# Fantasy Books with a Female Lead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2014, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031 "2014-04-26T07:30:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/41 "2014-04-27T02:55:54Z")
\*Gossamer Axe \*by Gael Baudino. Christa Crutaire is a 6th-century harper in love with Judith (her Anglicized name). Christa and Judith sneak off to hear the SIdhe play music one night and get captured. They are held in Faerie for more than 1,000 years, but Christa steals a magical harp (Ceis, who is a great character in itself) and escapes sometime around 1800. She opens a gate a couple of times to fight for Judith’s freedom, but gets her ass handed her by the Sidhe’s main bard. She is beginning to despair in the 1980’s because the gates seem to be closing, but a friend introduces her to heavy metal and she gets the idea this music may hold the key to defeating the Sidhe. Then she forms an all-woman metal band, but they are beset by various problems. Won’t say any more, Omniscient, but this is one of my favorite fantasy novels and I am not a fan of metal. I don’t why it isn’t better known. I think your lady will love it. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/42 "2014-04-27T04:48:58Z")
Is that the back story for Jem? ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/43 "2014-04-27T05:15:35Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I’m very fond of Katherine Kerr’s _Daggerspell_ series, which has a kickass female lead, and is one of the more historically literate fantasy series’ out there. And if she gets into it, it could keep her occupied a good long time. Has dragons (eventually) Speaking of Katherine Kerr, in addition to being an author in her own right she was/is the literary executor for [Jo Clayton](http://www.dm.net/~mjkramer/), who also specialized in “kickass female leads”. I don’t pretend to have anything near an encyclopedic knowledge of her writing, but the Diadem and Duel of Sorcery series might be worth a looksee (the latter being more along the fantasy line). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/44 "2014-04-27T05:58:12Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Is that the back story for Jem? I don’t remember Jem having as many lesbian sex scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/45 "2014-04-27T06:44:56Z")
For a more complex version of Disney fantasy, I usually look to Patricia McKillip. [The Forgotten Beasts of Eld](http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Beasts-Magic-Carpet-Books/dp/0152055363/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398580082&sr=1-1&keywords=forgotten+beasts+of+eld) is about a sorceress protecting/collecting unique magical beasts. [The Book of Atrix Wolfe](http://www.amazon.com/Book-Atrix-Wolfe-Patricia-McKillip/dp/0441003613/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398580034&sr=1-1&keywords=book+of+atrix+wolfe) is about a wizard and cursed faerie princess who get tangled up in spells left over from past conflicts. [The Riddle-Master trilogy](http://www.amazon.com/Riddle-Master-Patricia-McKillip/dp/0441005969/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398580019&sr=1-1&keywords=riddle-master+of+hed) actually has a male protagonist, but female secondary protagonist (and main character of the second book): it’s high magic, magical kingdoms, riddles and ancient mysteries, shapechangers, and end-of-the-world stuff. [Jack of Kinrowan](http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Kinrowan-Giant-Killer-Drink-Down/dp/0312869592/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398580303&sr=1-1&keywords=jack+of+kinrowan) is a modern fantasy retelling of Jack the Giant-slayer set in Ottowa, where the titular Jack is a woman, Jacky Rowan. Sheri S Tepper’s [True Game](http://www.amazon.com/True-Game-Sheri-S-Tepper/dp/0441003311/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398580331&sr=1-1&keywords=true+game) series is three trilogies, the first with a male protagonist, and the prequel and sequel trilogies with strong female protagonists. It’s set on a fantasy-like colony world where the settlers developed magic-like powers which they’ve used to indulge in frivolous gaming. It was written before she became such a strident feminist, although there’s some of that, too. Andre Norton’s Witch World series has several books with strong female leads. I’d recommend [Year of the Unicorn](http://www.amazon.com/Year-Unicorn-Witchworld-Andre-Norton/dp/0441942555/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398580614&sr=1-1&keywords=year+of+the+unicorn), about a young woman hiding her magical powers sent off as a bride to shapechanger mercenaries from a hidden, magical land. (It’s sequel, _The Jargoon Pard_, has a male protagonist.) Of the aforementioned Marion Zimmer Bradley, I’d recommend [Hawkmistress!](http://www.amazon.com/Hawkmistress-Marion-Zimmer-Bradley-ebook/dp/B005HWBALO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398580911&sr=1-1&keywords=hawkmistress!+bradley) as a stand-alone that’s fairly good. Her Darkover books are about a lost colony world where the inhabitants developed psychic powers and a feudal society. This one is set pre-recontact during a period of conflict, about a girl with beast telepathy. > [@OttoDaFe](#): > > Speaking of Katherine Kerr, in addition to being an author in her own right she was/is the literary executor for [Jo Clayton](http://www.dm.net/~mjkramer/), who also specialized in “kickass female leads”. I don’t pretend to have anything near an encyclopedic knowledge of her writing, but the Diadem and Duel of Sorcery series might be worth a looksee (the latter being more along the fantasy line). I found her trilogy beginning with [Moongather](http://www.amazon.com/Moongather-book-Duel-Sorcery-Trilogy/dp/0879977299/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398579719&sr=1-1&keywords=moongather) more approachable. It’s a fantasy story about a woman warrior with empathic powers over animals, struggling against an oppressive patriarchy dominated by male sorcerers. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/46 "2014-04-27T07:52:14Z")
Charles de Lint. Urban fantasy master. I find him a bit repetitive, but others may disagree. My personal entré was The Little Country, but take your pick; (IMO, again) they all pretty much tread the same ground\*. \*YMMV, as I’ve hinted. CdL is very much respected as an urban fantasy author; I just find his stuff to kinda walk over the same themes over and over again. And yet, even I wind up going back to him when I want a little bit more from that particular well. So don’t hold it against him; he may be a one trick pony (IMO!!), but he does that one trick better than any other pony out there. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/47 "2014-04-27T09:57:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t remember Jem having as many lesbian sex scenes. I do. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/48 "2014-04-27T10:23:43Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Since you’re willing to define “fantasy” in a very broad sense, maybe Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Those certainly are great value per page… hardcover copies count as weaponry and are heavy enough to be illegal in most countries. I picked one up in the airport simply on the basis of “cheapest for its size”, I didn’t like it enough to go and buy everything else in the series but it made for good hotel reading. The Chicks in Chainmail anthologies feature short stories and can be a good way to pick up on a new author. A couple of them are available on Kindle. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/49 "2014-04-27T10:44:13Z")
> [@Shooby](#): > > **The Mistborn Trilogy by Branden Sanderson** has a female protagonist. She suffers a bit from Mary Sue-ism, but the world has a creative and enjoyable magic system, and the whole set-up of the story is that the Big Bad ended up winning long ago, and this is what society looks like now. Nothing too deep, but quite an enjoyable read (first one is the best). Sanderson’s current series,\*\* the Stormlight Archive\*\*, is even better, and also features a very compelling female character as one of its two or three main protagonists. The second book of a projected 10-book series just came out, and unlike other writers I can think of, Sanderson actually pumps out his books at a fast and regular rate. I have a huge amount of respect for Sanderson, both for the rigor and discipline of his writing, and for saving the **Wheel of Time** series. I mean, he managed to make \*Egwene \*a cool character. Egwene! ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/50 "2014-04-27T11:11:55Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > One I just finished might qualify, too: **Red Country**. It’s a bit of Deadwood, a bit of Unforgiven, a bit of Dungeons and Dragons. It’s extremely low-magic. A woman with an outlaw history, trying to make her living as a farmer, comes home to discover her old farmhand murdered and her much-younger brother and sister (six and nine) kidnapped. She and her hulking, docile stepfather go looking. It’s brutal, brutally funny, and thoughtful; quite worth the read, IMO. While Red Country is a standalone book, I would suggest reading it after Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy, in which a couple of the characters first feature prominently. Also, if you liked Red Country but haven’t read that trilogy, I can recommend it very highly. Like Red Country - brutal, grey, bends/breaks any number of genre conventions, and still comes out a very satisfying story in the end. The first book is called The Blade Itself. ---
**Author:** ![bashere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bashere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bashere)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/51 "2014-04-27T13:35:49Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I’m very fond of Katherine Kerr’s _Daggerspell_ series, which has a kickass female lead, and is one of the more historically literate fantasy series’ out there. And if she gets into it, it could keep her occupied a good long time. Has dragons (eventually) Didn’t Katherine Kerr used to write rather amazingly good articles for Dragon Magazine? ---
**Author:** ![HardlySanguine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HardlySanguine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HardlySanguine)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/52 "2014-04-27T14:35:08Z")
Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books. They’re Young Adult books but they are well written and good reads. Medieval-style sword n sorcery coming of age books with female teens working to fit into a man’s world - and being better than them. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/53 "2014-04-27T20:17:02Z")
Julian May’s **Saga of Pliocene Exile** (beginning with **The Many-Colored Land** ) feels like fantasy, even though it’s technically science fiction. Characters from the future can take a one-way trip to Earth’s past, where they discover a pair of thriving alien cultures with psychic powers that resemble magic. There’s lots of politicking and romance and rebellion. There’s no specific protagonist, but in the huge cast of characters four of the most important are female. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/54 "2014-04-27T20:58:40Z")
Don’t think this has been mentioned before, but how about Robin Hobb’s [Liveship](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liveship_Traders_Trilogy) trilogy? It has several plot lines, mainly following the various members of the Vestrit family, especially one of the daughters, Althea. It’s part of a longer series (the other books have a male lead, though still quite a few strong female characters), but it works well enough as a stand alone. It’s set in, effectively, a long post-apocalypic fantasy world, in a society of traders of poorly understood magical relics (who own the titular liveships, which are what they sound like). What starts off as a family dispute soon gets tangled up in a civil war, until… well… that would be spoiling. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/55 "2014-04-27T21:58:19Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger. In an alternate past, the realm of Britain lives on with humans in an uneasy truce with vampires and werewolves. These powerful creatures are superior to all humans, except a particular type, those born without souls. Alexa is one of these. She’s also freakishly tall, not married, and half-Italian. This series covers how she overcomes her disadvantages, finds love, and joins a paramilitary organization devoted to protecting the Realm from supernatural threats. > > It is so damn funny. It’s like if Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was actually good. I love these, I love all the characters, and there is a related ‘prequel’ with younger girls in a ‘finishing school’ (with finishing having a more deadly connotation than usual) located in a catapillar-shaped dirigible. Ridiculously funny, not serious at all, decent amount of sex in the adult series. Lovely popcorn literature. Also on the paranormal romance end - Deborah Harkness All Souls Triology is Twilight for grown ups. I’m sure someone has read these and hasn’t liked them, but my girlfriends have gobbled them up (the last book comes out this Summer). ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/56 "2014-04-28T01:00:15Z")
> [@bashere](#): > > Didn’t Katherine Kerr used to write rather amazingly good articles for Dragon Magazine? Yes, she did. (Which is why I picked up _Daggerspell_, originally. Didn’t regret it.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/57 "2014-04-28T13:52:15Z")
Since we’re going broad with our fantasy, I can’t say enough about the Thursday Next series. It’s comedic, urban, alternate history fantasy, with a bit of sci-fi thrown in the first book, but it’s still fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/58 "2014-04-29T16:48:37Z")
Patricia C. Wrede has been mentioned, and I thoroughly enjoyed her epistolary novels with Caroline Stevermer, _Sorcery and Cecilia_. It’s a Regency romance/fantasy. Spritely, light, and enjoyable. Close to Ruritanian in its feel is Stevermer’s _A College of Magics_. I go back and read it every few years, and it’s held up remarkably well. Both of these have sequels worth reading. _Spindle’s End_ by Robin McKinley is by far her best light fantasy book. I’d steer clear of _Deerskin_ though. Too painful, too many triggers, and too much feeling like she was working through some serious issues of her own. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/59 "2014-04-29T16:54:16Z")
Paul Park’s **A Princess of Roumania** is good, although the heroine’s kind of bland. The villain (also a woman) is fascinating, though. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031/60 "2014-04-29T17:19:01Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Since we’re going broad with our fantasy, I can’t say enough about the [Thursday Next](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thursday_Next) series. [Hyperlink added.] It’s comedic, urban, alternate history fantasy, with a bit of sci-fi thrown in the first book, but it’s still fantasy. Was going to recommend this. No dragons or princesses (I think) but an urban, _highly literate_, fantasy series. Really helps if the reader’s a comparative literature fan, as a lot of the plot and humor deal with changes to the texts of classics like Jane Eyre. Start with [The Eyre Affair](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eyre_Affair) and hang on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-books-with-a-female-lead/687031.md?page=4)