To the Walkers, Delan was a monstrosity, big and clumsy with odd growths sticking out of ids back. Controlled by a cruel master, a sorcerer who practices dark magic to keep Delan his slave, Delan discovers new hope when, aided by Eia the Aeyrie, id goes through a metamorphosis that transforms idre into the beautiful, winged being id was always meant to be. Learning the truth of ids heritage may not be enough to save Delan – and the entire Aeyrie race – from Teksan and his diabolical plans for conquest.

genderless species, same-sex couples, minor poly, id/idre/ids as pronouns

Formal combat was the art for which Laril lived, but now in an illegal fight-flying duel, Laril ruins the wings of a noted air dancer and is exiled. Embarking on the long and dangerous flight, Laril is caught in a terrible storm, is blown helplessly off course to an unknown land, and finds refuge with Raulyn, a powerful Aeyrie Mage. But what at first appears a wondrous haven soon becomes a frightening prison as Laril becomes an unwilling pawn in Raulyn's deadly plans for conquest – plans that, if successful, would set race against race in a devastating war of destruction.

genderless species, same-sex couples, minor poly, id/idre/ids as pronouns

The Walkers ruled the land, the Aeyrie soared the skies, and the Mer reigned over the seas. But each race had much that the others desired. And only in the community of Triad had all three peoples come together in search of mutual peace and unity. But now, after years devoted to attaining this goal, Triad's dream of a better world for all the races is about to be shattered as, one after another, the high-ranking Walker and Aeyrie officials are brutally murdered. Caught in the chaos of imminent war, the citizens of Triad must discover who is playing this deadly game and somehow force them to stop – before the world erupts in a final genocidal war of species against species.

genderless species, same-sex couples, minor poly, id/idre/ids as pronouns

Earth * Air * Water * Fire These elements have sustained the peaceful people of Shaftal for generations, with their subtle powers of healing, truth, joy, and intuition. But now, Shaftal is dying. The earth witch who ruled Shaftal is dead, leaving no heir. Shaftal's ruling house has been scattered by the invading Sainnites. The Shaftali have mobilized a guerrilla army against these marauders, but every year the cost of resistance grows, leaving Shaftal's fate in the hands of three people: Emil, scholar and reluctant warrior; Zanja, the sole survivor of a slaughtered tribe; and Karis the metalsmith, a half-blood giant whose earth powers can heal, but only when she can muster the strength to hold off her addiction to a deadly drug. Separately, all they can do is watch as Shaftal falls from prosperity into lawlessness and famine. But if they can find a way to work together, they just may change the course of history.

Multiple cultures, queer-normative culture

A sweeping drama of war, intrigue, magic, and love With "Earth Logic," Laurie J. Marks continues the epic of her stunningly imagined world of Shaftal, which she first introduced in "Fire Logic." Shaftal has a ruler again, a woman with enough power to heal the war-torn land and expel the invading Sainnites from Shaftal. Or it would have a ruler if the earth witch Karis G'deon consented to rule. Instead, she lives in obscurity with the fractious family of elemental talents who gathered around her in "Fire Logic." She is waiting for some sign, but no one, least of all Karis herself, knows what it is. Then the Sainnite garrison at Watford is attacked by a troop of zealots claiming to speak for the Lost G'deon, and a mysterious and deadly plague attacks the land, killing both Sainnites and Shaftali. Karis must act or watch her beloved country fall into famine and chaos. And when Karis acts, the very stones of the earth sit up and take notice.

Gay and lesbian characters, many cultures

By water logic, a cow doctor becomes a politician. A soldier becomes a flower farmer. A lost book contains a lost future. The patterns of history are made and unmade. Amid assassinations, rebellions, and the pyres of too many dead, a new government forms in the land of Shaftal—a government of soldiers and farmers, scholars and elemental talents, all weary of war and longing for peace. But some cannot forget their losses, and some cannot imagine a place for themselves in an enemy land. Before memory, before recorded history, something happened that now must be remembered. Zanja na’Tarwein, the crosser of boundaries, born in fire and wedded to earth, has fallen under the ice. Now, by water logic, the logic of patterns repeated, of laughter and music, the lost must be found—or the found may forever be lost.

lesbian and gay characters, many cultures