As the winter months churn onward, this time of year still leaves plenty of moments for books and the pleasures of reading before spring brings all of us back outside.
Here are a handful of new queer and queer-adjacent titles from the Sci-Fi/Fantasy realm of fiction for those of you who like a bit of thrilling other-worldliness in your reading material. Enjoy!
"The Storyteller from Balincia" by S.W. Kent, $36.99 (Belquis & Martel)
This inaugural book in the author's Driftstone Series chronicles the adopted nephew of two female witches, Edi and Pan, who have, over time, become twin rulers of Balincia, a magical otherworldly realm.
Birk is the title character who narrates this sparkling gem of a tale and his placid life takes an adventurous spin upon being gifted a journal by a stranger. Curious to know if there really could be life beyond the mountains which encircle Balincia, Birk embarks on a journey of discovery that opens his mind to new lands, extraordinary mystical creatures, and peculiar but reliable allies (like the hunky Grey) who promise to fulfill a prophecy about defending Balincia after the world is plunged in grave danger.
This is a hefty first installment and definitely a book requiring a time investment, but for fantasy fans, this is well worth it as Kent introduces an enormous, magical cast while immersing the reader into a time and place like none other. Don't miss this one.
www.swkentbooks.com
"Two Truths and a Lie" by Cory O'Brien, $28 (Pantheon)
In the near future, according to O'Brien's fantastic new sci-fi novel, the country has become war-torn and climate change has ravaged the landscape, plunging cities like Los Angeles halfway into the bloated Pacific Ocean. Enter Orr Vue, a queer war veteran and fact checker for InfoDrip corporation who has a penchant for drone technology, and who has since gleefully retired into obscurity and serenity.
Shattering that placid lifestyle is the LAPD, who come knocking to inquire about the murder of Thomas Mahoney, his employer, and to question him about his knowledge of the suspect they've apprehended for questioning: Auggie Wolf, a fellow war veteran soldier and former lover. Orr jumps on the case desperate to free Auggie from the police suspects list.
What follows is a flurry of military surveillance drones, beautiful women, conflicting allegiances, outrageous action scenes, and expository prose that is zany, hyper-descriptive, and so over-the-top, yet fittingly appropriate for the tone and texture of such a wild ride as this novel becomes. Jump in and enjoy this classically zany Cory O'Brien book.
www.coryob.com
"Realistic Fiction" by Anton Solomonik, $19.95 (Little Puss Press) April
This vibrant story collection from debut author Solomonik probes the heft and circumstance of trans identity within the scope of a bevy of unique characters and scenarios.
The title tale features a college graduate whose intense dislike of the "slice-of-life type writing" he studied in school is matched only by his affinity for detective novels, which he realizes while on a hot date with a woman, his first encounter since transitioning.
Other winners include the trans sex and politics-forward characters populating the lengthier story, "How to Run for Local Office While Building a Community Out of Nothing," who just want to have sex and keep democracy intact.
The male protagonist of "The Most Dangerous Game" dictates how the collectible card game Magic, The Gathering has buoyed him and his social life throughout grade school, high school, college, and beyond.
Witty, insightful, and lots of fun, these eleven stories probe the vitality and vibrancy of the trans community, whose struggle has become magnified in intensity as it seems constantly caught in the crosshairs of government and political detractors.
www.aaanton.com
"Hungerstone" by Kat Dunn, $28 (Zando)
In Dunn's dark, gothic, and simply brilliant feminist retelling of the 1872 Sheridan Le Fanu novella story "Carmilla" (which inspired the creation of the Dracula saga), an aristocrat named Lenore Crowther experiences a sexual awakening at the hands of a female vampire.
When Lenore and her magnate husband Henry discover the distraught and injured Carmilla Kernstein on the roadside one day, they take her back to their mansion to recuperate from the apparent accident she'd been involved in.
Carmilla, it turns out, is a vampire and Lenore soon becomes her prey, and once Lenore is bitten, she embraces her newfound independence and freedom to do as she pleases, and she does, but at Henry's expense. This riveting, blood-soaked fantasy reimagining will be welcomed on the night tables of readers who saw "Nosferatu" on the big screen more than once.
www.katalicedunn.com
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