# Scifi/Fantasy books with strong female characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-fantasy-books-with-strong-female-characters/657986 "2013-05-10T12:36:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-fantasy-books-with-strong-female-characters/657986/41 "2013-05-15T00:09:30Z")
C. J. Cherryh’s _Morgaine_ series. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-fantasy-books-with-strong-female-characters/657986/42 "2013-05-15T05:34:57Z")
> [@Amara\_1](#): > > I concur with > > -C. J Cherryh (be warned that she writes _broken_ characters) > -Lois McMaster Bujold. I didn’t get into the Sharing Knife but her Chalion and Barrayar series have realistic women > -Terry Pratchett > -Tanya Huff - Confederation. > -Ilona Andrews - Kate Daniels. Her other series also has strong women but I didn’t like it as much. > -The Jane Lindskold referenced above but it’s more a feral, female character. > -Garth Nix. Sabriel is a beautiful book. > > I disagree with Susan Calvin. She’s nominally female but (IMO) is a cardboard cutout. I’ve read a couple of Heinlein and his women, again IMO, tend to be male fantasies of women. > > I’m adding several authors to my list based on this thread. The thing about Calvin and Heinlein’s women is that they were actually more believable than the female characters in most SF/fantasy at the time. Yes, as bad as they were, at least they had more than a couple of brain cells in their heads, and they weren’t simply love interests. It’s like reading Kipling…when we read his work through today’s eyes, we see how racist and sexist they are, you have to read the stories through yesterday’s eyes if you’re reading for enjoyment. I think that you have to give Asimov and Heinlein credit for trying to write female characters that were actually people, even if they didn’t manage to do so. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-fantasy-books-with-strong-female-characters/657986/43 "2013-05-15T05:44:21Z")
CJ Cherryh. I’m not so sure her characters are strong as they are among the best characterizations I have read. Both male and female, but primarily I remember her female characters, as it’s been a few decades since I read SF. Her characters are as complete as first rate literature. Loved them. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-fantasy-books-with-strong-female-characters/657986/44 "2013-05-15T07:30:02Z")
William Gibson has several. Molly from Neuromancer My fav was Cayce Pollard from Pattern Recognition. (I love that book) ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-fantasy-books-with-strong-female-characters/657986/45 "2013-05-15T08:14:01Z")
How could this thread have gone five minutes without mention of _Game of Thrones_, and the rest of the Ice and Fire series? ---
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-fantasy-books-with-strong-female-characters/657986/46 "2013-05-15T13:20:11Z")
Julian May had some pretty strong female characters in her writings. Although she possibly undermined that by making several male members of the Remillard family the most memorable characters I’ve ever read about in Sci-Fi. And by that I mean Marc and Jon Remillard in particular. I mean… Holy fuck. Those scenes she writes about when those two phenomenal brothers took walks along the river… Jon “Jack the Bodiless” and Marc “The Angel of the Abyss” before Jon’s infant body became riddled with cancer and the brothers became sworn enemies… Gonna have to read those books again soon. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-fantasy-books-with-strong-female-characters/657986/47 "2013-05-15T13:54:08Z")
It occurs to me that nobody has yet mentioned the Harry Potter books. Sure, the protagonist is male, but nobody would ever accuse Hermione of being a helpless damsel in distress. Nor Luna Lovegood, and while Ginny did need rescuing once, she’s gotten herself out of more trouble than she’s gotten herself into. All of the adult women seem to hold their own pretty well, too. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-fantasy-books-with-strong-female-characters/657986/48 "2013-05-16T00:11:56Z")
I really like [C.S. Friedman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celia_S._Friedman) and some of her female characters are magnificent. Jamsia Shido in _This Alien Shore_ is particularly memorable. _In Conquest Born_ is a badass novel and its female protagonist does not disappoint. ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-fantasy-books-with-strong-female-characters/657986/49 "2013-05-16T02:17:07Z")
Priscilla “Hutch” Hutchins in the _Academy Series by Jack McDevitt_ was an excellent strong female character (heroine). Bob [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scifi-fantasy-books-with-strong-female-characters/657986.md?page=2)