As I’ve mentioned before, my blog series on women writers of science fiction and fantasy was never intended to be encyclopedic. Still, I find I had to leave out many authors whose work I love and many others whose work I haven’t had the chance yet to try. Below, I list some of the ones I left out, and works of theirs that I’ve enjoyed or that I really want to try. I end this post with a few links to help you find more writers. Thanks for coming along on this journey with me, and as always, if you have any favorites you want to recommend, please leave a note in the comments.
- Alma Alexander — I strongly recommend her Secrets of Jin-Shei, and I’m reading her latest right now.
- Kelley Armstrong — the Women of Otherworld series.
- Margaret Atwood — Oryx and Crake. I’d like to read The Robber Bride, but never seem to have gotten around to it.
- Marion Zimmer Bradley — I’ve read the entire Darkover series more than once.
- Marie Brennan — I really enjoyed her duology Warrior and Witch, as well as Midnight Never Come and In Ashes Lie.
- Patricia Briggs — Meecy Thompson and the Alpha & Omega books. I’ve got her Raven books (I think that’s right), but haven’t read them yet. I hooked both my in-laws on her.
- Lois McMaster Bujold — both the Vorkosigan books and the Chalion books!
- Susan Cooper — The Dark is Rising series. I love all 5 books.
- C.S. Friedman — The Coldfire Trilogy (which should be around the house somewhere, but I haven’t been able to find).
- Esther Friesner — I enjoyed her Demons and her New York by Knight series very much; she was probably one of my earlier introductions to fantasy set in our contemporary world.
- Cornelia Funke — Inkheart, Reckless.
- Laura Anne Gilman — the Retrievers series and the Paranormal Scene Investigations series.
- Mary Robinette Kowal — Shades of Milk and Honey is amazing. It’s Austen or Heyer with magic, and I’m so looking forward to Glamour in Glass in 2012!
- Katherine Kurtz — the Deryni novels.
- Mercedes Lackey — the Valdemar novels.
- Ursula K. LeGuin — Left Hand of Darkness, as well as the Earthsea series of books.
- Sharon Lee — I started reading the Liaden Universe novels this year, but I didn’t include Lee because so much of this work was co-written with Steve Miller.
- Tanith Lee — I actually haven’t read anything by her yet, and this series would have been a good opportunity to do so.
- Madeleine L’Engle — A Wrinkle In Time.
- Anne McCaffrey — The Pern books are classics, of course, and I love the Dragonsinger trilogy, but my favorites are her telepath series — To Ride Pegasus, Pegasus in Flight, The Rowan, Damia, etc.
- C.L. Moore — I really need to read Jirel of Joiry.
- Diana Paxson — the Westria series.
- Melanie Rawn — I enjoyed the Dragon Prince trilogy, started the Dragon Star trilogy, but couldn’t get into Spellbinder.
- Mickey Zucker Reichert — I haven’t read any yet, but I do have her Renshai series in my TBR list.
- Laura Resnick — Unsympathetic Magic. Honestly, though, I enjoyed her nonfiction Rejection, Romance, and Royalties: The Wacky World of a Working Writer more.
- Elizabeth Ann Scarborough — the Argonia quartet (Song of Sorcery, etc.) and the two Drastic Dragon books. Loved them, as did my dad.
- Ekaterina Sedia — Secret History of Moscow.
- Dana Stabenow — the Star Svensdotter series. Although I’ve enjoyed her mysteries as well, I was disappointed that her SF didn’t continue.
- Sheri S. Tepper — The Margarets.
- Karen Traviss — my friend Margaret enjoys her writing, and I’m interested in checking out some of her non-Star Wars work, although I’ve not done so yet.
- Joan D. Vinge — The Snow Queen. (Love all of Hans Christian Anderson’s work, and love adaptations. Definitely a win!)
- K.D. Wentworth — Black on Black and Stars over Stars. I have both of these books loaded up on my iPod to read, but haven’t gotten past the first chapter of Black yet. Next month for sure. 🙂
- Michelle Sagara West — the House War series
- Jo Walton — Despite sharing a birthday with her, I’ve not read her work yet. Tooth and Claw is on my list of books I really need to read.
Your turn — who do you think I should have included that wasn’t?
Links:
225 & rising
Female Writers In Science Fiction, Fantasy & Utopia: 18th Century to the Present
Pre-1923 Utopias and Science Fiction by Women
Wikipedia doesn’t have a single list that contains women writers of speculative fiction. Instead, there are lists of science fiction authors, fantasy authors, young adult authors, and women writers. The article on women science fiction authors is, however, interesting reading.
The SF Mistressworks blog
I think … Deborah J. Ross, who continued on with Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover universe
Oh, excellent suggestion. Thank you!