This book presents queer stories in a wide variety of writing styles.I definitely have a few authors to look into.

However, as a nonbinary person, my primary interest in this book was that it would largely feature nonbinary characters and I was disappointed to find that, instead, some of the stories were actually quite binarist.

And there didn't really appear to be much sexual fluidity to be found. Honestly, that seems like a really difficult concept to show in a short story, so I'm not surprised.

There were definitely lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans characters, but that's not what the title made me expect. ( )

Brit Mandelo is something of a queer genre celebrity, having served as the senior fiction editor for Strange Horizons Magazine, while also leading the discussions on Queering SFF for Tor Books. It was actually an early piece of her on Tiptree Award Winners that first brought her to my attention, and I’ve been relying on her to expand my bookshelf ever since.

Beyond Binary is a collection of previously published Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction stories that I'd been looking forward to for quite some time. While I found it a bit of a stretch to tag some of the pieces as speculative fiction, and was disappointed in the extent to which some of the authors attempted to queer the concept of gender, it’s still an interesting collection.

Nalo Hopkinson's “Fisherman”' was definite highlight of the collection for me. In keeping with the sense of oral storytelling that permeates her novels, the story presents us with a languid revelation of gender, and a remarkably sincere exploration of sexuality. The relationship that develops within the pages is a delight to experience, presenting us with an understanding whore who politely respects her client's chosen gender, while smartly accommodating his birth gender in their intimacies.

Ellen Kushner's "A Wild and Wicked Youth" was another strong addition to the collection, a longer story about very personal expressions of gender, and some unusual expressions of sexuality. It’s not quite the mannerpunk sensibility of her Swordspoint novels, but it’s close. If you never thought fighting could be sexy, or that enjoying the thrill of victory could be orgasmic, then you need to read this. Very clever, and very well-done.

Sonya Taaffe's "Another Coming" was a beautifully written piece from an author who is new to me. Full of haunting imagery, it only strains the gender binary with one of its relationships, and it's never satisfactorily explained how it could work. All in all, a lovely bisexual romance, but not necessarily something I’d classify as genderqueer.

Sarah Kanning's "Sex with Ghosts" was another favourite of mine, from an author I’d certainly like to read more of. Her tale features a robot sex worker with a flair for English poetry. Deeper and more intellectual than the concept might have you suspect, this definitely played into my love for authors like D.B. Story who explore gender and sexuality through those artificial constructs who deliberately exist outside the binary.

Keyan Bowes' "Spoiling Veena" lacked something in the storytelling that would have elevated it to favourite status, which is a shame because the subject matter was so compelling. Bowes explores a future in which parents can choose their child's gender, and looks at how things can develop when your child doesn't like the choice you made. It’s not the best flowing story in the collection, but one of the smartest.

Liu Wen Zhuang's "The Metamorphosis Bud" is one of the oddest stories in the collection, but an interesting read. We've all had fantasies about waking up with something new in the way of sexual equipment, but I doubt any of us would handle it quite as wonderfully as the old woman who wakes up with a penis.

Overall, it’s not quite as breathtaking a collection as I had hoped for, it still offers a good mix of stories, genders, and sexualities with which to draw in readers and maybe, possibly hopefully introduce them to something new. I can certainly think of some stories that I would have included in place of some of the material here, but there are definitely some stellar entries that make this worth a read, especially if you're new to the stories.


As published on Frock Magazine ( )

Recently, I’ve started seeking out fiction, especially speculative fiction, about trans and genderqueer characters. A call out for ideas on Twitter resulted in this book being recommended to me. As several other reviewers have said, Beyond Binary isn’t always as “beyond binary” as it could have been, and I’m puzzled at the inclusion of some of these stories, but it does form a diverse and excellent sampler of LGBT fiction from leading authors in the field. Some names I recognized before going past the table of contents, and some I’d like to get to know more.

On the whole, I would definitely recommend this anthology as a great sampler of LGBT spec fic. Sometimes erotic, often thought-provoking, and frequently fun, its stories offer a diversity of experiences and subgenres and seem like a great place to start exploring further.

See the full review. ( )

An interesting collection. Mandelo takes a big tent perspective on genderqueer and sexual fluidity, necessary because it's not always appropriate within the frame of a fictional setting to apply contemporary labels.

As with many collections, I found the stories to be hit or miss, primarily due to writing and structure rather than issues of sexuality. "Eye of the Storm" is one of the better stories in the collection, but it comes early. "Shrodinger's Pussy" is a free-wheeling surrealist narrative that comes at the end. In between are some stories I found to be especially good, and stories I found to run a bit weak. Hopkinson contributes an extremely well-polished erotic short, but it's a bit of a stretch to consider it speculative fiction. ( )