#adult sff

[thebellekeys]

"Things are so much sweeter when they have an ending; things are so much more painful when they can be ripped away."

Official character art by Little Chmura for the new Masters of Death (2023) by Olivie Blake. Published by Tor Books.

[anyajohannadeniro]

My story “Last Witch of the Ewes” is in this anthology.

[kappabooks]

Can't Wait Wednesday | May 17th

This week's Can't Wait Wednesday post is all about the indie lesbian sci-fi tale that I've been SCREAMING about over on Instagram!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Junker Seven by Olive J. Kelley A romantic, queer sci-fi epic about changing the galaxy, one girl at a…

[anodetofiction]

Review : The Lies of the Ajungo (Forever Desert #1) by Moses Ose Utomi

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5 out of 5. The Lies of the Ajungo (Forever Desert #1) by Moses Ose Utomi Published by Tordotcom Adult Epic Fantasy Goodreads | Amazon | Blackwells | Bookshop.org (affiliate) Release Date : March 21st 2023 SYNOPSIS They say there is no water in the City of Lies. They say there are no heroes in the City of Lies. They say there are no friends beyond the City of Lies. But would…

[kd-holloman]

The Traveler's Gift is available on Amazon! By your copy here! [X]

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Adult SFF Books Bracket: Round 1

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

The Locked Tomb series (Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, Nona the Ninth, and others) by Tamsyn Muir

Endorsement from submitter #1: "An extremely fun, humorous romp! A heart-breaking, soul crushing catharsis inducing tragedy! A thoughtful piece on imperial structures and trauma. On queerness, Muir flawlessly and without announcement, cracks gender open like an egg and spills its disproven guts across the page. The Locked Tomb does it all also bones, bitch."

Endorsement from submitter #2: "Lesbian necromancers in space. So many fascinating, sort of fucked up sapphic relationships going on."

The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier.

Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die. Of course, some things are better left dead.

Fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, humor, series, adult

The Javelin Program by Derin Edala (Time to Orbit: Unknown series)

When Dr Aspen Greaves signed up for the Javelin Program, humanity's first foray into colonising deep space, they expected to wake up to life in a thriving colony on a distant planet. Instead, they find themself five years away from their destination on a broken spaceship full of complex mysteries, dead astronauts, and a very unhelpful AI.

Aspen wasn't trained for any of this. But if they can't keep themselves alive, get the ship in working order, and find out what went wrong by unravelling a chain of mysteries leading all the way back to distant Earth, then neither Aspen nor the five thousand sleeping passengers in their care will ever see a planet again.

Science fiction, mystery, series, adult

[akairondragon]

Beta readers, your time has come! Now's your chance to read The First Sin and give me feedback to make it even better. Check the image for the story blurb, then head on over to the form to sign up:

I am looking for adult beta readers from a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, and sexualities who enjoy science fiction and fantasy novels. I would also appreciate sensitivity reads for gay rep, poly rep, and temporary disability.

[witch-king-of-angstmar]

So I was just thinking about my murder mermaids story, the one with an ocean punk Atlantis type society set on a sloshy ice moon. FMC is Kihta, a "mermaid" (human who has adapted to living in an Atlantean ocean dome) who longs to explore, but who can't leave the dome because of...a reason... Something like she has a medical condition that makes it so she can't swim like the others. TBD. And/or only her dome has enough of her medication to keep her alive. Initially I had her make a deal with the sea witch to magic her some meds so she could run away with a bunch of vagabonds, MMC, Helior, being one of them. Helior is an escaped science experiment, and he has Abilities. TBD. They meet when Kihta's killer catlike curiosity leads her to witness a crime (and possibly a shocking truth about the corruption in the dome keeping people sick) and Helior running away, and she helps Helior hide from the people who are after him, and in return he helps her awaken her magical ability properly. ~~she might have a pet Helior now idk~~

Initially I had her ask the sea witch for help, but I think there is no sea witch.

When the local crime lords start throttling supplies (or something - something that triggers her greatest fear of being sold off or something), I think it's actually Helior she asks for help, even though she doesn't know if she can trust him. And that's how they assemble a ragtag crew - all of whom are running away, all of whom have secrets - to journey to Somewhere Awesome where they can find the Awesome Thing that will help them save the village.

Most of this is TBD. I'm just spitballing.

[belethlegwen]

Just refreshing for anyone drifting by this post, and clarifying the unsaid (but I believe fully implied and understood anyway):

The non-brain worm books that seem so generic and bland and everything else are often the fault of publishers [read: just capitalism in general] and not often the fault of the authors themselves. A lot of publishing companies of all varieties, at least as of a few years ago, will only really help give authors that sweet "you can almost probably live on just writing!" money if they sign a contract that lets them explicitly control the genre/focus/tropes/editing of <however many stories> before they'll be given sweet sweet freedom to do whatever[1] they want and actually let the brainworms loose.

When contracts get renewed or hell, just when the money starts to get a bit harder to come by for economic reasons, authors who have been able to let the brainworms run free up until now may wind up strapped back to more generic, 'marketable', 'makes the bigwigs happy' kind of books just to keep the roof over their head. It happens.

So just a friendly little caveat for a few people reading that, hey, for everytime you run across a published book and think "ugh why is this lacking personality? Fun? Uniqueness?", remember there's a dude in a suit in a boardroom going "yeah but Vice ran like, 4 articles about the sex scenes in Game of Thrones, so add in another rape and get rid of the cool shit about the Fall of the Underground Racing League".

[1] - It has become less and less likely, in any contract with a publisher now, that you will be given that "Stephen King" kind of freedom that every paid author dreams of someday having. Hell, even scumbag HOSTING companies like Amazon have written their contracts in such a way that it sure does SOUND like after so many years you'll get the rights to your original published works back because they have an "out of print" clause, but if Amazon lists your stories/books for sale as ebooks? Guess what's literally never out of print. Even if you never sell a single one. It costs them basically nothing to keep your file locked on a harddrive or server to shove out on request.

My take on "why there are many adults that only read YA novels" is pretty simple

The YA book explosion of the mid 2000's-mid 2010's was mostly scifi and fantasy genre, and trying to "get into" adult SFF is a punishment from hell

[kadoore]

It's here!

It's queer!

[kappabooks]

Sci-fi Books on My TBR | Top Ten Tuesdays

My TTT post is up! It's a genre freebie this week, so I'm talking sci-fi!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme brought to you by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was previously hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is “Genre Freebie (Pick a genre and build a list around it. It could be a list of favorites, a to-read list, recommendations for people interested in reading books in that genre, “if you like this, try this”, etc.).” I’ve decided to talk about more…

[anodetofiction]

Review : Weak Heart by Ban Gilmartin

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4 out of 5. Weak Heart by Ban Gilmartin Published Independently Adult Fantasy Goodreads | Amazon | Tumblr Release Date : April 25th 2020 SYNOPSIS Something has gone very wrong on the sleepy Scottish Isle of Mab. The tides are angry. Reality has shifted. Selkies are coming up from the ocean, boys are missing, magic is going haywire, and memories are being pulled from people’s…

[solradguy]

I thought the early 2000s "strong yet naked/mostly naked woman kept in her place by stronger, bigger, beast/monster or gang of racist caricatures" trope* was known by basically everyone but I mentioned it as a criticism of this older art book I'd flipped through recently to a friend and it turns out it isn't lol Maybe I've just read too many Heavy Metal issues... It used to be HORRIBLY inescapable in any sort of mature art scene back in the day lmao

*This trope is different from the pre-2000s one because the women usually look like they COULD fight back for at least a little bit whereas the previous trope had them be completely helpless damsels in distress

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Adult SFF Books Bracket: Round 1

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

The Murderbot Diaries series (All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Network Effect, Fugitive Telemetry, System Collapse, and other stories) by Martha Wells

Endorsement from submitter: "Asexual and agender main character. In later books side characters are revealed to be in poly relationship."

"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid--a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.

Science fiction, novella, series, adult

Hunger Pangs series (True Love Bites) by Joy Demorra

In a world of dwindling hope, love has never mattered more...

Captain Nathan J. Northland had no idea what to expect when he returned home to Lorehaven injured from war, but it certainly wasn't to find himself posted on an island full of vampires. An island whose local vampire dandy lord causes Nathan to feel strange things he'd never felt before. Particularly about fangs.

When Vlad Blutstein agreed to hire Nathan as Captain of the Eyrie Guard, he hadn't been sure what to expect either, but it certainly hadn't been to fall in love with a disabled werewolf. However Vlad has fallen and fallen hard, and that's the problem.

Torn by their allegiances--to family, to duty, and the age-old enmity between vampires and werewolves--the pair find themselves in a difficult situation: to love where the heart wants or to follow where expectation demands.

The situation is complicated further when a mysterious and beguiling figure known only as Lady Ursula crashes into their lives, bringing with her dark omens of death, doom, and destruction in her wake.

And a desperate plea for help neither of them can ignore.

Thrown together in uncertain times and struggling to find their place amidst the rising human empire, the unlikely trio must decide how to face the coming darkness: united as one or divided and alone. One thing is for certain, none of them will ever be the same.

Fantasy, romance, paranormal, series, adult

[thebellekeys]

Thanks for the tag! Because I read a lot of adult fantasy, imma need anon to specify exactly what they're looking for in a fantasy. Atmosphere and vibes? World-building and plot? Romance and good interpersonal dynamics?

Also, if there's a certain subgenre of fantasy you like (military fantasy? historical fantasy? urban fantasy? dark academia fantasy? cozy fantasy?) that'd also help me give you some recs.

Do you have any good fantasy book recommendations? I'm looking for something new to read and love TLH.

Hallelujah! Yes, I do. :)

If you're down for a little bit of weirdness, I would love to recommend the Charm of Magpies series by KJ Charles. They're extremely weird self-published books, and they're simultaneously masterpieces of queer literature and so genuinely off-the-wall terrible that they form a perfect dichotomy. Either way, they have a place of prominence on my "favourite books" shelf and if I'm honest with myself are my personal favourite fantasy novels besides TLH and TID. The first book is called The Magpie Lord.

If gay magicians with moving tattoos fighting giant rats and angry art students with the power of their magical sex bond isn't your thing, The Jasmine Throne is a much more normal fantasy novel. Inspired by Indian history and mythology, this sapphic book is super fast-paced and features some amazing characters. The world-building is super rich, and if you love to immerse yourself in a well-built world, this is definitely the series for you.

Another awesome book I loved was The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by SA Chakraborty. It featured kickass pirates and a main character who had a huge heart but also was ruthless and cunning. I loved her and her crew so much, and if you're a pirate enthusiast, you'll adore it.

Romance fans, these ones are for you: Laura Thalassa's books. All of them. She's a top-tier author. They're romantasy, meaning that their primary focus is romance and the fantastical world is meant to enhance the characters and relationships. I especially love the Four Horsemen series, a 4-book quartet where each book follows a horseman of the apocalypse falling in love and becoming a malewife. Book one is Pestilence. But if you prefer faerie courts and bad bargains, the Bargainer series is great. The first book is called Rhapsodic. Please note that these books contain somewhat dark subject matter like SA and abuse and may not be for everyone.

The Shades of Magic trilogy by VE Schwab is also wonderful, and I've been gunning for a reread lately. It's set in a world where there are multiple alternate Londons and the MC Kell Maresh can hop through them. He's the adoptive son of the King and Queen in one of the Londons, and his brother Rhy is set to be king. I love this series and it's so fun, especially if you like things set in London. Book one is A Darker Shade of Magic.

Up until this point, I've only talked about adult fantasy. If you like YA, you also will probably adore the We Hunt the Flame duology by Hafsah Faizal. At this point in my life, Faizal and Cassie Clare are my only two auto-buy YA fantasy authors... and, honestly, the only two YA fantasy authors I really enjoy reading from. The world is based on ancient Arabia, and there are tons of awesome characters and an enemies-to-lovers romance. There's also a great side character, Altair, who reminds me a bit of Matthew Fairchild. 10/10 duology, honestly.

I'm going to tag @belle-keys here too because I know she'll have more to say on this. :)

[thethiefandtheairbender]

also for newer followers who might not know

i'm writing a book! and it's getting published!

if you just want the immediate details you can click the read and read a short FAQ! if you need more to get sold on it, stick around and check it out!

My YA SFF fantasy debut, ALVOSKIA: Call of the Infrans, follows an Unchosen one named Ally who is struggling to find where she belongs amidst her chosen one found family family when violence arrives at their doorstep, and they're forced to fulfil their duties earlier than expected. There's dragons and child soldiers and subverted fantasy tropes, some tone consistent werewolves, an almost entirely queer main cast with the majority also being characters of colour, and if you've been following my blog for any amount of time, it probably has something for you.

If you like ATLA: "what if there were multiple Avatars running around, and what if they weren't all automatically good people?" + past lives and reincarnation cycles

If you like Derry Girls: hot mess of teenagers getting in and out of trouble together while being ridiculous (and sometimes very sad)

If you like PJO: young teenagers with cool powers going on quests together and coming-of-age. And snark. Lots of snark

If you like Six of Crows: morally dubious collection of protagonists, some heisting may or may not happen, outsiders working together

If you like TDP: elves and dragons and long standing grudges and politics

If you like Star Wars: y'know how the Force like consumes you the farther you wander in? yeah that's the magic system here. + some shadow, death, and shapeshifter stuff

If you like HTTYD: you're here for the found family and fun fantasy aesthetic aren't you

Rep: queer (aro, ace, bi, pan, trans, lesbian, nonbinary, genderfluid, gay main characters, often times overlapping); Asian (Indonesian), Black, Sri Lankan and Pakistani (coded) rep; hijabi rep; one character is an amputee and one main character is Autistic.

The debut month is March 2026! Sometimes there is even very pretty (commissioned or friends) art for it:

If you want more info in the meantime you can shoot me an ask or you can follow this sideblog for it. If you want a taste of my fandom writing first you can check out my AO3 or writing snippets on said side blog, like this one:

Likes and reblogs mean a lot and I hope you enjoy!