Female Fantasy Authors

Females can write? Fantasy too?

I've only read Robin Hobb's books and one from Katherine Kerr. As for Hobb, I really loved Farseer Trilogy and the Tawny Man Trilogy (pretty much Fitz books). I wasn't very impressed by the Lifesheep Traders trilogy and, although, it really took me a while to get into The Soldier's Son trilogy, in the end I really liked it.

With Hobb, I was really impressed how she could write in first person and still describe the events from all over the realm either through Skill and Wit (Fitz books) or magic (The Soldier's Son). I find it interesting that very main characters in Hobb's first person books are males and she did a great job putting herself in that role when writing.

With Kerr's book, it took me a while to get into the whole same people living in different ages thing and I guess I should really read the whole series or at least a few more books to form an opinion on her writing.

So, in my opinion based on limited experience, there's no much difference between male and female writers when it comes to quality of the books. But my favourite writers are still males (GRR Martin, JRR Tolkien and from recent times Steven Erikson).

Billy should be able to provide more input on this topic - she read heaps of fantasy books written by females.

I have never read Trudi Canavan, nor heard of her, but I will keep an eye out for her books and give them a go.

I actually do think that fantasy books written by females are different to those written by males. I wouldn't say they are better or worse, just different. To me they are more . . . hmm . . . I always find this hard to explain, sort of more colourful and perhaps a bit more magical, whereas those written by men often tend to have more fighting scenes and more sort of . . . damn I can't think how to explain it. I guess male fantasy writers seem to have more narrative whereas females seem to have more description? I don't know, but I do know they are different. And of course you have those who don't fit what I've just said. There are always exceptions to any rule.

I have read and loved Katharine Kerr. I did worry that she would die before she finished that Evony series, but fortunately she didn't. I found her humorous and really enjoyed the plot. I guess the twists and turns and interconnected characters didn't really bother me. I read a lot because of my job and often I have to read stuff that is heavy and then I have to study it so for me reading fantasy or romance or anything other than classic literature is fun.

Robin Hobb is also great. The Liveship trilogy wasn't my favourite either but it was ok. The others were great. Like Pex said, it's great the way she is able to use first person point of view and yet still somehow manage to tell the complete story.

I also have read quite a bit by Fiona McIntosh. I think she is Australian. She is good, but at times really vivid, perhaps a little too vivid for me, especially in scenes that involve torture, but she tells a great story and I've enjoyed all the books I've read by her.

The other Australian female fantasy author I read was Sara Douglas. SHe's also good, but I can't say a lot about ehr because it was a long time ago I read her books. She wrote the Axis Trilogy and those books that followed that.

I have read some others, but can't remember them all. I read a lot.

I haven't read any of Anne McCaffrey's books. I also haven't read Ursula Le Guin's books either. It's funny, because two of them were always considered mothers of fantasy and I do love fantasy.

I appreciate when an author takes effort to tell us about the society that their world is based on and makes it a credible place, that, aside from magic and creatures, could exist and be sustainable. I always use Dragonlance as a bad example for credibility. Like you have two massive armies with dragons, how do you feed all those dragons?