Recs if you like A Mouthful of Dust...

Speculative (sci-fi, fantasy, horror etc.) novellas less than 200 pages long that are either standalone or read like a standalone story

Quick reads featuring LGBTQIA+ characters and themes written by BIPOC authors

A collection of sapphic fantasy books that I have seen recommended across tiktok

Novellas that are a decent bite of literature and a full meal despite being compact. Like a burrito on a commute to work. AKA my full novella master list

Inspired by my recent love of The empress of salt and fortune I wanted an easy way to find the whole series in publication order.

The books are standalone stories connected by Cleric Chic and can be read in any order.

We don't discriminate! Whether its a novella, graphic novel, collection of essays or anthology, if its fun horror, then its on here!

Cannibalism in queer books

Pulled from Reactor Magazine's (Tor.com) announcement. See the article for a list of short stories as well.

Works not in database: We Begin Where Infinity Ends - Somto Ihezue The Tin Man's Ghost - Ray Nayler The Millay Illusion - Sarah Pinsker When He Calls Your Name - Catherynne M. Valente The Twenty-One Second God - Peter Watts Night & Day - ed. Ellen Datlow Starling House - Alix E. Harrow (ILLUSTRATED EDITION, ILLUS. BY ROVINA CAI) Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene Volumes 1-3 (graphic adaptation)

Note: The Revelation Space Collection by Alastair Reynolds is actually for volumes 1 & 2

Order of release:

• the empress of salt and fortune (2020)
• when the tiger came down the mountain (2020)
• into the riverlands (2022)
• mammoths at the gates (2023)
• the bridges of high hill (2024)
• a mouthful of dust (2025)
• a long and speaking silence (2026)
• the judgement of needles (2027)

You don't have to necessarily read in order since they are all each individual stories collected by cleric Chih. It does add to the wider story if you do.

Works published in 2025

Best Novel Nominees: Audition for the Fox • Once Was Willem • The Secret Market of the Dead • The Everlasting • The Adventures of Mary Darling

Best Novella Nominees: 🚀🌌The River Has Roots • "The Secret Diary of Mina Harker" (Letters from an Imaginary Country) • "Uncertain Sons" • The Death of Mountains • "The Spotter" (You, Human, Vol. 2) • Psychopomp & Circumstance • A Mouthful of Dust

Legend: 🏆 Winner • 🚀 Hugo Award Winner • 🌌 Nebula Award Winner

Books with a frame narrative. (Disclaimer. I haven’t read all of these. Books were added based on comments received on my post in the Empress of Salt and Fortune forum.)