Realm of the Elderlings is my favorite series of all time and its written by a woman, but every other book series ive read that ive liked has been written by a man. Not sure how to describe how most books I tried written by woman in the past felt other than the audience not feeling like me. Realm of the elderlings I never had this issue, I enjoyed following the female protoganists and the fool even if I dont identify with how they feel, so I think its not necessarily the main character being a male for half the series being why I like it.
I just typically dont like men written by woman like woman rightfully dont like woman written by most male authors, since it tends to be done poorlly. Looking for series/authors that do a good job of representing both genders and writing for them, not misrepresenting either or acting like its the only thing that defines them and all their actions.
I hadn’t really considered the sex of the authors in what I’ve read, but looking at my shelves and picking some feminine names in the genre:
- Jacqueline Carey’s Godslayer duology (Absolutely amazing. Plays with themes of morality, religion, and war with a deep lore to bring it to life) I’ve only read the first two of her Kushiel’s Legacy series but I’ve enjoyed those as well.
- Trudi Canavan’s Highlord’s Apprentice trilogy (not the hardest or heaviest read but quite fun)
- Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman’s Death Gate Cycle (7 books, massive story with woven storylines and a wild lore creating a world with its own redefined science)
Saga of the Borderlands (La Saga de los Confines) by Liliana Bodoc is my personal favorite, it’s story is settled in a continent similar to the pre Columbian American, i absolutly love it and highly recomend it!
I’m currently reading Babel by RF Kuang, which definitely can’t be described as woman-centric (indeed, a major criticism is that its female characters are relatively shallow and few and far between). Good book though.
If you want an old classic to try, give Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees a go. Very unique and fairly influential cult classic from 1926.
I really like Diane Duane’s books.
100% agree on this recommendation. Her Young Wizards / “So you want to be a wizard?” makes almost the exact opposite choices as the Harry Potter series does (magic is a choice not inherited at birth, Wizards feel responsible towards the rest of the world instead of wanting to ignore it completely, they learn on their own with their magic tome and some informal tutors instead of going to a school).
Margaret Weis and Robin Hobb would like a word.
Robin Hobb wrote the series OP is talking about….
Could you be more specific about which books did not resonate? I read pretty widely and don’t usually notice jarring differences. There are only a handful of men who I noticed really couldn’t write female characters, most modern authors can. In fantasy & sci-fi at least.
Maybe my issue is avoiding popular books and going for the niche ones, I typically seek out hard magic systems and progression fantasy where it definitely is lacking
Like the lesbian necromancers in space? I can see that. I love the Kushiel books but can tell they’re written by a woman.
In sort of alternate history fantasy where I think there is no jarring gender stuff:
I’ve been reading the Katherine Kerr Deverry books, they are old but I think you might like those. The YA ones starting with The Thief of Attolia, if you haven’t read those, is delightful, and doesn’t take much time. Robin Hobb, but you already found her, and definitely Naomi Novik as recommended by others. I like most all the Django Wexler books, he’s a dude but writes from both men’s and women’s perspectives seamlessly. Katherine Kerr, Robin Hobb, and Naomi Novik write from the perspective of non-human characters too, that might be something to look for when you are looking for a writer who can change perspectives.
The Folk Of Air series by Holly Black.
Its not high fantasy but the Greenbone Saga is pretty damn good and written by a woman. As a dude I didn’t feel like it was targeted at women or men.
The Shepherd King series by Rachel Gillig
City of Brass series by S. A. Chakraborty
The Dark Gods series by Tara Sim
I read Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series around the same time I read ROTE and really enjoyed them both.
I was also going to give a shout out to Novik, absolutely adore the Temeraire series.
Some excellent suggestions in here already but I’ll add Lois McMaster Bujold’s brilliant World of the Five Gods series. She says they can be read in any order you like but I read the Curse of Chalion then Paladin of Souls, then The Hallowed Hunt then all the other ‘Penric’ related novellas - so publication order in other words. The series won a Hugo award a few years ago.
Edit: if anyone is looking to fill the Fitz shaped hole in their lives, Curse of Chalion is particularly good.
Ill check it out, the naming sense alone is solid
The Broken Earth Trilogy was written by a woman.
This is such a good series.
Have you tried Ursula Le Guin? Her Earthsea stuff really grabbed me when I was younger.
I really like Martha Wells, in particular the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy is mostly female protagonist led, but reasonable depictions of everyone and has really great world building
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon is a great epic feeling fantasy read. I recommend it heartily; I believe it’s her first book (?) but it’s incredibly well written and immersive.
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson was a step out of my own comfort zone, since I don’t typically prefer real world settings, but I enjoyed it immensely. It’s set in basically the current era, and the main character is a hacker who ends up accidentally getting involved in a magical hidden world.
The Shades of Magic series by V. E. Schwab is a lot of fun. Alternate universe fantasy with tons of magic.
