Fantasy books that don't paint women as...subservient?

[AllyCat]

Someone suggested Ursula LeGuin, but the only reason the woman was strong in that story was that she was a dragon (unbeknownst to herself).

I read a short story by Anne McCaffrey about runners and the women and men seemed equal in the story, but it was so...sappy.

Any suggestions? I get tired of the woman in a palace myth that just seems like a worn-out remnant of medieval culture of our world.

[Salviati]

1. Robin Hobb's books

Particularly the last two trillogies, the Liveship Traders and the Tawny Man Trillogies are good IMO...

[katamaran]

2. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series

The women pretty much run the show. But only read it if you can devote a good three years non-stop to the books...and waiting for the next one.

[politicat]

3. Jennifer Roberson's Tiger and Del series; Connie Willis; Janet Kagan...

Jennifer Roberson's Tiger and Del series - Del, IIRC, is a very tough woman who is seeking revenge for her brother's capture by slavers. The series is from Tiger's perspective.

Connie Willis - Connie Willis only writes weak females when she needs to ridicule some idiotic bit of market driven behavior; her female leads are usually strong, sensible and independent. Try To Say Nothing of the Dog and The Doomsday Book (same universe, opposite ends of the comedic-tragic spectrum; start with Doomsday Book if you plan to read both.)

Janet Kagan - Miribile. This is a tough book to find, but Kagan's protagonist is a xenobiologist on one of the first human colonies. (More SF than F, but still very fun.)

Terry Pratchett doesn't write wimpy women, especially Nanny Weatherwax and the other witches and Death's Daughter.

Guy Gavriel Kay writes strong characters no matter which gender. (He worked on the Silmarillion if that is any indication of his background.) Tigana is considered the seminal work, but I much prefer the Lions of Al-Rassan (Jehane is a fabulous character.) His world is about 1/2 an inch over from ours, however, and his books take place in what would be the dark ages - when Spain was Muslim, England was still mostly pagan (and part Norse) and Byzantium was the center of the world, so if you don't like that setting, this one's not for you.

More to follow.....

[Lisa]

43. Terry Pratchett's "The Monstrous Regiment" -- most of the characters are women

He takes the old standby about a woman pretending to be a man in order to join the military, and goes just a bit further with it! Not to give too much away, but if ONE woman can join, why not a whole bunch? (I thought it was funny that the title itself is taken from an early anti-feminist tract that tried to argue how awful the world would be if women took over, the "monstrous regiment of women" referring to governance and organization -- Pratchett applies it to an army regiment. And there's also an extra joke, since several members of the military unit are not human -- trolls, vampires, etc.)

Perhaps mindful of Margaret Thatcher, Pratchett doesn't go all sappy and claim that women in power will always do a better job than men.

[LWolf]

4. Here are few to start with:

Mercedes Lackey
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Charles De Lint

I like Anne McCaffrey, the Pern series in particular.

[yewberry]

5. I hear that.

I'll second the Charles De Lint suggestion.

I really liked Tad Williams' "Otherland" series--more tech-heavy, but a good (long) read. There aren't a lot of female characters, but the women in the story are pretty far from the subservient stereotype.

Oh, yeah, and Joan Vinge--"Snow Queen" and "Summer Queen" are a couple of 80s classics.

[Mojambo]

6. Robert Jordan

The men in his books are often browbeaten and cowed by the women. Personally, I think the guy has issues with women that he is working out in this series.

[TroubleMan]

25. LOL...I've heard his wife helps proofread it before it goes to his editor.

Maybe that's why.

[Sabriel]

7. The trilogy by Garth Nix

Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen.

Lots of women in control and sharing power. Besides that aspect, they're all a "ripping yarn," as my grandmother would have said.

Also try the Protector of the Small series by Tamora Lindsey and her other one, whose name escapes me.

[XemaSab]

12. Uh, that's Tamora Pierce

and the "Song of the Lioness" quartet.

Girl who disguises herself as a boy to become a knight.

KICKS ASS.

[Sabriel]

14. Whoops! Thanks for the correction. n/t

[TimeChaser]

26. I second the Sabriel books.

Some of my favorites :)

[semillama]

8. Neil Stephenson's Baroque Cycle

What's interesting is that while there are subservient women, he clearly shows that the female characters exist in a system that dominates them and illustrates how the individuals operate within that system. The main female character, Eliza, has to be subservient at times, but it's clearly not her choice to be so.

I also love this series for illuminating how exciting the late 1600s were in world history, something I wasn't quite aware of.

[malmapus]

9. R.A. Salvatore, Margaret Weiss, Tracey Hickman

These three have some pretty powerful female characters who aren't subservient.

[nickinSTL]

10. new author, currently only published by a small

online publisher, Elizabeth Blackson (this is the author, not the publisher).

She only has one book out, so far, though she has a second finished (it's still being edited, and hasn't been submitted to publishers yet)

Her book, Our Mortal Days, is a fantasy book and one of the primary characters is a strong female character (I know the author personally, and she doesn't go for the weak, helpless female stereotype).

Anyone wanting a link to the publisher's website can PM me, or you can google the author's name.

[nickinSTL]

22. The second book by this author is now available FREE

On http://www.d20forge.com/

She publishes on this website under the name Lynn Lefey.

[nickinSTL]

27. update on this book

It's now available through Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0976542617/002-7885454-0796000?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance

[mzteris]

11. SF&F

Sheri Tepper
Connie Willis
Nancy Kress

[blindpig]

13. Tales of Neveryon

by Samuel Delaney.The Suzerienne(sp?), The Business Woman, The Women of the Western Cravasse. Delaney is the best, I highly recommend.

[mzteris]

17. I've never meet

anyone else who read Delaney!

Stars in My Pocket like Grains of Sand was the first of his I read. It was the best depiction of "inter-species" relationships that I have ever read.

Did you read his autobiography? The Motion of Light in Water (I think that was the name. Very interesting - and it explains a lot of the imagery/themes he uses in his books. )

[blindpig]

19. my favorite SF writer

I'll have to read The Motion of Light in Water. Has he stopped writing SF and Fantasy or am I missing something?

[Lisa]

15. "The Gammage Cup" -- Carol Kendall

Also, the female lead is an older, "housewifey" type (not a butt-kicking ninja princess), who is overlooked by most of the other characters (even some of the "good" ones).

[HawkerHurricane]

16. Short stories...

Chicks in Chain Mail
Did you say Chicks?
Chicks and Chained Males

In spite of the titles (or maybe because of them), they show fantasy stories with strong female leads.

[kitkatrose]

18. Well, there's a publisher named Luna

that only publishes books with female leads. Most of them seem to be pretty good. Here's their website http://store.eharlequin.com/t10_view_series.jhtml?CATID=80117&PRIM_MONTH=0

I really liked Cast in Shadow and Shield of the Sky.

[lazarus]

20. Steve Brust

His books (start with Jhereg), while focused on a male protagonist, are very, very gender-neutral. Unless it's important to the plot, he basically throws dice or something when deciding whether a minor character is female or male.

[Redneck Socialist]

23. John Norman's Gor series

I'm kidding, I'm kidding :evilgrin:

On a more serious note, pretty much anything by Charles DeLint. Very strong female characters.

on edit: Oops, this was supposed to be a reply to the OP, sorry.

[davidinalameda]

21. Mercedes Lackey has lots of female heroes

and I've said before Charles deLint writes some of the best female characters I've ever read

[Solon]

24. Kushiel Trilogy by Jacqueline Carey

OK, she's subservient in the bedroom, but she isn't outside the bedroom, have to read the books to understand, also there isn't much in the books about it being a male versus female thing. Phedre no Delaunay de Montreve also has a male consort, and she helped saved the kingdom and queen more than once. A pretty good trilogy, the names of books are Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, and Kushiel's Avatar.

Also a few other suggestions, the Songs and Swords series by Elaine Cunningham is another example. Or Elminister's Daughter by Ed Greenwood is another one. As someone else mentioned RA Salvatore's books are good, as well as Urban Shaman by CE Murphy.

[swimmernsecretsea]

28. "Dreamsnake" by Vonda McIntyre

It features a female shaman/doctor who has, among other methods, 3 snakes that are used to deliver different forms of medical treatment via snakebite. I read this book many years ago. I think it's out of print, but if you can locate it, it's worth a read.

[radfringe]

29. Deeds of Paksenarrion - by Elizabeth Moon

great story - one of my favorites, have read and re-read it many times

[Redneck Socialist]

30. Never mind

I'm an idiot. x(

[WritingIsMyReligion]

31. Tamora Pierce is a fierce feminist.

All her books have female leads.

Also, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is led by a very powerful young girl.

[XemaSab]

32. I'll do you one better and say

all her books have female leads BEATING DOWN a bunch of boys. :D

[uppityperson]

33. Sheri Tepper books, Octavia Butler

S.T. was the head of Planned Parenthood (director? something up there) in Colorado, has been writing for a while. She does feminist books.

OB is just wonderful, writes from woman's viewpoint, some futuristic, some pastistic (?), some cautionary of soon to be. Her women are strong women.

[ismnotwasm]

34. The Morgaine Cycle

By C.J. Cherryh.

[cssmall]

35. RA Salvatore.

Catte-brie is a strong woman; however, most of his women are evil, but that's understandable since they come from a purely evil race. Catte-brie is not evil, though. Delly Curtie is pretty strong willed as are a few others that escape me.

[Broken_Hero]

38. damn...

I should have read the thread through...I also recommend RA...and Danica from the Cleric Quintet pretty damn tough...:)

[gulfcoastliberal]

36. Pullman's The Dark Materials

The protagonist who saves the universe is a 12 year old girl.

[Broken_Hero]

37. RA Salvatore

Drizzts line...by definition, the Drow woman are dominant, and Catti-Brie is one strong woman. Also, The Cleric Quintet, Danica, is strong as hell, one of my favorite fantasy female characters...

Also, most Vampire novels from White Wolf all have strong Women leads....

[RiDuvessa]

39. Mercedes Lackey

Particularly the Oath books.

[FloridaJudy]

40. Some of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover Novels

Particularly the novels featuring the "Free Amazons": The Shattered Chain, Thendara House and City of Sorcery

Sheri S. Tepper's novels (though they're closer to SF than Fantasy)

Tanith Lee's The Birthgrave

George RR Martin's "Song of Fire and Ice" series has several kick-butt heroines among the cast of hundreds (particularly Arya Stark and Daenerys Targaryen). Yup, men can create strong women characters.

;)

[Orrex]

41. Her female characters in Mists of Avalon are societally subservient, but..

They also pretty much run the whole show. It's a nice examination of the real power behind the throne, literally.

I've kind of lost the taste for her writing style, though, so I can't speak of any of her other work.

[eyl]

42. Try

the first two books in Lois Bujold's Chalion series.

[Sanctified]

44. Try "A Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R.R. Martin.

The women in those books wield just as much if not more power than the men.

[shenmue]

45. "Avalon," M. Bradley

Definitely strong women lead characters.

[Mythsaje]

46. Try mine

http://www.sajewilliams.com