Fantasy books written by women

[Pennyfeatheringt0n]

I tried to read Magician by raymond e feist the other day - 2 chapters in and the only female that had appeared is a housewife whose only function was to care for the main character (while all the men have professions), and one pretty princess.

I think i need more fantasy written by women.

I love robin hobb and have read all of hers. I like naomi novik and Frances hardinge. Sarah j maas doesn't appeal. I don't like books with a lot of romance as i feel it always gets in the way of the story.

What else should i try?

As I said, I still read them but some character arcs give me the icks.

Another vote for this ^

If you like a bit of urban fantasy then

Violet Fenn (set in Liverpool)
Tracy Whitwell
Faith Hunter - Jane Yellowrock series (set in New Orleans)
Also the Riftwood series, same universe but different characters with a little crossover
Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse) but has also written some excellent other series
Kelly Armstrong if you like a werewolf or two
Kim Harrison all the witchy stuff
Anne Bishop, superb alternate reality,

More classical style

Jen Williams, really fun

I came here to say this as well; the Daughter of the Empire series is really good indeed.

I believe that Naomi Novik has also been mentioned a couple of times but I don't think that anybody has mentioned Deborah Harkness and Discovery of Witches trilogy.

Yes, it is witches and vampires but it is done really, really well. It was turned into a TV series by Sky a couple of years ago but that wasn't as good as the books (no surprise)

I've started this one off the back of this thread and so far so good!

"[M]ost of our acclaimed literature is written by DWEMs (dead white European males) but it’s still some great writing." @ElleneAsanto

Well, after recommending Anne McCaffrey's Crystal Singer and almost everything by Jacqueline Carey in PP, I was dithering about derailing this thread. However, as I'm pushing 65, I have to mention the brilliant E H Forster (one of ElleneAsanto's DWEM's?) short SF story The Machine Stops.

Female main character, no romance and fantastically prescient, dystopian imagined future with a proto-internet and the worship of 10th-hand experience. Here's a downloadable version: www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~koehl/Teaching/ECS188/PDF_files/Machine_stops.pdf

I read it as a teen and have regularly returned to it. Enjoy. (Spoiler alert: it doesn't end well.)

"[M]ost of our acclaimed literature is written by DWEMs (dead white European males) but it’s still some great writing." @ElleneAsanto

Just going off at a total tangent here, but please bear with me. A graphic novel from a still-alive (I believe) white male.

Well, I say, "graphic novel" but it had it's origins in a late 20th century comic - "2000 AD".

It features a female protagonist in a somewhat dystopian future. She's very ordinary and just tries to deal with stuff that happens.

The first series was published when I was 19 (please, don't judge me for reading comics as an adult) and it continued until series three when I was 21.

The name of this series is "The Ballad of Halo Jones".

It was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Ian Gibson.

The first series is a day in the life, the second series shows her working in a hospitality role and then the third series, is a sort of war story similar in many respects to The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.

OK, some people may judge me for liking a graphic novel but I think it still stands up to this day.

@Another2Cats don't you dare apologise for liking graphic novels, they are a perfectly legitimate form of reading. You also have good taste, I'm going to assume it's good as it's written by Alan Moore I haven't read this particular one. 😁. I don't have many on the shelf but I intend to recommend them all to my son once he's old enough!

If you’re going to quote me, please do it correctly. And it’s E M Forster.
I haven’t read anything by Jacqueline Carey - but the soft porn covers are a turn off for me.

N.K. Jemisin "The Fifth Season" (trilogy)

R.F. Kuang "Babel" and the "Poppy War" (trilogy)

Ooh - forgot about Patricia Kennealy-Morrison - The Keltiad - fabulous set of books. Think druids in the future...

Julian May (read the saga of the exiles before intervention/galactic milieu trilogy)
janny wurts mistwraith series (all 12 books now published!!!! Yay)

have never forgiven melanie rawn for not finishing the Ambrai series so can’t recommend:-(

Anne mccaffrey (but yes I didn’t see it as rape when I read as a teen)…

Mercedes lackey magics pawn trilogy (good LGB theme too here)

I liked the Jacqueline Carey but yes a bit bdsm

I skimmed very quickly, but I don't see that anyone has mentioned:

Marion Zimmer Bradley (Arthurian)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Zimmer_Bradley

Elizabeth Lynn (the Tornor trilogy)
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Elizabeth_A._Lynn

Tanith Lee
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Elizabeth_A._Lynn

Ursula LeGuin
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin_bibliography

C. L. Moore (perhaps the precursor of them all; notably Jirel of Joiry)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._L._Moore

So I've tried Katherine kerr Daggerspell, the green rider, and started fourth wing by Rebecca yarros but did not finish. Working my way through this list is very helpful.

Not Marion Zimmer Bradley unless you are comfortable with her alleged crimes (documented on the link above). I'm not.

I had downloaded a sample but i think I'll delete that. It does say that sales of her online books are donated to charities for survivors of abuse but i think id rather avoid in view of that info.

Horrible isn't it. Sorry to be a downer. Enjoy the rest of your reading!