Beyond Fantasy : Forum : Woman And Fantasy Writing


Women And Fantasy Writing

14 Years Ago


Unlike science fiction, plenty of women do seem to write in the fantasy genre. However, I'm surprised that even more do not do so. So far, I have not read any fantasy writing by female authors. Only on this site, actually. And there is a lot of talent out there, on this very site, just waiting to be unleased on an unsuspecting audience!

On a slightly more serious note, perhaps, what do you make of the few female writers who have succeeded in this genre? There are of course, the obvious recent examples, such as J. K. Rowling, but who else do you know of? In the near future, I may try reading some more stories by Ursula Le Guin or Tanith Lee. Would that be worthwhile, do you think?

[no subject]

14 Years Ago


Oh an absolutely amazing female fantasy writer is Marion Zimmer Bradley.  She wrote "The Mists Of Avalon".  She is a huge inspiration and although she is deceased she has many people sending in short stories as a contribution to her.  They came out with a "Sword and Sorceress" series that is wonderful!!!  She is a very gifted writer.

[no subject]

14 Years Ago


I don't usually remember an author after I've read a book,,,,,especially if i dn't have it or didn't like it. but the only one i can think of is stephanie meyers and i don't really like her series TWILIGHT but thts just me. female fantasy writers are usually enjoyable if u can find them though.........Francesca Lia Block is a good one and Lynn Ewing. I've read a lot of books by both. but you just have to look.

[no subject]

14 Years Ago


A really good fantasy writer which whose books I recently devoured is Melissa Marr. She writes about Fairies. At first I was susceptible about reading them, but once I started I couldn't stop. There are 3 books so far in the series; Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange and Fragile Eternity.
  

[no subject]

14 Years Ago


That sounds positive! I have not even heard of the women writers, mentioned in these replies! Do other Group members like these writers, I wonder? Or hate any of them, even?

So far, I have not read any of the "Twilight" novels. Nor, have I seen the film. I don't intend to try either, by the way!

[no subject]

14 Years Ago


I don't recall reading many fantasy novels written by women myself, many of my favourite fantasy novels such as 'The Sabriel Trilogy' and 'Firebringer' are written by men. Some of the most treasured pieces of literature are written by women, J.K Rowling for instance and "Frankenstein" which was in fact written by the talented Mary Shelley.

As for Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" I would not regard it as complete fantasy. It is in fact more of a romance novel in my opinion and I enjoyed it very much.

The reason I feel there are a limited number of women "fantasy" writers is because of the overpowering sexist attitude of men. There have been several cases in which women have been forced to use pen names (men names) to publish their works. Such as been seen in the writing styles of Charlotte Bronte who did not entirely write fantasy novels but had elements of the gothic genre's within her pieces such as Jane Eyre. Bronte herself quoted, "we veiled our own names under those of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell; the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women, because—without at that time suspecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not what is called 'feminine' -- we had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice."

Although this is not the ONLY reason behind a lack of women authors, especially in the fantasy genre, I feel it is a sufficient reason at that!

Re: Woman And Fantasy Writing

13 Years Ago


Women don't write science fiction?  What about Lois McMaster Bujold?  Emma Bull?  Elizabeth Bear?  C. J. Cherryh?  C. S. Friedman?  Anne McCaffrey?  Elizabeth Moon?  These are just a handful that come to mind without me looking at my bookshelves...  Women don't write much fantasy?  What about Elizabeth Haydon?  Jane Lindskold?  Robin Hobb?  Mary Gentle?  Barbara Hambly?  Yes, there was a time when many women usually needed to hide their identities behind male pen names.  And I still see the occasional idiot who wants to insist that "Girls can't write sci-fi!"  I see this attitude from women as well as men, by the way.  My friend Grace was briefly a member on a writers forum for women, and she left in disgust after reading, time and again, declarations that 'Women don't write science fiction because women don't read it because science and technology are unfriendly toward women and we don't get all that math stuff.'  She said that there was also a lot of insistence on that forum that women who write fantasy are actually just writing romances set in a pseudo-medieval realm because women don't care about anything but the love story anyway.  (I've heard that again and again from my own sister-in-law.)  So don't place all the blame on men for the problem; women are just as bad about telling women that they can't/shouldn't write in these genres.  Personally, I don't understand why anyone cares about the gender of the author.

Re: Woman And Fantasy Writing

13 Years Ago


I am astonished that no one so far has mentioned the goddess of female fantasy authors: Tamora Pierce. Her books (and she has written a LOT of them) all feature strong, realistic female leads. For instance, her Song of the Lioness quartet (her first published works) features Alanna of Trebond, a girl from the nobility with a Gift for magic and an ironclad will, who disguises herself as a boy in order to undergo the training to become a knight. In fact, Tammy recently just published another book, this one of short stories, called "Tortall and Other Lands." Any self-respecting young woman should have read at least one of her books. I discovered her books about ten years ago, and by now I own every book she has ever written, including an original copy of the first Alanna book from 1983. Go out and read her books now! I tell you, it will not be a waste of time!

Re: Woman And Fantasy Writing

12 Years Ago


I have found my self reading more and more female authors in the last few years. Kristin Cashore. Robin Hobb. Michelle Sagara. Trudi Canavan. Carol Berg. to name a few. I think fantasy writing is steadily being dominated by women authors and I don't mind too much. They bring a new perspective to the genera, especially with Female protagonists.

A number of the male authors I've read have a bad habit of making their female protagonists too winy and b***h, this is not a absolute but it common enough. Few male authors are able to portray a strong female lead, like Vin from the Mistborn series. With the exception of a few moments of doubt, angry, and pain, she is a very confident and kick a*s women.

Unfortunately the women authors I've read tend to include more sex and not just sex graphic sex. Be it unfolding before your eyes, or speaking about it in retrospect. Don't get me wrong sex has it's place in books, it's a great device to use. Just some go to far, I don't remember the authors name but it was a women and I ended up skipping two three pages at a time. At least every other chapter had a sex scene in graphic detail that was an average of three pages long. If the story hadn't been good I would of put it down long before the end.

Now too graphic sex isn't limited to women authors. I just think it's more prevalent in the ones I've read. At the moment I can only think of one Male author I've read that had a graphic sex scene and it was once in a 12 book series.

Ok that's my 2 cents.

Re: Woman And Fantasy Writing

12 Years Ago


There are so many excellent women fantasy writers! I'm surprised you haven't read many! Many of my favorites are categorized as young adult writers, but good fiction transcends age groups. Meredith Ann Pierce (Birth of the Firebringer, Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood), Susan Cooper (The Dark is Rising, Seaward), Ursula LeGuin, Madeleine L'Engle (Murray books), Andre Norton (Witchworld), Patricia McKillip (Riddlemaster, etc.), Robin McKinley (The Blue Sword), Pat O'Shea (Hounds of the Morrigan), Jacqueline Carey (Kushiel books), Patricia Wrede, Robin Hobb...maybe I'll stop there. They may not all be your style, but there's a lot of diverse styles out there. I don't even consider the Twilight books to be fantasy. I think they are supernatural romance, end of story. So are a lot of the so-called YA Fantasy coming out now. :( I haven't posted much of my own fantasy, because so far it is a massive body of stories that are all interlinked and are constantly being elaborated. Maybe soon.

Re: Woman And Fantasy Writing

11 Years Ago


my altime favorite female author is Tamora Pierce so of course i have to mention her^_^ i also like Cashmore and a few other. tho i can't think of their names because i usually know the book by the name and not the title. :P