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Original poster

Women authors of fantasy or similar

32 replies

Thingsthatgo · 03/10/2024 16:35

My 12 year old DS was (light heartedly) accused of being sexist today because most of his favourite authors are men. He loves fantasy - he has read the six of crows book which are by a woman, and enjoyed Cressida Cowell books when he was younger. Please help me find more books by women that he might enjoy. He is an advanced reader, so complex/long books are not a problem.
Thank you.

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BrownOwlknowsbest · 07/10/2024 22:34

Mercedes Lackey, she has written lots of fantasy books. Perhaps start with 'Foundation' the first of a set of 5 books.

DorotheaDiamond · 07/10/2024 22:16

Julian May saga of the exiles…(yes female Julian)

RaiseYourSkinnyFists · 07/10/2024 21:57

Tamora Pierce is my favourite.

The lioness quartet is brilliant. There's a few other quartets leading on from it that are also very well written and entertaining.

DPotter · 07/10/2024 21:55

Anne McCaffrey
Ursula le Guin - eg the Earthsea series

APurpleSquirrel · 07/10/2024 21:40

Katherine Rundell
Katie & Kevin Tsang

SpottySpotSpots · 07/10/2024 21:40

BlackCatsAreBrilliant · 07/10/2024 21:26

The Skandar series by A F Steadman.

Book 4 comes out on Thursday.

Just came on to see if anyone had mentioned these! On book two with DS (10) and they are brilliant!

UnaOfStormhold · 07/10/2024 21:40

I'd second Diana Wynne Jones, a brilliant writer. Lois McMaster Bujold is amazing but Vorkosiverse is definitely for older readers due to the violence (though I love the way many of her characters have tender and sensible discussion of consent and contraception in the run up to sex).

Marie Brennan's A natural history of dragons is fun from a feminist perspective. I also enjoyed Julie Kagawa's Shadow of the fox series (though not her Iron series)

MoralOrLegal · 07/10/2024 21:36

Definitely Dianne Wynne Jones and Susan Cooper! Also the "Inda" series (and others) by Sherwood Smith, and for SF there's Ann Leckie, Connie Willis...

SpiritAdder · 07/10/2024 21:32

This is an old but great series if he likes Dragons, magic, D&D

Dragonlance Saga by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and Margaret Weiss.
(Tracy is only male in this collaborative series by 3 authors)

First book is Dragons of Autumn Twilight.

parrotonmyshoulder · 07/10/2024 21:30

Agree with Robin Hobb and Diana Wynne Jones.
Naomi Novik also great.

BlackCatsAreBrilliant · 07/10/2024 21:26

The Skandar series by A F Steadman.

Book 4 comes out on Thursday.

3425cx353 · 07/10/2024 21:20

Thingsthatgo · 07/10/2024 08:33

@Talipesmum is Assassin's apprentice Ok for a 12 year old content wise? (He is fairly robust - he has read Lord of the rings, and the hunger games trilogy)

I would stop at the first trilogy though. There's some rapes/violence in the following books which he should probably be a bit older for. But the whole series is absolutely amazing

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 07/10/2024 21:07

Mary Shelley? She wrote Frankenstein.

SpiritAdder · 07/10/2024 21:06

Shannon Chakraborty is the critically acclaimed, author of The Daevabad Trilogy

It is a more grown up version of Aladdin. The first book is City of Brass

Original poster
Thingsthatgo · 07/10/2024 21:03

That's brilliant. Thank you for taking the time to reply to me :)

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Talipesmum · 07/10/2024 12:28

Thingsthatgo · 07/10/2024 08:33

@Talipesmum is Assassin's apprentice Ok for a 12 year old content wise? (He is fairly robust - he has read Lord of the rings, and the hunger games trilogy)

I’d say yes, very little in the way of sex scenes or nasty violence descriptions. They’re alluded to, but it’s more that our character meets with his gf at night, a little described but at a level suitable for younger teens I’d say. I mean, do flick through it, but my impression as I was reading was that I’d be recommending it to younger teen kids - it was nice that it felt fine in that sense. Violence - there’s quite a lot alluded to, but it’s not gory and brutal like others are. If hunger games is fine then so is this.

Original poster
Thingsthatgo · 07/10/2024 08:33

@Talipesmum is Assassin's apprentice Ok for a 12 year old content wise? (He is fairly robust - he has read Lord of the rings, and the hunger games trilogy)

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Talipesmum · 04/10/2024 10:13

Fourthing or fifthing Robin Hobb. I’ve just read Assassin’s Apprentice trilogy for the first time and it’s brilliant. My mum read them first years ago after recommendations from the teenage boy down the road via his mum.

I’m about to start on the liveships trilogy, but sad to be leaving behind the first set of characters- I think a later trilogy comes back to them?

Other than that, def Ursula le guin. Left hand of darkness is where I started on the more grown up ones as a teen, after loving earthsea.

EarthyMamma · 04/10/2024 06:35

MaggieBsBoat I love Sheri Tepper, I can reread her books with just as much enjoyment as the first time. She should be more widely known.

I am mid-reread of the Realm of the Elderlings saga by Robin Hobb; I am immersed in that world and can highly recommend that OP's son joins me.

AdaColeman · 03/10/2024 22:14

Lian Hearne (Gillian Rubinstein) especially her Tales of the Otori, Across a Nightingale Floor etc are very readable.

turkeyboots · 03/10/2024 21:28

Janny Wurts for a companion to the Magician series?
Margaret Weis for old school fantasy.
Martha Wells wonderful Murder Bot series
Becky Chambers

MaggieBsBoat · 03/10/2024 21:25

All of the already mentioned and I’ll throw in Sherri Tepper, who has won lots of awards.

3425cx353 · 03/10/2024 21:23

Vorkosigan Saga , maybe when he's a little older

Penric and Desdemona (same author)

And i second Robin Hobb - start with Assassins Apprentice

DillyDeclutter · 03/10/2024 20:48

Tamora Pierce - she wrote about a training school for knights
Elizabeth Moon

Robin McKinley, Robin Hobb and early Anne McCaffrey (she later lost her way imo) are all brilliant.

Original poster
Thingsthatgo · 03/10/2024 20:42

Thank you for all of the suggestions. I shall forward them all to him to check out. He is part of a literature quiz team, and the teacher who leads the team said that they usually do badly on the questions about books written by women, hence the discussion.

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