Can anyone recommend some SciFi books with well written female characters?
I’ve recently read Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie and am looking for well constructed, non male, well thought out characters.
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds
Honor Harrington or Safehold by David Weber.
I had so much fun reading The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. It is squarely in the fantasy genre. Not SciFi like you’re asking for. But I can’t recommend it enough.
Amina is a very rare character: she is simultaneously an older woman, a single mom, a pirate, a lover, and a legendary hero. Chakraborty does an admirable job of balancing all these different aspects of her main character’s personality. The story is bombastic and fun, the supporting characters are charming, the setting is historical and fantastic all at once. This book is incredible, I could not put it down.
I have heard good things about the audio book. I read it in text form though, so I can’t confirm that myself.
S. A. Chakraborty’s The Deavabad Trilogy is also great, and has a female protagonist. I am looking forward to starting her next series.
- Silo series by Hugh Howie
- Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (Young adult dystopian scifi)
- Across the Universe by Beth Revis (Young adult)
- Bird Box by Josh Malerman (apocalyptic thriller)
- Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (fantasy, not scifi, but I’m digging up stuff from when I used to read more prolifically)
- Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds. I read this so long ago, and I feel like their were some great female characters, but I can’t remember if any were the protagonist. Each novel shifts around.
The “Broken Earth” series by N.K Jemesin
I liked the Academy/Priscilla Hutchins series by Jack McDevitt. Character drama isn’t necessarily a big part of it, partly because most people act like real humans (for sci-fi) and it’s more about the space exploration angle and, on the series level, about how that changes over time.
Damn, took mine. Although thanks for saving me a google, since I have a terrible memory. Not a female, but very similar stories are his Alex Benedict series.
The Bel Dame series by Kameron Hurley is good. It starts with God’s War.
Xenobiologist Kira Navárez in To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars might not win feminist awards, but I really liked her, the world building and the story. IIRC, it was relatively clean of overly sexist BS.
I was going to suggest this book! It’s my favorite scifi book of all time, I genuinely love it.
And if you go for the audiobook version, it’s narrated by Jennifer Hale! Who of course fucking nails it!
Did you already know the Inheritance Cycle before you listened to the book?
I did! I loved them as a kid, that’s why I tried out To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars because I like Paolini
Gideon the Ninth?
Takes like 5 chapters for it to find it’s feet but it’s lesbian necromancers and swordfighters in space with a very snarky point of veiw character.
It’s kind of more scifi fantasy but a good time.
Less scifi and more fantasy, I just finished The Priory Of The Orange Tree and I highly recommend
And just want to add A Great And Terrible Beauty as another Fantasy book that is a wonderful read (series)
I see lots of good picks here, a few of my favourites books mentioned… I love The Expanse in particular, but “Pushing Ice” by Alastair Reynolds had a better focus on complex female characters.
Echoing what others have already said here: The Expanse. The depth and quality of pretty much all the main characters is great. And there are several fantastic female characters who are strong, smart, and wonderfully written.
Seveneves, tho it is written by a dude. Great characters tho.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.
Would fantasy fit the bill? If so I can recommend The Warden and Necrobane by Daniel Ford.
If we’re including fantasy, my vote is for the Wheel of Time series.
