They just continue being a happy romantic-friendship loving couple.
To quote Seanan McGuire’s twitter comment: “This is a pretty fab list. (Although I admit I laughed when it said that Jack’s OCD was treated with “thoughtful research.” I guess 33 years of a diagnosis is enough time to research thoughtfully.)”