Title: Fevre Dream

Author: George R.R. Martin

Rating: 4/5

Are there LGBT characters? No. One character hints at sleeping with men but it’s never made explicit and isn’t relevant in the slightest.

Brief summary / book review: Abner Marsh is a riverboat captain who is down on his luck when a mysterious stranger approaches him with a deal – build a boat for me, we’ll run it together. Oh, and I may bring some friends on board, and we might do strange things, so don’t ask any questions. Vampires. They’re vampires. (This isn’t much of a spoiler; the book’s dust jacket makes it clear). It’s set in the antebellum south, on the Mississippi River (among others), and in New Orleans. The use of the n-word is a little jarring in the book, and is usually used by bad guys and the ignorant. Aside from that, the book is moody and evocative, and a little thrilling. This was written in the ’80s, so it can be seen in the context of the resurgence of vampire tales alongside Anne Rice’s own works.

About the series: Being a gay reader, I am interested in LGBT books, but I haven’t always seen reviews clearly note if there are LGBT characters and how significant they are. These mini reviews are my way of addressing this problem.

Title: Carry On

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Rating: 4/5

Are there LGBT characters? Oh hell yes. This is a delightfully gay book.

Brief summary / book review: Ok, this is a meta-meta book. Rainbow Rowell wrote another book called Fangirl, where the character wrote fan fiction set in world of Carry On with the same characters (though to be clear, this is not that same fan fiction story; Rainbow Rowell considers this to be canon: https://www.tor.com/2015/02/20/rainbow-rowell-carry-on-fantasy-tropes-harry-potter-fanfiction/). And it’s meant to be an obvious homage to Harry Potter. So that makes it doubly meta. Either way, all you really need to know is that it’s pretty damn good. And gay. It doesn’t shy away from the gay angle, either – it completely embraces it, which is a great thing to see in a YA book.

About the series: Being a gay reader, I am interested in LGBT books, but I haven’t always seen reviews clearly note if there are LGBT characters and how significant they are. These mini reviews are my way of addressing this problem.

Title: Pachinko

Author: Min Jin Lee

Rating: 5/5

Are there LGBT characters? Yes, but it is not a main character. While the gay man is a minor character, he is present in a few pivotal scenes.

Brief summary / book review: A beautiful tapestry of a book. It follows several generations of Koreans living in Japan, where they face obstacles, trials, and tribulations. Koreans living in Japan are second-class citizens, forced into ghettos and faced with limited career options. The title is a reference to Pachinko parlors, a sort of gambling locale where Koreans were allowed to find work and opportunity. It’s a story about family and faith and perseverance, and each character is vividly painted and sympathetic. A gem of a read.

About the series: Being a gay reader, I am interested in LGBT books, but I haven’t always seen reviews clearly note if there are LGBT characters and how significant they are. These mini reviews are my way of addressing this problem.

Title: Cloud Atlas

Author: David Mitchell

Rating: 5/5

Are there LGBT characters? Yes. One of the stories is about Robert Frobisher, a composer who writes letters to his erstwhile lover, Sixsmith. Frobisher is bisexual; he also sleeps with women.

Brief summary / book review: It’s one hell of a read. The book centers on six stories, told separately, set in different times (ranging from the 1800’s through an indeterminate period in the future), and all are connected in some way, heavily implying reincarnation. Each story is threaded through with action and consequence, and those consequences play out in the other stories. Literary but still accessible; each story is wildly tonally different, but all are convincing and compelling. Mitchell showcases serious strength as a writer as each of those stories sound totally different (which is not easy for some authors to do; for example, a George R.R. Martin book will sound pretty similar, whether the book is about dragons in a fantasy setting called Westeros or about vampires in the antebellum south on a steamboat on the Mississippi). This is a dynamite read.

About the series: Being a gay reader, I am interested in LGBT books, but I haven’t always seen reviews clearly note if there are LGBT characters and how significant they are. These mini reviews are my way of addressing this problem.