Women’s History Month

It is upon is for another day or so! And in honor of that, I wanted to point out a problem. Which is that, when I ask for high fantasy or second-world fantasy recs, I inevitably get the same three white guys.

It’s fine, they’re great I’m sure, but I already know who they are thank you.

Sometimes I’ll get men other than The Three, but it’s all still men.

Where are the women in high fantasy? They’re not hiding. They’re just waiting for you to pick them up. So let’s talk about some greats today, new and old.

Is your fave missing? Tell me in the comments!

Female fantasy

Robin Hobb

Best known for her Assassin’s Apprentice (Farseer) series, Hobb is a master of traditional sword & sorcery, with lots of fighting, magic, and kickass characters.

Kate Elliott

A master of craft. Her Court of Fives trilogy is one of the best examples of worldbuilding in YA I’ve ever read. She also writes tons of books for adults.

N.K. Jemisin

Winner of the Hugo, the Nebula, the everything, Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy is one of the ones that every white guys will recommend.

Mercedes Lackey

Another master of classic epic fantasy. We’re talking sword fights, magic, horses, oh my!

Ann Leckie

She’s a cross-genre master, with her famous Ancillary Justice series in science fiction, but also the famous The Raven Tower solidly in the fantasy world.

Megan Whalen Turner

The Queen’s Thief series is a favorite of many a fantasy author, and has been touted as one of the best examples of hiding things in plain sight.

S.A. Chakraborty

Technically not second-world, but Chakraborty’s portal fantasy City of Brass charmed me immediately. One of the best trilogies I’ve ever read.

Saara El-Arifi

Arifi is new on the scene and already has three books under her belt, two about a magical caste system and one faerie romance I’m dying to dig into.

Tamora Pierce

A legend in the YA space, Tamora writes empowered female characters in an epic setting.

Susan Dennard

Susan came on the scene with a historical zombie horror, but her Truthwitch series, an epic fantasy for YA, has dominated the second-world space for teens.

Andrea Stewart

Stewart’s Drowned Empire trilogy has one of the cleverest magic systems I’ve ever read, and plenty of epic and war.

Diana Wynne Jones

Last, because she is the queen, is Diana, my favorite. Mother of British fantasy and a couple dozen fabulous novels ranging from high fantasy to portal fantasy to grounded fantasy. No list is complete without her. Her lesser known Dalemark quartet is high fantasy across generations of wizards.

It is done!

But not really. There are so many I haven’t named. And this is just high/second-world fantasy. Remember that women—all kinds and colors of women—writers exist, and are writing banging stuff.

It’s not all Sanderson. I promise.

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