In celebration of International Non-Binary People’s Day (14 July), this month’s Queer SFF Spotlight features four brilliant SFF novels and novellas with non-binary protagonists.
Let’s jump right in!
Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee (link opens in a new tab)
Phoenix Extravagant is an enthralling novel set in a fantasy version of Japanese-occupied Korea. It follows Gyen Jebi (they/them), a non-binary artist who finds themself reluctantly tangled up in the politics of occupation and resistance.
In the setting of the book, Hwaguk, non-binary people are known as geu-ae:
The two of them exchanged nods of recognition: they both wore their hair in asymmetrical haircuts, like geu-ae currently did in the capital. The Razanei seemed baffled by geu-ae, people who chose to live not as men or women at all, or who sometimes dressed and spoke as one and sometimes as the other. But they left them alone, for which Jebi was grateful.
I loved the worldbuilding around gender and the casual inclusion of so many queer characters. As well as non-binary representation, there is sapphic and polyamorous rep, too.
One of the ways this book stood out to me is that Jebi is just an ordinary person trying to get by and focus on their art. When they get caught up in the events of the story, they are—and remain—very much out of their depth. It’s refreshing to read about a protagonist who isn’t a hyper-competent hero out to singlehandedly save the day. Instead, we get a story about someone trying to find their role in a complex and messy struggle, surrounded by people with different strengths, skills and values.
Although Phoenix Extravagant deals with hard-hitting subjects like colonialism and cultural erasure, it balances them with moments of humour and charm. The result is a book that sweeps you along in its immersive world.
Reading for writing craft
Phoenix Extravagant is a great example of:
- third-person narration where the POV character has they/them pronouns;
- gender worldbuilding that is inclusive of non-binary identities;
- a protagonist and resolution that defy the dominant mode of Western storytelling.
Lord of the Last Heartbeat by May Peterson (link opens in a new tab)
Lord of the Last Heartbeat is a rich and intriguing fantasy romance set in a world reminiscent of historical Italy and full of ghosts, shapeshifters and sorcerers.
Mio (he/him) is a renowned opera singer and part of a powerful family of mages. He is also intersex and non-binary:
“I don’t know if you have people like castrati in Mallory. But here, people don’t expect me to be…truly a man. And I don’t think I am, though not for the reason they think. If anything, my gender—whatever people believe it to be—seems to only matter to others.”
When Mio meets Rhodry (he/him), an immortal moon-soul who can shapeshift into a bear, Mio finds the strength to resist the malevolent power of his sorcerer mother. He seeks refuge with Rhodry, but Rhodry is fighting a mysterious decades-long curse that threatens all who enter his manor.
The complex horrors of the magical dangers that they face are balanced by the romance between Mio and Rhodry, which feels tender and sincere. I appreciated that the author treads carefully around potential issues of consent in light of their power imbalance.
Deliciously gothic and filled to the brim with vast worldbuilding both political and supernatural, Lord of the Last Heartbeat is a book to sink into and savour.
Reading for writing craft
Lord of the Last Heartbeat is a great example of:
- dual first-person point of view that takes care to differentiate the character voices;
- rich, deep worldbuilding with no info-dumping;
- building up and maintaining intrigue throughout the story.
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (link opens in a new tab)
She Who Became the Sun is a gripping epic historical fantasy and a queer reimagining of the rise of the Ming dynasty.
As a child, Zhu (she/her) is told that her fate is “nothing” while her brother will achieve greatness. When her brother unexpectedly dies, Zhu takes on his identity. To claim his fate for herself, she must convince even the Heavens that she is a man. In some ways this is easy and in other ways it is a struggle, because while she’s not a woman, she isn’t a man either.
As she stared, a peculiar vibration started in her liver and spread outwards, as though she were a string sounding in response to its twin being plucked somewhere else in the room. […] To resonate in likeness to a eunuch, whose substance was neither male nor female—it was nothing less than a reminder from the world itself of what she tried so hard to deny: that she wasn’t made of the same pure male substance as Zhu Chongba. She had a different substance. A different fate. She shivered.
Zhu is not the only genderdivergent character: Ouyang (he/him), another major POV character, longs to be recognised fully as the man that he is—but no one else sees him that way because he was made a eunuch as a boy.
The novel effortlessly weaves themes of gender identity—including some searing descriptions of gender dysphoria—into a tight and dramatic plot. I personally love to read about characters who range from morally grey to downright villainous, and this book has them in spades. We see survival instincts and the fear of death turn into vicious ambition and desire for power. Coupled with the novel’s commanding prose, it makes She Who Became the Sun a compulsive read.
Reading for writing craft
She Who Became the Sun is a great example of:
- tight pacing and the use of time jumps to ensure that every scene packs a punch;
- using multiple points of view to add layers of information while not detracting from the central characters;
- deep, complex character development and crystal clear characterisation.
In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Lu (link opens in a new tab)
In the Watchful City is a whirling and dreamlike Asian-influenced bio-cyberpunk novella.
The main story is set in an insular city-state that goes to great lengths to protect its citizens from the outside world. The protagonist Anima (æ/ær) is a node, an extrasensory human plugged in to the city’s plant-like network to aid in its constant surveillance.
Anima opens ær eyes, giving ærself a moment to settle back into ær true body. Pinpricks of light flow out from the stem rooted to the nape of ær neck. Æ lifts ær hands, observing first the palms, then the backs. Lichen crusts ær nail beds, but the golden light of the Gleaming still shines through the cuticles.
Vessel (se/ser) arrives with a cabinet of curiosities and begins to tell Anima stories from around the world, opening ær mind to the possibilities beyond the borders of the city. We get a stunning mosaic of stories within stories, each as absorbing as the next, and each bringing with it a different layer of genre and theme.
In the Watchful City feels difficult to pin down other than to say that it is a truly transformative read. With its interwoven themes of gender and queerness, culture and diaspora, power and oppression, this novella is a remarkable feat.
Reading for writing craft
In the Watchful City is a great example of:
- third-person narration where the POV character has neopronouns (as do many prominent side characters);
- using a frame narrative to present multiple embedded stories;
- extensive and immersive worldbuilding with no info-dumping.
Want more books with non-binary protagonists?
Check out these books, featured in previous Queer SFF Spotlight posts:
Outro
Thank you very much for reading this post! I hope you enjoyed it and have added a book or two to your TBR.
If you’ve read any of the above books, let me know what you thought of them! And if you‘ve got any recommendations of other queer SFF books with non-binary protagonists, I’d love to check them out. You can leave a comment down below or tweet at me @JakeCNicholls (link opens in a new tab).
This post is part of my regular Queer SFF Spotlight series. If you’d like to stay up to date with these posts, plus posts about writing craft and gender worldbuilding (among other things), consider signing up for my newsletter to stay in the loop!