20 of the best LGBTQIA+ works of science fiction

Salt First Girl (Cover image via DunDurn Press)

19. Salt Fish Girl

Larissa Lai’s novel, Salt Fish Girl, is a wide-ranging, meditative novel that combines elements of science fiction, magic realism, mythology, and dreaming to create a rich work. It’s also full of time shifts, making for a dizzying read.

For part of its tale, Salt Fish Girl follows a 19th-century Chinese shapeshifter named Nu Wa. She begins as a kind of snake woman but then gains a magical pearl that will give her immortality. Nu Wa also gets the ability to walk, though not without constant pain.

Meanwhile, Miranda lives on the west coast of Canada in 2044, in a walled city named Serendipity. Miranda is plagued by physical issues, including a body odor that reeks of durian (which her mother ate on the day that Miranda was conceived).

Miranda also sometimes sheds what look like scales into her bath. Meanwhile, she dreams of a life as Nu Wa. Is she truly remembering a past life? Could Miranda instead be communicating with Nu Wa somehow? Or is it possible that she’s the victim of a strange and insidious dreaming disease affecting humans?

Miranda must also navigate the new strangeness of her time. Her lover, Evie, is actually a clone. This means that Evie is technically not human, thanks to gene splicing with other species and subsequent legalities that disqualify her from full humanity (in particular, Evie is .03% freshwater carp). Corporations have taken advantage of this, creating a workforce of enslaved clones that also happen to be almost entirely women of color.