Queernorm Universes: Sci-Fi Books Where Homophobia and Transphobia Don’t Exist

I have to start with the undisputed queen of queernorm, Becky Chambers. Her Wayfarers series and To Be Taught, If Fortunate novella are also cozy queernorm sci-fi.

Possibly the coziest science fiction story in existence, this novella duology follows a nonbinary tea monk looking for meaning in life. When Dex decides to leave tea brewing behind for a while to venture deep into the woods, they discover a wandering robot. Robots haven’t been seen for generations, and this one has a question for Dex and all of humanity: “What do you need?” Dex doesn’t feel remotely qualified to answer that question, but as the two travel together and search for answers, it becomes clear that the journey is more important than the destination. —Rachel Brittain

Winter’s Orbit is a great sci-fi space opera full of palace intrigue with a tender slow-burn queer romance at its center. When an imperial prince’s sudden death threatens to weaken already fraying alliances with several planets, the prince’s cousin and his widower, a noble from one of the discontented vassal planets, are rushed into an arranged marriage to keep the peace and preserve the political status quo. The story is surprisingly romantic — a Millennial Star Wars meets Red, White & Royal Blue. Maxwell seamlessly blends science fiction and high stakes politics with some of the most popular romantic tropes: marriage of convenience, forced proximity, and the fake relationship which soon feels all too real. An excellent, page turning, and thoughtful read. —Carole V. Bell

This nonbinary lesbian sci-fi heist is “Ocean’s 8 meets Blade Runner.” Edie has spent the last eight years on an icy prison planet after being betrayed by their partner in crime Angel. As soon as Edie gets out from behind bars, Angel appears again, offering them a chance for one last job that will set them up for life. What could go wrong? This has been one of the big queer books of the year—who can resist a heist in space with a lesbian and nonbinary crew? —Danika Ellis

In this sapphic sci-fi romance, enemy agents in a time war, each determined to provide the best outcome for their faction, meet each other on the battlefield time and again. The notes they leave each other begin as a series of taunts and jabs but soon turn into something more. Red and Blue may be on opposite sides in this ongoing war, but what are they really fighting for? More importantly, do they really have to fight against each other? —Rachel Brittain

This science-fantasy novel has a nonbinary pacifist main character who accidentally acquires a dragon automaton buddy!

Jebi is an artist who finds themself recruited to work as a kind of mystical coder for the military. This is against their pacifist ideals, but they are desperate. While working for the Razanei government, though, they discover the military is even worse than they thought. And while Jebi is working, they accidentally give a dragon automaton free will. Now, Jebi finds themself with a mechanical war dragon companion and up against a tyrannical government. —Danika Ellis

This and its sequel, A Desolation Called Peace, have an excellent sapphic romance that I will ship until the stars go cold. I’m also not going to tell you who is involved, because if you don’t already know, it’s so much better to go in and see it develop until you, like me, are screeching at the book at such a high-pitch only dogs will be able to hear you. Plus, this is some great space opera with twisty interstellar politics and human decisions changing the course of empire. GOOD STUFF. —Alex Acks

In a future where body modifications are the norm, Sunati is stunned by the brave woman she sees who isn’t using them. But it turns out Austen isn’t being brave or rebellious: she has Egan’s Syndrome, and she’s allergic to mods. As the two of them get to know each other on dates, they go through miscommunication and missteps, but ultimately accept each other and grow. This is a sweet sapphic graphic novel where the sci-fi elements are more subtle than most of the other books on this list. —Danika Ellis

Aliette de Bodard’s Xuya universe is full of diverse romance and characters, including sentient spaceships. In The Red Scholar’s Wake, one such ship, Rice Fish, is at risk of losing control of her pirate fleet after the death of her wife. A recently captured bot maker and data analyst might just be the solution to all her problems. If Xích Si can uncover who is behind the attacks that killed her wife, maybe Rice Fish can weed out the informants and keep her fleet intact. But in order to guarantee Xích Si protection, they’ll have to marry first. It won’t be Rice Fish’s first marriage of convenience, but it may be the first to show her that relationships can be more than transactional. —Rachel Brittain

Vampires! In! Space! In this queer sci-fi horror, humans can travel between Earth and Alpha Centauri, and Demeter is one of the spaceships that makes the journey. But when Demeter’s passengers start dying mysteriously, Demeter discovers the cause: a vampire. To stop the killings and keep from being shut down, Demeter has to put together her own monster squad to try to take down Dracula, the most powerful vampire of all time. —Liberty Hardy

This super fun space opera has mystery, LGBTQ+ rep, competition, and a fantastic ensemble cast I want to be BFFs with. Max Carmichael has recently been assigned as the second in command on Zuma’s Ghost, part of the Near-Earth Orbital Guard, or NeoG. The NeoG patrols and protects space and is inspired by the U.S. Coast Guard. The crew doesn’t initially welcome Max. Zuma’s Ghost is preparing for the yearly Boarding Games competition, and the crew is determined to win. A new crew member could put a kink in their chances. Meanwhile, a routine mission turns into a conspiracy when someone begins targeting the crew, and if they don’t figure out what’s going on, they and thousands of others might die. This feel-good science fiction is a great way to escape from the world. —Margaret Kingsbury