Queer – Page 2 – Marked for Plot

Shirewode

December this year has, apparently, been the month of mildly disappointing sequels. If you’d like to see my review of book 1 in this take on gay Robin Hood, see Greenwode. It lost a lot of the things that made it interesting, rehashed old ground, and didn’t succeed in raising the stakes of book 1 in a satisfying way. Just frustrating all-around. I think it’s a good recommendation for people who want fantasy gay yearning, but I needed the series to move past that.

You would think from this cover art that archery and action were going to be at least a little more prominent in this book? Too bad! Think again!

If you loved and wanted more of the ‘enemies by fate and religion’ vibes in book 1, you may like this one a lot more than I did. It remains the focal point of the series.

Flesh Eater

I didn’t know much about Flesh Eater going into the story other than it involved spiders and a queer male protagonist. I’m not totally sure what I expected, but Zootopia for Adults setting up an Epic Fantasy trilogy wasn’t it. Lots to love here, with a really fantastic take on an everyman protagonist. However, it’s not quite as dark as the title and cover might lead you to believe.

Read if Looking For: extended spider-riding scenes, a normal person who acts (mostly) like a normal person would, animal societies, organized crime

Avoid if Looking For: Overpowered protagonists, clear villains, medieval tech levels, lots of magic

The Restored (Secret Records of Axel Font #2)

For a review of book 1 in this magitech action thriller reminiscent of Arcane, see The Effaced.

As I’m putting together my end-of-year wrap up post, The Effaced has floated around within my Top 10 reads of the year. Unless I read something mind-blowing in the next week, I think it’ll probably stay there. Begley has been pretty clear that the commercial failure of this book has hit him hard as an indie author (only 16 ratings on goodreads as of this post), which sucks because he’s doing a lot of creative things in the progression fantasy subgenre, and one of the few in that arena writing queer characters. The sequel didn’t quite live up to the hype I threw behind the original, and solidified that it should probably be read after his Journals of Evander Tailor series for the best experience .

Read if Looking For: bespoke hard magic systems, demonic invasions, happy endings, the lightest sprinkle of romance in an action book

Avoid if Looking For: nuanced solutions to systemic problems, the tough side of Found Family, explicit sex scenes

A Rune in the Rubble

One of my goals in 2025 was to read more truly unknown books. Some of my favorite reads have been nearly unknown, and popularity is no indicator of quality. Steven Cavehill’s pitch for his book on r/queersff caught my eye, and I mentally bookmarked it for when I started one of my kindle binges. It’s got some classic high fantasy and dystopia elements, and was a fun read. I’ll definitely pick up the sequel, but I also hope that Cavehill goes through a final round of line-edits on his writing next time around.

Read if Looking For: asshole families, always another secret, tropey fantasy characters, overly-dependent relationships, notices at the start and end of sex scenes

Avoid if Looking For: polished writing, characters who see the plot coming at them, books free from fantasy racism (elves)

5 Comic Mini-Reviews

I’ve been reading lot’s more comics recently, both for work as I continue to develop two seperate comics courses for middle and high schoolers, but also for personal pleasure. I’ll still do bigger reviews for comics that I want to dig a bit more deeply into, but for now enjoy a pre-Thanksgiving meal of some (mostly) light and fun comics.

The Sleepless

Going to sleep is probably one of my favorite things in the world; that said, I also feel like I’m constantly craving just a few more hours in the day. The Sleepless by Victor Manibo tackles the premise of what a world without sleep might look like, wrapped up in a cyberpunk-noir trenchcoat. I appreciated a lot about this book, and it surpassed my expectations knowing that this book both grew out of NanoWrimo and also is written by an author whose later work I have DNF’d. It’s a solid read, especially for people interested in exploring how a Cyberpunk society might come to be.

Read if Looking for: near-future cyberpunk, greedy CEOs, chaos bisexual best friends, jacked drug dealers

Avoid if Looking for: scientific rigor, happy endings, multidimensional side characters, romance plotlines

Dark Rise

For me, C.S. Pacat has been a relatively no-brainer author for me. Their works are rarely perfect, but have consistently captivated me. Some are ruthless and full of content warning-worthy topics (Captive Prince), and others are overdramatic sports comics about a bunch of queer teens in a fencing club. Dark Rise seemed like a natural book that I’d love. However, I found it extraordinarily lacking compared to Pacat’s other works, and I struggled a lot with this one.

Read if Looking For: books with stereotypical emo haircuts, evil vs good as a core motif, YA that flirts with BDSM subtext, YA fantasy tropes of the 2020s

Avoid if Looking for: books that do more than set up a sequel, female viewpoint characters who have the same main character energy as the males, well-adjusted romance plotlines

American Hippo

Inconsequential history facts can be a ton of fun. Apparently in the 1910s, the US government considered importing hippos as a new source of meat during food shortages. If the cocaine hippos of Columbia (and really any other invasive species) have taught us anything, it likely would have been a horrible idea with lots of downstream consequences. Thankfully, that world didn’t come to be, but it did result in a set of novellas and short stories by Sarah Gailey reimagining this possible history, blended with some Western set dressing, which was a premise too intriguing to pass up. I ended up liking River of Teeth (novella #1) quite a bit, but was mostly disappointed by Taste of Marrow (novella #2).

Read if Looking for: bloodthirsty hippos, tropey characters, criminal crews totally not breaking the law, a queernormative American history, relaxed reads

Avoid if Looking for: thought-out alternate histories, meaningful Western elements, consistent characterization

The Devils

I shouldn’t have been surprised at how controversial Joe Abercrombie’s new release would be in parts of the fantasy fandom. The Devils is a departure from Abercrombie’s reputation as a character-focused writer interested in deconstructing classic fantasy tropes, and a popular author straying from their niche invariably invites criticism. At its core, this is a misfit adventure novel with a collection of villain archetypes as major players in an ensemble class. I thought the book was fun, a great audiobook to listen to at the gym, but probably not one that’s going to get recommended by me unless it’s a unique fit to someone’s requests. Had a great time with it though.

Read if Looking For: villain of the chapter, big personalities, extended fight scenes

Avoid if Looking For: a carbon copy of First Law, historical accuracy, a book impossible to call ‘safe’

The Chromatic Fantasy

I’m all about unapologetically queer books, and The Chromatic Fantasy definitely fits that brief. This book isn’t a tour-de-force on the trans experience, but it’s an extremely fun romp a book with great art that didn’t disappoint in the slightest. I need to wait a week or two to see if this has the emotional staying power to crack my top 10 of the year, but I think it’s got a pretty good shot.

Read if Looking For: tricksters and thieves, anachronism and whimsy, more color than a chameleon at a rave

Avoid if Looking For: fully coherent plots, historical accuracy (or even consistency in the intensity of historical inaccuracies), memorable villains, books without nudity