My familiarity with the classics of sci-fi and fantasy is patchy, and I’ve been trying to make it more systematic. As part of that goal, I want to diversify my reading selections, and pay adequate attention to the excellent women and minority authors who are too often overlooked in favor of the white male authors who’ve historically dominated the field.
So, I was very pleased to see this top-100 list of SF/F novels by female authors from BookRiot. I was curious to see where I stacked up in terms of how many I’ve already read. More importantly, I welcome the chance to find out about new authors I should be reading.
As it turns out, I’ve read 11 of the books on this list (listed in bold below). Plus, I’ve read other books by two authors that are different from the ones listed here. I feel that’s not a bad start, but I can do better.
Many of these writers, I’m ashamed to say, I’ve never heard of before. A few I’ve known about for a while but have never gotten around to reading. I intend to correct both errors. Over the next year, I’d like to get my read count up to at least 25. And hey, in the long run, why not 100? Most of these look like great suggestions, and I want to read them all anyway!
I intend to keep this post updated as time goes by. I’ll mark off books as I read them, and link to reviews where applicable.
The list:
1. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce — read 2/2019
2. The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia
3. Among Others by Jo Walton
4. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
5. Ancient, Ancient by Kiini Ibura Salaam
6. The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich
7. Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey — read 10/2019
8. Ash by Malinda Lo — read 5/2021
9. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb — read 6/2018
10. The Pyramid Waltz by Barbara Wright
11. Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee
12. The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish
13. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
14. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
15. Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson — read 8/2019
16. Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara
17. China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
18. Chorus of Mushrooms by Hiromi Goto
19. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
20. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
21. The Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce
22. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
23. Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop
24. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
25. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
26. Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente — read 6/2018
27. The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
28. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
29. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis — read 3/2020
30. Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara
31. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
32. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
33. The Etched City by K.J. Bishop
34. The Female Man by Joanna Russ
35. Flesh and Spirit by Carol Berg — started, didn’t finish
36. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
37. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
38. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
39. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
40. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
41. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
42. The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington
43. Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.
44. Hild by Nicola Griffith — read 9/2019
45. His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik — read 5/2017
46. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
47. The House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferré
48. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
49. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
50. Ink by Sabrina Vourvoulias
51. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
52. The Island of Eternal Love by Daína Chaviano
53. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke — Reviewed here
54. Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear
55. The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin — Have read other books by author, not this one
56. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
57. Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling
58. Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
59. The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley
60. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
61. Moving the Mountain by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
62. Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi
63. My Christina & Other Stories by Mercè Rodoreda
64. My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due
65. Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin
66. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern — read 4/2020
67. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler — read 2/2017, reviewed here
68. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
69. The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
70. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
71. The Red by Linda Nagata
72. Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
73. Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire — read 8/2019
74. Salt Fish Girl by Larissa Lai — read 11/2020
75. The Second Mango by Shira Glassman
76. Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold — read 10/2016
77. Shikasta by Doris Lessing
78. The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge
79. Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh
80. So Far from God by Ana Castillo
81. Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho — read 9/2018
82. Soulless by Gail Carriger
83. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell — read 6/2017
84. The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon — read 8/2016, reviewed here
85. Spirits of the Ordinary by Kathleen Alcala
86. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel — read 6/2021, reviewed here
87. A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar
88. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
89. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
90. Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
91. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
92. Valor’s Choice by Tanya Huff
93. War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
94. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
95. Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
96. Wicked As They Come by Delilah S. Dawson
97. Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy — read 12/2020
98. The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet and Other Stories by Vandana Singh
99. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
100. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
As far as books that could have been on this list but aren’t, I’d suggest two that I’ve read and enjoyed:
• The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper — Still one of my all-time favorite YA fantasy series. Magic and prophecy drawn from Arthurian and Celtic mythology in modern-day Britain. If Cooper wasn’t a huge influence on J.K. Rowling, I’d be amazed.
• The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker — A beautiful, atmospheric slow-burn story of mythological beings meeting by chance in fin-de-siรจcle New York. A great allegory for immigration, culture shock, and what it means to call a strange new place your home.
How many of these 100 have you read, and where would you recommend I start with the ones I haven’t? And what other books and authors would you nominate?