Queer SF - January 2027
January 5, 2027
This Lethal Love — Alicia Jasinska
Genre: YA romantasy
Rep: Queer; polyamory
Series: Book 2 of Spirits and Saints
Fall in love all over again with Alicia Jasinska’s enchanting spirit world steeped in Slavic folklore. This second entry in the queer romantasy duology Spirits and Saints teems with magic, mischief, and polyamorous romance.
After a kiss from Kazik, the town’s grumpy exorcist, restores Gisela’s humanity, she is finally free to leave the magical spa town of Lesna Woda and return to her mortal family. But a dark revelation roots her in Aleksey, the other boy she has fallen for, is possessed by a forest demon.
Tension flares between Gisela and Aleksey when they are forced to team up to help rescue a sky nymph, and Gisela finds herself torn about whether to spill Aleksey’s secret to Kazik. Would the exorcist destroy the demon to rescue the boy he’s possessed? And could Gisela bear to lose the Aleksey she’s fallen in love with?
When an old friend of Kazik’s forces Aleksey to reveal himself, Gisela is spirited away to the forest realm with Aleksey. There, she uncovers startling truths about the demon—and a plot to wrest control of Lesna Woda’s magical waters. Are all forest spirits wicked and bloodthirsty? Or are reparations and a mortal reckoning long overdue?
This darkly enchanting sequel to book one of the Spirits and Saints duology, This Fatal Kiss, is told in alternating points of view and introduces new spirits to readers while expanding its cozy, folkloric world. A queer friendly romance for readers who enjoy love triangles, beguiling mysteries, and grandfatherly house spirits masquerading as chubby orange cats!
Link: Goodreads
January 12, 2027
The Flower Court — Kate Elliott
Genre: Romantic fantasy
Rep: Sapphic
Series: Standalone in established universe
Sapphic romance amidst a tale of palace intrigue from one of fantasy’s best—and best-loved—writers.
To secure her beloved grandmother’s rescue from a vindictive master, lowly servant Kyuri makes a desperate bargain with the noble Dorven. She must accompany him into the Flower Court at the heart of the imperial palace to search for his missing sister. But the fate of the sister is unclear, and seems to be bound up in a power struggle between ambitious princes.
In order to negotiate these dangerous currents, Kyuri is forced to work with Sulia, the Dowager Empress’s loveliest and most condescending servant. When the investigation leads the two women into deadly palace intrigue and exposes them to the threat of a ravenous fungal ghost plague, they must learn to trust each other in order to survive—and to have a hope of finding a future beyond servitude.
Link: Macmillan
January 26, 2027
Godburned — Foz Meadows
Genre: Dark fantasy
Rep: Queer
Series: Book 1 of The Weight and the Measure
A godtouched arbiter of justice and his prickly new conscript unravel a conspiracy that could bring down everything they stand for in the first of a clever and cutting queer epic fantasy series about autonomy, justice, and trauma, for fans of Martha Wells and Robert Jackson Bennett.
In the Jaosi Empire, magic is gifted by the gods: a blessed reward for the worthy devout. But not for Kas. Twice, the gods have come uninvited, investing him with their power at the worst moments of his life, and twice, Kas has refused to serve.
When three teenagers go missing in the poorest part of Jahovai, where neither the city guards nor the Measure bother to pursue justice, Kas knows that if he doesn’t find them, no one will. But when his search goes devastatingly wrong, a third god visits him—and in the aftermath, Kas is conscripted to the Measure.
Peacekeeper and investigator Nema is tasked with inducting Kas into his new life. A nobleman who represents everything Kas despises, Nema nonetheless offers to help his new partner find the missing boys as a gesture of goodwill.
But the search soon turns ugly, pointing to corruption at the highest levels. Nema and Kas must learn to cooperate, and fast: together, they may uncover the truth, but the more they learn, the more they have to lose...
Link: Goodreads