reading female authors 2015 -- which next?

[Contrarius]

Well, no list of "best female fantasy authors" is complete if it lacks Michelle West's name. Seriously, most underrated fantasy author ever in my not so humble opinion. Deep worldbuilding, very good characterization and character depth, above average prose.

Thanks! I've heard of her, of course, but I haven't read anything of hers yet. She's already on my list, but with your added rec I'll move her up towards the top.

 

[Contrarius]

They get better with each successive volume. It's pure sword-and-sorcery type fantasy and the female lead is an extremely atypical character for female leads in fantasy.

I read Sword-Dancer this morning -- and, indeed, it was a lot of fun.

I do have some complaints. First, Tiger seemed remarkably self-aware and introspective for a sword fighter. Second, I was REALLY REALLY annoyed when Del found

Spoiler

her brother and then didn't even bother to spend any time getting to know him. I mean, she didn't have to leave instantly just because she wasn't taking him back with her! And how did she know he was going to be safe there long term? The chieftain who was caring for him was already old -- what'll happen to him after the chieftain dies??? Pah!

I was also annoyed at

Spoiler

the fight climax, when Tiger took over for Del just because Theron had learned a new fighting style. What -- she's not good enough to adapt to different styles? Tiger could react to Northern style when he fought Del, but Del couldn't react to Southron? And within three days we go from him barely being able to walk to being a swordmaster again when he hasn't even held a sword in three months?? Again -- Pah!

And

Spoiler

I'll be very disappointed if he never learns the new sword's name -- I reaaaaaaaally want him to unlock those awesom Southron powers.

OTOH, I thought a lot of it was very good. I liked the way she wrote the action and the descriptions of the ensorcelled blades, and her description of the mines and Tiger's reactions were very terse and effective. And there was a lot of fun in it as well, with Tiger's sly self-aggrandizement/self-effacement and not taking himself too seriously.

So thanks again, Bacchus. I'll be happy to read the next in this series.

 

[Bacchus]

Your first "pah!" will be answered later, though if to your satisfaction, I can't say. I can't remember the specifics of the sword fight you're referring to, but from my memory Del is an extremely able fighter on par with Tiger and possibly even beyond him in terms of skill. But Tiger has other advantages: experience and mental fortitude, not to mention the ability to exert psychological pressure. I thought the first book was a great introduction, lots of fun. I remember books 4 and 5 being particularly good. They're all fast reads, though I'm impressed at you having read the first instalment already. Why would you think a sword-fighter wouldn't be introspective? His humour tinged introspection, the sly self-aggrandisement/self-effacement you mention (a spot on description) is exactly what makes reading these books so much fun. Glad you enjoyed it.

 

[KatG]

Good is subjective and I don't remember all your preferences, but those I've read and liked:

Ann Leckie -- Ancillary Justice (2014 Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Arthur C. Clarke, and Locus awards)
Ann Leckie -- Ancillary Sword

Really liked Ancillary Justice, just finished Ancillary Sword. Sword isn't quite as good, but that's mainly because it's a different type of story -- political novel with some action as opposed to revenge thriller. But it does expand the universe of the story and the universe of the story is really interesting. Leckie writes a lot like LeGuin and Cherryh, so I enjoyed it. Justice is a really fascinating book, poignant and has a lot of good ideas and good action scenes. So I'd say yes to that.

Sofia Samatar -- A Stranger in Olondria (2014 WFA winner) -- I haven't read this one, but there have been a lot of raves. Ditto Wilson's Alif the Unseen.
G. Willow Wilson -- Alif the Unseen (2013 WFA winner)
G. Willow Wilson -- The Butterfly Mosque (out of genre, but it sounds interesting)

Nnedi Okorafor -- Who Fears Death (2011 WFA winner)
Nnedi Okorafor -- Lagoon

Read Who Fears Death and felt it meandered a bit in the middle but overall beautifully written, amazing use of culture. A powerful mythic sort of fantasy story. I'm planning to read more of her work.

Connie Willis -- Blackout (2011 Hugo and Nebula)
Connie Willis -- All Clear

Haven't read this duology, though I plan to get to it. My understanding is that it fits very much in Willis' time travel work (The Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, as part of the Oxford Time Travel novels.) But that many people were also unhappy with the historical inaccuracies and thought it too padded. At the same time, a lot of people feel it's the major one of her works and gave it those awards. I loved To Say Nothing of the Dog. The Doomsday Book was more uneven to me but an interesting portrait of the Black Death. I also have read her novel Passage, which I found to be an odd and interesting book, and I've read and liked a lot of her short fiction. She does both humor and drama well. So I'd say probably worth checking out, at least if you like World War II.

Elizabeth Bear -- Range of Ghosts
Elizabeth Bear -- Karen Memory

Haven't read either of these, but Karen Memory is getting a ton of buzz. I have read Blood and Iron, which is the start of a very epic contemporary portal fantasy series. And I've read her novel with Sarah Monette, A Companion to Wolves, which is a very funky and raw secondary world fantasy series. I've also been meaning to read several of her SF series. She's a sharp writer, her fantasy that I've read is heavily mythological, but she's versatile so those other books probably have different styles. Probably worth checking out the new one, especially if you like steampunk.

I read Roberson's Sword-Dancer a long time ago and was not that into it. But because it was a long time ago, I really don't remember much about it, so if you like the style, it was a major series in that mid-80's to mid-90's fantasy field.

Obviously, Cherryh, Le Guin and Butler are givens. I would also add Patricia McKillip, Sheri Tepper and R.A. MacAvoy to that group, just to start. Hobb is slightly later generation, but is one of the most respected female writers in secondary world fantasy. I read the first Kitty novel by Vaughn and liked it, though I thought it got a bit bogged down. But I'll probably read more of the series some time. I also read Vaughn's standalone novel Discord's Apple. That was a really clever book, with funny bits amid the drama, though the ending is a bit rushed maybe. She's quite good at dialogue. I'm sorry to say I haven't gotten to West's work yet, but she has like a cult of fans, so probably well worth checking out.

Do you want more names? I mean, we could do a couple hundred, but you might not want to look at that many.

 

[Contrarius]

They're all fast reads, though I'm impressed at you having read the first instalment already.

As I mentioned earlier, I generally prefer to listen to audio of sff rather than actually reading -- and this one is available in audio. However, I checked out the beginning of the audio version and found the narrator to be slow and a bit ponderous, so I went with the actual eyes-on-the-screen -- which is much faster.

Why would you think a sword-fighter wouldn't be introspective?

Well, action-oriented guys aren't really known for deep thinking -- and he grew up as a completely uneducated slave, compounding the problem. I certainly didn't *mind* his introspection -- just thought it was incongruous.

His humour tinged introspection, the sly self-aggrandisement/self-effacement you mention (a spot on description) is exactly what makes reading these books so much fun.

Yup. Very amusing/engaging narrative voice. I'll be looking forward to the next one.

 

[Contrarius]

My understanding is that it fits very much in Willis' time travel work (The Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, as part of the Oxford Time Travel novels.) But that many people were also unhappy with the historical inaccuracies and thought it too padded.

Oh, yes. I remember seeing some of those history arguments -- had forgotten about them. Good to keep in mind. I'm generally very tolerant of a slow-moving plot as long as the read is interesting (cf. WoT), so that doesn't usually scare me away.

The Doomsday Book was more uneven to me but an interesting portrait of the Black Death.

It was soooooooooooooo depressing. I thought it was mostly lovely, but saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. Really made me think about such things, though, in a way that post-apocalyptic purely fictional decimation stories don't.

And I've read her novel with Sarah Monette, A Companion to Wolves

Oh, I forgot that one! That's the only thing I've read with Bear involved -- and I read it because of Monette, not Bear. Very odd, and IMHO not terribly successful (by comparison, I mostly loved the Melusine books by Monette).

I read Roberson's Sword-Dancer a long time ago and was not that into it. But because it was a long time ago, I really don't remember much about it, so if you like the style, it was a major series in that mid-80's to mid-90's fantasy field.

I don't remember ever even hearing of it before -- but since mid-80s to mid-90s was my busiest grad-and-professional school period, that's not all that surprising. I do enjoy some good-ol' rolicking sword-and-sorcery every now and then, especially if it involves the bromance trope. This one is a mf pairing, obviously, but aside from the lust it's got the same general vibe so far.

I would also add Patricia McKillip, Sheri Tepper and R.A. MacAvoy

I've got McKillip on the short list already, though I didn't include her in the initial grouping that I posted above. I'm positive that I read the Riddle-Master books many years ago -- but I don't remember them at all, so I'm going to do a reread/relisten (I already have the audio recordings for them).

I don't *think* I've ever read Tepper, and I didn't have her on my list -- so good catch. I just looked up her books on Goodreads, and I think I'll put the Mavin Manyshaped books on the list.

I do have MacAvoy on the long list, but with your added rec I'll move her further up. I've never read her either.

Do you want more names? I mean, we could do a couple hundred, but you might not want to look at that many.

I've got a long list already, so I don't need random names. What I really want is "oh, on your tour through female sff writers you really shouldn't miss this one" or "oh, I see this name on your list and I thought she was a bust". That sort of thing.

Thanks for the input!

 

[KatG]

I've been very impressed with Lauren Beukes and Genevieve Valentine -- Zoo City and Shining Girls for the former and Mechanique for the latter.

McAvoy I got into through her series Damiano, which I loved when I was younger. Tea with Black Dragon is wonderful and relatively short. The Book of Kells is an interesting time travel fantasy standalone. The Third Eagle is a SF novel she did, which was okay. Her most recent one is a serialized contemporary fantasy (four connected novellas,) called Death and Resurrection. I liked her characters in that, as I tend to do with her, and the format was interesting. Her big one is the Lens of the World trilogy. The two sequels are not quite as good as the first, but it's a really brilliant take on epic fantasy. (Also, Martin may have borrowed from her a bit for Tyrion, I think, which is fine.)

 

[Heather Myst]

An author that has not been mentioned is Anne Bishop. If you enjoy the dark side you might want to give her Black Jewels series a look.

 

[jackdaw]

Time for a best male authors thread?

I always smile a bit when these best female authors thread crop up, as they do from time to time.

Deep down I always think it suggests a widespread bias that women writers can't compete on equal terms with their male counterparts. I think they can.

Anyway, waiting patiently for first "best male writers" thread.

 

[Contrarius]

I always smile a bit when these best female authors thread crop up, as they do from time to time.

Deep down I always think it suggests a widespread bias that women writers can't compete on equal terms with their male counterparts. I think they can.

Anyway, waiting patiently for first "best male writers" thread.

In my case, nope. It's just that: 1. I realized that I often don't read many female writers; and 2. I've been having trouble deciding which books to read in general. There's always too many books and too little time! Doing a tour of female writers is just a fairly random way to pick books.

If you're interested, I'm also doing a tour of award-winners this year (Hugo, Nebula, WFA, BSFA, Locus, Mythopoeic, Arthur C. Clarke). But obviously it's easy for me to look up those lists, so I don't have to ask anyone. ;-) And next year I'm thinking of touring British and/or Australian writers -- maybe you'll be interested when I come around asking for suggestions for those.

 

[Contrarius]

An author that has not been mentioned is Anne Bishop. If you enjoy the dark side you might want to give her Black Jewels series a look.

I've got her on the long list, but to tell you the truth I'm a bit leery. I'm not averse to "grimdark", but my *impression* (I haven't read any) is that these get gratuitous. Maybe you have a different impression and can re-educate me, though.

 

[Contrarius]

I've been very impressed with Lauren Beukes and Genevieve Valentine -- Zoo City and Shining Girls for the former and Mechanique for the latter.

I started Zoo City a year or so ago, but I never could get into it and ended up dnfing. But I may give it another try -- it may just have been my mood at the time. I've got Mechanique on the list from someone else's earlier rec, but with you giving it another mention I'll bump it further towards the top.

Thanks again!

 

[Heather Myst]

I've got her on the long list, but to tell you the truth I'm a bit leery. I'm not averse to "grimdark", but my *impression* (I haven't read any) is that these get gratuitous. Maybe you have a different impression and can re-educate me, though.

Contrarius,

After reading all the choices you have already you might want to pass on Bishop. I would suggest maybe going to Amazon and reading a sample chapter or two to see if it something you would enjoy.

 

[Hobbit]

And this where tastes vary, I guess. I really didn't like the Ann Leckie debut - it read as 'style over substance' to me, that one. So, of course, it then went to win lots of awards and generally be liked by everyone else in the known universe.

Same for Lauren Beukes - not a fan either. Has talent, but not for me.

Have you tried Kameron Hurley's The Broken Empire? (Again, not a real fan, myself, but I know people who really like it and, like Ancilliary Justice, it has gone on to be considered for Awards since, so you may like it more than me.)

Later Edit: Staff keep raving about Claire North's The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and Touch, both of which do sound good. But whether I'll get to them soon is another matter!

M.

 

[Ryan Mueller]

I always smile a bit when these best female authors thread crop up, as they do from time to time.

Deep down I always think it suggests a widespread bias that women writers can't compete on equal terms with their male counterparts. I think they can.

Anyway, waiting patiently for first "best male writers" thread.

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.

 

[Bacchus]

McAvoy I got into through her series Damiano, which I loved when I was younger.

I'll second KatG's MacAvoy recommendation. I've only read her Damiano trilogy of novels (I had the omnibus "A Trio for Lute"). They were wonderfully written and, at times, quite lyrical, yet never overbearing. MacAvoy treated her characters to more than just moderate development, and to more than just her primary character. There were a couple of deus ex machina instances that were, surprisingly, very relevant to the plot, so it was never a cop-out as one might feel with some other works. This is a slower read nearly devoid of plot when compared to the more frenetic paced fantasy novels that are usually more popular. It's more concerned with the moral development of the protagonist (showcased via excellent contrasts between pagan and Christian world-views) and is a bit of a Bildungsroman. To tell the truth, as I initially finished reading it, I thought it was very good, but nothing special, but as I kept thinking of the work, I came to appreciate and esteem it more and more for its unusual twist and very thoughtful story, and I now consider it quite excellent. One passage that remains a favourite is where the protagonist skilfully plays his lute for a crude French nobleman in his feast-hall, reaching heights almost numinous with his instrument, and the feast-goers hardly seem to notice.

 

[jackdaw]

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.

There was a substantial element of a leg-pull in my first posting.

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

Is it just a numbers game? (i.e. There are more male fantasy writers than female, so even if somebody picks books without regard to writer gender they end up reading relatively few female writer.) Or are other factors involved?

Put it this way... I wouldn't be first person to think there's some sort of built-in male prejudice in judging fantasy writers. It's no coincidence that JK Rowling decided to market her books using a "gender neutral pen name": she feared young boys would not be keen to read a female writer.

 

[farseer2]

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 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.

 

[Contrarius]

Have you tried Kameron Hurley's The Broken Empire?

I think you mean the Mirror Empire? I've got her on the long list, but not (at least not yet) the short one. I've never read her.

Later Edit: Staff keep raving about Claire North's The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and Touch, both of which do sound good. But whether I'll get to them soon is another matter!

M.

Yeah, me too. And that's a pen name, right? I think I saw someone mention books by her under a different name. Probably here in this forum somewhere.

 

[Contrarius]

I'll second KatG's MacAvoy recommendation. ... They were wonderfully written and, at times, quite lyrical, yet never overbearing. MacAvoy treated her characters to more than just moderate development, and to more than just her primary character. ... It's more concerned with the moral development of the protagonist (showcased via excellent contrasts between pagan and Christian world-views)

That's a kind of thing I often love in a fantasy, so I'll make sure she goes to the short list.