Women in Sci-Fi and Fantasy/Game of Thrones

[tangentgirl]

all these years and are you the first one to figure that out?

Yay!

[tangentgirl]

Ok, I had more to say than yay...

This is a great topic, Irulan. Even though I don't particularly agree with the blog post that kicked it off, the portrayal of women in SF and fantasy books (and movies and tv) is near and dear to my heart.

This is especially true of science fiction. I would like to think that women have it better in the future, and that human beings - or at least human society - will continue to evolve past the ol' rape'n'pillage mentality. When I read sci-fi, I get much more offended when the women are objectified, than when I read something that's set in the past or in a past-like world. It's a little strange, since I gravitate towards the dystopian, which shouldn't be ideal, but whatever.

Take Robert Heinlein. Great writer, but, dangit, sometimes I'd like to resurrect him from the grave just to kick him in the nards. He's got all this stuff where he's living out his old man playboy fantasies in his books, and it gets pretty transparent. I can't help but like his books, but I do tend to read them saying, "Really, Robert? Really?"

And I recently read the first book of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. On the flip side, that made me sad because there were basically no women in it at all. All these super smart people, and the women are invisible.

[Irulan]

Thanks gals for some ideas for new authors to search out.

Anyone else on Goodreads? I find it's a great way to keep track of what I'm reading, get recs from friedns with similar tastes, and discover totally new stuff.

As for "guilty pleasure" lol that probably needs its own thread.

@tangentgirl re Heinlien... so true. One has to remember that the authors of his area were really groundbreaking, even if it seems so dated now.

[channlluv]

I'd like to recommend Tamora Pierce's books, especially the Alanna the Lioness quartet and the Protector of the Small quartet. Both are about lady knights in the medieval world of Tortall. Another good series if you like medieval-set police procedurals is the Beka Cooper series - Terrier, Bloodhound, and the newest is Mastiff, which comes out in a couple of weeks.

Talk about girl power, these books have it.

Roxy

[Catrin]

....Another good series if you like medieval-set police procedurals is the Beka Cooper series - Terrier, Bloodhound, and the newest is Mastiff, which comes out in a couple of weeks.

Talk about girl power, these books have it.

Roxy

Ooooh, I am reading Terrier now, and it is fantastic, thanks for the recommendation!

[Irulan]

Ugh, I am still slogging my way through A Dance with Dragons. I really don't care about new characters, but I'm sticking it out so I can find out where is leaves off. This is excruciating though. I'm thinking this guy must have fired his editor.

[Catrin]

Just discovered a new fantasy author. R. Scott Baker. While I've not yet finished "The Darkness That Comes Before", I am finding his writing to be refreshingly different. Very few female characters, at least so far, but this isn't a carbon copy of any other fantasy world/stories I've ridden in the past. The protagonist is both sorcerer and spy, and it is a promising beginning.

Also, on the advice of women in this thread, I've read several books by Tamora Pierce and found them enjoyable. I probably won't read all of them, but have read both of the Trickster books (Trickster's Choice, and Trickster's Queen) along with Terrier, Bloodhound and Mastiff. All well worth reading. I especially enjoyed the latter three.

[tangentgirl]

Anyone else on Goodreads? I find it's a great way to keep track of what I'm reading, get recs from friedns with similar tastes, and discover totally new stuff.

I am now. Really neat site. I wish I had thought of that idea.

[Kiwi Stoker]

I had dinner with Robert Jordan and his wife once when he was on a book tour in NZ and I was working as a buyer in a bookstore.

He admitted he didn't feel able to write female characters so hence no ladies in his first book of "The Wheel of Time" series. He said he was going to use his wife to help him write female characters. That might explain why he did not have many and they might not be very believible.

BTW Robert Jordan was a pen name, not his real name.

I love Elizabeth Moon books, both her fantasy and Sci-Fi women characters are very real, strong but with flaws. And they continue to learn. Like real people do.

[Cataboo]

So I finally read the first game of thrones book... It took me multiple tries to get past the first chapters for about a month till I actually got into the book.

I guess I could deal with the constant rape... The incestuous control of sisters by their brothers by nipple twisting and sex was just freaking weird. Does George R.R. Martin have a sister? Has anyone checked to make sure that he didn't molest her when young? I think part of the weirdness is reading the book and it just seeming like the author finds it exciting or titillating.

[Catrin]

I liked the Wheel of Time series, even with the lack of female characters, until the whole Aes Sedai story line developed - that made me far too uncomfortable and while I finally managed to read through those volumes over the years I didn't care as much for the books in the series that were post-Aes Sedai...