r/LGBTBooks • u/Aleph_137_ • 5d ago
Discussion Nonbinary protagonists
Hello everyone, I'm searching for a specific kind of literature, it can have romance but preferably it won't be the main focus, my only requirement is that the main character has to be reasonably intelligent.
Beyond that, anything goes, it can be a book, manwha, manga, light novel, web novel or anything else under the sun, I would prefer horror / thriller but it isn't that relevant either.
Any recommendations will be greatly appreciated, thank you for the attention!
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u/Littlebus80 5d ago
"A Psalm for the Wild-Built" by Becky Chambers features both a tea-monk (they/them) and a robot (it). It's a very cute and cozy book!
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u/Spirited_Writer_90 5d ago
The Unmagical life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher. Dark academia, fantasy setting. Protagonist is NB and smart. Does have romance, but nothing explicit.
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u/October_13th Reader 5d ago
I absolutely loved this book! It does have a somewhat explicit scene though:
Spoiler: In the secret room they both undress and Briar gives Bastian a blow job and then he commands them to cum using his magic speech.
I thought it was super hot and well done but if someone is trying to avoid any sex scenes then I just wanted to mention it.
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u/Cute-Solution-723 5d ago
I love love love Gliff by Ali Smith. I especially enjoyed the audiobook. Dystopian, but also intimate. No romance.
A Sharp Endless Need by Mac Crane has a female, but nonbinary-ish protagonist, and I enjoyed it a lot, too. It's heavily focused on romance though (but it's not genre romance).
I also loved Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. I can't even describe what it's about. Dissociative identity disorder, gender, trauma, Nigeria. Fantastic.
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u/Aleph_137_ 5d ago
Both Gliff and Freshwater sounds exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I love this kind of book.
Sharp Endless despite having romance also sounds interesting, I will look it up too.
Thanks for the recommendations!
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u/samthehaggis 5d ago
For a sci-fi novel with a mystery and tons of political intrigue, try The Mars House by Natasha Pulley. It's set in a queer normative world (a colony on Mars where the settlers have eliminated most physical markers of gender and use they/them pronouns). One of the main characters is from Mars and is non-binary, while the other is a male refugee from Earth.
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u/plutopsyche 5d ago
The Murderbot Diaries feature an agender protagonist, but please don't let the series title scare you off. Murderbot is bored, funny, and really likes soapy space serials.
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u/Scuttling-Claws 5d ago
Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland has a non-binary protagonist (in a world with three genders, non-trinary?) whose main gender is 'really cool coat.'
And they're a pirate
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u/lis_anise 4d ago
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie: narrated by a gigantic sentient rock, focused on a Bronze-age soldier who accompanies his prince home to what should have been the king, his father's funeral.
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho: A nun with massive chutzpah joins a gang of bandits in a Malaysian-inspired martial arts adventure.
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u/dalidellama 5d ago
Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee NB artist in an occupied country learns the true power of art
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u/Aleph_137_ 5d ago
I like it, adding it to the list too, thank you!
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u/TashaT50 Reader 22h ago
Another one by Yoon Ha Lee:
- Beyond the Dragon’s Gate by Yoon Ha Lee trad published SFF nonbinary/trans rep - Korean American author - Former Academician Anna Kim’s research into AI cost her everything. Now, years later, the military has need of her expertise in order to prevent the destruction of their AI-powered fleet.
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u/dalidellama 5d ago
Ngi Vo's Singing Hills series is about a nonbinary monk, sometimes accompanied by a memory bird, collecting stories, which are queer.
Provenance & Translation State by Ann Leckie have human NB protagonists, while the Imperial Raadch books in the same universe feature a starship mind in a genderless society.
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u/Gloomy-Cranberry-386 5d ago
Highly recommend The Monk and Robot duology!
I also recently read Model Home, which has a main character who is gender fluid. It's a horror novel.
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u/cheddartreee 5d ago
Came here to say The Monk and Robot biology as well!! LOVED that little series!!!
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u/Ali-argonaut 5d ago
Realta is a magical fantasy webcomic. It’s primarily a comedy and adventure story with a side of romance. It’s not complete and is currently on hiatus. But it does have a nb protagonist!
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u/Slink_0 5d ago
The Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie has an agender MC in a galaxy spanning civilization with no concept of gender as a social construct. Their language has no gender markers. It's fantastic space opera. The first book Ancillary Justice was the first book to win the Nebula, Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke awards simultaneously.
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u/lilgrassblade 5d ago
Empress of Dust by Alex Kingsley - post apocalypse desert with giant crabs who may or may not talk.
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala - summer camp horror in which the MC is trying to figure out why their sister tried to kill them.
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u/RevolutionaryCash903 5d ago
Several important characters in Rebecca Roanhorse's "Between Earth and Sky" Trilogy are non-binary, and use xe/xir pronouns. They embody a third gender (bayeki) culturally recognized in a specific city-state.
The series has really interesting worldbuilding. Its high fantasy, set in a fictional continent resembling the pre-colonial Americas, and systems of magic and mythology Mayan and Aztec inspiration. On top of all that, it just happens to be very good.
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u/Past_Ad_4059 5d ago
The Tensorate series by Neon Yang.
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u/TashaT50 Reader 22h ago
Was coming to recommend this. Here’s some information about the series.
- Tensorate Series by Neon Yang** lush, vivid silkpunk fantasy series in a world where elementalist mages contend with revolutionary machinists, while dinosaurs battle sky-spanning naga. Either The Red Threads of Fortune and The Black Tides of Heaven, can be read as the first novella in the series. Nonbinary characters, nonbinary author Ken Liu coined the term silkpunk to help his publisher market {The Dandelion Dynasty series by Ken Liu} The Black Tides of Heaven MLM protagonist
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u/Minnow_Minnow_Pea 5d ago
Hammajang Luck has an NB/transmasc MC and trans and other queer supporting characters. The romance is a thing, but it's a cyberpunk scifi heist, so it's not the only thing.
For body horror, Hell Followed with Us is interesting. Benji is a boy, to be clear. But there's tension about how he's 'not adequately trans'.
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u/maggiethekatt 5d ago
F.T. Lukens has a couple of romantasy books that have nonbinary MCs. They do have romance but they're YA so it's all closed door and also a good dose of fantasy.
Otherworldly - M/Mx paranormal/urban fantasy with fairies. Dual POV between both MCs.
The Last, Best Quest Ever - F/Mx fantasy with dragons and a badass female adventurer. The non-binary character is the love-interest; the FMC is the POV character.
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u/spunlines 5d ago
iron widow's protag is non-binary-coded in a strictly gendered culture she's ready to rage-kill her way through.
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u/kgold0 5d ago
Can I self-promo my book? The main character is an AI griefbot who is a copy of a controlling husband Ben who suppressed his transfem nature all his life before dying. She wakes as Lisa. Does every now and then switch from Lisa to Ben and back but obviously prefers Lisa. Has memory flashbacks to dead-Ben intermittently. It’s more of a literary speculative fiction horror.
The book name is Allow All. Currently having a month long goodreads giveaway and it’s on kindle unlimited too if you want it for free!
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u/daughterjudyk 5d ago
Hiro val Akira from the first sister trilogy by Linden A Lewis is probably AMAB but definitely non-binary. Three book completed sci-fi series where they play a large part in it. But there are some body horror elements common with science fiction (experimental augmentations etc)
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u/watercresscent 4d ago
You're in luck lol Kino's Journey light novel series was just licensed in English and it features a nonbinary MC. Be careful with the anime adaptations though I think some of them make the MC a tomboy/crossdressing girl.
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u/seapigeon724 4d ago
Dragonfall by L. R. Lam features a genderfluid protagonist. not exactly nonbinary, but adjacent.
Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England is on my TBR.
both of these are high fantasy!
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u/Dave_BearChaser 3d ago
The Shape of Our Screams by TT Madden has a non-binary MC and is a quick, punchy read. One of my favourites in the past year.
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u/jiminmeme 2d ago
Hamajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto is a sci-fi heist book with a nb mc. It’s very good and also has a sapphic subplot!
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u/Wholesomeweener 1d ago
If you don’t mind the main character not being a good person, X by Davey Davis might be a good option for you. It’s a dystopian where minorities are “exported” from the country. Lee, the main character is trying to find a dom they met at a party before she gets exported. It’s really interesting but definitely not everyone’s cup of tea.
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u/Candid-Beginning2955 5d ago
Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald - brilliant protagonist, and while it's not strictly a thriller, it's a Gothic drama with plenty of thrilling and horrifying bits.
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u/Argufier 5d ago
Sword Dance by AJ Dumas may be more romance than you're looking for, but I found the plot sufficiently compelling. It features a non-binary eunuch former slave and a former legion captain in an alternative history vaguely Greek society.
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u/SnooHesitations1600 5d ago
What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher! It's a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher with a nb mc discovering what's going on. They even have unique genderless pronouns specific to their former occupation as part of the fictional world's lore.