NOTE: Autistic Book Party is an archival resource that ran from 2011-2023 and is no longer being maintained. See this post.
Here is an index of everything I have reviewed for Autistic Book Party, sorted by what my opinion was.
Highly Recommended – Novels and Novellas
[These are the cream of the crop, the best of the best autism stories. If the list of Recommended stories is too big and you don’t know where to start, start here.]
- R.B. Lemberg, “The Unbalancing” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Rivers Solomon, “The Deep” [autistic protagonist; non-neurotypical author]
- Kaia Sønderby, “Failure to Communicate” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
Highly Recommended – Short Fiction
- Meda Kahn, “Difference of Opinion” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- R.B. Lemberg, “Geometries of Belonging” [autistic author]
Recommended 1 – Novels and Novellas
[These stories portray autism well. You should read them.]
- Ennis Bashe, “Graveyard Sparrow” [novella; autistic protagonist; non-neurotypical author]
- Jes Battis, “Winter Knight” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Andi C. Buchanan, “Sanctuary” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Andi C. Buchanan, “This Other World” [novella; autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Diane Duane, “A Wizard Alone: New Millennium Edition”
- Corinne Duyvis, “On the Edge of Gone” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Gemma Files, “Experimental Film” [autistic protagonist]
- C.S. Friedman, “This Alien Shore“
- Claudia Gray, “Leia: Princess of Alderaan”
- Erika Hammerschmidt & John C. Ricker, “Kea’s Flight” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Essa Hansen, “Azura Ghost” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Maya MacGregor, “The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- L.C. Mawson, “Love/Hate” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Dora M. Raymaker, “Hoshi and the Red City Circuit” [non-neurotypical protagonist; autistic author]
- Kim Stanley Robinson, “2312”
- L. Rowyn, “A Rational Arrangement” [autistic protagonist]
- Rivers Solomon, “An Unkindness of Ghosts” [autistic protagonist; non-neurotypical author]
- Kaia Sønderby, “Tone of Voice” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Bogi Takács, “Iwunen Interstellar Investigations (Prologue Season)” [novella-length web serial; autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Bogi Takács, “Power to Yield” [novella; autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Robert Charles Wilson, “Blind Lake“
Recommended 1 – Short Stories and Novelettes
- Ren Basel, “The Queen of Cups” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- A.C. Buchanan (writing as Anna Caro), “Built in a Day” [possibly autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- A.C. Buchanan, “Even the Clearest Water” [autistic author]
- Rebecca Campbell, “The Language Birds Speak”
- Nino Cipri, “A Silly Love Story” [non-neurotypical protagonist]
- Ashley Deng, “Dégustation” [autistic author]
- Ruthanna Emrys, “The Word of Flesh and Soul”
- Tina Gower, “Twelve Seconds” [autistic protagonist]
- Erika Hammerschmidt, “Furnace” [possibly autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Jim C. Hines, “Chupacabra’s Song” [autistic protagonist]
- Julian K. Jarboe, “Estranged Children of Storybook Houses” [autistic protagonist]
- Meda Kahn, “That’s Entertainment” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Ryan Leeds, “Updates Available” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- R.B. Lemberg, “The Book of How to Live” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- R.B. Lemberg, “The Desert Glassmaker and the Jeweler of Berevyar” [possibly autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- R.B. Lemberg, “Grandmother nai-Leylit’s Cloth of Winds” [autistic author]
- Luna Lindsey, “Touch of Tides” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Pat Murphy, “Inappropriate Behavior” [autistic protagonist]
- Julie Nováková, “Belonging” [possibly autistic protagonist]
- An Owomoyela, “Unauthorized Access” [autistic protagonist; non-neurotypical author]
- Cat Rambo, “Long Enough and Just So Long”
- Ember Randall, “On The Tip of Her Tongue” [autistic protagonist]
- Jennifer Lee Rossman, “Don’t Look Down” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Jennifer Lee Rossman, “The Steel Magnolia Metaphor” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Gabriela Santiago, “They Jump Through Fires” [autistic protagonist]
- Rivers Solomon, “St. Juju” [non-neurotypical protagonist; non-neurotypical author]
- Bogi Takács, “All Talk of Common Sense” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Bogi Takács, “Four-Point Affective Calibration” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Bogi Takács, “Good People in a Small Space” [autistic author]
- Bogi Takács, “The Need For Overwhelming Sensation” [possibly autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- McKinley Valentine, “The Code For Everything” [non-neurotypical protagonist; non-neurotypical author]
- Xan West, “Nine of Swords, Reversed” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- A.C. Wise, “And If The Body Were Not The Soul” [autistic protagonist]
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “Bring The Bones That Sing” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “The Frequency of Compassion” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “How to Become a Robot in 12 Easy Steps” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “Iron Aria” [possibly autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “Under Wine-Bright Seas” [possibly autistic protagonist; autistic author]
Recommended 1 – Poetry
- S.T. Eleu, “Paradox Lost” [autistic author]
- A.J. Odasso, “Nothing Goes Away” [autistic author]
- Bogi Takács, “Skin the Creature” [autistic author]
- Bogi Takács, “Trans Love Is” [autistic author]
Recommended 2 – Novels and Novellas
[These stories don’t have a major autistic character, but they’re good introductions to the work of various authors who are autistic. Some were selected because they have themes which will resonate strongly with many autistic readers. Many also have important things to say about other forms of disability and diversity. If you want to support authentic autistic voices in science fiction, you should read these.]
- A.C. Buchanan, “From a Shadow Grave”
- Richard Ford Burley, “Displacement”
- Sunyi Dean, “The Book Eaters”
- Corinne Duyvis, “Otherbound”
- Essa Hansen, “Nophek Gloss”
- Jacqueline Koyanagi, “Ascension”
- R.B. Lemberg, “The Four Profound Weaves”
- R.B. Lemberg, “A Portrait of the Desert in Personages of Power”
- Caiseal Mór, “The Meeting of the Waters”
- Arula Ratnakar, “Submergence”
- Caitlin Starling, “The Luminous Dead”
- Chrysoula Tzavelas, “Citadel of the Sky”
- Alex R. White, “A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe”
Recommended 2 – Collections
- Elliott Dunstan, “Home Is Where The Ghosts Are” [poetry chapbook; autistic author]
- Polenth Blake, “Rainbow Lights” [non-neurotypical author]
- R.B. Lemberg, “Geometries of Belonging” [autistic author]
- R.B. Lemberg, “Marginalia to Stone Bird” [poetry collection; autistic author]
- Bogi Takács, “Algorithmic Shapeshifting” [poetry collection; autistic author]
- Bogi Takács, “The Trans Space Octopus Congregation” [autistic author]
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “So You Want to Be a Robot: 21 Stories” [autistic author]
Recommended 2 – Short Stories and Novelettes
- Noe Bartmess, “Squeezing and Entering”
- Polenth Blake, “Hello, World!”
- A.C. Buchanan, “Below Salt-Heavy Tides”
- A.C. Buchanan, “Blaze”
- A.C. Buchanan, “Girls Who Do Not Drown”
- A.C. Buchanan, “I Will Teach You Magic”
- A.C. Buchanan, “If We Do Not Fly at Sunset”
- A.C. Buchanan, “Invisible City“
- A.C. Buchanan, “MAKET, or, Alternate Endings for Ivan Ivanovich”
- A.C. Buchanan, “Puppetry”
- A.C. Buchanan, “A Spell to Signal Home”
- A.C. Buchanan, “Syren Song”
- Richard Ford Burley, “A Study in Pink and Gold”
- Richard Ford Burley, “Hello, World”
- Sunyi Dean, “-Good.”
- Sunyi Dean, “How to Cook and Eat the Rich”
- Sunyi Dean, “John Kills Jenny”
- Sunyi Dean, “This Song is Dedicated to the End of the World”
- Corinne Duyvis, “And the Rest of Us Wait”
- Corinne Duyvis, “Eight”
- Corinne Duyvis, “Rule of Threes”
- Robin M Eames, “The moon under water”
- Louise Hughes, “The Only Way Out”
- Louise Hughes, “Out of the Rain”
- R.B. Lemberg, “The Shapes Of Us, Translucent To Your Eye”
- R.B. Lemberg, “A Splendid Goat Adventure”
- R.B. Lemberg, “These Are The Attributes By Which You Shall Know God”
- R.B. Lemberg, “To Balance the Weight of Khalem”
- Mary E. Lowd, “The Most Complicated Avatar”
- Mary E. Lowd, “Orange Sherbet Unlocks a Better Loot Box”
- Kiya Nicoll, “A Dragon in Two Parts”
- Raphael Ordoñez, “At the Edge of the Sea”
- Raphael Ordoñez, “Salt and Sorcery”
- Arula Ratnakar, “Lone Puppeteer of a Sleeping City”
- Jennifer Lee Rossman, “Epicenter”
- Jennifer Lee Rossman, “Gay Jaws”
- Jennifer Lee Rossman, “The Good, The Bad, And The Utahraptor”
- Jennifer Lee Rossman, “Spider”
- Lucas Sekiguichi, “Your Great Journey”
- Luke Sekiguichi, “What To Expect When Your Daughter Returns From Neverland”
- Lesley L. Smith, “Let Sleeping Gators Lie”
- Rivers Solomon, “Blood Is Another Word For Hunger”
- Rivers Solomon, “Feed”
- Bogi Takács, “Changing Body Templates”
- Bogi Takács, “Given Sufficient Desparation”
- Bogi Takács, “The Merry Knives of Interspecies Communication”
- Bogi Takács, “On Good Friday The Raven Washes Its Young”
- Bogi Takács, “Some Remarks on the Reproductive Strategy of the Common Octopus“
- Bogi Takács, “A Superordinate Set of Principles”
- Andrew Joseph White, “Chokechain”
- Andrew Joseph White, “The Constellations Are Unrecognizable Here”
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “Behold The Deep Never Seen”
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “For Now, Sideways”
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “The House at the End of the Lane is Dreaming”
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “Monster Girls Don’t Cry“
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “Mr. Try Again”
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “Now Watch My Rising”
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “Sweet Dreams Are Made Of You”
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “The Sweetness of Honey and Rot”
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “This Is A Picture Book”
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “This Is Not A Wardrobe Door”
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “Tomorrow When We See The Sun”
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “What the Fires Burn”
- Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “Winter Bride”
Recommended 2 – Poetry
- Amber Bird, “who i am”
- Richard Ford Burley, “I Fight Monsters“
- Rita Chen, “Ctenophore Soul”
- Rita Chen, “Strangleknot”
- Robin M. Eames, “the body argonautica”
- Robin M. Eames, “crip mythic”
- Robin M. Eames, “Ghosts in the Smoking Area”
- Robin M. Eames, “is this a gender?”
- Robin M. Eames, “ritual”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Archival Testimony Fragments/Minersong”
- R.B. Lemberg, “The Ash Manifesto”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Between the Mountain and the Moon”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Burns at Both Ends”
- R.B. Lemberg, “core/debris/core”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Domovoi”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Dualities”
- R.B. Lemberg, “The Fear Tree”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Firebird, Stormbird”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Godfather Death”
- R.B. Lemberg, “The House of Ill Waters”
- R.B. Lemberg, “I will show you a single treasure from the treasures of Shah Niyaz”
- R.B. Lemberg, “In the Third Cycle”
- R.B. Lemberg, “The Journeymaker, Climbing”
- R.B. Lemberg, “The Journeymaker to Keddar (II)”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Landwork”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Long Shadow”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Odysseus on the War Train”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Pollen”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Stone Listening”
- R.B. Lemberg, “The Three Immigrations”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Twin-Born”
- R.B. Lemberg, “Walrus”
- Kiya Nicoll, “Of Winter and Other Seasons”
- AJ Odasso, “The Devil in Boston”
- AJ Odasso, “Letters to Lost Friends & Imaginary Lovers”
- AJ Odasso, “Parallax”
- AJ Odasso, “Queen of Cups”
- AJ Odasso, “Sargasso Sea”
- AJ Odasso, “Tables Turned”
- AJ Odasso, “Widening Gyre”
- Kerrie Seljak-Byrne, “The Knight’s Inn”
- Bogi Takács, “All The Trees That Have Perished Alongside My Childhood”
- Bogi Takács, “Continuity Imperative”
- Bogi Takács, “The Iterative Nature of the Magical Discovery Process”
- Bogi Takács, “Marginalia on Eiruvin 45b”
- Bogi Takács, “The Prophet, to His Angel”
- Bogi Takács, “Spatiotemporal Discontinuity”
- Bogi Takács, “You are Here / Was: Blue Line to Memorial Park”
Marginal – Novels
[These books portray autism well, but only in a minor character or as a side note. The authors did a good job and it’s good that there are books like this, but if you are hunting for autistic books specifically, they are less relevant.]
- Steven Brust, “Dragon”
- Steven Brust, “Dzur”
- Liu Cixin, “The Three-Body Problem”
- Jim C. Hines, “Libriomancer“
- Robert J. Sawyer, “Triggers”
YMMV – Novels
[These stories have good points and bad points; readers will legitimately differ.]
- Kage Baker, “The Empress of Mars”
- Ennis Bashe, “The Prince and Her Dreamer” [autistic protagonist; non-neurotypical author]
- Manda Benson, “Pilgrennon’s Beacon” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Steven Bereznai, “The Timematician” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Lois McMaster Bujold, “A Civil Campaign”
- Richard Ford Burley, “Mouse” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Claudia Casser, “No Child Left Behind” [autistic author]
- Selene dePackh, “Troubleshooting” [autistic author]
- Debora Geary, “A Different Witch”
- Matt Hughes, “The Damned Busters” [autistic protagonist]
- C.E. Kilgore, “Ghost in the Machine” [autistic author]
- T. Michael Martin, “The End Games”
- Michael Scott Monje, Jr., “Mirror Project” [autistic author]
- Verity Reynolds, “Nantais” [autistic author]
- Michelle Sagara, “Silence”
- Alex White, “Every Mountain Made Low” [autistic protagonist]
- Bradley W. Wright, “The Place Inside the Storm” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
YMMV – Short Stories and Novelettes
- Nyla Bright, “Spectrum of Acceptance” [non-neurotypical author]
- Steven Brust, “The Desecrator”
- S.B. Divya, “An Unexpected Boon” [autistic protagonist]
- David Far, “New Friends”
- George R. Galuschak, “Counting Cracks” [autistic protagonist]
- Suvi Kauppila, “Wither and Blossom“
- Lynn Kilmore, “By the Numbers” [autistic protagonist]
- Ken Liu, “The Countable” [autistic protagonist]
- Luna Lindsey, “Meltdown in Freezer Three” [autistic protagonist, autistic author]
- Alex Dally MacFarlane, “Thin Slats of Metal, Painted” [possibly autistic protagonist]
- Seanan McGuire, “Something in the Rain” [autistic protagonist; non-neurotypical author]
- Rivqa Rafael, “Two Somebodies Go Hunting”
- Jennifer Lee Rossman, “If That Cowbird Don’t Sing” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Lesley L. Smith, “Bologna and Vanilla” [no autistic characters; autistic author]
- Lesley L. Smith, “The Number Two Rule” [no autistic characters; autistic author]
- Helen Stubbs, “Uncontainable”
- Bogi Takács, “Toward the Luminous Towers” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Addison Trev, “The Beachcomber of Dong Hoi” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Edward Willett, “I Count the Lights”
- Brendan Williams-Childs, “Schwaberow, Ohio” [autistic protagonist]
YMMV – Poetry
- Kythryne Aisling, “quiet hands”
- Sara Backer, “The Genius”
- Beth Cato, “The Time Traveler’s Diagnosis”
- Malisha Dewalt, “Misery Is Not a Virtue” [prose poem; autistic author]
Not Recommended – Books
[These stories portray autism badly, or have too many problems to be recommended. If you are interested in autism, they are best avoided.]
- Steven Brust, “Hawk”
- Diane Duane, “A Wizard Alone (original edition)“
- Mercedes Lackey, “The Lark and the Wren”
- Elizabeth Moon, “The Speed of Dark” [autistic protagonist]
- Don Sakers, “Dance For the Ivory Madonna” [autistic author]
- Delia Sherman, “Changeling”
- Joan Slonczewski, “The Children Star”
- Vernor Vinge, “A Deepness in the Sky“
- Peter Watts, “Blindsight”
Not Recommended – Short Stories and Novelettes
- Nancy Fulda, “Movement” [“temporally autistic” protagonist; note that this review predates the others and is not technically part of Autistic Book Party]
- Alyssa Hillary, “Where None Have Thought To Go” [autistic protagonist; autistic author]
- Nancy Kress, “End Game”
- Will McIntosh, “Mom Heart”
- Conor Powers-Smith, “The Day” [possibly autistic protagonist]
- W.H. Pugmire & M.K. Snyder, “The House of Idiot Children”
- Pamela Sargent, “Strawberry Birdies”
- Amanda Sun, “What Harm” [autistic protagonist]
- James L. Sutter, “And All Their Silent Roars”
- Marie Vibbert, “Keep Talking”
For upcoming books, click here.