Minorities in Science Fiction/Fantasy

  • Childhood's End, Arthur Clarke, the last human left alive after the transformation is an African American
  • Chronicles of Tornor by Elizabeth A Lynn
  • Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks is a superb example of gay characters in fantasy literature.  The main character, Zanja, is a female warrior who falls in love with an earth witch.  The two major male characters in  the book are also a couple.  Their sexual preference is not an issue - same sex couples are as accepted in this society as heterosexual couples.  Marks is amazingly good at character development.
  • Glory Season David Brin, centers around some pretty curious ideas about gender relations
  • Greatwinter series by Sean Mcmullen, features a number of very strong female characters who also happen to be librarians (
  • Melissa Scott
  • Mike Resnick's sometimes disturbing stories and novels set in Africa (Kenya) or on a planet with an African village styled habitat.
  • Nita and Kit wizard books, Diane Duane, the wizards who train them are clearly a gay couple, though nothing is underlined.
  • Octavia butler
  • Pern novels, Anne McCaffrey, when the dragons mate, their riders do, too, and sometimes the dragon riders are male/female, sometimes same sex.
  • SISTER LIGHT/SISTER DARK, WHITE JENNA, and THE ONE-ARMED
  • Snowcrash Neal Stephenson, features a main character who is half black/half korean (and is named Hiro Protagonist to boot
  • Songs of Power Hilari Bell has a minority main character.
  • Starship Troopers Robert Heinlein's book starred a Filipino (changed into blonde, blue-eyed stormtrooper type in the movie).
  • The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman.  The main character is a rare un-modified person, in a world of genetic engineering gone amuck.  Hence, she believes herself to be the only lesbian on the planet, as everyone else has been "cured".
  • The Ear, the Eye and the Arm, Nancy Farmer, for younger YAs, is set in Africa of the future.  The detectives of the title are what could be  called "differently-abled," each with their own special talent/physical peculiarity.
  • The Magic Circle and Circle Opens quartets by Tamora Pierce have a pretty good range.
  • Vanyel tales (Magic's Pawn, Magic's Price, and Magic's Promise) and others Mercedes Lackey dealing with her world of Valdemar feature characters who prefer same-sex partners.
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