Craving something literary?
You’re not alone. But who are some writers pushing the boundaries of literary Sapphic Spec Fic?
These are books where queerness informs, guides, and infuses the narrative. They incorporate difference and diversity, challenge political realities and disinformation, investigate personal relationships, have brutal of consequences, but are ultimately hopeful and search for what difference means, how it leads to action, and infuses identity.
These stories represent the epitome of how authors use speculative fiction to change the world, interrogate the future, scare you, and make you question everything, one book at a time. I'm in awe of their craft, and I encourage Sapphic Spec Fic readers looking for something thought provoking to consider them next time you're building your TBR pile.
The Thick and the Lean - Chana Porter
Spec Fic Subgenre - Near Future/Contemporary Fantasy
The world is obsessed with calories to the point where decadence is forbidden, and Beatrice is hungry! She has to rebel. With the help of a mysterious cookbook, she and Reiko—who also lives beyond the law—strive to reclaim taste as a revolutionary act. A sensory book that wrestles with and entwines anti-capitalism and body politics. Genius.
The Disinformation War -
S.J. Groenewegen
Spec Fic Subgenre - Believable near future dystopia and politics
A poverty-stricken veteran of online social justice battles joins with a group of unlikely allies to fight in the war of disinformation before Britain becomes totalitarian. A believable, sobering, and yet hopeful look at how small acts of resistance by people for whom difference is a way of life are important when truth loses its meaning. Includes lesbian, gay, aroace, bisexual and non-binary rep, and is own voices autistic. This book couldn’t possibly be more relevant today.
Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield
Spec Fic Subgenre - Horror
When Leah finally returns after a deep sea mission that ended badly, it becomes clear that Leah may have come back wrong. Whatever they studied down there, Leah has carried part of it with her onto dry land and into the home she shares with Miri.
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself - Marisa Crane
Spec Fic Subgenre - Dystopian/Contemporary Fantasy
In a dystopian future, they punish crimes by giving people a shadow which reminds them of their crime and warns others. This obscene punishment has created an underclass of people denied civil rights. A grieving single mother is helped by a community of misfits to both survive her son’s unjust shadowing and to fight back, in a book of glorious queer resistance.
The Salvage - Anbara Salam
Spec Fic Subgenre - Gothic horror/thriller
A marine archaeologist in 1960s Scotland is sent to help retrieve items from a Victorian shipwreck. She forms a relationship with local girl Elsie. When a mysterious figure starts appearing and items disappear, she’s forced to deal with the fallout, and fight for her own survival. Read if you like wintery vibes, a slow reveal, wit, incredible historical detail, being scared, and a dose of social commentary.