Fantasy books with girls/women as the main character?

[Takver]

DD reads a lot of fantasy books - the Eragon series, Wizard of Earthsea, Diana Wynne Jones Chrestomanci series, Charlie Bone, Harry Potter, that sort of thing.

Thinking about it, although there are plenty of strong female characters in them, just about all of these books have a male protagonist. The only series' I can think of with female leads are the Narnia books (taking Lucy as the main character for several, which I think is fair enough), and the Dark Materials trilogy.

Can anyone think of any other fantasy books (ideally series!) with a female lead - I just think it would be nice for a change for dd to have some books where the women get to be centre stage.

She's 9 btw, so need to be reasonably age-appropriate - so not Mercedes Lackey, for example, and probably not the Dragonrider books, though can't remember how unsuitable they might be (actually, if they weren't too dreadfully inappropriate they might be just her sort of thing).

I know you're after books but try the other ghibli films for strong female characters - nausicaa, laputa, etc

Last Dragonslayer. Might be a bit too young for the other Jasper Ffordes just yet, but if she's a big reader she might like the Thursday books too.
Tiffany Aching/Granny Weatherwax in (some of) the earlier discworlds (might want to steer clear of Nanny Ogg for a while though)
Moondial by Helen Cresswell was one of my faves growing up too - a little like Tom's midnight garden but a mainly female character list.

dark materials? is that fantasy?

wheel of time?

that series where the kids turn in to animals...

Tale Of Time City has a female lead and probably age-appropriate. And The Pinhoe Egg (one of the later books in the Chrestomanci series) So do Hexwood and Fire and Hemlock (maybe less age-appropriate).

Perhaps look at Tamora Pierce? I'm thinking of the Alanna (Song of the Lioness) series but I don't remember how age-appropriate it is.

Hunger Games is brilliant, not sure if it's suitable for a 9 year old though although it is classified Young Adult

The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix - a trilogy Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen. Fantastic books!

Reavers' Ransom by Emily Diamand (Reissued as Flood Child and followed by Flood and Fire)

Abarat by Clive Barker he's published 2 out of 5 though the 3rd is scheduled for release 27th Sept

Not sure what age these books are for as I read them now as an adult but if your DD has read Eragon then she'll be old enough for these, maybe check Abarat.

I hated Sabriel but I think I am unusual in that. I thought it was shockingly badly written.

I also hated Eragon for the same reason - I think he was only 19 when it was published and you can really tell.

I don't think they have a female lead but the Windsinger books by William Nicholson are another excellent fantasy series.

I agree that Eragon is dreadfully badly written (well, I've only read the first one, to be fair), but for some reason it really struck a chord with dd.

Feminist book club is a good idea, SGM, hadn't realised that there were recommendations for children's books in there, will check it out.

I think I'm going to have to read lots of these myself, too (just to check them out, you understand ) - a bit of escapist fantasy is just the thing for long winter evenings :)

The Dragonsdale series by Salamanda Drake, about girls at a dragon riding school.

Not fantasy but quirky and your DD might like them - the Ottoline books by Chris Riddell.

Thanks for the suggestion of the Feminist book club section, SGM, btw. I hadn't realised it was more than just the monthly clubs.

I second Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen. They're worth a look. Also he does another series, The Seventh Tower, which has a boy and girl who are pretty equal, and in fact the girl is a lot better at everything.

The Looking Glass Wars is good, but quite dark.

Wheel of Time is good - it's actually set in mainly female dominated societies. The books are quite dense though.

Not just Tiffany Aching for TP, some of the discworld books have women starring - Monstrous Regiment is great. The witches books (same witches for TA series) are great as well. And the Susan books - Thief of Time, Hogfather, Soul Music - off the top of my head.

Wheel of Time series is good but I think a 9 yr old would find it hard work, there are many characters and plot lines to follow.

The Cat Royal books by Julia Golding are excellent, not fantasy but great adventures and Cat is a fantastic protagonist!

Yes to The Looking Glass Wars.

Did she read the later Earthsea books? There is certainly a big shift to the female characters.

The Sword and Sorceress anthologies (originally edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley) have some great stories, although perhaps for when she's a bit older as levels of sex and violence vary.

There's a few Chrestomanci and other Diana Wynne Jones books with female protagonists, but mainly out of print ones. Dogsbody has a female main character with a dog who is actually an incarnation of the star Sirius.

There's always Alice in Wonderland/Through the looking-glass?

Neil Gaiman's Coraline qualifies but personally I found it terrifying!

She's read the first three, LordCopper, but not Tehanu or the later ones as yet. I don't think she knows there's more (the library copies are quite old so don't mention more than the trilogy) and I haven't pointed them towards her as I thought that they were really a bit hard going for a 9 y/o. I'm a massive Le Guin fan (hence my user name), so don't want her to go unappreciated or put dd off by encouraging her to read them too young. (Whereas I have no such concerns with some of the trash fantasy that she does read - no loss if she doesn't get all the subtleties that might or might not be in there.)

notcitrus, I'd forgotten about Dogsbody (which I know dd has read) - actually, this thread is reminding me that she probably does read loads of fantasy with female leads and its not as gender biased as I was imagining. But I'm still really glad to have all these great recommendations!

Takver - Tales from earthsea (short stories) has stories about how women's power was suppressed and sets the scene for how the patriachy had to come to terms with not being the only power there is. The other wind completes the story of Tehanu. (Our library doesn't have "the furthest shore" for some reason so I don't know how that one relates.) Having never read Le Guin before I am extremely impressed. I think they are very readable. If your DD managed Tehanu (which is quite grim, I think) I think she'll enjoy the others more.

Oh she hasn't read Tehanu - that one's a bit hard going. But worth it if you read the later ones too.

And as a Le Guin fan, Takver, what would you recommend? (Hijack)

Anne McCaffrey 'The ship who sang' series is good plus PTB (but maybe not yet about to start DD 13 on PTB)

What is wrong with Mercedes Lackey? DD read Arrows a couple of years ago

If you've read the other Earthsea novels, you should definitely read the Farthest Shore - it completes the story of Ged. I think tbh the others are really more teenage/older reads.

Other Le Guin books - well, I would say really all her adult novels are worth reading, especially the Hainish ones. I would say the truly outstanding books for me are The Dispossessed and several of the short stories in The Birthday of the World, particularly Solitude. The Left Hand of Darkness is also excellent and fascinating as an exploration of a society without fixed gender, although I think it shows its age more than some of her other earlier books (maybe I just like it less).