Female-centric novels (SFF version)

[hossgal.livejournal.com]

So, thinking about halfamoon (and avoiding working on either housework or writing) I was running through a list of woman-heavy SFF novels, and of writers whom I could depend on to write the sorts of women and plots that I liked reading over and over.

By "sorts of women and plots that I liked reading over and over", I don't have many hard-and-fast rules. But I find that I *do* have things that turn me off. In short:

- I'm not into soulbonds and destiny-love anymore. Too old. (Soul bonds with critters get more slack, but not much.)
- I'm pretty much over my "young girl in a repressed parochial society grows up to be a kick-ass gal and leaves those losers behind" phase.
- I'm absolutely over the "rape and revenge" method of female characterization. Ditto most other types of victim-fetish.
- A lot of environmentalist utopias have me rolling my eyes at the impracticality of it. Relatedly, my bar for post-apoc stories keeps going up. (Although, honestly? Given the way that I used to read *anything* post-apoc? A higher standard would be a good thing.)
- In and of themselves, women in uniform are not enough to keep me reading a story. I find my tolerance for women in uniform *plus* soulbonds to be about half of what it is for soulbonds alone.

Leaving all that aside:

Ten novels which appealed to me because of the female characters.

- The Outskirter's Secret, by Rosemary Kirstein. SF. (Other planet.) Primary protagonist *and* main secondary character are both female. Minor romantic interest (het). An investigative map-maker goes out into the wilderness to look into mysterious rumors. Outstanding worldbuilding, fantastic cultures, disarming and unlooked-for mind-bending potential. All wrapt up in an intriguing and high-tension plot.

-The Ladies of Mandrigyn, by Barbara Hambly. F (sword & sorcery) POV split between two primary characters - one male, one female. Off-screen romance. When a captain of mercenaries is captured, it's up to his second-in-command to rescue him. While there are multiple intriguing secondary characters, the primary male character is the only male who gets significant screen time - most of the interaction is between gals. A "woman warrior" story that starts by assuming its strong women, and going on from there. Note: I had the hardest damn time picking just one Hambly novel. There are *many* others also worth the reading.

-Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Butler. SF (Near-future) First person narration of a coming-of-age story. Mostly gen with some het romance. In an economically depressed and declining California, a neighborhood struggles to survive. It's hard for me to say what appeals to me most in this story - the post-apoc feel, the journey, the issues of religion, the deep love of family (and all the heartaches that come with it) that runs through the story. The rationality of the narrator echoes Outskirter's Secret, and brings forth a problem-solving focus that this reader finds less often in female-centric stories. Another author with a life-work worth the reading.

-The Falling Woman, by Pat Murphy. F (Ghosts) First person, split between older and younger female narration. An archaeologist can visualize the lives of the people she unearths, but the conflict with her daughter is harder to see through. The mix of authoritative history/archeology and Mesoamerican legend gives a depth and texture to this award winning novel. I adored the older perspective, and found the generational conflicts realistic and intriguing.

-The Pride of Chanur, by CJ Cherryh. SF (Space opera) Non-human feline-based alien pov. A thinking-sf story dressed up like an adventure novel, and wearing it well. The Pride of Chanur is a merchant spacecraft manned by members of a matriarchal society. A human male is an un-expected stowaway. Long before FS launched John Crichton into the Unchartereds, CJC was telling the same story from the other side. This is the start of a five-volume series, and the tone shifts somewhat at the end of this one. I recommend the whole series.

-Valor's Choice by Tanya Huff - SF (military sf) Main female protagonist, other minor povs. A veteran NCO is saddled with a new officer and must cope with an alien attack. Sterling military perspective and excellent cultural world-building. Extra bonus points for earth-historical military history refs. The remaining books in this series (new one out in June, woot!) are also recommended.

-The Magic and the Healing, by Nick O'Donohoe. F (otherwords/magic) Female protagonist. A senior veterinary student learns to treat unicorns, griffins, and other strange beasts. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things in an ordinary manner. Many very cool secondary characters, and a steady failure of the protagonist (or any other of the 'good' characters) to always make the right choice - both through design and through ignorance. First of a series of three.

-The Conqueror's Child, by Suzy McKee Charnas. SF (post-apoc/feminist utopia) Female pov throughout, with many female secondary characters. The daughter of a world liberator finally catches up with the legend who bore her. Redeemed much of the 'separatist society utopia' genre for me. This is a book about the human cost of being the victors - something shown fairly frequently from the male pov, but this was the first I had seen any female utopia story go on and say "what next?" A book I read because of the horses - and go on re-reading because of the human characters.

-The Sword of Winter by Marta Randall. F (psuedomedival world) Female protagonist throughout. Gen with adult romance. In a world of ice and snow, a professional messenger and explorer has to deal with palace intrigues and an un-welcome stray. Of the many reasons to love this book - adept worldbuilding, horses, cultural clashes and a fairly well-plotted out mystery - I keep coming back to the main protagonist. Her strong sense of self and stubbornness resonate strongly.

-Barrayar, by Lois McMaster Bujold. SF (space opera/sociological) Female protagonist throughout. Het romance. A former starship captain is caught up in the politics of her new homeworld - putting her new-found peace and the lives of her family at risk. Seriously, if you haven't read this one yet, give it a try. Cordelia Naismith is the arch-type Advanced Civilized Feminist, and yet her struggles to adapt and survive in her new home remain engaging and heart-warming.

There are many books that I did not included, for a variety of reasons (such as: "This is a book with a strong female character, but that's not why I read this book over and over.") Please feel free to add suggestions and comments! I am interested in new books to try out. Also - I'd love to see a similar list of mystery, graphic novel, romance or horror novels.

Comments

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

Argh, I had a huge comment here and somehow LJ ate it. Again!

* Doris Egan's "Ivory" trilogy, although I almost recommend people start with the second book, "Two-Bit Heroes" as opposed to the official first book "The Gate of Ivory." Main character: Theodora, a bookish anthropologist and scholar who gets stranded on a baroque and (she thinks) uncivilized world where (it's claimed) magic works. Meets a noble/sorceror called Ran, is used in his elaborate shenanigans, they fall in love. The second book involves their getting abducted by bandits and (among other things) struggling to perform the various steps in the elaborate Ivoran month-long marriage ceremony while pretending they don't like each other very much (so as not to be used as hostages for each other.) Theodora also tells the leader of the bandits the story of Robin Hood, and things progress from there about as you'd expect, except not. *G*

"Gate of Ivory" is particularly notable for having the only scene I can think of where a mighty quest is briefly interrupted by the heroine getting her period at an inconvenient time and having to send one of her companions into town to get supplies. The main appeal of these books is the culture-clash; both Theodora and Ran think they're only doing/saying the obvious right thing in whatever situation they're in, and can't imagine where the other person is coming from.

There's not so many other female characters besides Ran in "Gate of Ivory," but there's a couple of female bandits and so on in "Two-Bit Heroes," which is probably another reason I like it better.

* Connie Willis' "Doomsday Book"-- a time-travelling Oxford historian on her first history mission is sent back too far and ends up in Europe during the Black Death. In the future, her colleagues struggle to rescue her, but Kivrin has to get through it all alone, at first not even able to speak to the people she meets. Plenty of interesting female characters, both in the future-time and in the past. (Bonus points if you find a copy with the hilariously wrong cover (http://i19.ebayimg.com/01/i/05/03/ed/e9_1.JPG) that depicts Kivrin's journey as some kind of fairytale princess adventure, complete with handsome knight. WHAT.)

* Kage Baker's "In The Garden of Iden"-- first book in her "Company" series but can be read alone. Mendoza is a child plucked out of history by a mysterious far future organization simply known as the Company, turned into an immortal, unkillable cyborg with inhuman senses and abilities, and sent into various time periods to rescue lost knowledge, works of art, and so on, before they're destroyed in historical cataclysms. Mendoza is a botanist, collecting lost plant samples. The Company operatives are taught to disdain ordinary humans and their disgusting, barbaric habits. But of course Mendoza falls in love with one her first time out. What I like about this book is that despite the fact that she'll probably live for tens of thousands of years, and despite the fact that she's very smart and very capable, *right now* Mendoza is as stupid and naive as any sheltered young woman who's never been in love. She makes some terrible decisions and some terrible things happen, but it's all very believable. Can be read alone without other "Company" novels.

* Martha Wells' The Element of Fire (http://marthawells.com/element.htm), now out of print and available online, so people should just go read it, 'cause I gotta run. *G*

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, in later books in the "Company" series there is sort of a twist on the usual "destiny/soulbond" thing with Mendoza and Nicholas, but not really in just the first book.

[hossgal.livejournal.com]

I love the Ivory triology - it's one of those that *feels* like low-impact fluff, but then it sneaks up on you and tries to skew your worldview all around. They are (for me) great comfort reads. I second your rec to start with 'Two-Bit Heroes'.

Of Willis's books, the one I have liked the best was To Say Nothing Of The Dog, but I find myself appreciating her short fiction even more. *thinks* "And Come From All Around" has what I think of her trademark style - a bit of humor and a bit of irony and a bit of social commentary, wrapt up in so.damn.kewl. Passage was a bit darker, but also interesting from an investigative science perspective. On a personal note, the advertising for Doomsday Book turned me off in its discussion of "good and evil" - which I didn't see in the novel. Now, "Jack" or "Firewatch"...those wrestled with dragons, I thought. *shrugs*

I found the Company series through The Graveyard Game, and never really warmed to Mendoza. As you say, Garden of Iden treats her better, and gives more depth to the character.

*Goes off to read the Wells book*

The cool thing about this discussion is all the various things that people focus on in different books!

- hg