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New Release: Point of Hopes – Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett

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Point of Hopes - Melissa Scott & Lisa A. Barnett

QSFer Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett have a new queer historical fantasy mystery book out, Astreiant book one: Point of Hopes. The fate of the city hangs in the balance… The city of Astreiant is full of magic, danger and bureaucracy, and never moreso than when something or someone is making guild apprentices disappear without a trace. Philip Eslingen has just been discharged from his mercenary company and as a Leaguer and a stranger, makes an ideal suspect. Fortunately for him, Pointsman Nicolas Rathe from the Point of Hopes station doesn’t agree, but he knows the only way to … Read more

New Release: A Rhapsody of Rapiers – Amir Lane

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QSFer Amir Lane has a new transgender historic fantasy out in the Heavy Metal Magic series: A Rhapsody of Rapiers. And what fate befalls the undead? Elyes Jaohari never wanted anything more than to travel. When his older brother needs a new cartographer during the Anglo-Spanish War, he jumps at the opportunity. Working under the command of English Captain Westmont, Elyes and his crew make easy work of the Spanish fleets. In exchange, Westmont promises them more money than they can count and free movement through the English world after the war. It seems like the perfect way to get … Read more

Romosexuality: Queer Love in Ancient Times

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roman centurion in front of the Colosseum - deposit photos

Greek homosexuality has been set upon a pedestal, deemed a worthy and respectable model for romance by philosophers, writers and lovers alike. The reality is, though, that love and sex for the queer community owe more to the ancient Romans. Their approach was grittier, dirtier and sometimes just as romantic. However, it’s an outlook on sex and love we are only now coming to embrace. Ancient Greece’s appeal to gay men is much better known. Pioneering activists such as John Addington Symonds (1840-1893) and George Cecil Ives (1867-1950) turned to Greece as a respectable model. It offered them a legitimising … Read more

Was Joan of Arc Non-Binary?

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Joan of Arc

As a new production reimagining Joan of Arc as a gender non-conforming hero sparks predictable backlash, historian Florence Scott explains why it’s impossible to define Joan’s gender through our modern lens. A new play at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, I, Joan, imagines Joan of Arc as a queer figure who uses they/them gender-neutral pronouns. Though simply an artistic interpretation of Joan that offers “the possibility of another point of view”, this portrayal has been considered controversial by those alarmed by the perceived de-gendering or re-gendering of a famous historical character as non-binary. Full Story from Pink News

The Queer (Subtext) History of the Lord of the Rings

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Lord of the Rings

Almost 70 years after JRR Tolkein published the first in his Lord of the Rings epic fantasy trilogy – a new vision of Middle Earth has finally arrived on our screens. And as Amazon Prime drops its highly anticipated prequel series Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, now feels like the perfect time to look back at the queer history of the series. Of course, as with any other hugely popular fiction series, there is a rich LGBTQ+ fanbase that has lifted the subtext of the novels to create hugely popular queer readings of Middle Earth. The queer subtext … Read more

Queer Weird West Tales Anthology

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Queer Weird West Tales Anthology

QSFer Julie Bozza is the editor of a new queer western anthology: Queer Weird West Tales. Frontiers have always attracted the Other – where they find that the Other is always already there. These 22 stories explore what happens when queer characters encounter weirdness on the edge of the worlds they know. Authors include: Julie Bozza, J.A. Bryson, Dannye Chase, S.E. Denton, Miguel Flores, Adele Gardner, Roy Gray, KC Grifant, Peter Hackney, Bryn Hammond, Narrelle M Harris, Justin Warren Jackson, Toshiya Kamei, Catherine Lundoff, Bunny McFadden, Angus McIntyre, Atlin Merrick, Eleanor Musgrove, Jennifer Lee Rossman, Lauren Scharhag, Sara L. Uckelman, … Read more

New release: The Lusty Adventures of Theseus – Arthur Griffin

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The Lusty Adventures of Theseus - Arthur Griffin

QSFer Arthur Griffin has a new MM historical fantasy out: The Lusty Adventures of Theseus. The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur has never been quite this steamy! Handsome Theseus journeys to Athens to claim his birthright as heir to the throne, and along the way he meets the roguish Pirithous, who teaches him all about matters of the heart … and body. After a saucy encounter with a male nymph, they at last reach the city, and Theseus is shocked to discover his father, the king, has a tradition of sacrificing youths to the Minotaur, the monster inhabiting the … Read more

Review: Honey and Pepper – A.J. Demas

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Honey and Pepper - A.J. Demas

Genre: Historical, Alt History LGBTQ+ Category: MM Gay Cis Reviewer: Dan Get It On Amazon About The Book Newly freed from enslavement, Nikias is making a life for himself in the bustling city of Pheme, working at a snack stand, drinking with a group of anti-slavery radicals, and pining for the beautiful law clerk next door. When he sees his crush attacked in the street by an outraged ex-client, it seems it’s finally Nikias’s chance to be the hero. Kallion doesn’t need a rescue. What he really needs is a skewer of octopus fritters (with extra sauce) and a friend. … Read more

Let’s Hear It for Queer Vikings!

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Queer Viking - deposit photos

The Vikings: for most of us, they’re the peak of cis-het masculinity. But increasingly, research is showing that this simply wasn’t the case. I’m a Viking historian. I study queerness and gender in the Viking Age, and how those ideas have been weaponised by white supremacy in the last 200 years. The Vikings were the people who lived in Scandinavia around 700-1100 AD. They’re most famous for raiding, trading, and exploring throughout Europe and beyond: as far east as Russia, as south as Turkey, as north as Iceland and as west as Newfoundland, Canada. By the end of the Viking … Read more

HISTORY: The Real Dracula

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Vlad the Impaler: The real Dracula - Deposit Photos

Legends of Vampires go back centuries, but few names have cast more terror into the human heart than Dracula. However the fictional character, created by author Bram Stoker, was in fact based on a real historical figure called Vlad the Impaler. Vlad the Impaler, also known as Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, was a 15th-century warlord, in what today is Romania, in south-eastern Europe. Stoker used elements of Vlad’s real story for the title character of his 1897 novel “Dracula.” The book has since inspired countless horror movies, television shows and other bloodcurdling tales. However, according to historians and literary … Read more