Looking for recommendations...

efreysson · Aug 25, 2008

Fantasy stories about big musclemen or farmboys-turned-chosen-one saving the day pretty much grow on trees, but what about one with a female protagonist? I'm just don't think there are enough cool action-heroines out there and I'm having the hardest time finding any. Could my fellow AW-ers extend a helping hand, please? My gratitude will be your reward.

And I'm talking action-adventure here, not the urban fantasy wish-fulfillment shtick about a magic-wielding lady beset by gorgeous vampire suitors.

Pthom · Aug 25, 2008

Not a muscle woman of the likes of Wonder Woman, but you have read Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart and sequels? The heroine, Phaedra, definitely saves the day.
Over and over and ...

But it's a good read.

Fillanzea · Aug 25, 2008

How about Elizabeth Moon's "Deed of Paksennarion"?
Going out on a limb here, because it's pomo and weird and 1100 pages long and rather hard to find in the U.S., but "Ash: A Secret History" by Mary Gentle is one of my favorite books ever, about a female mercenary captain who hears a voice in her head instructing her on military strategy.
There's Tamora Pierce, too, though she writes YA.

Doodlebug · Aug 25, 2008

efreysson said:
I'm just don't think there are enough cool action-heroines out there and I'm having the hardest time finding any.

Here here!!!

I wholeheartedly agree!

You say that you are looking for action-adventure, and I'm not 100% sure that these will fit your idea of swashbuckling A&A ala Xena Warrior Princess, but these books have strong females in them:

- Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress
- The Scar by China Mieville
- most any book by Octavia Butler
- The Moon and the Sun by Vonda McIntyre
- Sunshine by Robin McKinley

FennelGiraffe · Aug 25, 2008

Have you tried Green Rider, First Rider's Call, and High King's Tomb, by Kristen Britain? It's traditional pseudo-medieval fantasy, with a female protagonist who kicks some serious butt.

Tachyon · Aug 25, 2008

Pthom said:
Not a muscle woman of the likes of Wonder Woman, but you have read Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart and sequels? The heroine, Phaedra, definitely saves the day.
Over and over and ...

But it's a good read.

I just picked up Kushiel's Justice from the library today, totally not realizing it was part of a series ... so I'm going to have to read the first ones before I start this one, I suppose.

I enjoyed Lisa Shearin's Magic Lost, Trouble Found and sequel Armed and Magical with more to come.

Pthom · Aug 25, 2008

Tachyon said:
I just picked up Kushiel's Justice from the library today, totally not realizing it was part of a series ... so I'm going to have to read the first ones before I start this one, I suppose.

Yes, you will. The stories are well writ, and possibly may stand alone, but they really do follow one another in series. Seriously. Start with Kushiel's Dart.

MattW · Aug 25, 2008

I've seen many more female main characters done poorly than well. Kushiel series is a good one.

In frequency of highest to lowest it goes: farm-boy adolescents, musclemen, believable males, unrealistic females, real females.

Broadswordbabe · Aug 26, 2008

Try Terry Pratchett. Seriously. You want arse-kicking heroines? Angua. Not only that but middle aged arse-kicking heroines? Granny Weatherwax. Nanny Ogg. All that, philosophy and humour too.

But you're right, there's a serious shortage.

Sarpedon · Aug 26, 2008

I thought that Granny Weatherwax was a senior citizen.

Broadswordbabe · Aug 26, 2008

Tell you what...you tell her.

waylander · Aug 26, 2008

And we'll watch......from a distance

J. Andrews · Aug 26, 2008

Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks. First of a series.

K_Woods · Aug 26, 2008

I've been rereading The Hero and the Crown lately, and I think it would meet your criteria, with one caveat: it moves slowly.

More toward sword-and-sorcery, there's the Slayers series of novels, told in first person by the quick-tempered and somewhat snarky protagonist, Lina Inverse. These are lighter in tone and quick reads (and skew toward YA).

Mr Flibble · Aug 26, 2008

waylander said:
And we'll watch......from a distance

Bags I stand behind Detritus.

efreysson · Aug 26, 2008

Well, based on some of these suggestions I've been picking out some books for my next amazon.com purchase. I was kind of hoping for more replies and more options, but I guess there really is a dearth of good action heroines.
I'll have to make do with what I can get. Thanks everyone.

Karen Duvall · Aug 26, 2008

If you don't mind contemporary, I'm highly partial to Rachel Caine's Weather Warden series that features a kick-butt heroine. Love, love, love those books! But it is urban fantasy, just none of the traditional tropes like vamps and weres. The magic is highly unique and bizarre as it relates t the weather. I also love the Zodiac series by Vicki Petterson. This is contemporary as well, featuring superheros, and the main character is an awesomely tough heroine. This series is a favorite of mine as well.

Evaine · Aug 27, 2008

Who wrote The Blue Sword? Was it Robin McKinley? Because that was a good story with a female protaganist, and in a slightly unusual fantasy world, kind of based around the British Raj and desert shieks.

K_Woods · Aug 27, 2008

Yes, The Blue Sword was written by Robin McKinley, and I can't believe I forgot to mention that she also wrote The Hero and the Crown. Oops. Both of those are set in the same universe; The Blue Sword was written first but takes place hundreds of years later.

It's been a long time since I read The Blue Sword, especially since I don't own a copy, but remember Harry being a more passive heroine than Aerin. Probably still (realistically) tougher than most fantasy heroines on the market, though.

Marko Kloos · Aug 27, 2008

Ellen Kushner's "The Privilege of the Sword" is not bad at all.

Pthom · Aug 27, 2008

I just read a rather nice YA story: The Eye of the Wolf, by Troon Harrison
It features a young female protagonist who ... well, just read it.

ETA: this isn't fantasy, per se, as it's listed as a SF novel, but it is very soft SF, and to me, has very fantasy-like flavor.

badducky · Aug 27, 2008

The first place you should peek for a book rec is the AW Library.

Victoria Strauss has a few books you might be interested in, for instance.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=93

Kirby · Aug 28, 2008

I'm reading Inkheart. The protagonist is little Meggie who, like her father, can read things out of books.

Shweta · Sep 1, 2008

I made a short list here.

Copying, cause I'm lazy:

Terri Windling, The Wood Wife
R.A. Macavoy, Tea with the Black Dragon
Lois McMaster Bujold, Paladin of Souls (technically a sequel to The Curse of Chalion)
Emma Bull, War for the Oaks
Steven Brust's Jhereg books
Garth Nix, Sabriel
Robin McKinley, Beauty or Sunshine (or anything else)
Patricia Wrede, Mairelon the Magician
Caroline Stevermer, A College of Magics
Wrede and Stevermer, Sorcery and Cecelia
Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle
Ursula Le Guin, The Tombs of Atuan
Diane Duane, So You Want To Be A Wizard

Several of these are urban fantasy. They're not the urban fantasy you seem to be in hate with. I don't really read that.

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