100 Books Like Ascension

Straddling the line between space opera and military sci-fi, Barbary Station scratches the itch for those who like their space lesbians already in a relationship, and just focusing on the adventure. Recent college graduates Adda and Iridian have a ton of student debt and real jobs just aren’t going to pay the bills. Hence they turn to piracy (of course), and things get sticky, fast, when the space station they are on starts to crumble apart, and killer AIs come after them.

There aren’t a lot of sapphic space books where the main pair are already together. Watching a married couple navigate a more mature relationship while still battling aliens and technology is a refreshing take, and one that will definitely appeal to older sci-fi fans.

Good space opera is built on time-honored tropes, and Pratt hits them all on the head. Space princess? Check. Ragtag crew? Check. Strange, otherworldly aliens and a dash of romance? Double check. The Wrong Stars is space opera at its finest, with a classic adventure between humans and aliens, good versus evil, and technological innovation that makes you stop and consider current trends. 

The romance line is sapphic, age gap, flirtatious and commanding. Callie is our commanding captain, cool and in charge. Elena has been in cryosleep on a generational ship that was attacked by violent aliens and has some trauma to work out. Who better to help than Callie? And of course the whole crew needs to go investigate these new aliens. The fate of the galaxy is at stake!

I don’t even know where to start with this one. Our lead sapphic is married to a tree lady (dryad), captain Jenny, who once kept half-unicorn man Gary prisoner aboard her ship so she could harvest his horn for fuel. Gary’s out for revenge but the mystical Sisters of the Supersymmetrical Axiom have had a vision that involves Gary and Jenny working together. Also, Jenny’s wife has been kidnapped, which is never great. 

Space Unicorn Blues is another sapphic space book that doesn’t rely on romance for the plot, but does allow lesbians to simply exist. This book is a delight more for its absolute refusal of tropes than anything else, and constant weird fairy tale references thrown in throughout.

For a more romance-driven option, Safety Protocols for Human Holidays is a sweet winter holiday-themed novella, wherein Raskli, an alien security officer, is asked to check in on human Jen, who is exhibiting odd behavior. Jen is the only human on the ship and is depressed, and it is up to Raskli and the rest of the ragtag crew to sort out how to cheer her up. Perhaps a holiday! But what human holiday to pick? 

This book is straight-up joyful fluff. Yes, it’s in space, and yes, the pairing is sapphic, but it’s also a cute human/alien romance. No stress on this read, and no heavy thinking. Just, well, kissing. And antics. And Christmas.

I liked the protagonist, Kate Delafield, immediately for her straightforward manner. Within very few pages, Katherine painted a picture of the neighborhood and the bar where a murder occurred in its back parking lot, yet she never caused the story to drag. Katherine pulled me in with her succinct description of the murder scene. It was as if I stood beside Kate Delafield.

As the detectives entered the bar, I felt lesbian history reverberating down through the years. As a lesbian, I identified with Kate Delafield and with the milieu within which she had to live and do her job as a police detective. I also understood the hostility of the bar patrons—all lesbians—toward the police. Without preaching, Katherine described the larger conflict inherent in the situation.

This book was so well-written that I “felt” the emotions of the characters; the sadness that a young life had been destroyed way… show more.

This is one of my favorite romances of all time, and while it’s not a novel about a competitive sport, I think it’s important to note sports can provide so much more than “winning” narratives. In this book, a group of women whitewater kayak through Alaska, and they use their outdoor sporting skills for a wonderful adventure wrapped around a sexy romance that still gives me all the heart feels even after having read it at least ten times. I love literally everything about this book, from the beautiful settings to the character development to the action scenes. Ten out of ten for Kim Baldwin.

This book puts together two very likeable main characters: Emily, an architect with a very rigid outlook on life, and Skye, who’s a freewheeling bike courier. Throw in some great chemistry, an Aussie setting, solid secondary characters, and overlay it all with KJ’s witty banter and amazingly lyrical sentences that seem to come from nowhere but just fit the narrative so perfectly, and you get Change of Plans, a perfect light-hearted romance.

But look a bit deeper and there’s insight into mental health, commentary on social housing, and a background of big megacorps overriding environmental and cultural issues for profit.

I listened to this book, so it helped that it had a great narrator in Melissa Moran. Since I usually listen to books before bed, you can understand that finding a good book that makes me laugh probably wouldn’t help me get much sleep, and this is one of those books. The story is a fake romance, which is a trope in this genre that everyone seems to love. Lacey is dry and sarcastic, which is my favorite kind of character, and it takes place on a TV show set, so if you’re into celebrities and Hollywood romances like my Celebrities Series, this one is for you. I’ve probably listened to this book at least 5 times already. 

This book is a coming of age, thriller book that blew me away. I had no idea what the book was about when I read it and I did not even know which genre it was.

The storyline flicks between the past and present with the present chapters giving you a sneak peek into a troubled relationship between a lesbian couple. The past chapters are full of unanswered questions, heartache, and some truly shocking experiences.

The book is gripping and deep, it feels like you are inside the MCs mind. The traumatic life experiences she is forced to go through alongside becoming an adult is probably fascinating to others. I felt I could identify with many of the experiences so I enjoyed reading it for a comforting reason. The shocking ending is truly beautiful and satisfying.

I love this book for its humour, magical qualities, deceptively simple language, and the way it weaves together Hindu and Western ideas of transformation.

I have taught it in many different types of classes and my students also loved its unique portrait of the artist as a young Indian woman, a lesbian living in the West. It was a great way to introduce them to India. I am an admirer of Suniti Namjoshi, and this is my favourite among her works.