These are just a few of the books with just a hint of magic that I’ve enjoyed over the past two and a half years. Some of them aren’t really genre books — they’re contemporary fiction with a little magic, or character studies set in an imagined future. Some of them are, indeed, straight-up fantasy or sci-fi, but without a lot of complicated worldbuilding. Speculative elements play a role in these stories — vampires, mysterious illnesses, brain implants, dragons — but they don’t take center stage. For me, these books have been lifelines: they allow me to step away from the mundane realities of the world we live in — but not too far away. I may not be able to connect to space battles and sword-wielding magicians on world-saving quests right now, but a trans archivist vampire? Women who turn into dragons? A version of Hollywood controlled by the fae? Gimme. Maybe you, like me, find yourself unable to relate to the kinds of books you once loved. Maybe you’re a contemporary fiction reader who wants to try something different. Whatever your reasons for being genre-shy, I hope these excellent queer books bring just the right amount of magic into your reading life. Looking for more queer SFF? Check out this list of the best new queer SFF of 2022, these amazing queer retellings coming out this year, and this list of some of the best queer sci-fi. And if it’s lightly magical books you’re after, we’ve got you covered with books with a touch of magic, historical fiction with a hint of magic, and LGBTQIA+ magical realism and fabulisum.
