Gay Science Fiction discussion

I would like to add my stories to this group's list. I'm a gay author who writes for a gay male audience - as well as for a female audience. I primarily write gay-themed scifi.

My novel 'Stealing Some Time' (written in two volumes) is a literary award winner for gay scifi in 2004. My novel 'The Rylerran Gateway' is an epic adventure featuring two main gay characters. My novel 'Trenekis of Hiera' won a 2nd place literary award for gay-themed scifi in 2010.

Please check them out if you enjoy and demand hardcore science fiction with a gay twist.

Welcome Mark and certainly do add your books to the group's list! As it's a pretty much a 'self help' type of group here, not much moderation on my part ;) Nice to see some authors writing for this genre. And I'm sure the visitors and members will enjoy them!

H.B. Kurtzwilde's Scion to the House Garu and The Legacy are both terrific sci-fi books.

Don, please add those to the bookshelf if you haven't already so others can easily find them there :) thanks.

"My novel Stealing Some Time (written in two volumes) is a literary award winner for gay scifi in 2004. My novel The Rylerran Gateway is an epic adventure featuring two main gay characters. My novel Trenekis of Hiera won a 2nd place literary award for gay-themed scifi in 2010."

I linked the books to make it easier for others. Are these Trade PB. I ask because I trouble reading mass market PBs and dont like eBooks.

I'd also suggest you post this on the Queereaders group. There are a lot of SF lovers there.

Kernos wrote: ""My novel Stealing Some Time (written in two volumes) is a literary award winner for gay scifi in 2004. My novel The Rylerran Gateway is an epic adventure featuring two..." I own both the books in ebook format.

All of my novels are available as either trade paper or ebooks.

I thought your name sounded familiar, Mark. Looking at my book database, I find I have TBP copies of Desert Sons which I just started last night and its sequel Into This World We're Thrown I also have Stealing Some Time.

I am looking forward to reading the 2 SFs mentioned here. Gay SF is almost a wasteland which I have been exploring since reading Chrome when 1st published in 1979. I remember awaiting its sequel which never came. It was probably the 1st SF novel about the love between a man and an android with erotic male-male subjects.

There is a lot of Gay SF, but not much good SF, ie, books that are primarily SF with gay protagonists.

I look forward to your SF novels, Mark, which have gotten good rating here and on Amazon.

Welcome Mark! You know I love all your books!

Kernos, I actually just recently discovered Chrome, but I think a lot of the readers here would enjoy it. I'm currently reading With the Lightnings, by David Drake; it isn't gay-related, but it's exciting.

I’ve posted three chapters of Worried: A Science Fiction Adventure at Goodreads.

http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2...

Worried continues the story of Taldra and her twin gay sons, from [Book: Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure|8070917]. I’m currently revising Worried.

Warning: Chapters 2 and 3 contain some spoilers for people who haven’t read [Book: Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure|8070917]. The new book focuses more on the characters and their romantic lives, with a much shorter time line than the original. However, it contains just as much scifi action.

Hello, folks. I'm really happy to find this group. I've been searching for gay-oriented SF for years and this will be a great resource.

I also wanted to mention that my new SF novel "The Finder" has just been published by Dreamspinner Press. You can find information and an excerpt here:

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/stor...

You might also be interested in knowing that "Kirith Kirin" by Jim Grimsley is now available as an ebook. This is a wonderful novel, with strong gay content, that had been out of print for many years. It's the first part of a SF trilogy that includes "The Ordinary" and "The Last Green Tree." An amazing saga, which I hope will continue.

Brandon. Welcome! And make sure to add those books your recommending to the group's bookshelf...so others can find them easily. Thanks for the help.

Thanks, Stuart! And thank you for the kind review you gave to Apprenticed to Pleasure. The new novel is very much science fiction, rather than fantasy, but there is still a strong M/M romance at the heart of the story. I hope you like it.

And while I'm here, I see that a couple people have mentioned Mel Keegan. I've read several Keegan books and enjoyed them a lot, especially the "Narc" series. They feature strong gay characters and lots of SF action. A little expensive, but you can sometimes find used copies online at a very good price. For instance there are currently some great deals on "Death's Head" and "Equinox" at Amazon.

Haha! I was headed here to mention The Finder , but Brandon beat me to it.

I'm thrilled to hear Kirith Kirin is out in ebook form. I have it in paperform, but I want to be able to recommend it to others. I had no idea there were sequels, though. Is the ebook edition Kindle-only, or are there more compatible editions available?

Hi, Charles. "Kirith Kirin" is available in both .mobi and .epub formats. Apparently you find the .epub version in Amazon's Apple iBook Store. Or you can give a friend a brand new copy of the paperback for only $181.34 (not including shipping).

The sequels are really interesting and have a much stronger SF flavor. "Kirith Kirin" is SF even though it reads like high fantasy. All will become clear if you read the sequels.

Kirith Kirin is amazing. I considered it a fantasy and also didn't know it had sequels. Which of Jim Grimsley's books are sequels?

I thought Dryland's end was quite readable and had some fascinating concepts for an all male society. Certainly the works of Samuel R. Delany should be considered.

The sequels to "Kirith Kirin" are "The Ordinary," followed by "The Last Green Tree." It's a powerful saga and I'm hoping it's not over.

Yes, Samuel Delaney is a standout. I especially liked "Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand." The amount of imagination poured into that novel is amazing.

Okay, I'm starting to realize I should use links when mentioning books and authors. Figuring out how to do that will be a weekend project. (One of about 50.)

Brandon wrote: "The sequels to Kirith Kirin are The Ordinary followed by The Last Green Tree. It's a powerful saga and I'm hoping it's not over.

Yes, Samuel Delaney is a standout. I especially liked "Stars..."

I have both those book on my TBR stacks, but didn;t realize they were sequels.

I just read and reviewed Stars... My favorite Delany so far is Dhalgren

Wanted to introduce myself. My name is Jody Wheeler, and I run a website called doorQ.com:The Gay SciFi, Fantasy and Horror Portal. (cue theme music.)

Anyway, I've started two ebook publishing ventures, one called Digital Fabulists and another called Door Q Press. DF is a mainstream, mostly genre label, while DQP publishes gay SF, Fantasy, Horror and other genre related stuff. Given some of the criticisms here, I hope you find the stuff we publish good and not just porn with robots... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Right now, directly through the DQ label, we've published Deviant Numbers and The Latter History and Subsequent Burning of Little Red Riding Hood. "Riding Hood" is a short, while "Deviant" is a full book. There are more in the pipeline.

Through the DF label, you might like The Twilight Zone scripts we're publishing. These are from the 1980s revival of the series, and contain the episode scripts, author essay and some of their personal production photos. Here's one: The Twilight Zone: "Father and Son Game". More are listed on my page.

Please let me know your thoughts!

Hi all, my name is Belinda and I am a sci fi reader and author. :) I am the author of the m/m space opera "An Uncommon Whore" which recently won the Passionate Plume award in science fiction. The sequel to the book is scheduled for October 11 and is titled "When I Fall." I write het as well as LGBTQ, and do wander out into other genres on occasion. :)

I've been a member of the group for awhile but simply haven't taken the time to introduce myself. :)

Welcome! Great to see more m/m scifi books! Much needed. And I'm sure our members will add them to their 'to read' lists. Oh, if you haven't already, make sure to add your books to our shelf....to help members find your books! Again, welcome!

Uncommon whore is amazing, one of my favorite books. I am so excited for the sequel Belinda.

Thanks! When I Fall is quite a lot different; its from Griffin's POV and he's a challenging character. :)

I bet, I will plan to reread uncommon whore before October 11. So excited

Hi guys - just raising my hand for Rhi's and my novel Dark Edge of Honor soon out from Carina. :)

I recently read Hollingurst's The Line of Beauty which I found excellent. His prose reminded me somewhat of Evelyn Waugh. The movies was rather good too.

I saw the autobiographical film "Christopher and his Kind" and got the book. I read The Hustler by John Henry MacKay who influenced Isherwood. It is about the 'Gay' scene in '20s Berlin, sexual obsession and hustling. It's rather repetitive but not a bad read.

Christopher and His Kind also contains a great Isherwood quote: "All right, we've heard your liberty speech. Does that include us or doesn't it?" He would ask every politician this question after listening to speeches going on about freedom and liberty. As Isherwood was very aware, a lot of politicians didn't (and still don't) think these concepts have much application to LGBT folks. (Isherwood was writing at a time when some U.S. jurisdictions would arrest and prosecute people even for meeting in private to discuss the pursuit of gay rights, which at that time meant de-criminalizing same-gender sex. It was viewed by authorities as conspiring to promote criminal behavior.)

And just to make sure I mention a gay-oriented SF novel, I recommend China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh. It has a gay protagonist and won a bunch of awards. It's a good choice if you're looking for gay SF without much romance or sex. (PS: Some of the reviews at Goodreads are problematic, since they contain spoilers with no advance warning.)

I just finished reading the Kindle edition of Kirith Kirin, and was interested to see the note about an upcoming massively multiplayer online role playing game based on this book and its two sequels. You can read more about it at the South Pole Entertainment web site. Jim Grimsley is involved with the project. Okay, this is a little bit off topic, but it's big news for Kirith Kirin fans. Reading the novel again reminded me how incredible it is.

Thanks, all of you, for the list of books here and the group in general. I'll be scouring the bookshelf shortly.

Has anyone mentioned China Mieville's "Iron Council" - or Greg Egan (who has a number of gay characters). Both these writers are at the top of their game in SF - so much so that people don't think of their work as "gay" - but as award winning science fiction with a gay protagonist.

Graham, it was my understanding Mieville worked more in the Fantasy genre than SF? I did a quick check and saw mostly Horror or Fantasy....but maybe I am wrong? Can you point out which works are in the SF genre and add them to our bookshelf? Thanks for the additions!

I think Embassytown is the only strictly sci-fi book he has done to date - though you could argue his new weird book "The city and the City" could be interpreted as a twilight zone soft sci fi- but that one is deliberately trying to avoid being pegged with a genre (and alas has no gay themes). Even so all Mieville's work has a strong political thread of about the role of the deviant which shows more than a passing familiarity with Queer theory. Maybe that's why his books are a little hard to peg down to any particular genre - that Queer aversion to labels.

Brandon wrote: "Hello, folks. I'm really happy to find this group. I've been searching for gay-oriented SF for years and this will be a great resource.

I also wanted to mention that my new SF novel "The Finder" h..."

Brandon, is there going to be a sequel to "Finder"? Hopefully soon ;-)

Does anyone know if "The Last Green Tree" will get a kindle release? I like to have sequels in the same format (and since I am not going to pay $100+ for Kirith Kirin in print, that leaves electronic...)

I wasn't sure where to mention this since it's a free serialized story on the website literotica.com. It's written by Pelaam and is about the crew of the spaceship
Silver. Yes it's got sex in it, but there are a bunch of different planets and aliens, intrigue adventure, etc.

Also I really loved Stealing Some Time: Volume 1 & 2. There are a few more but my brain is pretty fuzzy this late at night.

Brandon wrote: "And just to make sure I mention a gay-oriented SF novel, I recommend China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh."

I just took up your recommendation - This book is wonderful - everything I have been looking for in serious SF with a gay character. Thanks Brandon.

Graham wrote: This book is wonderful - everything I have been looking for in serious SF with a gay character.

I'm glad you liked China Mountain Zhang. I was nervous about mentioning it since it's not to everyone's taste, but you're right that there aren't many novels like it. You might want to also try On Wings of Song by Thomas M. Disch. The protagonist is more bi than gay, but it's very well written and has an interesting SF plot. And of course Thomas Disch was gay.

Brandon wrote: "I'm glad you liked China Mountain Zhang. I was nervous about mentioning it since it's ..."

I more than liked it, I loved it - I will be hunting out other works by that author. Really interesting critic of Marxism. My ex husband escaped from China in the 70s and this book reminded me of his stories of gay shanghai and the police raids he experienced.

I will check out on winds of song once I cull the stack of christmas present books threatening to topple my bedside table. Thanks again for the fabulous recommendation.

I started a re-read of Kirith Kirin by Jim Grimsley in preparation to reading its 2 sequels. I had forgotten how great KK really is. Though, fantasy it seems The Ordinary and The Last Green Tea become SF. The last is one of Tor's Sci Fi Essential Books.

Kirith Kirin is one of my all time favorite m/m fantasies and should be more widely read, now that it's an e-book.

I'm trying to find the title of a book that I read with Gay Male/Male protagonists. It took place on a orbiting space station in the area of Mars, sometime in the future, concerning a one character who's a part of a group of trained escorts, and a an individual who may or may not have been sent in to try and infiltrate the group. God I hate memory lapses, and the title seems to be just there, and then gone again!!! Senior Moments they are coming to fast now!!!LOL Anyway if any one recognizes this book could you let me know what the title is and the author!

Chuck - I have no clue, but if you find out, come back and tell us! This sounds good...

Will do...now if I ever find it again!!!

I've read Chuck's query and I too do not know this story either. Sorry.

I was looking at my bookshelves and spotted three David Gerrold novels that several folks in this group might like a lot. I have each volume in a separate hardcover, but they are also available in an omnibus edition at a very good price: The Far Side Of The Sky: Jumping Off The Planet ; Bouncing Off The Moon ; Leaping To The Stars. If you'd like to see a nice piece of cover art, take a look at the cover for the original hardcover edition of Jumping Off the Planet. The gay character in this trilogy is the guy in the foreground. The guy in the background is his younger brother. You can see a big version of the picture at Amazon.com. Be sure to click on Amazon's thumbnail image.

These novels reminded me a lot of Robert Heinlein. With a strong dash of Arthur C. Clarke. There is a lot of very interesting talk about the science of what is happening, a fair amount of political intrigue and social commentary, and plenty of action. A gay character plays a major role and has a romantic involvement, but there are no intimate scenes. These novels are a good fit for people who want traditional SF that happens to have positive gay characters (and no sex).

While I'm here, I'll take the liberty of mentioning that one of my earlier novels is about to be re-issued by Dreamspinner Press. It's the first part of a trilogy and it actually does have a science fiction angle, although it reads like sword and sorcery. The science fiction aspect isn't revealed until the third book of the trilogy. Unlike the David Gerrold books, Apprenticed to Pleasure has lots of sex in addition to the adventure. The release date is February 10, it will be in paperback and e-book, and (in case anyone is interested) the first twenty paperback copies sold from the Dreamspinner Press website will be autographed. There's a long excerpt at the Dreamspinner Press website if you want to see what it's like. Dreamspinner will be re-issuing the rest of the trilogy soon. (End of plug.)

I don't have release dates yet for the second and third books in the "Pledged to Magic" trilogy, but I'm guessing it's likely to be about 3 months between releases. I'm making this estimate based on the editing schedule for book number 2. But I'll let you know when I have a firm date.

Thanks for your comments on The Finder. I'm always happy to hear when someone enjoys it.

Brandon wrote: "I don't have release dates yet for the second and third books in the "Pledged to Magic" trilogy, but I'm guessing it's likely to be about 3 months between releases. I'm making this estimate based o..."

Will this re-issues be revised/updated? I;m trying to decide if I should rebuy since I already have the original releases...

Jamie wrote: "Will the re-issues be revised/updated?"

Yes, all three novels have been heavily revised. There is also a new opening chapter for the second book in the trilogy. Not to mention excellent new covers created by Catt Ford for Dreamspinner Press. (You can see the first of the new covers here). I think the new editions are a very big improvement over the original editions.

Hi group, solved my own mystery. The book is called Cagebird by kiran lowachee. I've requested it and two other books that appear to be a trilogy. Will let yo know if the new reads and rereads are worth the look

Hi all. I just published an ebook called 'The Heart of the Cluster'. It's a steamy m/m scifi story set in the far future. It's quite a departure from my other novels, so I've published it under a pen name. Please fire up your Kindle/Kindle Fire/Nook and download the sample chapters. If you enjoy it, it's only $3.49.

http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Cluster-e...

Zeke wrote: "Greetings Mark. your book is most interesting. Is there an ePub formatted version of the book? I'm not a Kindle user."

There is. It will be available for the Nook by the end of the day. Check on the B&N site for it.

Update: Looks like it's not live until 2-9-2012.