Prideful Planets: Sci-fi for Pride Month

Happy Pride! Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is celebrated each year in June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was the tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the US. Along with celebrations, parades, parties, and concerts to recognize the community’s impact on history. Pride is a joyful celebration filled with color and love to celebrate the beautiful identities of the LGBTQ community. Celebrate Pride with these science fiction recommendations.

August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White
- An army of giant robot AIs threaten Earth, and a pianist becomes humanity’s last hope. Jazz Pianist Gus Kitko was meant to spend his final moments playing piano at the greatest end-of-the-world party and maybe kissing Ardent Violet before the robots destroyed them all. Instead, when the Vanguard robots arrive, one saves him. Suddenly, Gus’s last song is humanities encore, and he is chosen to join a group of traitorous Vangaurds and their pilots in the fight to save humanity.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (My rating: 5 stars)
- A motley crew travels through the far reaches of space, and a young explorer learns the meaning of family. Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer to escape her past. Life is chaotic and wild and about to become dangerous when the crew accepts a lifetime job offer. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet but risking her life wasn’t part of Rosemary’s plan. In the far reaches of space, the Wayfarer’s crew will encounter many mishaps and adventures, forcing them to depend on one another. Rosemary will have to learn to rely on the crew – an experience that will teach her about trust and love and that having a family isn’t the worst thing in the universe.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (My rating: 4 stars)
- There is no gender on the planet of Winter. The Gethenians become male or female during mating cycles – and humans find this concept unfathomable. The Ekumen of Known Worlds has sent a human ethnologist to the ice-bound planet to study the Gethenians. He finds the Gethenians off-putting and difficult, but over a journey across the ice, he reaches an understanding with one of the Gethenians – it might even be love.
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
- Aster lives in the lower deck slums of the antebellum South-styled and divided HSS Matilda. For generations, the ship has carried humanity to the Promised Land, but the ship’s leaders have imposed racist and harsh restrictions on dark-skinned people like Aster. When the autopsy of the sovereign reveals a link between his death and her mother’s suicide, Aster is determined to find the truth.
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
- The Iskat empire dominated the solar system through political alliances and treaties. Many planets, including Thea, are chafing under Iskat’s rule. When death befalls the Imperial Prince, his widower, Jainan, is rushed into an arranged marriage with the Imperial Prince’s cousin, Kiem, to control the hostilities between the two worlds. When it’s shown that the Imperial Prince’s death may not have been an accident and Jainan is a suspect, the newlywed pair must overcome their issues and learn to trust one another while navigating the Iskat court, solving a murder, and preventing an interplanetary war.
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
- Traveling the multiverse is possible, but people can only visit a world where their counterpart is alive. Cara’s counterparts are exceptionally good at dying. On this Earth, Cara has survived and been identified as an outlier – a perfect candidate for multiverse travel. She’s taken from her wasteland home and thrust into the wealthy, walled-off Wiley City with her own apartment. She works with her handler Dell collecting off-world data. When one of her doppelgängers dies mysteriously, she’s plunged into a new world with an old secret. Her discovery will connect her past and future, revealing her own role in a plot that endangers the entire multiverse.
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
- Captain Kel Cheris is disgraced after using unconventional methods in battle. Command gives her the opportunity for redemption in a mission to retake the Fortress of Scattered Needles. Cheris’ best hope is to ally with Shuos Jedao. Jedao has never lost a battle and may be the only one who can successfully besiege the fortress. But Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, including his own. As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao. She might just be his next victim.
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
- Gyre Price lied her way onto an expedition, hoping to map mineral deposits, with her only worries being cave-ins and gear malfunctions. She also thought the paycheck – enough to get her away from her mother and off-planet – meant she’d have a skilled team keeping her safe. Instead, she got Em. Em controls Gyre’s boy with drugs and withholds critical information. Em knows about Gyre’s falsified credentials and uses them as another way to control her. And Em has secrets too. As Gyre descends, little inconsistencies drive her out of her depths. She finds her sense of control giving way to paranoia and anger. On her own in a dark and deadly place, Gyre must overcome more than the terrain if she wants to make it out alive. But how come she can’t shake the feeling she’s being followed?
We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker
- Val and Julie want what’s best for their kids. When their teenage son David asks for a Pilot – a new brain implant – to help with school, they reluctantly agree. Soon Julie feels pressure at work to get a Pilot to keep up, leaving Val and their daughter Sophie in the shrinking minority of those without the device. Soon, the implications are clear: get a Pilot or get left behind. How do you stop a technology once it’s everywhere? That’s what Sophie and the anti-Pilot movement rise up to answer.
The Seep by Chana Porter
- Trina Goldberg-Oneka is a trans woman whose life is changed forever after the arrival of an alien entity called The Seep. Everything is connected through The Seep. Capitalism falls, and hierarchies and barriers are broken down. If something can be imagined, it is possible. Trina and her wife, Deeba, live blissfully until Deeba begins to imagine what it might be like to be reborn as a baby, giving her the chance for an even better life. Using Seep-tech, Deeba moves on to a new existence, leaving Trina behind and devastated. Heartbroken and on an alcoholic binge, Trina follows a young boy she encounters. In her attempt to save him from the seep, she will confront an avid devotee and the void Deeba left behind.
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
- Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire to discover that her predecessor has died. No one will admit his death wasn’t an accident or that she might be next to die. Now she must discover who is behind the murder, save herself and the station from unceasing expansion while navigating a seductive alien culture, intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret.
You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo
- Retired and free from the continual war conquest, Niko and the remnants of her former unit are content to spend their days working at the restaurant they built together. But some wars can’t be escaped, and some enemies aren’t content to let old soldiers go. Niko and her crew are forced onto a sentient ship and must survive the sadistic pirate king if they hope to keep their restaurant dream alive.
The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis
- First Sister has no name or voice. As a Priestess of the Sisterhood, she travels alongside the soldiers of Earth and Mars – the same ones who own her. When her former captain abandons her, First Sister’s hopes of freedom are dashed when she is forced to stay on the ship with a new captain – Saito Ren – whom she knows nothing about. She is commanded to spy on Ren by the Sisterhood but finds working for the war efforts is much more complicated when you’re falling in love. Lit oval Lucius became an elite soldier, only to be defeated by Saito Ren, resulting in the disappearance of his partner Hiro. When Lito learns Hiro is alive and a traitor, he sees his shot at redemption. But Lito discovers recordings Hiro made, putting his allegiances to the test. Lito must decide if he will follow orders or his heart.
Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
- Jamal Lawson, an aspiring journalist, wanted to be part of something. After another black man is murdered, he packs up his camera to document a rally protesting police brutality in Baltimore. Before it begins, the city implements the Dome, a new safety protocol. The Dome surrounds the city, forcing those within to follow a militarized shutdown. No one can get in, and no one can get out. Alone, Jamal doesn’t know where to turn until he meets hacker Marco and AWOL basic training graduate Catherine. As unrest grows, the three take the fight to the chief of police. It’s going to take everything they have to survive the corrupt city.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
- An agent of the Commandment finds a letter – Burn before reading. Thus begins the correspondence between two rival agents determined to secure the best possible future for their warring factions. What began as a taunt grows into something more. But discovery would mean death.

If you’d like to learn more about Pride and the LGBTQ community or would like to donate, check out the resources below. You can also find a few more book recommendation lists that offer fantasy and more sci-fi options.