SciFi / Fantasy books with minimal sex
January 2, 2024 9:34 AM Subscribe
I've discovered I much more enjoy my escapism books with strong non-male leads but little to no focus on sex or heavy sexual relationships. What else should I read?
I thoroughly enjoy anything by Becky Chambers, just finished Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House set, and was ok with the Fourth wing series. I started but could not finish Sarah Maas's Court of Thorn and Roses. If that gives you any indication of my tolerance level. Any other books or series I need to try?
I thoroughly enjoy anything by Becky Chambers, just finished Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House set, and was ok with the Fourth wing series. I started but could not finish Sarah Maas's Court of Thorn and Roses. If that gives you any indication of my tolerance level. Any other books or series I need to try?
Best answer: Rosemary Kirstein's "Steerswoman" novels. Here (self-link) is an explanation of why they're great and where to start. No on-page sex, and nearly no romance also.
posted by brainwane at 9:47 AM on January 2, 2024 [14 favorites]
posted by brainwane at 9:47 AM on January 2, 2024 [14 favorites]
Best answer: I was totally going to recommend Murderbot (main character is an ace genderless cyborg who views sex as a sort of curiosity, but I think there are also ace and nb human characters so it's not a "non-heteronormativity is only ok for robots" kind of situation) and The Steerswoman!
I suspect you would also like Ann Leckie's books, Sue Burke's Semiosis books, maybe Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky (one male main character, one female main character, no romance/sex), Arkady Martine's Teixcalaan books (it's a while since I read these; there might be more sex than I remember)...
FWIW I like sex and romance in books just fine and I found Court of Thorns and Roses EXHAUSTING and did not finish it.
posted by mskyle at 9:59 AM on January 2, 2024 [5 favorites]
I suspect you would also like Ann Leckie's books, Sue Burke's Semiosis books, maybe Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky (one male main character, one female main character, no romance/sex), Arkady Martine's Teixcalaan books (it's a while since I read these; there might be more sex than I remember)...
FWIW I like sex and romance in books just fine and I found Court of Thorns and Roses EXHAUSTING and did not finish it.
posted by mskyle at 9:59 AM on January 2, 2024 [5 favorites]
Best answer: Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series starting with Gideon the Ninth has multiple strong female leads and no sex.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 10:01 AM on January 2, 2024 [5 favorites]
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 10:01 AM on January 2, 2024 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: Yes, forgot to mention I devoured all of Murderbot as well. Definitely, that's the track I want to continue on! I did enjoy Gideon the ninth, maybe too gory? There was something about that series that didn't completely click with me. But I will give it another go.
These are all great suggestions already, thank you!
posted by danapiper at 10:14 AM on January 2, 2024
These are all great suggestions already, thank you!
posted by danapiper at 10:14 AM on January 2, 2024
The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe
The Breath of the Sun - there are romantic relationships that exist in the plot but more along the lines of "this relationship happened which drove Character A to make choice B".
The Locked Tomb series has a lot of romantic angst, so if by sex you also mean "romantic angst driving the plot" it may not be the series for you.
I also like The Red Rose Rages, Bleeding by L. Timmel du Champ.
Under The Pendulum Sun is a flawed book, I admit, but it is wonderfully weird in a sort of fever dream Victoriana way. Eerie and atmospheric.
posted by Frowner at 10:17 AM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
The Breath of the Sun - there are romantic relationships that exist in the plot but more along the lines of "this relationship happened which drove Character A to make choice B".
The Locked Tomb series has a lot of romantic angst, so if by sex you also mean "romantic angst driving the plot" it may not be the series for you.
I also like The Red Rose Rages, Bleeding by L. Timmel du Champ.
Under The Pendulum Sun is a flawed book, I admit, but it is wonderfully weird in a sort of fever dream Victoriana way. Eerie and atmospheric.
posted by Frowner at 10:17 AM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
All of Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke’s solo works fit the bill.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:24 AM on January 2, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:24 AM on January 2, 2024 [2 favorites]
The Clocktaur War books by T. Kingfisher have no sex and very little romance. Her YA books are also sex / romance free.
If you like Murderbot may I highly recommend Martha Wells' other books? I love love love the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy with the Raksura books as a close second.
Unfortunately, her leads are male but you might like Victoria Goddard anyway. I really like her, she's a fantastic writer and worldbuilder. No sex, lots of inchoate yearning though.
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:35 AM on January 2, 2024 [7 favorites]
If you like Murderbot may I highly recommend Martha Wells' other books? I love love love the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy with the Raksura books as a close second.
Unfortunately, her leads are male but you might like Victoria Goddard anyway. I really like her, she's a fantastic writer and worldbuilder. No sex, lots of inchoate yearning though.
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:35 AM on January 2, 2024 [7 favorites]
Arkady Martine's Teixcalaan books (it's a while since I read these; there might be more sex than I remember)
I was going to recommend the first of these, A Memory Called Empire. There's sexual/romantic tension between two of the major characters but it doesn't really progress beyond that tension. This is less true in the second book.
posted by egregious theorem at 10:38 AM on January 2, 2024 [4 favorites]
I was going to recommend the first of these, A Memory Called Empire. There's sexual/romantic tension between two of the major characters but it doesn't really progress beyond that tension. This is less true in the second book.
posted by egregious theorem at 10:38 AM on January 2, 2024 [4 favorites]
On the fantasy side: Brandon Sanderson has no sex and very little romance in his books. He has plenty of female characters and female POV characters, but here are a few books that are centered on the girls/women:
Tress of the Emerald Sea
Mistborn
Warbreaker
Elantris
Only Mistborn is a trilogy, the others are standalone, though all exist in the same (vast) universe (on different planets).
posted by itesser at 10:40 AM on January 2, 2024 [3 favorites]
Tress of the Emerald Sea
Mistborn
Warbreaker
Elantris
Only Mistborn is a trilogy, the others are standalone, though all exist in the same (vast) universe (on different planets).
posted by itesser at 10:40 AM on January 2, 2024 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I think there's some mostly off-screen sex, but Yoon-Ha Lee is a (I think trans?) author who writes characters of varied genders doing all manner of things. Their Machineries of Empire trilogy is a blast and a hoot, and is (IMHO) among the most pure forms of "spaceborn fantasy" I can think of - a lot of the structure and plot style of a space opera but the "technology" involves rituals, calendars, and other "fantasy" elements rather than the usual SF technologies or technobabble.
I'll also echo Ann Leckie - not just her best-known Ancillary Justice and its sequels but also the (IMHO) criminally underappreciated Raven Tower.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:48 AM on January 2, 2024 [2 favorites]
I'll also echo Ann Leckie - not just her best-known Ancillary Justice and its sequels but also the (IMHO) criminally underappreciated Raven Tower.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:48 AM on January 2, 2024 [2 favorites]
Actually, I mis-fired my brain on The Raven Tower - its lead is a trans man, not a non-man.
(I also want to echo the suggestions for the whole Locked Tomb series; the tone and structure of each of the books changes drastically from one to the next; Harrow the Ninth is not the same as Gideon the Ninth and Nona is a whole other thing entirely. I love them all but that variability is a huge bonus for some and a huge drawback for others.)
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:50 AM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
(I also want to echo the suggestions for the whole Locked Tomb series; the tone and structure of each of the books changes drastically from one to the next; Harrow the Ninth is not the same as Gideon the Ninth and Nona is a whole other thing entirely. I love them all but that variability is a huge bonus for some and a huge drawback for others.)
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:50 AM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The books of the Raksura are indeed good but they gave plenty of implied sex, bc the default for Raksura society is basically for everyone to regularly boff their good friends, regardless of gender or privacy. It's not at all graphic or explicit, more fade to black/then they got frisky kind of stuff. But if mentions of people casually sexing bug you, maybe skip it. Great world building and fun adventures though!
This is How You Lose the Time War is great, it stars two badass femme time agents and is also very arty and literary. There are some verbal declarations of love, but absolutely no sex.
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:54 AM on January 2, 2024 [5 favorites]
This is How You Lose the Time War is great, it stars two badass femme time agents and is also very arty and literary. There are some verbal declarations of love, but absolutely no sex.
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:54 AM on January 2, 2024 [5 favorites]
(We actually don't know if Eolo, the lead in Ann Leckie's The Raven Tower, is a trans man or nonbinary. We just know that Eolo was assigned female at birth and very emphatically identifies as Not A Woman.)
T. Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone was one I liked a lot recently. It starts off with a very striking image of the main character doing some kind of magic with bones in a scarred wasteland, and evolves into what I would describe as a sort of twisted fairy tale about a woman who goes on a journey to rescue her sister from an abusive marriage. She does have a burgeoning romance with another character, but it's not a major part of the plot and there's no sexual content.
posted by capricorn at 12:04 PM on January 2, 2024 [3 favorites]
T. Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone was one I liked a lot recently. It starts off with a very striking image of the main character doing some kind of magic with bones in a scarred wasteland, and evolves into what I would describe as a sort of twisted fairy tale about a woman who goes on a journey to rescue her sister from an abusive marriage. She does have a burgeoning romance with another character, but it's not a major part of the plot and there's no sexual content.
posted by capricorn at 12:04 PM on January 2, 2024 [3 favorites]
Do N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth books have sex in them?
YES. Though they’re… mostly nonromantic for whatever that’s worth. They’re great books but they don’t fit the bill.
The Three-Body trilogy is a little male-gaze-ish but pretty chaste, unfortunately it only has segments with nonmale POV characters.
Nthing Arkady Martine and Ann Leckie.
posted by supercres at 12:11 PM on January 2, 2024 [3 favorites]
YES. Though they’re… mostly nonromantic for whatever that’s worth. They’re great books but they don’t fit the bill.
The Three-Body trilogy is a little male-gaze-ish but pretty chaste, unfortunately it only has segments with nonmale POV characters.
Nthing Arkady Martine and Ann Leckie.
posted by supercres at 12:11 PM on January 2, 2024 [3 favorites]
From the Discworld corpus, Monstrous Regiment. The deal with this book is right there in the title. There is one canonical relationship (which is strong as hell but can easily be read as ace or queerplatonic), one fan-favorite fanon couple (which I frankly ignore), and a couple other relationships only ever mentioned.
posted by humbug at 12:16 PM on January 2, 2024 [4 favorites]
posted by humbug at 12:16 PM on January 2, 2024 [4 favorites]
Bujold's Five Gods novels have little sex, and Paladin of Souls is not only the best of them but has a strong female lead. (Warning: While I like them I have some gender/romance related issues with the other two novels. Paladin of Souls will work fine as a stand alone novel.)
The Penric/Desdemona novellas in the same universe are also excellent comfort reads; I'd count them as a male lead but there's a touch of grey area there.
Bear's two trilogies in the Eternal Sky universe have at most incidental sex (I don't remember, but it's definitely less than Fourth Wing) and an ensemble of multiple leads, many non-male.
T. Kingfisher as already mentioned is awesome, Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking is another sex and romance free option from her.
posted by mark k at 12:18 PM on January 2, 2024 [3 favorites]
The Penric/Desdemona novellas in the same universe are also excellent comfort reads; I'd count them as a male lead but there's a touch of grey area there.
Bear's two trilogies in the Eternal Sky universe have at most incidental sex (I don't remember, but it's definitely less than Fourth Wing) and an ensemble of multiple leads, many non-male.
T. Kingfisher as already mentioned is awesome, Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking is another sex and romance free option from her.
posted by mark k at 12:18 PM on January 2, 2024 [3 favorites]
The Three-Body trilogy is a little male-gaze-ish but pretty chaste, unfortunately it only has segments with nonmale POV characters.
sorry, a revision made this hard to parse— it has rotating POVs and only a minority are nonmale.
posted by supercres at 12:24 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
sorry, a revision made this hard to parse— it has rotating POVs and only a minority are nonmale.
posted by supercres at 12:24 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
If you haven't visited the world of Rukhbat and its "dragons," you're in for a treat. Author Anne McCaffrey has fully sketched out her world and its various peoples and leads the reader on many fine, exciting adventures. Lead characters in various books switch off, sometimes male, sometimes female but equal opportunity awaits whichever protagonist is ready to try something new and/or different. Sex is implied on occasion but never fully written out, leaving it to the reader's imagination. Here is a list of her books in order, if such is your pleasure.
posted by Lynsey at 1:06 PM on January 2, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Lynsey at 1:06 PM on January 2, 2024 [2 favorites]
All of Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke’s solo works fit the bill.
Actually cancel that, although Asimov's Susan Calvin stories do work.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:45 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
Actually cancel that, although Asimov's Susan Calvin stories do work.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:45 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
Octavia Butler? Lots of non male protagonists, sex & sexual relationships may exist but aren’t foregrounded for their own sake. They are strongly political though and may not meet your needs wrt escapism.
posted by toodleydoodley at 2:55 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by toodleydoodley at 2:55 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: These are all fantastic, thank you all so much. My Libby holds are full and I have A Wizard's Guide To Defensive Baking, The Raven Tower, and A Desolation Called Peace (forgot I started this series last year, thanks for the reminder!) ready to see which I'll start later tonight! And yes, NK Jemison's Broken Earth trilogy was a favorite of mine - Oktavia Butler too, but for exactly the political reason mentioned I'm craving a little more escapism than her works afford sometimes.
posted by danapiper at 3:13 PM on January 2, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by danapiper at 3:13 PM on January 2, 2024 [3 favorites]
Two finished web serials I truly enjoyed (I found mobi and put on kindle):
Worm. It’s a series focusing on a female superhero.
A journey of black and red. It’s a series focusing on a female vampire. There’s minimal sex/romance.
posted by bbqturtle at 3:29 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
Worm. It’s a series focusing on a female superhero.
A journey of black and red. It’s a series focusing on a female vampire. There’s minimal sex/romance.
posted by bbqturtle at 3:29 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
I don’t remember any overt romance in the Binti trilogy—definitely not the first novella at least.
posted by tchemgrrl at 3:56 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by tchemgrrl at 3:56 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
Naomi Novik’s Scholomance books have an excellent female main character and some romance but it’s not the core to the books, and is definitely no more than Ninth House. I also loved the Mirror Visitor quartet by Christelle Dabos (first book: A Winter’s Promise, which is a super interesting, non-derivative fantasy world with excellent female characters.
While the lead is male, I would also highly recommend The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. No sword epic things, just a half-goblin kid learning what it takes to become a good leader of people.
posted by Schismatic at 3:58 PM on January 2, 2024 [3 favorites]
While the lead is male, I would also highly recommend The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. No sword epic things, just a half-goblin kid learning what it takes to become a good leader of people.
posted by Schismatic at 3:58 PM on January 2, 2024 [3 favorites]
I recommend Ursula K Le Guin.
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 5:06 PM on January 2, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 5:06 PM on January 2, 2024 [2 favorites]
I've loved what I've read so far of the Machineries of Empire trilogy but just a heads up that the second book (Raven Stratagem) does have at least one kind of explicit sex scene. It's not a heavy focus of the plot, but it is there - just thought that'd be useful info.
posted by augustimagination at 6:23 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by augustimagination at 6:23 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
The Confederation of Valor books by Tanya Huff. Military SF, strong non-male lead, great overall voice. There's a bit of romance and sex running through it, but it's there because it's part of life, not because it's the focal point.
posted by current resident at 7:54 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by current resident at 7:54 PM on January 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
Just a small note that I don’t recommend McCaffrey’s books in the modern era. There are a few scenes that are non-consensual sex even if the sex is off-screen (Lessa, Brekke), and although the inclusion of gay characters was good for its time, the “renewable Air Force” missive kind of poisoned that well a bit. I loved them growing up but…
posted by warriorqueen at 4:51 AM on January 3, 2024 [4 favorites]
posted by warriorqueen at 4:51 AM on January 3, 2024 [4 favorites]
Connie Willis could well work for you. Some of hers are lighter/funnier than others. Maybe start with To Say Nothing of the Dog which is even more hilarious if you have read Jerome K Jerome, but it is not necessary to do so. Though her books definitely feature aspects of romance, there's no sex to speak of (I'm trying to remember if there's even implied fade-to-black type sex and I don't think so but I could be wrong). I haven't read her most recent two books though.
posted by Athanassiel at 10:18 PM on January 4, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Athanassiel at 10:18 PM on January 4, 2024 [2 favorites]
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posted by SPrintF at 9:46 AM on January 2, 2024 [45 favorites]