Seeking fantasy novels w/ female apprenticed under male teacher

[rurounigirl]

Hello all,

After having read The Magician's Guild I am interested in reading more books with females apprenticed under a male teacher. I am particularly interested in female fighters (i.e. girls with swords or weapons,) however, female magician apprentices would interest me as well.

But more specifically, I am interested in females apprenticed under male masters. I don't care if there is romance between the two or not. I am just interested in female apprentices with male masters/teachers. Also, if you know anything loosely based off of this criteria I would definitely be interested in that as well.

If anyone has any books they could recommend me I would appreciate it tremendously!

P.S. Sorry if this seems like a weird request. I usually go through reading phases where I am attracted to books with certain themes.

[Loerwyn]

Hey rurounigirl - Welcome to SFFWorld.

Firstly, just want to take the time to point out that we ask members to ask for recommendations in the Fantasy/Horror Recommendations thread that's stickied at the top of this subforum. However, your request is a little unusual, so I reckon it'll be fine. It's more for future reference in your case.

Well, that is a tricky one. Have you gone for Trudi Canavan's other books? I would suspect The Magician's Apprentice and her Traitor Spy trilogy (which is, I think, a sequel to The Black Magician trilogy) would come under that.

If you're after something less YA-like and more complex, I could possibly see the dynamic between a few characters in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt books as fulfilling your criteria, but the names of those characters eludes me right now.

Emily Gee's The Sentinel Mage also seems to have a little bit of that feel to it, in that that main character has largely been taught how to use her powers by her male companions, but it's less of a formal apprenticeship.

[rurounigirl]

Thanks for the welcome! I can't believe I missed that recommendation sticky thread. My bad!

I'm already looking into getting the rest of Trudi Canavan's books. I definitely enjoyed what I've read from her so far but I just wish that her female lead was more of a warrior type instead of flinching away from battle. I know that is picky but nonetheless I still enjoyed her book. I'd give it a 4/5.

Thanks for your other recommendations. I'm going to look into them right now!

[Werthead]

A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE by George R.R. Martin: Some subplots deal with this. Arya Stark trains as a swordswoman under a male teacher, Syrio Forel, in the first book before receiving on-the-job assassin training in Books 2, 4 and 5. Her sister Sansa receives lessons in political intrigue from a male teacher, but not until Book 4.

THE TALES OF EINARINN by Juliet E. McKenna: It's been a while since I read this, but IIRC the main character is a female thief. Her relationship with her mentor/lover is an important plot point.

THE MISTBORN TRILOGY by Brandon Sanderson: The main character, Vin, learns magic, swordplay and intrigue from a male mentor figure, Kelsier.

[rurounigirl]

Thanks Werthead! That McKenna novel sounds familiar to me. Is it part of a 5-book series? I will look it up but right now I'm a work. It sounds great though! I can never get enough of thief novels.

I have book one of the Mistborn trilogy sitting on my bookshelf all lonely and sad. I'm not sure why I've neglected it so long but I think now I'll give it some well-deserved attention! (I'm growing fond of Sanderson after Way of Kings.)

[Darksbane]

Joshua Palmatier's Throne of Amenkor trilogy fits, starting with The Skewed Throne. I haven't read the last in the trilogy yet, but the first two were pretty good reads.

[Paul the Human]

I'll second the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. Not only does it fit your criteria perfectly, but it is also a fantastic read. Highly recommended.

[Jon Sprunk]

There's The Paladin (CJ Cherryh) about a male swordsman who takes a woman as his apprentice. Has an asian setting, if I remember correctly.

[Mostlyharmless]

You could try "The Paladin" by C.J. Cherryh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paladin

[Jon Sprunk]

You could try "The Paladin" by C.J. Cherryh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paladin

Great minds....

[Mekrath]

The Hunger Games would loosely qualify.

[Loerwyn]

The Hunger Games would loosely qualify.

It's sci-fi, not fantasy But yeah, it would loosely qualify, though I would say Katniss is more a pawn than a student/apprentice.

[Lazerus]

Great minds....

Wow, I was going to add that also. I had no idea it was that well known. I thought it was rather obscure. It fits the OP's criteria perfectly.

I read it numerous years ago and recall that I enjoyed it.

[AmethystOrator]

The series The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher includes this element, with a female magician apprenticed to the title character, but that aspect isn't introduced until the 8th book in the series and doesn't substantially begin until Book 9.

[rurounigirl]

You guys are all amazing! Thank you so much. I came home with The Paladin, Sanderson's books, and Jim Butcher's first book, after some shopping. I was unable to find the other books recommended here.

I have read the Hunger Games and enjoyed it. I'm not sure how I felt about the latter two books in the trilogy though. I guess I should have mentioned that I'm okay with sci-fi recommendations. It's just that if you look at my massive bookshelf you will only see about 2% sci-fi novels there (Dune and Enders Game.) lol

I wish I could have found Sentinel's Mage and Skewed Throne! They sound so intriguing. I'll probably order them online.

Once again thank you all for your help!