These Queer Mecha Books are Drift Compatible

In case you somehow missed this book taking over the bestseller list, it’s a YA novel that’s pitched as Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Tale. Zetian has signed up to be a concubine-pilot of a mecha, but she has no plans of being drained and discarded like most of the women co-pilots. Instead, she’s out for revenge for the male pilot responsible for her sister’s death — and after that, she’s ready to tear this whole misogynistic system down. This has a queer and polyamorous main character!

Giant robots have invaded Earth, and Gus Kitko plans to go out playing piano. Instead, he’s saved by a traitor Vanguard and becomes one of the pilots in a last stand. This has gay and nonbinary main characters. Author Annalee Newitz describes it as a “beautifully-orchestrated disco space battle.”

Yes, I snuck a third example in here. Eris is a Gearbreaker: she dismantles the Windups that enforce the Godolia’s tyrannical reign over the Badlands. When she’s captured, she meets Sona, a cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot. They should be enemies, but Sona reveals she’s infiltrated the Windup program to take down the system from the inside. Can Eris trust her? And what happens when their relationship turns from dangerous allies to something more?