My 9/23/11 post on Goodreads

Hi everyone,

I frequently post on the Goodreads site, under the Gay Science Fiction group. I thought that I would include my 9/23/11 post here because I felt it has a lot of good information and recomendations that others might find useful. See blow:

9/23/11 post under "Gay SciFi Audio Books? " thread:

First let me thank all of you for your generous recommendations. Though I should clarify that when I posed my initial question, I wasn’t just referring to GLBT sci-fi audio books. I was referring to GLBT sci-fi books in general (print and audio). It is becoming increasingly harder to find GLBT spec fiction that doesn’t focus a great deal on M/M romance. I look high and low for GLBT content so I can be kind of fanatic about it. Sorry if I get long winded.

I have to admit, I have read or listened to all the books you have mentioned, or they are on my ‘to read list’; my favorite being Ethan of Athos. It was the first ‘gay-themed’ book that I read. I read it when it first was first released, and I fondly refer to it as my ‘coming out’ book; being that I read it prior to my doing so. It was the first time I came across any media that showed the gay character in a positive light.

I loved Forever War and its sequels. I hear that Ridley Scott is making a movie based on the book. I am eagerly waiting for the movie though I have my doubts about how he will handle the gay content.

All of Lynn Flewelling’s books are fantastic.

Also, here are a few websites that I use to find a lot of the speculative fiction that I read

http://www.glbtfantasy.com/?section=index Mel, the admin of the site, has done a phenomenal job with this site. There are copious amounts of GLBT sci-fi and fantasy books out there and this site is a good roadmap to get to them. I’ve also placed reviews on this site under Wayne4u.

http://lethe-press.tumblr.com/, http://lethepress.livejournal.com/ lethe press is a GLBT speculative fiction publisher. They also publish a speculative magazine called Icarus; it can be ordered here
http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/270374

http://www.lambdaliterary.org/category/reviews/spec/ good place to find the best award winning spec fiction out there.

http://www.spectrumawards.org/2011.htm#bestnovel another good place to find the best award winning spec fiction. Check their list of previous award winners also.

http://www.angelfire.com/ny/gaybooks/genre.html

http://jclarkmedia.com/gaybooks/genre.html#fantasy

My unending desire to read has also lit my fiery passion to write and publish my own stories, so if anyone is interested you can read excerpts of my stories at http://www.spencers-lane.blogspot.com/ I am in the process of putting the finishing touches on my first short story collection which I hope to have out by Christmas. So keep an eye out.

I thought I would put together some of my favorites. Maybe you’ve read them; maybe you’ll see something new.

•Blackwater Series by Michael McDowell
o(From Wikipedia) McDowell's "Mysterious Saga of the Caskey Family" Blackwater serial novels (6 total) consist of the following titles: The Flood, The Levee, The House, The War, The Fortune, and Rain. The series chronicles fifty-years in the lives of the Caskey family, matriarch of which is able to transmogrify into a crocodilian creature.

Though not front and center, several characters are hinted at being gay or lesbian in a positive way. These books have been a longtime favorite of mine. Well written and full of twists and turns. Though more horror/paranormal than sci-fi, they do fall under the catch-all moniker of speculative fiction.

•Miccail Series by Stephen Leigh

oA group of humans are stranded with they lose contact with their ship. The planet they are on is inhospitable and unforgiving, after a century of human settlement the descendant stills struggle with survival and suffer from mutations and infertility and have to grapple with extinction. Lesbian, Bisexual, and transgendered protagonists.

•A Strong and Sudden Thaw by R. W. Day

oAn excellent gay coming-of-age novel set in a post-apocalyptic world. The world suffers something close to another Ice Age nearly a hundred years ago; civilization doesn't fall, it stumbled and is still trying to maintain its balance. In rural Moline, Virginia, this is a story that deals with small town hardships and attitudes set against larger world-wide issues of endless winter and hungry dragons.

•Out of the Ashes by R. W. Day

oSequel to ‘A Strong and Sudden Thaw.’ It’s on my reading list just haven’t gotten to it yet, though I am positive that it is good.

•All of David Gerrold’s books here is a list:
o The Voyage of the Star Wolf
o Blood and Fire
o The Middle of Nowhere
o A season for Slaughter
o Leaping To The Stars Trilogy
o Child of Earth
o The Man Who Folded Himself
o A Matter for Men
o A rage for Revenge
o A Day for Damnation
o Thirteen O’clock
o When Harlie Was On: Release 2.0
o A Wish for Smish
o Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy

•Pact Arcanum Trilogy by Arshad Ahsanuddin
o Sunset
o Moonlight
o Sunrise

•The Last Rune by Marc Anthony

oI have read reviews that have “claimed” that this series is derivative of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time repetitive monstrosity. Well don’t believe them. These books are actually interesting and have a lot going on in them, whereas – in my humble opinion – Wheel of Time is a very long sleep-fest. Not to mention you get the added bonus of the protagonist, Travis, getting the hot blond Knight in the end.

o Beyond the Pale
o The Keep of Fire
o The Dark Remains
o Blood of Mystery
o The Gates of Winter
o The First Stone

•A Companion to Wolves, The Termpering of Men
Both by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear


•Sarah Monette
o Corambis
o Melusine
o The Mirador
o The Virtu

•Elizabeth Bear
o Carnival

•Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories by Sandra McDonald

oFrom Booklist *Starred Review* After three series novels (The Outback Stars, 2007; The Stars Down Under, 2008; The Stars Blue Yonder, 2009), McDonald fields a first collection that comes close to being another novel. In it the paths of three characters cross and converge, though in some stories, none of them appears. Foremost among them is the commanding figure of Diana Comet, who is young, mature, and maturer, respectively, in three stories; absent but influential in another; incognito in two more. Cubby Salaman is a 12-year-old runaway in two tales, later a vigorous young man aboard a ship on which he reencounters the third recurring character, Graybeard, a sentient, customarily immobile figurehead. Their stage is an alternate Earth touched by magic. That alone doesn't make these stories what McDonald calls them, improbable. That quality arises more from the facts that Diana is a cross-dressing man, and plenty of the other protagonists, Cubby included, are gay. Their world isn't much easier for gays and transgender folk than ours is, yet they are winningly heroic, psychologically complex, and sympathetic. And because theirs is an alternate world, they prove their mettle in genre milieus ranging from the western to contemporary (in our world) desert warfare, with technologies ranging from sail and horse to helicopter. No matter the setting and the tools, their stories are all enthralling. --Ray Olson

Ok, that’s enough of that; I could go on for a very long time. I will place a complete list on my updates at a later date.

Thanks again for your responses and good reading.
--Tim