20 of the best LGBTQIA+ works of science fiction

The Stars Change (Cover image via Circlet Press)

2. The Stars Change

Oftentimes, the big bugaboo in LGBTQIA+ content of any genre is the matter of sex. It is true that a large number of adult humans enjoy it and engage in the act with happy, willing partners. But, if you tip the scales just a little too much, it can also become a fetishistic, objectifying matter. Then, you might even get someone clutching their pearls over a perceived connection between being queer and being, well, excessively naughty. Take the recent commotion over Twitter’s temporary blocking of LGBTQIA+ search terms (which it has since fixed).

Still, in the right hands, there should be room for creative works that focus on queer sexuality. If any genre can do that will still remaining joyous and open-minded, can’t it be science fiction?

Depending on the reader, that could very well be the case in The Stars Change, by Mary Anne Mohanraj. On a small planet named Pyroxina Major, a diverse array of humans, aliens, and modified people gather at the University of All Worlds.

However, for all that this University sounds like a utopian college campus somewhere, the outside world remains a threat. With the news that interstellar war may be targeting, the few that learn of this must decide what to do. Will they run? Hide? Try to fight, somehow? Their relationships with everyone in their community, from friends to family, to lovers, further complicates the situation.

Beyond the overt sexiness, the linked stories in The Stars Change also explore the more emotional side of relationships, from their beginnings to their middles, and their ends. It’s both intellectual and deeply moving at once.