reading female authors 2015 -- which next?

[Contrarius]

But why do male writers tend to get more notice? Why do "many people... realise they've read very few female writers"?

There is less prejudice now than in the past, and less in fantasy than in sf, but it has always been there. Back in the olden days sff and especially sf really was a boy's club, and women tended to be unwelcome.

Conversely, I noticed while looking at awards lists that most of the winners of the Mythopoeic awards have been women -- so to at least some extent it works both ways. I think it's still true that people expect men to write the "harder" stuff and women to write the "softer" stuff. Someone ought to do a thorough study to see if that's really true or not.

 

[kempster]

I think it has too do with most SF&F fans being boys in the past, so most writers were male too. It was so regarded as a "boy thing" that there was some skepticism about SF written by women, so that female writers felt some pressure to write under male pseudonyms, just like nowadays male writers in the romance genre have to write under female pseudonyms. Fortunately for us, that has changed a lot (Rowling notwithstanding).

Personally, I love reading fiction, and when I find a story I love I have never cared a bit whether the author was a man or a woman. That's why I have never worried about looking for more fiction written by women. I look for more fiction worth reading. I can understand wanting to diversify and enrich your reading by seeking different things, but I would think that should be more a matter of the subject/themes/sensibilities of the books rather than of the gender of the writer. I mean, if you read the same kind of thing you always read, only written by women, you are not really adding diversity.

Pretty much agree with you... and anything I would quibble about isn't worth mentioning and would simply be personal experience and perspective. Cheers Farseer2!

Kempster

 

[Contrarius]

I can understand wanting to diversify and enrich your reading by seeking different things, but I would think that should be more a matter of the subject/themes/sensibilities of the books rather than of the gender of the writer. I mean, if you read the same kind of thing you always read, only written by women, you are not really adding diversity.

Nah, you are adding diversity just as much as by exploring British writers, or German writers, or young writers, or old writers. There will be some overlap between all the categories, but also some differences. For instance, I happen to be very fond of British writers -- even though there are male and female Brits, young and old Brits, and so on. It's still fairly easy for me to tell British from American in most instances. And similarly, there are going to be some characteristic -- though definitely not universal -- differences between male and female writers. Just as British and American cultures are different, men and women have different cultural experiences and therefore somewhat different outlooks on life. As can be seen, for instance, in the preponderance of women authors in the Mythopoeic awards.

 

[farseer2]

there are going to be some characteristic -- though definitely not universal -- differences between male and female writers.

In that case, if you read a book without knowing the gender of the author, do you consider yourself able to guess whether it's a female or male author? You're bound to be surprised quite often if you think that...

 

[Contrarius]

In that case, if you read a book without knowing the gender of the author, do you consider yourself able to guess whether it's a female or male author? You're bound to be surprised quite often if you think that...

There's too much overlap to do it consistently, but IMHO it's like a Venn diagram. There are two separate circles for men and women's writing styles -- they overlap in the middle, but they don't overlap completely.

ETA -- it would be interesting to do blind testing with various stories that had the author info removed. Shouldn't be too hard to set up, especially if you used short stories. I'll bet you $5 I could differentiate them at an accuracy well above chance -- but nothing like perfection.

 

[Bacchus]

I think it's still true that people expect men to write the "harder" stuff and women to write the "softer" stuff. Someone ought to do a thorough study to see if that's really true or not.

Give Linda Nagata a go. She writes hard sf and is very good. I would recommend her debut, "The Bohr Maker", which is quite action-oriented and deals heavily with nano-/biotechnologies including the disparity between rich and poor (some features of the movie "Elysium" were similar to her novel - the rich living in orbitals with access to technology, etc.) and her "Vast", a space opera type novel with a simple plot (being chased) made more enjoyable by the complications in relationships between all the people involved and how they react to problems (in this, slightly similar to Alastair Reynolds' "Pushing Ice"). Both novels share a common background/history and common assumptions in technology, so are loosely connected, but stand alone. "The Bohr Maker" takes place ca. a century hence, whilst "Vast" is set much further in the future.

 

[farseer2]

ETA -- it would be interesting to do blind testing with various stories that had the author info removed. Shouldn't be too hard to set up, especially if you used short stories. I'll bet you $5 I could differentiate them at an accuracy well above chance -- but nothing like perfection.

Yes, it would be an interesting experiment, although I believe it would depend a lot on which stories are selected. For example, there is a kind of a stereotypical male style (for example, action-filled stories) and kind of a stereotypical female style (for example, romance and characters talking about their feelings), the problem is that "male style" stories are not always written by males, and "female style" stories are not always written by females. I would guess that if we chose "male style" stories written by females and "female stories" written by males for our experiment, an average reader would guess wrong most of the time. That's why for me the story itself (its style, subject matter, etc) is more important than the gender or any other characteristic of the author.

But, well, this is all a matter of point of view and, anyway, any excuse for reading is good...

 

[farseer2]

Going back to the original request: Have you read Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell"? It's a wonderful, immersive book, exquisitely-written. The pace and style won't be for everyone, but you should at least give it a try if you haven't yet.

If you are in the mood for SF, have you read Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow?

I love Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series, but I'm sure this is not new to you, just like Butler and LeGuin.

If you are in the mood for feminist SF, how about Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue? Another really interesting book, and less obvious a choice than Sheri S. Tepper.

If by any chance you have not given a try to the Harry Potter series, I'd encourage you to push preconceptions aside and give it a fair chance. It's YA, but good storytelling is good storytelling.

Nancy Kress is another nice option...

 

[Bacchus]

I think the experiment of limiting the purview of your selected readings for a while is interesting. I've never tried it, and I think I don't have the discipline for it. Like Farseer2, I will pick up anything that looks interesting to me without paying any attention to the gender or colour or ethnicity of the author.

At the same time, concentrating on a certain demographic for a short period could give you a clearer perspective, a clearer 'feel', of the style and themes that are more prevalent in that demographic that you might not otherwise easily discern with a larger sample space. Once you feel that you *have* gleaned a sharper view of all the subtleties of the demographic you're sampling, you could more easily compare and contrast with those lying outside.

For example, reading only Russian authors for six months, or only Indian authors, would give you a pretty good feel for the types of things they're more concerned with writing about, plus an overall feel for for common threads that comes through a shared characteristic, in this case their culture.

So, interesting experiment, but not sure if I'll be motivated enough to try something similar.

 

[Randy M.]

Since you're open for suggestions:

Zenna Henderson: The Anything Box (story collection, mix of sf & fantasy)
Caitlin Kiernan: Threshold, The Red Tree & The Drowning Girl (dense stories written in evocative prose)
Kage Baker: Nell Gwynne's Scarlet Spy (I really should read more of Baker; this and her novella "The Empress of Mars" are terrific entertainments)

Strongly second the suggestion of Susannah Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell


Randy M.

 

[Contrarius]

Yes, it would be an interesting experiment, although I believe it would depend a lot on which stories are selected.

No, you'd have to select them randomly. I'd suggest getting them all from the same short-story publication -- for instance, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction has a wide range. Then randomly select an equal number of male-written and female-written stories from multiple issues of the magazine, remove the author names, et voila -- blinded testing.

Going back to the original request: Have you read Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell"?

Yup. I thought it was boring. I'm generally tolerant of slow pace, but that was a bit excruciating. But I keep thinking I'll try it again to see if I appreciate it more the second time around.

If you are in the mood for SF, have you read Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow?

Oooo, that's a new one. I'll check it out.

I love Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series, but I'm sure this is not new to you, just like Butler and LeGuin.

Oh yeah. Actually, LMB is the author that got me addicted to audiobooks, back when they were first becoming popular. I spent lots of time at the local used-book store, both looking for Vorkosigan paperbacks and Vorkosigan cassette tapes (gasp -- cassette tapes!).

If you are in the mood for feminist SF, how about Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue? Another really interesting book, and less obvious a choice than Sheri S. Tepper.

Hey, you're just full of suggestions I've never heard of. Thanks!

If by any chance you have not given a try to the Harry Potter series, I'd encourage you to push preconceptions aside and give it a fair chance. It's YA, but good storytelling is good storytelling.

ROFLMAOPIP -- Only at the suggestion that I've never listened to them. Those are the other audiobooks I would search for along with the Vorkosigans. Nowadays I own, and have listened to, all of the books in BOTH US and UK narrations. ;-)

 

[Contrarius]

Since you're open for suggestions:

Zenna Henderson: The Anything Box (story collection, mix of sf & fantasy)
Caitlin Kiernan: Threshold, The Red Tree & The Drowning Girl (dense stories written in evocative prose)
Kage Baker: Nell Gwynne's Scarlet Spy (I really should read more of Baker; this and her novella "The Empress of Mars" are terrific entertainments)

Good suggestions. I've heard of all of them, but I think Henderson is the only one I've actually read before..... unless maybe some short stories long ago?

Thanks for mentioning them!

 

[farseer2]

No, you'd have to select them randomly. I'd suggest getting them all from the same short-story publication -- for instance, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction has a wide range. Then randomly select an equal number of male-written and female-written stories from multiple issues of the magazine, remove the author names, et voila -- blinded testing.

But that wouldn't be fair. You would probably get more than a 50% correct guess rate, but this would not be testing my theory. I maintain that the best way to ensure there's diversity in your reading would be selecting books according to the books' characteristics, not the authors' race or gender. If you choose randomly you don't do justice to my methodology.

Yup. I thought it was boring. I'm generally tolerant of slow pace, but that was a bit excruciating. But I keep thinking I'll try it again to see if I appreciate it more the second time around.

Oh, well. It's a pity. As I said, not everyone will enjoy the pace of this one. It's a bit Dickensian. However, it is so well-written and delightful...

Oooo, that's a new one. I'll check it out.

The Sparrow is a rather well-known one. It regularly appears in lists of recommendations. It's an unusual first contact novel.

Hey, you're just full of suggestions I've never heard of. Thanks!

This one (Native Tongue) I don't see talked about often, but I found it a good mix of feminism and linguistics.

ROFLMAOPIP -- Only at the suggestion that I've never listened to them. Those are the other audiobooks I would search for along with the Vorkosigans. Nowadays I own, and have listened to, all of the books in BOTH US and UK narrations. ;-)

Oh, well. Uber-popular as the Harry Potter series is, it's surprising the number of people who refuse to give it a chance because of literary snobbery.

 

[ebusinesstutor]

I think it's more a reflection that the male writers in fantasy tend to get more notice. Many people have read a ton of fantasy, and when they look at what they've read, they realize they've read very few female writers. I doubt this is intentional for most people, but when you look at those best fantasy lists, you do see a lot of men.

I read a lot of fantasy and I read much more by women fantasy authors than men. And I am a guy. A large percentage of my favourite authors are women.

 

[Contrarius]

Give Linda Nagata a go. She writes hard sf and is very good.

Sorry, I missed this earlier. I'll add her to the list. Thanks!

 

[Contrarius]

But that wouldn't be fair. You would probably get more than a 50% correct guess rate, but this would not be testing my theory. I maintain that the best way to ensure there's diversity in your reading would be selecting books according to the books' characteristics, not the authors' race or gender. If you choose randomly you don't do justice to my methodology.

Randomized trials are generally (no, not always) more scientifically sound. Pre-selecting tends to introduce bias. But you could always try it both ways and compare the results.

Oh, well. Uber-popular as the Harry Potter series is, it's surprising the number of people who refuse to give it a chance because of literary snobbery.

I will admit to being prejudiced against books labeled as YA. But some of my favorite books and series have been YA -- Narnia, Earthsea, Harry Potter -- so I'm willing to listen when people consistently tell me something's good. I'm opinionated, but not inflexible.

 

[farseer2]

I will admit to being prejudiced against books labeled as YA. But some of my favorite books and series have been YA -- Narnia, Earthsea, Harry Potter -- so I'm willing to listen when people consistently tell me something's good. I'm opinionated, but not inflexible.

I was thinking more about people who don't give it a chance because "if they are so popular, they can't be good". But yes, being YA can also be a stopper.

 

[algernoninc]

I just did a quick browse through the posts to see if anyone mentioned N K Jemisin or Kij Johnson.
For Jemisin you have her Inheritance books, starting with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but for fans of epic fantasy I would rather recommend her Dreambllod duology: The Killing Moon and The Shadowed Sun.

Kij Johnson is good for fans of Patricia McKillip, as she has a lyrical style. I have read two books : Fudoki and The Fox Woman, both set in mediaeval Japan, andI understand her short stories are also much appreciated.

Speaking of Japan, another favorite is Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn, starts with Across The Nightingle Floor. Low in magic, but very good atmosphere.

 

[Contrarius]

I just did a quick browse through the posts to see if anyone mentioned N K Jemisin or Kij Johnson.

Thanks for jumping in!

I tried the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but could never get into it. But I do keep hearing people talk about her, so maybe I should try her other books. Good idea.

And I've never tried Johnson. They sound interesting!

Speaking of Japan, another favorite is Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn, starts with Across The Nightingle Floor. Low in magic, but very good atmosphere.

I've got this one. Didn't realize that Hearn was a woman!

 

[RedMage]

I've got this one. Didn't realize that Hearn was a woman!

I didn't either. I read the first book of the series and looked up the author afterward. Looking her up now, I feel I received much different info between the two searches. I also thought she was a lot younger, being born in the 1970s rather than having kids of her own in the 70s.