Women in Sci-Fi and Fantasy/Game of Thrones

[Irulan]

Who is Renata and why does she get to speak for me?
I much prefer the Ski Diva model, where the forum is actually CLOSED to male participants. Guys have the whole fricken internet as their playground. Why can't we have one little corner all to ourselves?

[Eden]

…… being the internet and basically being anonymous any of us could pretend to be something we are not… Don could have simply registered as Dawn and no one would have any idea he wasn't a she. At least he was honest about it.

[nuliajuk]

Does anyone here read Jasper FForde? The Thursday Next series are fantasy of sorts, as the main character travels between the book world and the real world. And although she's written in the tough girl mode in places, in other places she has to worry about things like arranging child care while saving the world.
I've re-read the series several times, as there always seems to be something I notice that didn't come to my attention the previous readings. And of course, there's a lot of wit and humour woven in.

[lph]

Hi -- I try not to make a pest of myself here since I understand it is on Team Estrogen. I can understand why some women want this to be restricted to women only so I rarely ever post anything. So why am I even a member of the forum?
1. I do cycle. (Until I crashed and cracked the frame. Will be looking for a new bike in the spring.)
2. I asked Renata over 2 years ago if I was OK to participate in the forums.
3. Other than these few posts I doubt I have posted more than a few times in the past 2 years.
3. Because of a medical issue I do wear sports bras when I cycle and run. I was shopping for a new bra and asked if she could recommend a few. I chose the Shock Absorber Run Sports bra.

Don, you may be a terrific guy, and I bear you no ill-will. But your post does not answer my question. Cycling and needing a bra are not reasons for a guy to join a womens forum. Thank you, Oak, for a thoughtful and well-written post on the subject. To add to it - there are some legitimate reasons for a guy to join a womens forum, and there are some pretty creepy reasons. Unfortunately, we've seen both.

Struggling back on topic, and I'll try to stay there: I've done sooo little reading recently because of our kitchen remodeling. But I've been reading this thread and noting down tips. I'm looking forward to a hot date with an online bookstore in a week or two, armed with recommendations ;-)

[OakLeaf]

I read a couple of Fforde's early novels and thought they were hilarious, but I'm really not conversant with Victorian novels, and I think one needs to be, to appreciate his work. [Weird for an English major. I was happiest with pre-Norman homilists and poets. So sue me. ]

To stay on topic, obviously his protagonist is a woman, and from what I remember from my limited POV and after a very long time, it did seem to me that perhaps he gives agency to minor characters, many of them female, who may have lacked any in the original novels.

[Thorn]

Interesting thread....odd I missed it originally although I tend more to SciFi than fantasy. But, thanks to all, I've gotten some suggestions here.

That said, along the lines of the thread, Nicola Griffith's cross into historical fiction, Hild has been released. It is getting great reviews and has had me up too late at night reading.

Griffith's primary characters are always strong women and, apparently, Hild fits the bill.

[lph]

... nothing to do with women really, but I'm sort of on a fantasy and sci-fi roll lately. Managed to finally watch all of season 1 and 2 of Game of Thrones - they're a bit too violent for me so I have to portion them out - I just saw the movie Ender's Game which reminded me of how much I loved the book, and since the second Hunger Games movie is right around the corner I'm re-reading the first book, squeezing in a little every time I have a spare moment. And I have to see Gravity too. It may be escapism, but I really love this genre.

Oh, and I'm looking forward to the day when we don't have to use the phrase "strong women" to mean normal female protagonists. (No offense to you, Thorn).

[Thorn]

Oh, and I'm looking forward to the day when we don't have to use the phrase "strong women" to mean normal female protagonists. (No offense to you, Thorn).

No kidding! [and no offense taken]

My other half has always been into SciFi. Early back in the dating period, I read what he considered some of his "favorites". Some were great; others not so much. At one point I hadn't a set back and asked him to find me a female character that wasn't weak or a soul destroyer. As a male reader he never thought about it (he does now, tho ; as a woman reader, it irks me.

[Catrin]

I love good fantasy, mysteries and science fiction. In that order although it is certainly possible to combine those genres. Long ago I wrote dark fantasy fiction and enjoyed it - but life got in the way and I dropped it. I am in the process of picking it back up. The odds of it going anywhere is pretty slim, but you never know. In the end my writing is for me, but hopefully others will also enjoy it. I don't like using plot "formulas", so this is going to be fun

[OakLeaf]

I don't know how all y'all feel about the zombie craze ... in general it's not my thing, but I really enjoyed Mira Grant's "Newsflesh" series. Unlike most zombie stories, it's not set at the beginning of the zombie outbreak, or in some post-apocalyptic wasteland, but she posits that civilization adapted quickly and reasonably well to the omnipresent threat of zombies and infection, and writes about what life might be like in a world where everyone has to be guarding against them. Really more "medical/political thriller" than typical "zombie." Fun stuff.

[lph]

I haven't read any zombie stories, but I don't get it at all. I'd probably be fine with some alien species behaving that way, but dead humans with salient parts missing that still wander around... aahh, no. But in general, the big kick I get out of science fiction is definitely the way it twists the world and makes you think "wow, things don't have to be like this, if you change x, what would we do?" I'll check them out!

[Veronica]

I like Zombie stories. The Walking Dead is one of my favorite tv shows. It's not just about how to deal with the zombies, but how do you reframe society. How do decisions get made for a large group?

To get back to books - I like Neil Gaiman a lot. Not too many female characters though.

Veronica

[Irulan]

We have a zombie donut shop here.
https://www.facebook.com/dawnofthedonutzombie

[Eden]

A bit off topic, but zombie related…. so, when the original Night of the Living Dead was being filmed my dad was a teenager working at a Dairy Queen (or something similar) near the filming location. Apparently when they were done for the day the cast decided it would be fun to go get some ice cream… without taking off their makeup. My dad was in the back when they came in, but he remembers the counter guy coming running back just stuttering and pointing