My first brush with queer characters in fantasy began with Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series. Like a lot of life-changing discoveries, I stumbled upon my first queer fantasy romance story accidentally. It wasn’t until I started reading more widely and more deliberately that I realized that there is so much more out there to discover.
They mostly featured cis, white, straight characters – and as long as those were good stories, I rarely complained. That I would grow up to be someone who loves fantasy didn’t surprise anyone, but for a long time, my idea of fantasy books was very limited. I’ve always loved stories about otherworldly creatures, from Bengali folk tales about the shakchunni – a witch who hides in trees and traps unsuspecting women if their hair is kept loose after dark – to layered narratives like the Arabian Nights, filled with magical creatures.
