Looking for fantasy action heroines

efreysson · Mar 4, 2009

I posted a thread like this some months ago, asking people to recommend fantasy stories with ass-kicking female protagonists (there being such a tragic lack of such). By now I've read some of the suggested material, and rejected the rest, and now I'm looking for more.

Oh, and please note I'm NOT looking for urban fantasy female masturbation material about lady magic-users beset by smarmy, hot vampire suitors/stalkers.

Just . . . not.

Mr. Chuckletrousers · Mar 4, 2009

Do you have a link to the earlier thread so we don't reinvent the wheel?

TheIT · Mar 4, 2009

Any of the Chicks in Chainmail anthologies.

Claudia Gray · Mar 4, 2009

On the off chance that nobody before named Katsa from Graceling, I'll suggest her here.

efreysson · Mar 4, 2009

Mr. Chuckletrousers said:
Do you have a link to the earlier thread so we don't reinvent the wheel?

Good point.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113867&highlight=fantasy+heroines

dclary · Mar 4, 2009

http://www.acole.com/novels/anteros/rali.html

That's the opening of the book, and it's a good one, about the captain of an all-woman guard, and their battles against an evil sorceror threatening her homeland.

"A Warrior's Tale" by Alan Cole.

Maryn · Mar 4, 2009

There's always Brienne from George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, which starts with A Game of Thrones.

Maryn, not really a fantasy reader

TheIT · Mar 4, 2009

The Oathbound and Oathbreaker books by Mercedes Lackey. Set in the same universe as Valdemar, but in a different country. Main characters are female warrior and female wizard (Tarma and Kethry). I think there's a third book, too, but I can't recall the title offhand.

Greg Wilson · Mar 4, 2009

Jim C. Hines' The Stepsister Scheme, just out from DAW, would seem to be a prime example of this--think Snow White meets Charlie's Angels. Of course, you could also always try this book I heard of called The Third Sign, with a compelling warrior princess character, coming soon from this promising author Gregory A. Wilson...

*ducks*

Greg

Fenika · Mar 4, 2009

Not quite ass kicking, but certainly getting there is Hilde in Ilfayne's Bane by Julia Knight (AWer IdiotsRUs). The sequel should also be to your liking, but won't be out til this fall at the earliest.

Also, Three Days til Dead by Kelly Meding (AWer ChaosTitan) which is also not out until the fall.

Stunted · Mar 4, 2009

Lyra in His Dark Materials

Sabriel in Abhorson

uh...

Those are both children/YA books, so I don't know if that's what you want?

Parametric · Mar 4, 2009

Joe Abercrombie's upcoming fantasy novel Best Served Cold has a female mercenary as the protagonist and promises violence, violence and for a change of pace, violence. You can read the opening here (warning: gory). Abercrombie is sweet, sweet genius. *loves*

cubed · Mar 4, 2009

Just don't read Twilight...

efreysson · Mar 4, 2009

Stunted said:
Those are both children/YA books, so I don't know if that's what you want?

No, it's not. I'm 26.

cubed said:
Just don't read Twilight...

Don't worry, I won't.

veinglory · Mar 4, 2009

You've said what you don't want, but not what you do. I think females that can kick ass (physical violence or more general?) when necessary is a pretty large category.

Jeremy · Mar 4, 2009

I'm reading the Mistborn Trilogy right now, and Vin seems like the type of heroine you're looking for. I can't say too much about what she does without spoiling anything, but she seriously kicks some ass.

Liosse de Velishaf · Mar 4, 2009

TheIT said:
The Oathbound and Oathbreaker books by Mercedes Lackey. Set in the same universe as Valdemar, but in a different country. Main characters are female warrior and female wizard (Tarma and Kethry). I think there's a third book, too, but I can't recall the title offhand.

There's Oathblood, a collection of shorter stories, and also By the Sword, which features a female heroine.

Shadow_Ferret · Mar 4, 2009

TheIT said:
Any of the Chicks in Chainmail anthologies.

That's an actual anthology? And plural, meaning more than one?

Must.Visit.Bookstore.

TheIT · Mar 4, 2009

Shadow_Ferret said:
That's an actual anthology? And plural, meaning more than one?

Must.Visit.Bookstore.

Yep, edited by Esther Friesner. Chicks in Chainmail is the first, followed by Did You Say Chicks? and The Chick is in the Mail. I think there are others, too. Good selections of stories from humorous to serious.

The nice thing about these is that some of the stories refer to characters the authors have used in other novels, so you might be able to find more stories about the same characters.

TheIT · Mar 4, 2009

For short stories, there's also Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress anthologies. There are a whole bunch of those.

efreysson · Mar 4, 2009

veinglory said:
You've said what you don't want, but not what you do. I think females that can kick ass (physical violence or more general?) when necessary is a pretty large category.

Well, I mean action-wise. And I'm not hung-up on any particular subgenre; I can enjoy most any kind of action-oriented fiction, as long as it's well written.
Well, as long as it's well written for ADULTS. Like I've said, I'm not looking for YA.

mscelina · Mar 4, 2009

*subtly points at banner in siggy line*

I understand there's some serious ass kicking by the protagonist in the series that banner is a part of...

*never resists a shameless plug*

Fenika · Mar 4, 2009

Ah yes, I forgot Celina. She's on my to-read list

ChaosTitan · Mar 4, 2009

Bahamutchild said:
Also, Three Days til Dead by Kelly Meding (AWer ChaosTitan) which is also not out until the fall.

Want to know something funny? I remember when the OP posted the first thread last August, and I really wanted to say something then. Only contracts weren't finalized, so the deal hadn't really been announced yet. :tongue

As for a couple other authors to recommend: CE Murphy, Jeaniene Frost (careful though, there be vamps), Jordan Summers, Kim Harrison, Ann Aguirre.

rugcat · Mar 4, 2009

T.A. (Tim) Pratt's Marla Mason series, starting with Blood Engines. Now available as a free ebook, btw. (See my recently posted Random House Free Ebook thread)

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