Hi!
I just finished reading The Nightrunner Trilogy by Lynn Flewelling and absolutely loved it. It’s a fantasy series that also happens to be gay (as opposed to a gay series that happens to be fantasy).
I’m also a huge fan of sci-fi/space operas (like Ann Leckie’s stuff), but can’t seem to find any with gay male main characters that aren’t just erotica masquerading as scifi.
Any suggestions??
Thank you!
by GraeyJW
4 Comments
Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold
It’s a spy thriller in a setting very loosely based on the original Star Trek, and I don’t think there’s anything more sexual than Ethan occasionally noticing that people are attractive. He’d probably be more inclined to do something about it if he wasn’t recently out of a relationship and more importantly hiding from people who are chasing him for unknown reasons. They think he’s a spy, he’s actually a doctor temporarily appointed as an ambassador to negotiate buying some tissue samples from off planet.
“The Dark Beyond The Stars” by Frank M. Robinson is set on an intergenerational ship where everyone is bi. But it’s a bit of a depressing dick-punch of a book, the ship is tasked with finding extraterrestrial life and has failed for centuries. Interestingly, the author was Harvey Milk’s speechwriter and possible successor.
[Winter’s Orbit](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57693520-winter-s-orbit) sounds like exactly what you’re looking for. I have not read this yet.
[The Darkness Outside Us](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/55200663) is another one I haven’t read, but it is gay and in space though I’m not sure if it’s a space opera.
I know you asked for gay male protagonists, but unfortunately I haven’t read many of those, I mostly read lesbian sci fi so this is the closest I have. Just in case these sound interesting to you: [The Stars Are Legion](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29090844-the-stars-are-legion), cosmic horror space opera with a lesbian protagonist. [The City in the Middle of the Night](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37534907-the-city-in-the-middle-of-the-night), takes place on only one planet but otherwise has the same space opera-ish vibe. Follows two characters, one who is known as a lesbian, one whose sexuality is never stated but also seems to me like a lesbian.
*Winter’s Orbit* and *Ocean’s Echo* by Everina Maxwell
*A Matter of Oaths* by Helen S Wright
*The Vanished Birds* by Simon Jimenez