Female fantasy authors

[kaellok]

I love characters and interesting worlds.  All of my suggestions below have them in spades.

 

Seanan McGuire -- writes urban fantasy.  Think Jim Butcher, but more towards faerie point of view.  First book in the series, while decent, seems to spend an awful lot of time with red herrings, introductions, etc.  What I think of as "the origin story problem."  Too much time setting up, not enough on the meat of the matter.  Thankfully books 2+ don't suffer from this, and each one is generally better written than those before it.  Book 1 ties into book 8 in several significant, meaningful ways as the long and epic arcs start coming together in astounding ways.

 

Mira Grant -- read Feed, Deadline, and Blackout.  Not fantasy, unless you count post-zombie apocalypse as fantasy.  3 of the best books i've ever read in my life.  Note: I'm not a fan of the whole zombie thing.  This is the whole zombie thing.  These books are masterfully written.  Read them.  Note: Don't read them, especially Feed, if you have things you need to do that day or the next day.  I mean, you can if you want.  I read them when I was working a 60 hour week, plus had school.  I got around 7 hours of sleep that week.  I also cried, quite a bit.  I was not expecting any of that.  A year later, I re-read them, and they affected me just as strongly, which is absurdly unheard of for me.  Also, she's technically Seanan McGuire.

 

Michelle West / Michelle Sagara -- writes epic fantasy as Michelle West, less-epic but still fantasy as Michelle Sagara.  Amazing characters and characterization.  The West novels can run a bit slow, and absolutely have the pseudo-fairy tale feel that Robin Hobb's novels have.  Many points of view, though.  I love that all of the characters are so unique and diverse and different--except for ones that are so very similar on purpose and for actual reasons.  The Sagara novels are faster and easier reads, following one POV, in an incredible world and setting.  I enjoy everything she's ever written.

 

Emma Bull -- War for the Oaks is a great work of fantasy.  Her other books are more sci-fi then fantasy, but in general tends to blend things together.  Finder is one of my favorite novels of all time--and I can't tell you much about it without spoilers.  Her music is pretty damnation good, too.  Sadly, she's only written 6 or 7 novels total, and most of them in the 80s and 90s.  Still, all are fantastic reads if you can find them.

 

Patricia C. Wrede -- Everything she's ever written is great.  I'm a particular fan of Mairelon the Magician and The Magician's Ward duology, a Regency England set of books where magic is real.

 

Jane Yolen -- Everything she's ever written is amazing.  Seriously.  She's been writing for a very long time, and across a wide number of genres. 

 

Elizabeth Moon -- The Deed of Paksenarrion series was my gold-standard for fantasy; still is, really.  I read it before I read Tolkien, and his work suffered by its contrast.  She has written a few works to supplement this series that are good, but not to the same degree.  Her Sci Fi is also all truly great, but may not be what you're after.

 

Kristen Britain -- Someone mentioned earlier.  Very enjoyable on first read-through, but suffers on re-reading.  Still, The Green Rider should be read, no excuses.

 

Kim Harrison -- Fun urban fantasy.  More romance-oriented than anything else I've mentioned.

 

Anne Bishop -- Her The Others series is, for some reason, incredibly gripping to me.  I read book 1 in one sitting, and then a couple months later did the same for book 2.  I haven't read book 3 yet, but it's on my list.  Very different from the Black Jewels series, if you've read those.

 

Patricia Briggs -- Best known for her urban fantasy series, I like her 'pure' fantasy stuff much better.  When Demons Walk is a great work of fantasy, as is The Hob's Bargain.  Raven's Shadow and Raven's Strike are also quite good.

 

Melanie Rawn -- She's written two books that are great and wonderful and I love dearly.  Unfortunately, they are books 1 and 2 of a trilogy, and there is no book 3.  Nor is there likely to ever be one.  She had a contract to write it, but was unable to do so--and has been unable to finish it in the last 18 years (no lie; book 2 was copyrighted 1997.  I just looked.)  There is a horrible, dreadful cliffhanger with no real sense of closure at the end of either of the books.  Still, they are very good, so if you hate yourself, check out The Ruins of Ambrai and The Mageborn Traitor.  If you're like me, you'll give them as gifts to people who love to read, but you don't really like (say, in an office Christmas gift exchange.)  Her other works are significantly worse in every way, and not nearly as enjoyable; I would generally suggest avoiding them.

 

Those are just the authors that I have on my bookshelf; I have more packed away in boxes.  There are plenty of great female fantasy authors out there, and have been there for decades.  New ones join their ranks all the time.

[Wolven]

 

 

Kim Harrison -- Fun urban fantasy.  More romance-oriented than anything else I've mentioned.

 

 

 

Didn't think of Kim Harrison at first, and I loved her books.  I wouldn't say that they are romance oriented.  There is a lot of romance involved true, but it always felt like the romance was in the background to me rather than the main focus of the story.

[navybrandt]

OK, the first two chapters of Uprooted by Naomi Novik have drawn me in, and according to reviews, the story twists quite a lot from the traditional fairy tale story. This one has the potential, at least, to be added to my favorites.

[nutellaspren]

How is there no mention of Tamora Pierce or Ursula LeGuin yet here? They're both pretty great.

[Bort]

I've heard good things about both of them, but never got around to reading any of their work.

[DanTheSeamonster]

I really enjoy Mercedes Lackey's stuff, and I haven't seen her mentioned on her very much. I would recommend starting with the trilogy she wrote with James Mallory, The Obsidian Mountain. The series has two magic systems that I like a lot. 

Edited July 6, 2015 by The Crooked Warden

[Delightful]

How is there no mention of Tamora Pierce or Ursula LeGuin yet here? They're both pretty great.

I mentioned Tamora Pierce She's fantastic.

[Sphinx]

Some of the female fantasy authors on my bookshelf that I've collected over the past decade or so:

 

Katherine Addison: I haven't actually read The Goblin Emperor yet, but it came in second for the Hugo this year, and is on my to-read list.

 

Gillian Bradshaw: She writes both historical fiction and what I would call "historical fantasy". Her Arthurian trilogy is absolutely brilliant (begins with Hawk of May).  The Wolf Hunt is my favourite of the other books with magic. The Beacon at Alexandria and Island of Ghosts are the ones I love best of her more standard historical fiction.

 

Marie Brennan: Author of a series about a woman who becomes the foremost expert on Draconology in a country reminiscent of Victorian England. Starts with A Natural History of Dragons. I can't speak to anything she's written outside of the dragon books (they have GORGEOUS covers and illustrations)

 

Lois McMaster Bujold: I've mostly only read her science fiction (which is excellent, quite varied, some of it better than others), but I've been meaning to get to her fantasy. I've heard lots of good things.

 

Olivia Butler: I haven't actually read anything by her, but she's on my to-read, highly recommended list, so I figured I'd throw her name out as well.

 

Susanna Clarke: Author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, a really interesting book about magic and faeries in Britain during the Napoleonic era. Some people might find it a bit slow.

 

Susan Fletcher: Her stuff falls under YA or maybe even younger. Her Dragon Chronicles are really lovely books.  Shadow Spinner isn't really fantasy, but is about Shahrazad and the art of storytelling and is a comfort read.

 

Diana Wynne Jones: So many excellent books, with a lot of variety. My favourite is probably a toss-up between Howl's Moving Castle and Hexwood. Her Chrestomanci series is a lot of fun. Her Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin are hilarious if you've read a lot of fantasy.

 

Ursula LeGuin: I absolutely love the Earthsea books. I also really enjoy the Gifts trilogy (again a bit younger)

 

Patricia McKillip: She has this talent for writing books that leave me a bit dazed when I'm done reading them, and feeling like I've just experienced a dream that I don't remember terribly well. Strongly recommend her Riddle-Master of Hed trilogy.

 

Robin McKinley: The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown are both really, really, really good. I like a lot of her other books as well, but those are some of my absolute favourites.

 

Naomi Novik: I really enjoyed most of the Temeraire books, and Uprooted was really enjoyable as well.

 

Sharon Shinn: The Safe-Keepers secret series is probably my favourite of what she's written, but she has written a lot, and it's pretty varied.

 

Sherwood Smith: I enjoyed Crown Duel. I haven't been able to get into the rest of her Sartoria-deles stuff for whatever reason, but some of my friends really like it.

 

Rosemary Sutcliff: A lot of her books are historical fiction/fantasy than straight up fantasy, but they're absolutely amazing. 

 

Laini Taylor: I've only read her Dreamdark books, but a friend of mine says her Daughter of Smoke and Bone books are excellent.

 

Megan Whalen Turner: Greek-inspired YA fantasy that specialises in unreliable narrators and trickery. Definitely read The Thief first.

 

Martha Wells: I enjoyed the series she wrote that begins with The Wizard Hunters. 

 

Patricia C Wrede: Magic and Malice is a lot of fun: Regency period with magic and adventures and thieving. The Cecilia and Kate letter books are also fun, with a similar setting. I also really love her retelling Snow White and Rose Red in Elizabethan England with Faerie. Her Frontier Magic books are younger than her other stuff, but really fun.

[Dunkum]

I want to second (or i guess third at this point) Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea series.

 

Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel is also amazing.  one caveat: it takes place during the napoleanic wars in England, but with magical elements, so if you are looking for high fantasy ala tolkein, this isn't that.

 

Dianna Wynne Jones, from what little I remember of hers, was pretty good as well, though maybe not quite to the level of the other two.

 

other than those three, I am having trouble remembering any female authors I may have read.  there probably were some, but I don't recall offhand.

[Ookla the Absent]

Definitely Dianna Wynne Jones' Howell's Moving Castle, and Patricia Wrede' Dealing with Dragons and 13th Child.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but I'll try to get a list from my mother.

[Kaymyth]

I love characters and interesting worlds.  All of my suggestions below have them in spades.

 

Elizabeth Moon -- The Deed of Paksenarrion series was my gold-standard for fantasy; still is, really.  I read it before I read Tolkien, and his work suffered by its contrast.  She has written a few works to supplement this series that are good, but not to the same degree.  Her Sci Fi is also all truly great, but may not be what you're after.

Patricia Briggs -- Best known for her urban fantasy series, I like her 'pure' fantasy stuff much better.  When Demons Walk is a great work of fantasy, as is The Hob's Bargain.  Raven's Shadow and Raven's Strike are also quite good.

 

 

I have to confess, I had a lot of trouble making it through Deed of Paksennarion.  Elizabeth Moon is one of those authors that I really feel like I ought to like, but every time I pick up something else of hers, I wind up getting bored.  I've tried her sci-fi stuff, too, and there's just something about her writing that doesn't gel for me.

 

Agree about Patricia Briggs - her books are pretty light, easy reads, but very enjoyable.  But for the love of everything shiny, do NOT read Masques unless you're already a fan of hers.  It's her first work, and it's really, really rough; enough so that it could put someone off if it was the first book of hers they read.

 

I really enjoy Mercedes Lackey's stuff, and I haven't seen her mentioned on her very much. I would recommend starting with the trilogy she wrote with James Mallory, The Obsidian Mountain. The series has two magic systems that I like a lot. 

 

Lackey is a good one, and the Obsidian books are quite good.  I've long been a fan of her Valdemar series.  Unfortunately, she does suffer from Needs A Better Editor these days on her solo stuff, and her continuity sort of falls off the rails in there, particularly under the sheer weight of Valdemaran history.  Read it, but try and have a forgiving heart and/or assume that the Doctor has been sneaking around altering the timeline.

 

She does some interesting stuff with classic fair tales, too; the Elemental Masters series reimagine some of the more well-known stories in Edwardian-era England with elemental magic at the forefront.  In a different vein, her 500 Kingdoms books are good if you like your fairy tales fractured with a side of humor.

 

 

McCaffrey is an old favorite of mine, with the Pern books taking preference.  Her work seems to vary wildly from series to series, and I find some of them more interesting than others.

Edited August 28, 2015 by Kaymyth