Guess what’s happening in July? The Fantasy Hive is hosting a month-long readathon for women in science fiction and fantasy. It’s going to be epic. I like lists, so I wrote a (far from complete) list of amazing sff female authors. I don’t read as much science fiction as I like, so I went to an expert: Beth at Before We Go Blog. She reviews the coolest books, and interviews amazing authors! Check her blog out. Here are some fabulous writers to read, with titles of some of their work next to their names:
Author: Notable Works:
*Katherine Arden The Bear and the Nightingale
*Margaret Atwood The Handmaid’s Tale; Angel Catbird (graphic novel)
*Holly Black The Cruel Prince The Spiderwick Chronicles (coauthor)
*Kendare Blake Three Dark Crowns (series) Anna Dressed in Blood
*Anne Bishop Daughter of the Blood
*Kristen Britain Green Rider
*Emma Bull War for the Oaks The Princess and the Lord of Night
*Octavia Butler Parable of the Sower Dawn
*Jacqueline Carey Kushiel’s Dart Starless
*Beth Cartwright Feathertide
*Becky Chambers The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
*C.J. Cherryh Downbelow Station The Pride of Chanur
* Cassandra Clare The Mortal Instruments (series) The Magisterium Chronicles (coauthor)
*Susanna Clarke Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
*Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising series
*Delilah S. Dawson (Star Wars) Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire Kill the Farm Boy (coauthor)
*Sarah Douglass The Wayfarer Redemption trilogy
*Emily A. Duncan Wicked Saints
*Kate Elliott King’s Dragon
Cold Magic
*Jennifer Fallon Medalon (The Demon Child trilogy)
The Immortal Prince (the Tide Lord series)
*Cordelia Funke Inkheart
Reckless (coauthor)
*Christie Golden Fate of the Jedi series (contributing author)
Vampire of the Mists (Ravenloft series)
*Alix A. Harrow The Ten Thousand Doors of January The Once and Future Witches
*Elizabeth Haydon Rhapsody: Child of Blood
*Heid Heilig The Girl From Everywhere
For a Muse of Fire
*Robin Hobb Assassin’s Apprentice (Farseer trilogy #1)
Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders #1)
*Kameron Hurley The Mirror Empire (Worldbreaker Saga #1)
*P.D James The Children of Men
*N.K Jemisin The Fifth Season (Broken Earth series #1)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
*J.V. Jones The Baker’s Boy (The Book of Words #1)
*S. Kaeth Windward
*Catherine Kerr Daggerspell (Deverry Cycle #1)
*Katherine Kurtz Deryni Rising
*Mercedes Lackey The Oathbound (Vows and Honor book 1)
The Black Gryphon
*Madeline L’Engle A Wrinkle in Time
*Ursula Le Guin A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle)
The Dispossessed
*Anne Leckie The Raven Tower
Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch trilogy #1)
*Laura Loup The Audacity
*Devin Madson We Ride the Storm
*Juliet Marillier Daughter of the Forest
Wolfskin
*Anne McCaffrey A Diversity of Dragons
Dragonflight (Dragonriders of Pern book #1)
*Seanan McGuire Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children series, book 1)
Middlegame
*Robin McKinley The Hero and the Crown
Chalice
*Erin Morgenstern The Night Circus
The Starless Sea
*Jennifer A. Nielson The Traitor’s Game
The False Prince (the Ascendance trilogy, book 1)
*Naomi Novik Uprooted
His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire, book 1)
*Nnedi Okorafor Zahrah the Windseeker Binti
*Tamora Pierce Tempests and Slaughter (The Numair Chronicles #1) Trickster’s Choice (Daughter of the Lioness #1)
*Suzie Plakson The Return of King Lillian
*Victoria Schwab A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1)
The Near Witch
*Mary Shelley Frankenstein
The Last Man
*Mary Stewart The Crystal Cave (The Arthurian Saga #1)
*James Tiptree Jr. Brightness Falls from the Air
*Karen Traviss City of Pearl
Star Wars Republic Commando: Hard Contact
*Joan D. Vinge The Snow Queen
Ladyhawke
*Thea Von Harbou Metropolis
*Jo Walton Tooth and Claw
*Margaret Weis Dragons of Autumn Twilight (coauthor)
Forging the Darksword (Darksword trilogy #1, coauthor)
*Martha Wells The Element of Fire
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1)
*Connie Willis Doomsday Book
*Patricia C. Wrede Dealing with Dragons (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1)
Shadow Magic (Lyra series #1)
*Janny Wurts Curse of the Mistwraith (Wars of Light and Shadow #1)
That Way Lies Camelot
*Jane Yolen The Young Merlin trilogy
Sister Light, Sister Dark (Great Alta Saga #1)
Whew! Needless to say, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to talented female sff authors. Who did I forget?