Top 5 Female SF & Fantasy Authors

not particular order

Susanna Clarke - Amazing mind to put together Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.

Kate Mosse - I really enjoyed the imagery she created in my mind in Labrynth

Julian May - She really got me with the Trillium series, havent read anything else though

Natasha Mostert - just discovered her, amazing story telling so rich in imagery

Trudi Canavan - Im captured by her age of five series (loves the first series as well)
 
Well, top of my list would be Melanie Rawn, Mercedes Lackey, Andre Norton, Tanya Huff, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Jennifer Roberson... And a new one I just started reading, Kelley Armstrong.
 
Well, almost a year has passed so let's see what has changed...

I'm familiar with the works of Hobb (LiveShip Traders books are sublime), Susanna Clarke (Johnatan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a tedious book I was barely able to put myself through...I'm not reading her again...ever), Rowling (HP is a heartwarming series) and LeGuin (I've only read "Left Hand Of Darkness" and I can tell she is the best of the bunch.

In the (near) future I have intention to get familiar with the works of Bujold (Miles Vorkosigan is high on my to read list), KJ Parker (Devices&Desires...I was absolutly sure KJP was a guy :rolleyes: ),Gentle (ASH: The Secret History) and Carey (Kushiel).

Now what about authors like Trudi Canavan, Karen Miller and Gail Z.Martin?
 
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A thread seems a bit sexist at first glance. But the female authors do seem to get less attention than the men around here, so maybe it is useful as affirmative action (whether or not one believes women really write in any different way).

Looking at authors who have written 3+ books/series that i loved, my top 10 is (with books i most liked, and gave 8/10 or more):

Gene Wolfe (BotNS, BotLS, Peace, Fifth Head of Cerberus, Island of Dr. Death, Endangered Species, Latro in the Mist).
Margaret Atwood (Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake, Blind Assassin, Cat's Eye, Alias Grace)
Patricia McKillip (Riddlemaster Trilogy, Forgotten Beasts of Eld, Ombria in shadow, Harrowing the Dragon)
Sheri S. Tepper (Beauty, Grass, Chronicles of Mavin Manyshapped, True Game trilogy, Raising the Stones)
Ursula LeGuin (The Dispossesed, Left Hand of Darkness, Wind's Twelve Quaters, Earthsea quartet, Lathe of Heaven)
Roger Zelazny (Lord of Light, Chronicles of Amber, Doors of His Face, Lamps of His Mouth)
Robert Silverberg (Book of Skulls, Dying Inside, Sailing to Byzantium, The World Inside)
Kelly Link (Stranger things Happen, Magic for Beginners)

So i would say more than half of my favourite authors are female - although in terms of the number of favourite books the men are ahead, due to having read the most famous book of many, then no more.


Others that i think are pretty great, but i've not read enough of yet, so have only one or 2 books on my favourite list:

Octavia E. Butler (Parable of the Sower / Talents, Bloodchild, Wildseed, Dawn)
Carol Emschwiller (I Live with You, Carmen Dog, All her short stories!)
Maureen McHugh (China Mountain Zhang, Mother and Other Monsters)
James Tiptree Jr. (Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, Warm Worlds and Otherwise)
Angela Carter (The Bloody Chamber, Burning Your Boats, The Magic Toyshop)
Catherynne Valente (The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden)
Mary Doria Russell (The Sparrow & The Children of God)
Ellen Kushner (Swordspoint, Thomas the Rhymer)
 
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Hmm, mabe went overboard with formatting, so, simplified: My top female authors:

1) Margaret Atwood
2) Patricia McKillip
3) Sheri S. Tepper
4) Ursula LeGuin
5) Kelly Link

6) Octavia E. Butler
7) Carol Emschwiller
8) Maureen McHugh
9) James Tiptree Jr.
10) Angela Carter


Will likely be reading Butler's Kindred soon, and LeGuin's The Compass Rose , and eagerly awaiting Link's new book this year. Oh, Winter rose by McKillip.
 
I too was wondering at the almost-sexist assumption behind listing only 5 "women" authors, as if there was some measurable difference between them. Since I rarely do rankings, here are just a few female authors that I enjoy greatly:

Nalo Hopkinson

Octavia Butler

Ursula Le Guin

Catherynne M. Valente

Sarah Monette

Elizabeth Moon

Mary Doria Russell

Elizabeth Hand

Ekaterina Sedia

Emma Bull

Melanie Tem

Cherie Priest

Banana Yoshimoto

Isabel Allende

Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

Kelly Link

Flannery O'Connor (for her Southern Gothic tales)

Caitlin Sweet

And a whole host of others both in and outside the genre.
 
A few favorites in no particular order:

Robin Hobb
Anne McCaffrey
Elizabeth Moon
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Elizabeth A. Lynn
JK Rowling
 
My opinions are based almost solely on reading short stories. In no particular order,

Angela Carter
Ursula K. Le Guin
C. L. Moore (like Le Guin, notable for both fantasy and s.f.)
Kathe Koja (The New Weird fantasy anthology lists her as an influence on the movement ... or moment, or whatever it is; Extremities is an extraordinary collection)
Octavia Butler
James Tiptree, Jr.
Poppy Z. Brite


I think Holly Phillips could join that list in the near future. In the Palace of Repose (col.) was quite good.

Randy M.
 
Okay, willing to be sexist here since I'm a girl, what the heck--

Ursula K. LeGuin
James Tiptree, Jr.
Kelly Link
Angela Carter
Susannah Clarke
Joanna Russ
Elizabeth Hand
Connie Willis
Mary Gentle (for ASH!)

I am no admirer of Bradley or McCaffrey. I think I should try Octavia Butler and Robin Hobb (since I loved Wizard of the Pigeons, which she wrote early under her other, probably real, name.)

Seems weird not to have an even ten, but can't think of one.
 
In no particular order-

Sara Douglass
Robin Hobb
Isobelle Carmody (Obernewtyn Chronicles)
Tamora Pierce (childrens)

hmm ok so a quick look at my bookshelf and i realise that I read a lot of female fantasy authors

I also really like Juliet Mariller, Celia Friedman (Feast of Souls), Kylie Chan (Dark Heavens), and Kate Elliot...

edit: oops forgot Mary Gentle...
 
1. J.V. Jones
2. J.V. Jones
3. J.V. Jones
4. J.V. Jones
Last but not least,
5. J.V. Jones

As far as female fantasists go, she is the best in my opinion bar none.
 
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Not in any order:

Isobelle Carmody (Darkfall).
J.K. Rowling.
K.A. Applegate (Everworld).
Tamora Pierce.
Laurell K. Hamilton.

Also... I fully thought Robin Hobb was a guy:rolleyes:
 
Randy M. said:
Angela Carter
Ursula K. Le Guin
C. L. Moore (like Le Guin, notable for both fantasy and s.f.)
Kathe Koja (The New Weird fantasy anthology lists her as an influence on the movement ... or moment, or whatever it is; Extremities is an extraordinary collection)
Octavia Butler
James Tiptree, Jr.
Poppy Z. Brite

I think Holly Phillips could join that list in the near future. In the Palace of Repose (col.) was quite good.
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I seem to get fully half of my SFFworld recomendations from you, Randy :-).

Agreed on Holly Phillips being good. I'm hoping to see some improvment from her though, before i'd say she was a favourite.

Never heard of Koja, but think i'll give her a try with Extremities. From Wikipedia:

...is an American writer. She was initially known for her intense speculative fiction for adults. Koja is also a prolific author of short stories...Most of her short fiction remains uncollected.
 
in no particular order

dianna wyne jones ya books that i think paved the way for jk rowling esp witch week. plus she wrote homeward bounders one of my ll time favourite books.

robin hobb espicially the assasin series. nuff said

sheri s tepper for her true game books. kinda fantasy/sf, planning on getting more of her stuff.

jaqueline carey for her kushiel books. also want to get her modernist take on the lotr tropes (sundering??)

lois m bujold for her chalion books. quite interested in her sf stuff too but havent got round to it yet.

jullian may for her classic many coloured land books. she is a great writer.

mary gentle for ash

mary stewart for the merlin trilogy she wrote. its been a long time since i read them, but they resonated with me, need to reread.

um there's more but these are amongst my favourite writers full stop. very different from each other and from the male writers i feel are good.

i feel i'm on shakey ground here, and dont want to come across as sexist, but i do feel that there is something different about the stuff i get from female writers to what i get from martin, erikson, morgan et al... the closest to the feel of these writers in a male setting would be gaiman, de lint and rothfuss..... maybe.

i dont know if its because some of the female writers are more overtly political or that because i know the gender of a writer it colours my view of her work, although in the cases of hobb and may i thought they were men for a while, but there is definately something..... i dont know.... does that make any sense whatsoever?:rolleyes:
 
Yobmod said:
I seem to get fully half of my SFFworld recomendations from you, Randy :-).
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Thanks, Yobmod. I'm flattered.

Agreed on Holly Phillips being good. I'm hoping to see some improvment from her though, before i'd say she was a favourite.
Click to expand...

I think that's why I tacked her on as an after-thought. She's good, very good, maybe, but I'm curious what will come. I think she could be better.

Never heard of Koja, but think i'll give her a try with Extremities. From Wikipedia:

...is an American writer. She was initially known for her intense speculative fiction for adults. Koja is also a prolific author of short stories...Most of her short fiction remains uncollected.
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Koja is intense. Most of her novels have been marketed as horror, and her short stories show up in mainly horror venues, but I think I'd prefer to call her a very dark fantasist. And the stories in Extremities cut across horror, fantasy and mainstream fiction.

Randy M.
 
- Melanie Rawn - her Dragon Prince/Star trilogies were the first fantasy books I really fell in love with.
- Robin Hobb - pretty much everything she writes, except Soldier Son
- Kate Elliott - Jaran and Crown of Stars
- CJ Cherryh - really enjoyed her Faded Sun trilogy
- Michelle West - Sun-Sword series
 
Has anyone read Jo Walton's "Tooth and Claw"? I thought that was an utterly inspired take on Dragons, and has launched her into the top three for me.
 
These are my favorite one's (which means I re-read all of these at least once a year) in no particular order:

Michelle West - Sun Sword Series
Elizabeth Haydon - The Symphony of Ages
Anne Bishop - The Black Jewels Trilogy & The Tir Alainne Series
Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel's Series
Sara Douglass - Star Man Series
Robin Hobb - Farseer Trilogy & The Tawny Man Series
Mickey Zucker Reichert - The Renshai Series
Melanie Rawn - The Dragon Prince & Dragon Star Series and Ambrai Series
Kate Forsyth - The Witches of Eileanan Series

I think that is all.
 
You're missing out

I apologize if I missed it, but I see no mention of C.L. (Catherine Lucile) Moore. She is truly the grandmother of modern femme fantasists, and an evocative and darn fine writer. Check out her Jirel stories if you don't believe me. And let me know how I changed your life for the better. (Note that C.L. Moore wrote few novels and most of those in collaboration with her husband Henry Kuttner, often under pseudonyms. Some of those were great, but her early solo work is the best.)
 
Osiris said:
And let me know how I changed your life for the better.
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You didn't. I read the Jirel stories years ago. I liked them but CLM isn't superior to Le Guin, Carter or Atwood. That's just crazy talk.

Not in any real order:

Ursula Le Guin
Tanith Lee
Elizabeth Hand
Diana Wynne Jones
Angela Carter

And if she admitted to writing fantasy Atwood could get on the list too.
 
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