[MaxSebastian]

hey there amigos,

I'd really like to know who your favourite female characters are in science-fiction, and why they caught your interest.

take care,

Max

[Shehzad]

Hands down one of my favourite female (if you can call her that) characters is Dua from Asimov's The Gods Themselves. Few others can compare.

[SusF]

I had to think about this one for a few days. Honor Harrington is my favorite. She's also the only one I can remember...

Which either means she's the most memorable, or that my memory really sucks. I'm afraid it might be the latter...

Though to be truthfull, I do love the Honor Series.

Are there any other hard SF books with female main characters? I can't offhand think of any.

Plenty in Science Fantasy. Lessa, the Darkover women, etc.

Susan

[mundanemies]

If Honor-books are hard-SF, then I'm a wombat! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

Women!

Ripley in Alien-movies. There's a strong female lead and a rolemodel.

Doctor Susan Calvin in Asimov's robot-stories. She is one of the first really strong and independent figures that I remember.

I must say that I don't really remember characters as male or female, though most of them most probably were one or the other: One of the problem's is of course the fact that my memory has more holes than swiss cheese, but also because the main protagonist is so very often male. Then again, I do remember some female characters, but can't for the life of me remember their names... Or why I liked them so much? Probably because they are/were unreachable, beautiful and/or wonderful personalities? I don't know. Sorry about this... http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Dragon Reborn]

Sam Carter in Stargate (TV series)

[Hobbit]

Good topic Max!

I like a nice strong heroine myself - so that us Hobbits can be safe, you know. http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

Hmm. Had to think for a while but try these, in no particular order:

Miles's mum, Coredelia, in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series - first in Shards of Honor - smart, decisive, resourceful;

Aenea in Dan Simmons's Endymion - totally selfless yet defenseless, a character whose story made me cry when it had ended (VERY rarely happens!)

Elizabeth Yeager from CJ Cherryh's Rimrunners - sassy space chick; see also Colin Greenland's Tabitha Jute from the Plenty series;

Friday from Robert Heinlein's novel of the same name - also sassy spy;

Molly from William Gibson's Neuromancer series - sexy cybergirl, usually dressed in leather, in memory serves me well; http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

Alia Atreides, from Frank Herbert's Dune series - otherworldly superbeing - gave me the creeps, this one. (and I haven't even mentioned the Bene Gesserit!)

Sparta from Arthur C Clarke's Venus Prime series - perhaps it's Jim Burns's covers but she looks (and sounds) a lot better than Maria from Metropolis!

Anne McCaffrey seems to have cornered the market pretty much with 'worthy' women, though - far too many to mention in detail, but possibly Killashandra, the Crystal Singer is most prevalent in my mind.

Joan Vinge's Snow Queen and the Summer Queen had a lot of strong female characters - Moon Dawntreader as the heoine and Arienrhod as the evil Snow Queen.

Also Vinge's Cat, the psychic in her Psion series.

Sure there's more: but this'll do for now.

Hobbit

[Rocketsheep]

Cheery Littlebottom from Discworld because her beard is so soft and she has an ongoing struggle to have her feminity accepted.

I guess characters are more endearing when they have their own little problems.

[Dragon Reborn]

hmmmm, yes, I suppose that the discworld series could be considered as science fiction, 'cause it discusses the possibility of there being, somewhere in the universe, a huge disc balanced on the top of four giant elephants, who are in turn standing on a humongous turtle, swimming through space. http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif
Could happen.

[Sammie]

Is "Science Fantsy" (used up above somewhere) an actual phrase? Cos, isn't it, like, a contradication in terms????

Just wondering http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Rocketsheep]

Well, it is set in an unknown universe... you never know.

I would call it a fantasy but I think it is often called science fiction. I was just being silly, anyway.

What about Ripley from Alien? They don't come any tougher than her...