I am now. Really neat site. I wish I had thought of that idea.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.
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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.
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I am now. Really neat site. I wish I had thought of that idea.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.
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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.
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.
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...
For the C.J. Cherryh fans, I just happened across her blog. Homey, engaging, altogether charming. Never mind it's titled after one of her early books that has always been my favorite.
Speed comes from what you put behind you. - Judi Ketteler
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.
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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.
Last edited by Catrin; 01-11-2012 at 07:40 AM.
Reviving this thread for a hat tip to a couple of authors I've just discovered.
Ann Leckie's first novel, Ancillary Justice, is one of the best hard SF novels I can remember reading, ever. I've been kind of buzzing through brain candy, and that one was like three books ago, but my mind keeps coming back to it. Some really interesting concepts of distributed intelligence.
Also, Nnedi Okorafor, best known as a YA writer (which, I've enjoyed her YA stuff too), but her first adult fantasy, Who Fears Death, completely blew me away. It's intense, violent, could trigger some people, but for heroic female characters, just wow.
Speed comes from what you put behind you. - Judi Ketteler
Thanks for the suggestion of Ann Lecki. I'm going to see if I can find her on audible.
I've only skimmed this thread, but I didn't see any mention of Brandon Sanderson or Patrick Rothfuss. Two of the best contemporary fantasy authors IMO, though not many women characters.
Tolkien is my all time favorite author. I read the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings for the first time when I was 8 and read the series almost once a year every year.
I admit I only read for entertainment. I get plenty of reality in my life and appreciate the break from it when I have the time to read.
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This! What movies I watch are for the same reason - so I love fantasy/sci-fi/fun/satirical/historical drama films. I've not found many contemporary fantasy authors I care for, the authors I've read have been too...well...dark for me though that may simply be a sign of the times with all of the real world events over the last decade. In my younger years I loved dark fantasy/horror fiction but not these days. Lovecraft and Ambrose Bierce were two of my favorites - though I must admit to still having a soft spot for Lovecraft when I am in the mood. He was certainly original! I will check out the two authors you mentioned - all of the contemporary fantasy authors CAN'T be dark!
Just a warning ... don't read Who Fears Death if you don't want dark. Okorafor's YA stuff is much less wrenching.
For humorous fantasy, I really liked Max Gladstone's Three Parts Dead, and his new novel is on my list. Strong female protagonist, to keep the thread on topic.
Speed comes from what you put behind you. - Judi Ketteler
If I want silly and occasionally over the top I read Piers Anthony's Xanth series. It's polar opposite of the type of fantasy I normally read. I guess I'd consider it my guilty pleasure.
I'm currently reading Simon Green Deathstalker series. My boys convinced me. I've already read his Nightside series and enjoyed it.
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I love Piers Anthony! I also really like his "Incarnations" series, those aren't as light but well written. The Nightshade series sounds interesting and have already checked out an e-book version from my library The Deathstalker series does as well, and both series appear to be quite different from each other - that is encouraging. I've recently given up on a series - Tad William's Otherland series. The premise is very interesting, but by the time I got to the last 700+ page book in the series I was just tired of it. That isn't like me, I don't mind long books and am a fast reader so I prefer them - but the writing must be up to it. When I got to the last book (>900 pages), I simply no longer cared about the characters and hung it up after the first ~300 pages.
Last edited by Catrin; 11-01-2013 at 08:14 AM.