#Amberlough Dossier

[poisindonottouch]

Queer reads: The Amberlough Dossier, by Lara Elena Donnelly

These books, y’all. These books. 

Here’s day 20. 

First of all, these books wrecked me. They are like, gaslamp fantasy? In a not our world, but there’s no magic. They have a lot of 1920s/30s flavor, and there’s some serious political shit going on. The blurb by Holly Black says, “James Bond by way of Oscar Wilde,” which is pretty accurate. 

Cyril DePaul is a spy and government agent, while his lover,  Aristide Makricosta, is a smuggler and the emcee of a cabaret. Their relationship goes along fine as long as they don’t talk about what they do when they’re apart. This comes crashing down on them as the political stakes intensify, and shit hits the fan. These books definitely made me cry. In a bad way, and then in a good way. 

Read them when you’re in the mood for complex politics, morally gray characters, and an emotional roller coaster. 

[cyril-depaul]

shout out to summer me, who decided that "bubble pop electric" was a cyril depaul song, and i can never listen to it the same way ever again

[cloverboyblue]

tired of overly competent teenage protagonists? get ready for gay middle aged men who are SO bad at their jobs

[lilaabard]

Lies came to him easily. The truth was much, much harder.

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

Queer book haul!!

I went book thrifting yesterday and picked up all these books! Can't wait to read them!!

YA contemporary

Let's Talk About Love - Claire Kann

Black ace FMC, Japanese-American LI, MF romance

Stay Gold - Tobly McSmith

Trans MMC, cis FMC, MF romance

We Are Okay - Nina LaCour

Sapphic MC

Exploration of grief

Fantasy

The Brilliant Death - Amy Rose Capetta (YA)

Nonbinary MC, genderfluid LI, all latine cast

Book one of a duology

Teo is a mafia don's daughter, who uses her magic to turn her family's enemies into decorative objects. When her father is poisoned, she must travel to the capital disguised as a boy in order to save his life.

Infinity Son - Adam Silvera (YA)

Gay rep

Book one of the Infinity Cycle trilogy

Urban fantasy

Two brothers live in a world filled with specters who violently steal the essence of magical creatures.

The Sunbearer Trials - Aiden Thomas (YA)

Trans boy MC, all latine cast, MM rivals to lovers romance

Book one of The Sunbearer Duology

Every decade, ten semidioses are selected to compete in the Sunbearer Trials, where the loser will be sacrificed to Sol. When Teo is unexpectedly chosen, he will have to compete against more powerful opponents in order to survive.

Amberlough - Lara Elena Donnelly (Adult)

MLM

Book one of The Amberlough Dossier trilogy

Le Carré meets Cabaret in this debut spy thriller as a gay double-agent schemes to protect his smuggler lover during the rise of a fascist government coup

YA Horror

These Fleeting Shadows - Kate Alice Marshall

Sapphic MC

Haunted house story

In order to receive her inheritance, including her ancestral home Harrowstone Hall, Helen must live on the grounds of Harrowstone for one full year or be left with nothing.

Blood Countess - Lana Popović

Sapphic MC

First book of the Lady Slayers series

Toxic lesbian vampires???

Anna works as a scullery maid for the Countess Elizabeth Báthory but is elevated to the position of chambermaid when Elizabeth takes a liking to her. And then the murders

Historical romance

Something Fabulous - Alexis Hall

Demisexual MC, MM romance

Grumpy x sunshine

A delightfully witty romance featuring a reserved duke who’s betrothed to one twin and hopelessly enamoured of the other.

[ladygrey412]

Alright I'm going to add my extremely small list. Okay so that was a lie. 16 is not a small list. Some of these are romance, some of these just have really good polyam representation, and I added a 3rd section of honorable mentions down at the bottom which are books that I think do a really good job at not making monogamous relationships miserable to read. A lot of these are sci-fi or fantasy and I don't know if that is more a "me problem" or plus for sci-fi.

✨✨First up Monogamy is Dumb ✨✨

1)Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao Classic story of boy loves girl, girl loves different boy, first boy goes 👀. (Triangles are the strongest shape). Oh and don't forget the heavy sci-fi and giant Mecha. YA novel with enough intrigue for everyone. Rep: Disability

2) The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison. Not a romance novel but. It's big on digging into queerness and identity including a polyam relationship. Heavy fantasy and apocalypse vibes with an older MC. Rep: Disability, Trans

3) Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Wayfarer Series) by Becky Chambers. Also not a romance but it has a main sapphic romance and the alien partner is from a species that is exclusively polyam. It is all about the value of friendships and is quiet literally about how the real treasure is the friends we made along the way. Rep: Autism

3) Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. (Suggested by the Fiancee). "He is Poly and gay*. You find it everywhere in his books if you know where to look." *Sorry he's not technically gay because according to him that would mean straight people would have to exist.

4) Hunger Pangs by Joy Demorra. Good ol' classic vampire falls in love with a werewolf and they can't help but fall for a mysterious woman. This gets to sit here because it has a non spicy version but... If you want the spice it comes with all the fun of Vampires and BDSM. Rep: Disability, BDSM

🔥🔥🔥 Now for the polyamorous spice. 🔥🔥🔥

6) Sex Wizards Series by Alethea Faust. WHAT. I felt like i should start with the heavy BDSM sex magic book if I'm talking spice. No but seriously some of the best representation of BDSM and healthy polyam in many different ways. And plot somehow. Rep: Non-Binary, Asexual, Disability, Heavy BDSM

7) Rescued my Married Monster Hunters by Ennis Rook Bashe. What if you are a poor monster trying to be human and a sweet couple can't stop doting on you. No one would blame a lil monster for falling for that. Rep: Trans, Disability

8) Pack Saint Clair Series by Thora Woods. Reverse Harem gets much more interesting when the people the MC is getting involved with are an established Polyam Pack (ABO style). Sometimes falling in love with one person means you end up falling for 4. Rep: Mild BDSM, Trauma Recovery

9) Drag Me Up by R.M. Virtues. What if Hades/Persephone was healthy and T4T. Super sweet and spicy romance about defying expectations. Rep: Trans, Mild BDSM

10) In the Court of the Nameless Queen by Natalie Ironsides. A bunch of short stories around a Giant Spider queen and the many people who love her. Literally this is a bunch of sapphic porn about a clan of warrior women. It slaps Rep: Trans, Heavy Kink and BDSM

11) The Strongest Shape by Tessa Cardenas. This is in my liked books. And i distinctly remember loving the way it dealt with a new person entering a more established pair. I can not remember anything else besides it was spicy and gay.

Honorable Mentions

These books explore relationships in super queer and non-traditional ways. But might not be considered "polyamory"

12) Psalm for the Wild Built (and the Monk and Robot series) by Becky Chambers. Toe to Tip that's a QPR. It's just a really wholesome book about a robot and a human meeting. Lots of passive polyamory here too (expecially in the second book). To say the least Becky Chambers is great. Rep: Non-Binary, Robots (it/its), Anxiety

13) The City we Became by N.K. Jemison While I am expounding great authors I have to include Jemison's other book which is really all about queer friendship and the importance of have friends. On the backdrop of people becoming the city and fighting Eldritch Monsters Rep: Trans, Asexual Characters

14) The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Super casual background polyamory by murderbot's humans but it's not into any of that stuff. It is here to cause problems and make friends though. Rep: Robot (it/its), Trauma Recovery, Asexual, Autism

15) The Tarot Sequence by K.D. Edwards. I'm putting this here because it's currently just MLM but there are these big hints being dropped for a Triad. Lots of fun around being shoved into a position of power before you are ready and only having your friends at your back. Rep: Disability, Trauma Recovery

16) Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James. This book is literally indescribable but it tackles gender, relationships and African History in such a nice package I can't help but add it. Rep: Genderqueer/Non-Binary

17) Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly. No technical polyamory but it does such a beautiful job mixing the complex nature of being in love with the literal collapse of free government. It also has older MCs and a whole ton of Drama.

Do you have any book recommendations with poly relationships? Preferably fiction. I’ve been avoiding reading romance recently because everything is based on monogamous relationships and it gets tiring after a while.

I recommend checking the notes on this post where someone else asked. There are a lot of things recommended by others that I haven't gotten around to reading. 📖 I totally feel you with the mono romances being a drag sometimes. Its real bad when jealousy is a major point :/

[leyside]

POLL TIME

i have several little guys. they live in my pringles jar. i felt more strongly about this issue when i was in an anxiety/depression spiral a few years ago, but they are still dear to me.

(i'm putting my own dnd character on the list bc he did his time in the trenches (getting rotated at terminal velocity, being an outlet for unrealized mental illness and transgenderism, and having like. christ at least 10k written about him by 6+ people)). he was also a founding member of the pringles jar #knowurherstory

[subway-dove]

dear @elvisqueso ;

Last song I listened to: ok im cheating a little bit because it was in a playlist i have on random so its the song i chose to start with okey. Prayer[s] by rondo i stg d4dj has BOPS

Currently reading: Armistice by Lara Elena Donnelly!! Book 2 of the Amberlough dossier. It's fun but I think I preferred book 1 🤔

Currently watching: Horror movies....!!! back to back babey!!! the last bunch was The Cabinet of Dr. Caligeri, Suspiria and La Abuela, Suspiria being my favorite out of the three.

Currently obsessed with: I'm going thru an obsessionless period of time, so to say, you may have noticed sincere I haven't been posting about anything 😭 I'm playing Baldur's Gate though and it's fun fun fun.

Forwarding ask game to: @slugluvvr @moonsong-maroon @aphternoon no presshureee!! anyone who wants to do it untagged is very welcome to

[keplercryptids]

hello I feel like we have in some ways very similar book tastes - personally I've always been a fantasy reader and since I've grown up I've branched out to include sci fi and can say that SFF is definitely my favourite genre. I also prefer to read books where at least one prominent character is some flavour of lgbtq+ & (sorry I've been combing thru your book tag a bit) some of my favourites have been the teixcalaan duology, everina maxwell's books (prob some of my all time favorites actually), tlt... you get the gist. so I'd love to hear some recommendations for more SFF books that I might enjoy if u are up for it(I read a lot via audiobooks bc I'm a biologist and it helps me keep focused during menial lab work, and I'm always hunting for more books!!!). I also have a couple recommendations of my own to offer up: the sound of stars by alechia dow (currently reading it and have rlly enjoyed it, ya features apocalyptic alien invasion type stuff, a really great mc who is either demi or gray ace I can't remember which, lots of interesting world building & MC also loves books a lot) & also Hench by Natalia Zina Walschotts (about a henchperson working temp jobs for super villains who is disgruntled by superheroes' ignorance to how their work keeps fucking up regular citizens just for the sake of their own images. uhm it's just really good) anyways have a good day and may the next books you read be 4 stars or above :)

hi! yeah! i do indeed have recommendations!

the locked tomb series by tamsyn muir. you're on tumblr so you're probably aware of this series lmao. but it's a fun queer necromantric romp in space. i call it "fun" because the books are legitimately funny and fun to read, but they pack a punch too.

silver under nightfall by rin chupeco. this is a very recent read for me and i liked it a lot! a vampire hunter joins a vampire triad instead of doing his job. well, he does his job too lol. it's got mystery vibes and good polyam rep.

lots of stuff by the author neon yang, if you haven't read anything by them already. the tensorate series of novellas is one of my fave series ever, and their most recent novel, the genesis of misery, is a nonbinary joan of arc retelling in space and i really liked it.

the amberlough dossier series by lara elena donnelly is great, and i'm especially recommending the audiobooks because they're a delight. the books are kind of a mix of spy thriller/noir.

the space between worlds by micaiah johnson. multiverse travel. doppelgangers. flirtations with an aloof handler. some of my favorite things lol.

i'm also gonna link my shelf of queer sff on goodreads (link here) because there's dozens more i didn't mention!

[magpiefngrl]

2023 Reading Goals

Goals for 2023:

i. Read the Unread. I'm living back at home this year aka in the same flat as all my unread physical books (currently around 78 on the shelves--I don't dare to count how many more are in my e-reader). I've often set the goal to read some of them and have then utterly failed at it, but I'll give it the old college try again. The goal is to read at least 10-12 by end of year. DONE mainly because I read SVSSS and MDZS which are several volumes each.

ii. Do a reading challenge. An old pal used to create reading challenges in the past and they made my reading more diverse. The magic of randomness (choose a book with a red cover, for instance, or a book set in a forest) somehow always led to some stunning books I wouldn't have chosen otherwise. (I created something similar about fanfic a few years ago and I ended up reading truly outstanding fics.) Browsing through 2023 challenges online, I found nothing that worked for me so I created my own! I'll use it to make my selections more playful, to step out of my reading comfort zone, and to motivate me to reach goal #1. DONE

iii. Finish the Unfinished. I've had a serious problem of not completing things in the past several years: either my WIPs or book series that I began and never finished (and not because I lost interest). It's why reading the entirety of the series mentioned in my book wrap-up post was such a big deal. Hoping to use that momentum forward, I want to reread and complete all the series I stopped halfway through: The Poppy War, Darker Shades of Magic, Temeraire, The Dreamer Trilogy, Lymond (ffs!), How to Bang a Billionaire, the Witcher books, the Amberlough Dossier, the Nikolai duology (Grishaverse). oof! so many MOSTLY DONE, IM V PLEASED

I'm also halfway through my chronological read of Discworld and I'd like to read about 4-5 books; slow and steady progress for that one.

That should keep me busy for a while :))

[poisindonottouch]

Queer reads: a month of links

Here are the 30 books/authors I’ve recommended for the month of June.

Science Fiction

1: The Locked Tomb, by Tamsyn Muir

2: Provenance, by Ann Leckie 

3: A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine 

4: The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K LeGuin 

5: The Roads of Heaven, by Melissa Scott 

6: Winter’s Orbit & Ocean’s Echo, by Everina Maxwell

7: Murderbot Diaries, by Martha Wells 

8: Stars In My Pocket Like Grains of Sand, by Samuel R Delany

9: The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold

Horror 

(I don’t really read too much horror, because I’m a scaredy-cat, but these were both so good!) 

10: The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

11: Summer Sons, by Lee Mandelo 

Fantasy

12: The Greenhollow Duology, by Emily Tesh 

13: The Manifold Worlds, by Foz Meadows

14:  Paladin’s Hope, by T Kingfisher

15: The Last Binding, by Freya Marske

16: The Scholomance trilogy, by Naomi Novik

17:  Rain Wild Chronicle, by Robin Hobb

18: The Cemeteries of Amalo, by Katherine Addison

19: My Real Children, by Jo Walton

20: The Amberlough Dossier, by Lara Elena Donnelly

21: The Broken Earth trilogy, by N.K. Jemisin

Romance! 

22: K.J. Charles

23: Cat Sebastian

24: Alexis Hall

25: AJ Demas

26: Elin Gregory

27: Roan Parrish

Sport Romances! 

28: KD Casey

29: Rachel Reid

30: Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn

Go enjoy some queer books! 

[cyril-depaul]

If a loved one is being prosecuted by the state for espionage and treason, simply cause so many problems on his behalf that everyone is like "fine. fine! he's free, but neither of you ever come back here again." and then go start your new life together overseas

[valpwca]

oh also masquerade (series) is at least at the same house party as the amberlough dossier (fucked-up gays messing with the gov't in fantasy-but-not-fantastic worlds)

[cloistergardens]

1, 10, 29!

rebs thank you aaa!!!!!!

1: (copied from previous ask) What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting? I write in Times New Roman 12pt!! It used to be the default setting on Word like. 2006 or whatever but currently default on Word is Calibri and I hate Calibri so I change it Every Time lol. I also never write in Docs if I can help it which is why I’m talking about Word defaults :’)

10: Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you? haunting to me means something that feels like it sits in your chest cavity and plays on repeat from a distant speaker in your head. it finds you in everything you read and write and it affects the way you see the world. i have definitely been haunted by writing!! my own writing- it's complicated because I've had this concept from a dream for so long and it's slowly turning into something I'm able to write, but it's been a slow process. other people's writing- there's a lot since things will haunt me off and on for a while and it becomes difficult to separate things after a while, but there were parts of Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, the Amberlough Dossier books by Lara Elena Donnelly, and King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye that have been looping in my head the last couple months!

29: Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry? I draw my inspiration from everywhere really!! for fics the inspiration is endless; there are so many good aus I love that I want to contribute to and ship dynamics I want more of that I always have new ideas. for original fiction, it's extremely self-indulgent lol if there's something that I wish existed (like an all-lesbian heist movie as a definitely totally random example) then that's what I try to write! it's a blessing and a curse that my inspiration well never truly runs dry; if I can't think of anything specific in the moment I have pages of prompts in my writing notebooks of ideas I had but couldn't follow through with at the time, so I'll usually take one of those and run with it.

[cloverboyblue]

get you a man who will give someone permanent brain damage for you but won’t say he likes you

[emblazonet]

I fucking love Cordelia Lehane but am afraid of spoilers since I’m only halfway through the Amberlough Dossier and so I can’t safely look for fanart or anything. Alas.