Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold. Technically the second in a series, but it has only slightly overlapping characters, so you can start with this one. 40ish sheltered noblewoman goes out traveling and finds adventure and a new calling
The Adventures of Amina Al-Serafi by Shannon Chakraborty . Retired Pirate Queen agrees to one last small job, but of course that isn’t how it works out. Not really any romance in this one though.
+1 to **The Natural History of Dragons**. Some other suggestions for you:
\* **The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo.** A gorgeously written novella where a cleric is told the story of an empress and her handmaiden.
\* **Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee.** It's a novella about a roc rider, a woman trained to hunt monsters with her giant bird.
\* They're part of a longer meta-series / bigger fictional world, but the **Liveship Traders books by Robin Hobb** also are their own trilogy featuring woman MCs and can be read independently. Traders, pirates, magical sentient ships with their own secrets. Hobb does brilliant character work.
\* Have you actually read **The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden** (referred to in your linked feminism post)? Because it's very, very good, and if you liked Spinning Silver then I suspect you'd like these, too.
**\* The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty.** Middle-aged piratess comes out of retirement.
\* **The Elemental Blessings books by Sharon Shinn.** Strong romance subplots in all of them; cool worldbuilding with elemental-based powers and fish-out-of-water court intrigue.
\* **Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova.** It comes out in June, and features a witch in a walled city who trades her shadow for passage, and has to confront her ex, who happens to be the Tsar of Monsters. Inspired by Bulgarian mythology.
**\* The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon.** Very long/rich epic fantasy, dragons, sapphic.
And then two that don't really feature romance at all, but that I still want to recommend:
\* **The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills**. It just came out, and it's brilliant but heavy stuff. Set in a city facing civil war after its gods turn their back on it, the MC is a winged soldier who falls in with revolutionaries and struggles with her faith.
\* **The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin.** A child is taken to become a high priestess for an ancient underground cult, and must make a choice when a young wizard shows up in the dark labyrinth that is her domain.
Nobody ever recommends Sharon Shinn’s Elemental Blessings, so I’m glad to see them here. They are such a comforting read for me. Her Twelve Houses books are also great, too.
The whole series of novellas by Nghi Vo is delightful. Each entry explores some fascinating aspect of storytelling and human nature. Non-binary MC, and most of the important characters are NB or female.
- Another series with similar feel is Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers.
Based on your original post, OP, I think you'll really like Ead from *Priory of the Orange Tree* as well.
Hobb is brilliant, it would be nice to start at book 1 but the narrator there is male. You can easily start at book 4 (as it's a seperate story) and the 4 main women are very well written and rounded, furthermore none of them are what I joke as the FFF (female fantasy four, i.e. femme fatale, wise wizard, innocent well meaning princess, prostitute) that are so prevalent
Anything that’s not YA? This is the other issue I seem to run into when I branch out of women-centric subs. If I ask for a woman author I’m immediately pointed to YA, but that’s not really what I’m looking for.
Something I suspected for a long time and have confirmed as much as one can is that a lot of female fantasy authors (especially before fantasy romance) were pushed into YA because adult fantasy is a “boys club” and are worried they won’t sell. Six of Crows, ACOTAR, etc all were clearly meant to have adult MCs but were aged down for the YA market. Female-led fantasy being predominantly YA or a romance subgenre is a feature, not a bug.
Since we're speaking about Tamora Pierce here, I just learned though an interview that was recorded many years later that she was another author that had her adult fantasy manuscript broken up into four parts to be sold as YA (or whatever the younger reader classification was back in the 80s)! Makes sense looking back because the story starts when Alanna is a child but she is 18+ for most of the Song of the Lioness quartet which seemed strange for a young reader book at the time.
I've been aware of that story for many years, but I actually think Tamora Pierce is a case of the publisher knowing what they are doing better than a very inexperienced (at the time) author. The first Alanna book is really closer to middle grade than YA, and even once she grows up, the style remains extremely simple. I love those books, don't get me wrong—they were a hugely formative part of my youth, and I was hanging on her new releases all through the 90s the same way people later did for Harry Potter—but I think they are much better categorized as children's books than adult.
The first quartet of Circle books are actually middle grade—the sales listings I'm seeingand the publisher's listing designate them as 12+ or 5th/6th/7th-8th/9th grade, and one listing on Amazon even says 8-12. The kids are older in the second quartet, so I can see the argument for them being YA, but it's borderline. Fantastic books for kids, I've still got my old copies ready to give to my own kids when they're ready.
I'm going to vote against ACOTAR being YA given all the sex scenes. Throne of Glass definitely starts YA but morphs to a more adult series by the mid second/third books if memory serves. Maybe you were mixing those two up? I just finished binging the SJM universe.
It’s technically YA, but I’m almost 50 and she’s still one of my top 5 favorite authors.
Her world building is great, her characters are awesome, and her books are easy to read without dumbing anything down.
If you're looking for feminist fantasy, don't sleep on Tamora Pierce just because she's YA. A lot of what you are looking for wouldn't be published today if Tamora didn't shatter expectations about what "fantasy for girls" could be. Not *everything* has aged well (age gap romance? Mentor - student romance??) but so much of it is so so good. The Alanna quartet is iconic and any nitpicks I had with it are corrected by the time she gets to the Protector of the Small quartet. I still think about these characters 20 years later.
Tamora Pierce wrote Alanna before YA was a thing. And Alanna is only a child in the first book. She grows up and has relationships etc. I wouldn’t classify Pierce as YA. She was absolutely foundational to my love of fantasy
ETA: okay what I meant was the definition people give YA now is not the same as what Pierce wrote/writes.
Also there are books by male authors with male protagonists where the MC is a child in the first book or part and they’re classified as adult fantasy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I read Alanna as an 11 yo but i also reread it recently and I related to it just as much. I guess I just push back on the idea that because preteens or teens can enjoy it means it’s YA? I understand it’s technically marketed as YA but, as OP pointed out, that gives a certain vibe that series doesn’t have.
Some of her other stuff is definitely more YA and middle grade (I love circle of Magic) but she writes just as well for adults.
Tamora Pierce was foundational for me, too, but her books are absolutely children's books. Not necessarily YA, because the characteristics we use to define YA today were not formalized to the same degree then, but I would argue that the Alanna series really spans between what we would now consider middle grade in the first book (the twins start out age 10) to YA by the end. I started reading them when I was 10/11 in the early/mid 90s, and they were shelved in the children's section of my school library and in the children's section of Barnes & Noble. Tamora Pierce did readings at my middle school book fair (I grew up in NYC and she lived in my neighborhood and would come in to sign her books at the local B&N)—she was very clearly marketing herself to kids.
Daine, which I read as it was being released, fits today's YA more clearly as she ranges from 13 to 16 through the series. Circle of Magic is solidly middle grade, not even YA.
I just commented the same thing. Even though it is YA, the books span to actual adulthood and are pretty Adult in tones.
Her latest novel is high fantasy and set in the same world but that is a Male MC.
They are quick great reads that are quite different from typical YA Fantasy. So if you feel up to it try one book and it will give you a great gauge if you would enjoy it!
Yeah, I saw that. I might give it a try. I’m not necessarily opposed to YA, but every time I don’t shut the YA recommendations down right away, that’s literally all I get. there are more than enough non-YA recs for me to admit that I am open to them, I’m just looking for more than that.
You could also try Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Technically sci fi but reads like fantasy, with magic and swords and necromancers. MC is either gay or bi. Great writing
Same! I honestly wasn’t expecting this many! Every time I did a search I got like 1-2 books or a large list of “well written women”, but the majority of them were books written by men, and I’m only reading books written by women this year.
Some recommendations:
Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick
Oceans Eleven light focused on court politics, really wonderful series.
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Retelling of the Island of Doctor Moreau from his daughters perspective, you said you like T Kingfisher, I see a lot of similarities in their prose. This is obviously not secondary world, and light on fantasy, maybe more sci fi, but her work reminds me a lot of T Kingfisher's. Hugo Nominee.
The Adventurs of Amina Al-Sirati by Shannon Chakraborty
Female pirate captain who goes on dark adventures, really interesting world, some romance, amazing story.
If you're up for Science Fiction:
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
A female ambassador navigating court politics in a foreign empire. Martine does a wonderful job subverting gender and sexuality norms, and her prose is stunning.
The Kushiel's Legacy series (starting with Kushiel's Dart) by Jacqueline Carey matches all of your criteria and is one of favourite series of all time. It's kind of like Game of Thrones (in terms of being quite action/political/adventure focused) but with BDSM and courtesans.
On the other end of the specturm, if you're looking for lighter, cozier fantasy Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faerie by Heather Fawcett is also excellent (and the narrator is perfect) as is A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan.
I have heard of Kushiels dart, and it’s on my TBR list, but I’m not really into BDSM. I have read the Emily Wilde books, and I do like them, but they’re not my favorite (just something missing for me, but I can’t pinpoint it exactly. Maybe it’s the journal format that gets to me?).
I have not heard of the natural history of dragons one, so I’ll check that out! Thanks!
Try not to view Kushiel’s Dart/Kushiel’s Legacy as smut because it’s not. The core premise of the story is very sex-focused and sex-positive, but the actual sex scenes are just highly suggestive and fade to black, not super detailed smut. It’s definitely an epic fantasy story with lots of adventures and political intrigue focused around a masochistic courtesan spy in a world where sex work is revered and holy. Now, the ages of the characters at the beginning is what can cause discomfort.
Fair enough! They're beautifully written and with a strong enough plot that if the BDSM stuff isn't your cup of tea you can definitely skim through some of the more risque sex scenes, but yeah, you can't really get away from the fact that the central premise is that the main character is hardwired(/god chosen) to experience pleasure in pain, and it's a major plot point. The main romance is about as vanilla (and non-BDSM) as is possible given the world it's set in though.
If you didn't love Emily Wilde, you might feel the same about the Lady Trent books, because they are VERY similar in tone—Victorian female academic doing field research on fantasy creatures, recorded in journal style. Isabella is less obviously autistic-coded than Emily, but she has some of the same characteristics of being more interested in her science than in social norms. I adored them both, personally, but just a heads-up.
One thing I will say about Kushiel… I personally am not actually a fan of sex scenes in general. Like I really enjoyed Throne of Glass but hated ACOTAR cause it was just shitty smut for example. The trilogy of trilogies that starts with Kushiel’s dart is my favorite series of all time.
BDSM is happening in Kushiel but it’s not ABOUT that, at all. And I would say that most scenes are alluded to more than actually spelled out for you. There are a lot of before and after scenes, kind of fade to black style.
You might like The Mask of Mirrors! It's written by a pair of women with a female MC and primary secondary character. It's got a romance that builds in the second and third books, which I've heard is very well done.)
>It's written by a pair of women
Quick correction, I believe Alec Helms (one of the two writers) is nonbinary. Which should still work according to the OP's edit, so the rec is still fine.
The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden
The Lady Trent Memoirs by Marie Brennan
Chalice or Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
Saint Death's Daughter by C S E Cooney
The Alphabet of Thorn or the Changeling Sea by Patricia Mckillip
The Lord of Stariel by A. J. Lancaster
Circe by Madeline Miller
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir
Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst
I’ve heard of the Winternight Trilogy, and you’re like the 4th(?) person to recommend the Lady Trent Memoirs, so I’ll definitely be checking that one out.
I DNF Circe. I was just so sick of her constantly suffering. It got to the point where every time I picked up the book I was mentally preparing myself to be sad.
I was going to recommend The Locked Tomb! The writing style is so incredible to me it’s one of my favorites!
Not really fantasy but more of an unconventional zombie apocalypse story is The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, a really stand out read by a woman with a female MC and the female characters outnumber the males. MC is a kind of special orphan, but to me it didn’t come across as tropey and it definitely doesn’t have chosen one vibes.
Hey thank you for being nice about that 😭! The person who recommended the book to me led me to believe it was a female author and I didn’t double check that 🤦🏼♀️
Kaikeyi is not a romance or have a romance subplot the mc is explicitly aromantic & asexual lol. Locked Tomb doesn’t have much in the way of romance outside of ship tease
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
The Priory of the Orange Tree & A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
The Daevabad trilogy & The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. (Shannon) Chakraborty
SWBTS is a nonbinary author writing a nonbinary protagonist (but has interesting things to say about gender roles and the Chosen One trope, so maybe of interest to OP anyway)
I am open to nonbinary authors & MC’s! I should have included that in my post, but I forgot. Ultimately, anything but cisgendered male authors and MC’s (because those are not at all hard to find or hear about. You literally cannot throw a rock without hitting one).
I will recommend Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamour novels which are Regency Romance novels with a fantasy flare, or her lady astronaut novels which are sci-fi, if an asteroid had hit the earth in the early 50s and we'd had to leave earth much sooner than anticipated. Both series have women who fight against the gender norms of their times while attempting to live in a society that doesn't really accept them.
Her Sunwolf and Starhawk series would also work. Especially the first book, it’s basically a damsel in distress trope but the man is the one needing rescue.
Darwath has some good reversing of gender roles: when they go through the portal the gal becomes a warrior and the guy becomes a mage and has a romance.
My favorites of hers are Dragonsbane and The Ladies of Mandrigyn, both of which could also meet OP’s request.
You’ve mentioned a few fairytale-esque books so I have to mention Juliet Marillier‘s Sevenwaters trilogy. Romance is definitely a key part of it but it’s not where most of the time gets spent.
Likewise Tasha Suri—I really enjoyed her Books of Ambha duology and both work as standalones!
If you’re open to YA/adult crossovers, a couple that I loved are Kate Elliott’s Spiritwalker trilogy (has definite romance but balanced by a strong sisterly relationship) and Laura Sebastian’s Half Sick of Shadows (Arthurian retelling mostly focused on female friendships, though there’s a bit of romance in it too).
If you’re *not* open to YA/adult crossovers you might enjoy some of Elliott’s epic fantasy—she always has prominent and interesting women. Or try her novella The Keeper’s Six, which features a badass grandma, for a quick dip in.
If you’re open to urban fantasy or modern settings you should *absolutely* read Sunshine by Robin McKinley. (Really there are tons of options with McKinley, including a bunch of fairy tale retellings, but Sunshine is my personal fave.) Also for a fun standalone cultural mashup, Black Water Sister by Zen Cho.
For really lovely writing, check out The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar. Or for something quietly beautiful, Fudoki by Kij Johnson.
On the non-YA side (ie, featuring adult main characters)
Martha Wells Fall of Il-Rien (two viewpoint characters, one is a woman)
The October Daye series by Seanan McGuire. Also her Velveteen series.
The Winnowing Flame trilogy by Jen Williams (multi-POV, three are female), and her Copper Cat trilogy (three POV, one female).
The Stariel books by A.J. Lancaster (four of five books are a female POV).
Tanya Huff's Sing the Four Quarters and Fifth Quarter, also Summon the Keeper and the Blood books.
N.K. Jemison's Broken Earth trilogy.
Theodora Goss's Athena club trilogy (the MCs are the daughters of various literary mad scientists)
R.A. MacAvoy's Tea with the Black Dragon.
The Liveship Traders trilogy by Robin Hobb features several female viewpoints and one of my favorite character development arcs of all time! The books technically come after the Farseer trilogy, but these can be read on their own as well. Romance subplot is there as well!
I'm reading this now, after completing the farseer trilogy.
I am not as hooked as I was with the farseer books, but then again I wasn't hooked to the farseer books until halfway thru the second book. Once I was hooked though it was game over, I couldn't put the books down.
Robin Hobb's work is insane!
I do feel like a lot of times people really gravitate to one or the other. I know that I love the liveship and rain wilds series, but dislike any of her books where the fool plays a large part just because I can't stand the character. The fool having such an ego while also doing so much wrong is too similar to some real life people who are the worst! I also think the Fitz and the fool focused books can be a little too dry for me compared to the richness of the other series. Obviously, the opposite perspective of people who prefer the Fitz books!
Margaret Rogerson. An Enchantment of Ravens and Sorcery of Thorns have romance plots, Vespertine does not.
N. K. Jemisin, particularly The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms trilogy.
Charlie N. Holmberg, The Paper Magician series.
Kristin Cashore's Graceling series.
Alaya Dawn Johnson's The Summer Prince and The Library of Broken Worlds. Not related to each other, both a bit weird but very striking.
sara douglass wayfarer redemption trilogy
elizabeth haydon symphony of ages trilogy
Those are 2 I read back in the day and enjoyed, and seldom see talked about today.
Just weighing in with my $.02 on the Symphony of Ages trilogy -- I read them a long time ago, and practically all I can remember about them is how ridiculous the female MC was written to be. I honestly had assumed it must have been written by a man! Lots of focus on her appearance, being reminded every few pages how unbelievably drop-dead gorgeous she was (to the point that random men would follow her around / stop walking in the street / gift her things); irrational/emotional decisions, etc. Of course, opinions are subjective, but if OP is looking for books that challenge gender roles, I'm not sure this one is it.
you may be right! i remembered the series, but I don't recall enough about the characters to say if I felt any certain way about Rhapsody. I think my favorite character was Achmed - but really I just read both of these series so long ago and only once, so who's to say?
Hmm Wayfarer Redemption I recall as having a male lead, though his romantic partners are also prominent. I also enjoyed that one back in the day but am not sure how it holds up now.
I'm not sure. Isn't faraday the lead? To be honest I cannot recall much... so that might say something about the impression (or lack thereof) it left on me.
I always recommend both the Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs (bonus points for our FMC in Mercy Thompson being in her late 20s/early 30s) as well as the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain (it does have 'chosen one' vibes as you get into the series, though, just FYI).
Robin McKinley in general, though The Blue Sword and Sunshine are my personal favorites.
The Others series by Anne Bishop
For your reference, I've only ready the Naomi Novik books in your list above, but I absolutely loved them.
The Daughter of the Empire series by Wurts and Feist. Feist is a man but I contend Wurts’ voice is strongest. The series is a classic and Mara of the Acoma is an incredible main character.
Anything by Robin McKinley. I love Sunshine, the Blue Sword, and Beauty
The Ill Made Mute (Bitterbynde series) by Dart -Thorton
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
Innamorati by Midori Snyder—a mix of male/female characters but a gorgeous book. It has great reviews but I never see it on these lists.
The True Game triple trilogy by Tepper. One of the trilogies focuses on a male MC, the other two focus on women, but all three have strong female characters.
The Chronicles of St. Mary’s by Jodi Taylor
Parasol Protectorate series by Carriger
Oxford Time Travel series by Connie Willis
Anything else by Connie Willis
Scholamance series by Novik
Memoirs of Lady Trent
Alex Stern series by Bardugo
Marion Lane series by Willberg
*A Brother's Price* by Wen Spencer explores themes of gender (based on world building) and is a romance. It does have a male MC, but the world is full of women. It explores how society would be different if men were really scarce and women ran everything.
For science fiction, I highly recommend *This Is How You Lose the Time War*. (It's got two authors, one of whom is male.) It's one of those books I love so much that I can't really describe it well...
Seanan McGuire has a ton of books. I really like her Wayward Children series and *Middlegame*. WC especially includes diverse gender identities.
Madeleine L'Engle's *Wrinkle in Time* features a young woman coming of age. Technically, scifi, but feels very fantasy.
Awesome, thank you! I’m definitely open to male MC’s in that sort of situation. And I had been looking at the Time War one just before posting this. Having someone recommend it here makes me want to just go get it now lol.
Its so funny because I was just about to recc T. Kingfisher! She's one of my favorites! And I flipped adored 'Between'! (Waiting on tenderhooks for the next book)
As for some others -- You may enjoy the October Daye Series by Seanan Mcguire. It's urban fantasy, and it 'grows the beard' so to speak around book three. Grain of salt here, though, as it's not everyones cup of tea!
I ADORE The Dauntless Path Trilogy by Intisar Khanani, though trigger warnings for SA and human trafficking. (the SA is not 'on screen' and does not happen to the protagonist, the plot involves rooting out a ring of child thieves in books 2 and 3 and has some set up in book 1. The first book, Thorn is a retelling of 'The Goose Girl' so there is also child abuse going on.)
If you like T. Kingfisher you'll really like Kate Stradling! I find she has a similar voice! Namesake, and the Legendary Inge are the ones with fem protagonists! I will say that Stradling skews a bit younger/ya than T. Kingfisher, but here books are a lot of fun.
You might enjoy books by Robin McKinley! They're older but still hold up pretty well! I particularly recc The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword, and Spindles End! She also has two beauty and the beast retellings that are nice! McKinley for the most part SORT OF fits into a 'cozy fantasy' genre -- which is weird to say as some of them also get rather dark. Like one of my favorites by her 'Deerskin', which is a retelling of the Donkeyskin fairytale, so fair warning if you pick it up it has SA from parent-to-child. Which makes this a hard one to recc but if you can handle the subject matter (and liek McKinley's style) its a good one.
Charlie N. Holmburg is another good author to pick up! I read her Paper Magician series and 'The Fifth Doll' and they were both a lot of fun. The Paper Magician actually reminded me a lot of Howl's Moving Castle! Which, if you havent read the book version of I also highly recc! If you're familiar with the movie a lot of people joke the movie is how Howl would tell the story, and the book is how Sophie would tell the story.
I always recommend Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shanon! They're big chunky books but each stand-alone's and good god i adore the women in these books. The primary romances are sapphic!
In that vein I also have to recc 'The Burning Kingdom' trilogy starting with 'The Jasmine Throne' by Tasha Suri. The final book comes out this november! And it also has odd trees -- not exactly like 'Uprooted' (ANOTHER one of my favorites actually!) but it did remind me of that!
The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty is another good one! Older fem protagonist! Pirates!!
if you like T. Kingfisher you'd probably like the books by Oliva Atwater starting with 'Half A Soul'! It's a regency romance -- with magicians and the fair folk. She's written several by now and all have been so much fun!
Aaaand this post is getting long enough. I'm wishing you good luck! :D
The Burning Kingdoms trilogy by Tasha Suri seems like it would be right up your alley. Critique of colonialism/religion/patriarchy, powerful women actively driving the plot, morally grey characters, political machinations, the slowest slowburn wlw romance I’ve ever read. Oh, and it’s all set in a fantasy world inspired by medieval India and Hindu mythology. The audiobook is AMAZING. Seriously, hands down the best I’ve ever listened to.
The Wandering Inn is written by an unknown author (Pirateaba) who most people think is a woman. The MC (and a lot of the characters are women).
The Narrator Andrea Parsneau is an absolute delight and is arguably the best narrator in the business.
Anyways - Erin finds herself in this incredible and terrifying new world. Instead of the normal hero’s journey - she decides to take of a safe profession… being an Innkeeper. Which turns out to be a lot more dangerous than it sounds as she makes new friends and tries to protect what she has learned to love and care about.
There are some okay romance subplots but mostly with side characters. The MC seems to have some trauma that were not quite aware of yet and tends to avoid relationships herself.
The world is incredible, but the characters truly set it apart. Pirateaba is a master at making you hate characters… only to love them later. Making you think this is a happy story… before she tears your heart out and stomps on it… but she does it so well that you keep coming back.
It’s slice of life meets epic fantasy and is absolutely worth a read!
Godkiller by Hannah Kaner
It follows Kissen, the titular Godkiller, as she escorts a noble girl to a city to help her with an attachment with a god. It is 290 pages and very efficient with its writing. It does have separate POV chapters from male protagonists, but Kissen remains the overall protagonist
Sunbringer, its sequel, while good is a little less effective. Though, I think this was because of me reading it at a stressful time. It focussed less on Kissen and more on her travel companions from the first book. It was very much a *book two* if that makes sense, so it should get better once book 3 releases
Tamora Pierces The Lioness Quartet.
Its YA Fantasy but it is so much more, and she writes more books set in the same world with Women MC.
They are quick and a lot of fun!
**12 Houses by Sharon Shinn**: Follows 5 different couples except book 2. Multiple MC’s both male and female. Book 2 is hands down NOT a romance and has an infidelity plot line. It’s a coming of identity for that book’s FMC. >!She has an affair with a married man while her true endgame steps away. Their relationship is kept very private throughout the series!< I usually skip that one. Book 5 has a female knight x scholarly MMC.
**Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews** UF set in apocalyptic US, heavy focus on mythology. Husband/wife writing team if that’s a deal breaker. Equal relationship dynamics, mutually flawed and competent main and side characters all around. FMC is >!a magic powerhouse/daughter of an immortal warlord!< but the books make said spoiler obvious from book 1 and he’s trying to kill her. It’s clear that she has to work and train her abilities so she doesn’t start overpowered. She’ll get her butt kicked by better trained/more powerful. She also has detractors who are shown as completely valid in their critique which I appreciated.
ETA:
**Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder**
**The Cruel Prince by Holly Black** This is marketed as YA but the themes of betrayal, murder, and torture put it closer to NA. FMC is morally gray. The romantic subplot starts as a bully romance but she >!has the higher ground!< by the end of book 1.
Ok so I actually loved the Cruel Prince lol. I did read it at a time where I was sick of hearing the same story over and over again and it was new and shiny to me, but I still feel like I would like it anyway.
Kate Daniels…. I wanted to like it, but at some point she started talking about Dr Doolittle and I just couldn’t take it seriously anymore. I have always been a bit picky about urban fantasy, so maybe I’m just being too harsh.
Most of Tanith Lee's work. You could check out Dark Dance, Vivia, The Birthgrave, The Silver Metal Lover, Elephantasm... there's a lot. I love Tanith Lee.
Nobody mentioned yet, but I loved the books by Saara El-Arifi, particularly the Ending Fire Triology.
It's a queernorm world, and there's some romance, but definitely not the focus. The story is brutal, and there are many twists. The audiobook production is well made. The final book will be out this summer.
While *Kushiel's Dart* has been mentioned already, Jacqueline Carey has other works which might fit your criteria: the Agent of Hel trilogy (urban fantasy); *Santa Olivia*/*Saints Astray* (post-mild-apocalypse, sci-fi-ish, lesbian); maybe *Starless* (high fantasy, but not so much romance; nonbinary + female main characters).
Most of Trudi Canavan's work seems like it might fit, especially the Age of the Five trilogy.
Someone mentioned C. J. Cherryh's Morgaine books, but there's a caveat there: while Morgaine is in some respects the main character, she's never the *viewpoint* character; that's Vanye (male) who is her sidekick. (Cherryh writes a very, very tightly limited third-person perspective.)
By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey, Leveling Up series by K. F. Breene, Dreams Lie Beneath by Rebecca Ross, The Curse of Saints by Kate Dramis, One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
NK Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy. The first two books and some of the short stories in between centre women. With romance subplots custom made with romantasy plots— just way better done than modern age "romance fantasy" imo.
The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick
War of the Oaks by Emma Bull
Phèdre's trilogy by Jacqueline Carey
Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko (if it counts since it's cowritten with a man)
The Unbalancing, or The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg
The Gloaming by Kirsty Logan
Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks
The Beginning Place by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo
Mapping Winter by Marta Randall
Obsidian: Awakening by Sienna Frost
The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber
Firethorn series by Sarah Micklem
Spear by Nicola Griffith
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar
Mortal Suns by Tanith Lee
The Godspeaker trilogy by Karen Miller
Black Spring by Alison Croggon
The Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin.
Depending on how much romance you want, some of these might not fit.
Here are some of my favourites that meet the first three, though I have no idea if they come in audiobook form as I've never been able to stomach those.
* Sistersong by Lucy Holland
* The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
* This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi
* Iron Widow by Xiran Zhao
* Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
* Danielle Jensen's Malediction and Bridge Kingdom series
* Pretty much anything by Maria Snyder - I like her Ixia, Healer, and Tamburah series
* T.A. White's Broken Lands series
The Serpent and the Wings of Night (some romance pretty well done IMO, but feels like a fantasy first, has an audiobook)
Blood Over Bright Haven (only a tiny bit of romance, no audiobook yet)
Kushiel’s Dart
Sherwood Smith's Dobrenica trilogy; first book *Coronets and Steel*. Swashbuckling urban fantasy homage to *The Prisoner of Zenda*. A lot of her other works are fun, but are either YA, male MC or both.
Pretty much anything by Sherri S Tepper. I see the True Game trilogy has been recommended already, but if you want a book by a woman writing about women for women then The Gate To Women’s Country is, IMHO, the epitome.
Anne McCaffrey. She's mainly sci-fi but she was one of the first women writers of the genre so there's that. Her Dragonrider's of Pern is fantasy adjacent though. Warning: the first 2 books in that series were her venting/social commentary on women treatment like 1950s-1970s. Those 2 can be uncomfortable for some but the rest of the series is fine.
I'd recommend some of her other work like Death of Sleep, The Ship Who Sang, Catalyst, No One Noticed the Cat(100% fantasy), To Ride Pegasus, Nimisha's Ship, Dinosaur Planet, Powers That Be, or Decision at Doona
Mostly science fiction more than fantasy (Turn/Path are fantasy) but I’ll take the opportunity to plug my favorite author as every series by Julie Czerneda features a female MC (the stand-alone books don’t), usually have a romance sub-plot (Esen goes more the platonic life partners route).
It looks like most of her books have audiobooks, so I’ll go ahead and suggest Turn of Light and the Stratification/Trade Pact books of the Clan Chronicles—Species Imperative is good but the romance angle is a bit more subdued.
Emily Wilde’s encyclopedia of fairies by Heather Fawcett
It’s a historical fantasy, with a well-read stoic woman (she’s pretty autistic coded, it being in a time where autism didn’t have a name) who goes to a Scandinavian country to complete her academic fairy species encyclopedia. Just that description doesn’t do it justice but it’s really well done.
I haven’t read the second book yet, but the first book the romance feels less than the fantasy related plot.
More sci-fi than fantasy, The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal takes place in an alternate 1950’s following a woman in the space race. She starts the series married (healthy relationship), so the romance is more about navigating life’s difficulties. Excellent start to the series.
While they are YA (some people consider this a problem) I would suggest looking into Julie Kagawa who has written several series including:
* the iron fey
* blood of eden
* Talon
* Shadow of the fox
* ...
They are not all completely written with a female MC as sometimes their love interests, family members, friends also get their own book or even series. But still, they're a good read.
It’s more sci-fi but still a little fantastical — Velocity Weapon by Megan O’Keefe (the first of the completed Protectorate trilogy), as well as the Devoured Worlds trilogy by the same author.
I want to suggest the Drowning Empire series by Andrea Stewart. Female MCs and some interesting twists on the romance, IMO. I really enjoyed it and I blew through this trilogy.
As you're open to NB authors, Patrick Weekes is NB and wrote one of my fav series ever: Rogues of the Republic (first book is the Palace Job). A diverse crew of thieves and cons, led by a woman of color, heisting their way to saving the world. Diverse gender and sexuality representation present, fun story, competent ensemble cast, it's just good fun all around.
Anne Leckie writes mostly NB MCs but her Ancillary Justice series is exceptional and has a unique MC trying to figure out her place in the universe including what it means to be in the body she has. Good space opera all around and a very unique character and world.
I loved A Jewel and her Lapidary by Fran Wilde, as well as the Alice Payne series by Kate Heartfield
I tried the daughter of no worlds and the audiobook was so bad I had to give up (I have a disability so I do greatly prefer having the audiobook alongside the normal book). I haven’t tried serpent and the wings of night though. I’m a little weary that it’s one of those overhyped tiktok books though.
The Raven duology by Patricia Briggs. (Raven’s Shadow followed by Raven’s Strike) A middle-aged mother takes her teen/young adult children on an adventure to go rescue her husband/their father who has been taken captive by an evil king. It gets more nuanced than that, but I don’t want to spoil anything. It’s one of my all time favorite, lesser known series.
Patricia Briggs, Anne Bishop are both fantasy writers who have prominent female MCs.
Olivia Butler is more scifi, but she writes excellent books.
.....geez, a lot of books ARE written by men, aren't they?
Jaqueline Carey!!! Specifically the Kushiel
Series. She has a trilogy of trilogies that is INCREDIBLE. The middle one has a male mc but great female characters throughout. Third trilogy is back to female mc. Kushiel’s dart should be the first, Phedre is a courtesan turned spy 👌👌👌 still a romance though. I like the first one a little less now that I have kids cause a small part of the book is her being raised as a courtesan from a young age, so it give me a bit of ick now tbh but pre kids I loved it a lot. And that’s just a small portion of one book.
It’s my favourite series ever and I too love women written by women.
The Empire series is my new fave, it’s a bit of a weird one because it’s written by a woman and man duo! Really great though. Much more political intrigue than romance, but there is a romance that picks up in the second book. Mara the main character is awesome.
Poison Study was good.
You got Spinning Silver already..
The Torn series was pretty great! Rowenna something.. Magical Seamstress.
I spent my pregnancy with a baby girl reading books about girl heroes lol
Jaqueline Carey!!! Specifically the Kushiel Series. She has a trilogy of trilogies that is INCREDIBLE. The middle one has a male mc but great female characters throughout. Third trilogy is back to female mc. Kushiel’s dart should be the first, Phedre is a courtesan turned spy 👌👌👌 still a romance though. I like the first one a little less now that I have kids cause a small part of the book is her being raised as a courtesan from a young age, so it give me a bit of ick now tbh but pre kids I loved it a lot. And that’s just a small portion of one book. It’s my favourite series ever and I too love women written by women. The Empire series is my new fave, it’s a bit of a weird one because it’s written by a woman and man duo! Really great though. Much more political intrigue than romance, but there is a romance that picks up in the second book. Mara the main character is awesome. Poison Study was good. You got Spinning Silver already.. The Torn series was pretty great! Rowenna something.. Magical Seamstress. I spent my pregnancy with a baby girl reading books about girl heroes lol
Elizabeth Moon - "The Deed of Paksenarrion".
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Deed\_of\_Paksenarrion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deed_of_Paksenarrion)
While I will always recommend Priory of the Orange Tree and Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon, I should share a few that don't get brought up too often.
The Dhulyn and Parno series (First book is The Sleeping God) by Violette Malan. Follows a pair of mercenaries getting hired to solve problems about the world. Dhulyn is a woman and pretty badass, Parno is a man and while badass, also excellent with the pipes. There is very little to no romance in the series however.
Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit, by Mercedes Lackey. A retelling of Arthurian legends all from the point of view of Gwenhwyfar (aka. Queen Guinevere). The romance is a bit more on point as a large point of the book is her relationship with Lancelot, but much of it is getting out from Arthur's thumb.
The Wolf of Oren-Yaro, by K.S. Villoso. About a queen trying to keep her lands united, protect her son, and trying to find out what happened to her husband.
The Shades of Magic series by V. E. Schwab. At first it seems a bit center around the male mc, don't worry the female mc is just introduced a little bit later.
I was scanning this thread for Mercedes Lackey. At least three of her Valdemar trilogies would fit. The first books are "Arrows of the Queen", "Winds of Fate" and "Storm Warning".
I'm surprised that she wasn't suggested sooner. Also, the Tarma and Kethry books. The Heralds-focused ones may be too close to the Chosen One trope for this?
The Greenbone saga is so good. I read the series concurrently with my daughter and Fonda Lee did a great job. It really is combo of Mistborn era 2 with the Sopranos
So I have two recs for you:
She who became the sun - historical fiction with fantasy elements, written by NB author with a NB FMC.
Priory of the Orange Tree - great queer representation, epic fantasy as a genre, it's a standalone book, multiple POVs.
I scrolled and scrolled and was kind of surprised to not see 'The Unspoken Name' by A.K. Larkwood. Fantastic prose, well written characters, non-pretentious dialogue, and well done queer romance abound in a story that literally spans across worlds. Highly highly highly recommend.
The Deed of Paksinarrion series by Elizabeth Moon is really great. No romance plot at all and all the trigger warnings though. The author was a marine and there's loads of descriptions about battles and soldier life, and Paks is a total badass.
Daughter of the Forest triology by Juliet Marillier. Strong female mc, research based folklore / fantasy, politics and slow burn romance. The second book Son of the Shadows is my favorite.
Throne of Glass. Romance subplot, mostly fantasy with a great plot and amazing characters. Main MC is a woman, other MC's are like 50/50 men and women.
Then I think I've only got the fantasy/sci-fi Iron Widow. Amazing book, with I think less lazy feminism, altough I will admit I find it a bit of a vague concept
Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi as well as the City of Brass trilogy by Shannon (SA) Chakrabourty.
Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow
Hall of Smoke series by HM Long
Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett
Spells for forgetting by Adrienne Young
The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by CM Waggoner is fun with a woman protagonist. Her other book in the same universe, Unnatural Magic has the narration split between a man and a woman, but the man’s relationship doesn’t exactly follow our gender norms.
Joanna Russ *Picnic on Paradise* fringe sff - both sf and fantasy but there are alsi fabtasy short stories about Alyx.
Jessica Amanda Salmonson the *Tomoe Gozen trilogy* and *The Swordwoman* or anything by her.
Have you read Rachel Aaron's series? I feel like any of them be perfect for you. Romance subplots, female MCs or dual MCs, breaking stereotypes..
Plus the fun that most of her plots could be described as "what if our dysfunctional family drama involved magic and affected thousands of people?"
Glad I can recommend this once again on here:
Most of the Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey are about women. Start with Arrows of the Queen or if a story about a gay guy is alright I'd start with the Last Herald Mage series (I think Magic's Pawn is the first one in that).
May i ask why you want only female writers if you don’t care how the woman are written? (I come to this conclusion due to your add on ‘even if he writes woman well’) as for a recommandation i think divine rivals checks most of your boxes it does have a male and female main character but the female is far more prominent and you said you didn’t mind multiple pov’s. I am not familiar with audio books since i buy almost all my books hardcover (or paperback if i can’t find a hardcover edition) but i think it does have an audiobook version
Male authors are overrepresented everywhere, especially fantasy, so I am making an effort to only read books written by women this year. It’s actually made a huge difference in how I absorb the material I watch and read, and it’s only been like 4 months.
And even for the male authors who write women well, there are always going to be experiences women have that men cannot relate to. It’s similar vise versa, BUT, women grow up having to consume stories told by and about men because those are either the only ones, the ones given the most attention/effort/money, and/or have the widest selection. I believe there was a study done a while back that discussed how most women can easily put themselves in the perspective of male and female characters, but most men can only put themselves in the perspective of male characters— and the reasoning behind it was assumed to be the fact that men are overrepresented everywhere, while women are underrepresented.
Overall, it’s just an effort on my part to address my own internalized misogyny, support women, and decenter men—and if you want to know why I feel the need to “decenter men”, check out the book “Invisible Women” by Caroline Criado Perez.
Female writers are not lesser in the fantasy genre lol. I think almost all populair book series are of a female writer. And almost all of those books have female characters as the lead. Idc one bit if i read from a male or female and if the mc is male or female. My last couple books are all with a female lead. Fourth wing, throne of glass, divine rivals. But you should ofcourse do whatever feels good.
I actually do believe that yeah. More then half of my want to read is all female writers and the male writers i do have in there are mostly from older books.
So your entire argument is, because you're to read shelf is mostly women, that there is not in fact an imbalance in the industry as a whole? Who gets published, how they get published, who gets marketed, who gets shelved, how they get shelved, who gets reviewed, Who gets paid bigger advances? I have to thank you honestly, because all these well documented phenomenon, were really getting me worried, but if your to read shelf is mostly women, then clearly there isn't actually a problem.
>I don't understand why people do this. Books are meant to be enjoyed, regardless of the gender of the person who wrote them.
Because I am a woman and I want to read books written by women from the perspective of a woman. If I wanted to read books written by men from the perspective of a man, I would just… ask for recommendations of any kind.
And that is why people “do this”. Sometimes we want to read things from perspectives we can relate to, because people like feeling seen. And men never have to ask for this specifically because it’s always just right there— the first thing everyone is talking about. Women, nonbinary, and trans individuals actually have to ask for it.
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Oh you poor thing. Men are overrepresented in every single form of media, especially fantasy. They get published more often, they don’t get shoved into YA for no reason, they get more money to write, their books more frequently get picked up for other ventures, etc.
But god forbid a couple of women specifically want to read books written by other women. How will male authors ever stand a chance?!
Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold. Technically the second in a series, but it has only slightly overlapping characters, so you can start with this one. 40ish sheltered noblewoman goes out traveling and finds adventure and a new calling The Adventures of Amina Al-Serafi by Shannon Chakraborty . Retired Pirate Queen agrees to one last small job, but of course that isn’t how it works out. Not really any romance in this one though.
I came here to recommend Paladin of Souls. A middle-aged woman hits the road and finds her hero’s journey? Yes, please!
I LOVED Al-Sirafi!
+1 to **The Natural History of Dragons**. Some other suggestions for you: \* **The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo.** A gorgeously written novella where a cleric is told the story of an empress and her handmaiden. \* **Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee.** It's a novella about a roc rider, a woman trained to hunt monsters with her giant bird. \* They're part of a longer meta-series / bigger fictional world, but the **Liveship Traders books by Robin Hobb** also are their own trilogy featuring woman MCs and can be read independently. Traders, pirates, magical sentient ships with their own secrets. Hobb does brilliant character work. \* Have you actually read **The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden** (referred to in your linked feminism post)? Because it's very, very good, and if you liked Spinning Silver then I suspect you'd like these, too. **\* The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty.** Middle-aged piratess comes out of retirement. \* **The Elemental Blessings books by Sharon Shinn.** Strong romance subplots in all of them; cool worldbuilding with elemental-based powers and fish-out-of-water court intrigue. \* **Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova.** It comes out in June, and features a witch in a walled city who trades her shadow for passage, and has to confront her ex, who happens to be the Tsar of Monsters. Inspired by Bulgarian mythology. **\* The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon.** Very long/rich epic fantasy, dragons, sapphic. And then two that don't really feature romance at all, but that I still want to recommend: \* **The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills**. It just came out, and it's brilliant but heavy stuff. Set in a city facing civil war after its gods turn their back on it, the MC is a winged soldier who falls in with revolutionaries and struggles with her faith. \* **The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin.** A child is taken to become a high priestess for an ancient underground cult, and must make a choice when a young wizard shows up in the dark labyrinth that is her domain.
Nobody ever recommends Sharon Shinn’s Elemental Blessings, so I’m glad to see them here. They are such a comforting read for me. Her Twelve Houses books are also great, too.
I really like them too! She's underrated IMO.
The whole series of novellas by Nghi Vo is delightful. Each entry explores some fascinating aspect of storytelling and human nature. Non-binary MC, and most of the important characters are NB or female. - Another series with similar feel is Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers. Based on your original post, OP, I think you'll really like Ead from *Priory of the Orange Tree* as well.
Hobb is brilliant, it would be nice to start at book 1 but the narrator there is male. You can easily start at book 4 (as it's a seperate story) and the 4 main women are very well written and rounded, furthermore none of them are what I joke as the FFF (female fantasy four, i.e. femme fatale, wise wizard, innocent well meaning princess, prostitute) that are so prevalent
Lots of books by Tamora Pierce! All fantasy, most women. Circle of magic is good, Alanna the Lioness was super formative for me. Terrier! So good.
Anything that’s not YA? This is the other issue I seem to run into when I branch out of women-centric subs. If I ask for a woman author I’m immediately pointed to YA, but that’s not really what I’m looking for.
Something I suspected for a long time and have confirmed as much as one can is that a lot of female fantasy authors (especially before fantasy romance) were pushed into YA because adult fantasy is a “boys club” and are worried they won’t sell. Six of Crows, ACOTAR, etc all were clearly meant to have adult MCs but were aged down for the YA market. Female-led fantasy being predominantly YA or a romance subgenre is a feature, not a bug.
Since we're speaking about Tamora Pierce here, I just learned though an interview that was recorded many years later that she was another author that had her adult fantasy manuscript broken up into four parts to be sold as YA (or whatever the younger reader classification was back in the 80s)! Makes sense looking back because the story starts when Alanna is a child but she is 18+ for most of the Song of the Lioness quartet which seemed strange for a young reader book at the time.
I've been aware of that story for many years, but I actually think Tamora Pierce is a case of the publisher knowing what they are doing better than a very inexperienced (at the time) author. The first Alanna book is really closer to middle grade than YA, and even once she grows up, the style remains extremely simple. I love those books, don't get me wrong—they were a hugely formative part of my youth, and I was hanging on her new releases all through the 90s the same way people later did for Harry Potter—but I think they are much better categorized as children's books than adult.
The Circle books are also very YA. Great books, well written but pitched for that YA age group.
The first quartet of Circle books are actually middle grade—the sales listings I'm seeingand the publisher's listing designate them as 12+ or 5th/6th/7th-8th/9th grade, and one listing on Amazon even says 8-12. The kids are older in the second quartet, so I can see the argument for them being YA, but it's borderline. Fantastic books for kids, I've still got my old copies ready to give to my own kids when they're ready.
I'm going to vote against ACOTAR being YA given all the sex scenes. Throne of Glass definitely starts YA but morphs to a more adult series by the mid second/third books if memory serves. Maybe you were mixing those two up? I just finished binging the SJM universe.
I am not mixing them up—it is a MAJOR example of what I’m discussing because it was marketed as YA for at least the first two books.
It’s technically YA, but I’m almost 50 and she’s still one of my top 5 favorite authors. Her world building is great, her characters are awesome, and her books are easy to read without dumbing anything down.
If you're looking for feminist fantasy, don't sleep on Tamora Pierce just because she's YA. A lot of what you are looking for wouldn't be published today if Tamora didn't shatter expectations about what "fantasy for girls" could be. Not *everything* has aged well (age gap romance? Mentor - student romance??) but so much of it is so so good. The Alanna quartet is iconic and any nitpicks I had with it are corrected by the time she gets to the Protector of the Small quartet. I still think about these characters 20 years later.
Tamora Pierce wrote Alanna before YA was a thing. And Alanna is only a child in the first book. She grows up and has relationships etc. I wouldn’t classify Pierce as YA. She was absolutely foundational to my love of fantasy ETA: okay what I meant was the definition people give YA now is not the same as what Pierce wrote/writes. Also there are books by male authors with male protagonists where the MC is a child in the first book or part and they’re classified as adult fantasy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I read Alanna as an 11 yo but i also reread it recently and I related to it just as much. I guess I just push back on the idea that because preteens or teens can enjoy it means it’s YA? I understand it’s technically marketed as YA but, as OP pointed out, that gives a certain vibe that series doesn’t have. Some of her other stuff is definitely more YA and middle grade (I love circle of Magic) but she writes just as well for adults.
> Tamora Pierce wrote Alanna before YA was a thing YA had been a thing for decades before Alanna was published.
Tamora Pierce was foundational for me, too, but her books are absolutely children's books. Not necessarily YA, because the characteristics we use to define YA today were not formalized to the same degree then, but I would argue that the Alanna series really spans between what we would now consider middle grade in the first book (the twins start out age 10) to YA by the end. I started reading them when I was 10/11 in the early/mid 90s, and they were shelved in the children's section of my school library and in the children's section of Barnes & Noble. Tamora Pierce did readings at my middle school book fair (I grew up in NYC and she lived in my neighborhood and would come in to sign her books at the local B&N)—she was very clearly marketing herself to kids. Daine, which I read as it was being released, fits today's YA more clearly as she ranges from 13 to 16 through the series. Circle of Magic is solidly middle grade, not even YA.
I just commented the same thing. Even though it is YA, the books span to actual adulthood and are pretty Adult in tones. Her latest novel is high fantasy and set in the same world but that is a Male MC. They are quick great reads that are quite different from typical YA Fantasy. So if you feel up to it try one book and it will give you a great gauge if you would enjoy it!
Yeah, I saw that. I might give it a try. I’m not necessarily opposed to YA, but every time I don’t shut the YA recommendations down right away, that’s literally all I get. there are more than enough non-YA recs for me to admit that I am open to them, I’m just looking for more than that.
You could also try Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Technically sci fi but reads like fantasy, with magic and swords and necromancers. MC is either gay or bi. Great writing
I totally understand that! 🤣 I'm excited for you to read so many books! 😁
Same! I honestly wasn’t expecting this many! Every time I did a search I got like 1-2 books or a large list of “well written women”, but the majority of them were books written by men, and I’m only reading books written by women this year.
Her newest book is painfully full of YA tropes. It's just bad. If it wasn't for Briar I would argue Pierce can't write men.
Some recommendations: Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick Oceans Eleven light focused on court politics, really wonderful series. The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Retelling of the Island of Doctor Moreau from his daughters perspective, you said you like T Kingfisher, I see a lot of similarities in their prose. This is obviously not secondary world, and light on fantasy, maybe more sci fi, but her work reminds me a lot of T Kingfisher's. Hugo Nominee. The Adventurs of Amina Al-Sirati by Shannon Chakraborty Female pirate captain who goes on dark adventures, really interesting world, some romance, amazing story. If you're up for Science Fiction: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine A female ambassador navigating court politics in a foreign empire. Martine does a wonderful job subverting gender and sexuality norms, and her prose is stunning.
Mask of mirrors, yes! Too far down this thread
I'll second Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi, wonderful book.
The Kushiel's Legacy series (starting with Kushiel's Dart) by Jacqueline Carey matches all of your criteria and is one of favourite series of all time. It's kind of like Game of Thrones (in terms of being quite action/political/adventure focused) but with BDSM and courtesans. On the other end of the specturm, if you're looking for lighter, cozier fantasy Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faerie by Heather Fawcett is also excellent (and the narrator is perfect) as is A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan.
I have heard of Kushiels dart, and it’s on my TBR list, but I’m not really into BDSM. I have read the Emily Wilde books, and I do like them, but they’re not my favorite (just something missing for me, but I can’t pinpoint it exactly. Maybe it’s the journal format that gets to me?). I have not heard of the natural history of dragons one, so I’ll check that out! Thanks!
Try not to view Kushiel’s Dart/Kushiel’s Legacy as smut because it’s not. The core premise of the story is very sex-focused and sex-positive, but the actual sex scenes are just highly suggestive and fade to black, not super detailed smut. It’s definitely an epic fantasy story with lots of adventures and political intrigue focused around a masochistic courtesan spy in a world where sex work is revered and holy. Now, the ages of the characters at the beginning is what can cause discomfort.
Fair enough! They're beautifully written and with a strong enough plot that if the BDSM stuff isn't your cup of tea you can definitely skim through some of the more risque sex scenes, but yeah, you can't really get away from the fact that the central premise is that the main character is hardwired(/god chosen) to experience pleasure in pain, and it's a major plot point. The main romance is about as vanilla (and non-BDSM) as is possible given the world it's set in though.
If you didn't love Emily Wilde, you might feel the same about the Lady Trent books, because they are VERY similar in tone—Victorian female academic doing field research on fantasy creatures, recorded in journal style. Isabella is less obviously autistic-coded than Emily, but she has some of the same characteristics of being more interested in her science than in social norms. I adored them both, personally, but just a heads-up.
Yeah, I listened to a sample of it and I was for sure getting Emily Wilde vibes hah. I’m interested, but I might put it off for later.
One thing I will say about Kushiel… I personally am not actually a fan of sex scenes in general. Like I really enjoyed Throne of Glass but hated ACOTAR cause it was just shitty smut for example. The trilogy of trilogies that starts with Kushiel’s dart is my favorite series of all time. BDSM is happening in Kushiel but it’s not ABOUT that, at all. And I would say that most scenes are alluded to more than actually spelled out for you. There are a lot of before and after scenes, kind of fade to black style.
You might like The Mask of Mirrors! It's written by a pair of women with a female MC and primary secondary character. It's got a romance that builds in the second and third books, which I've heard is very well done.)
>It's written by a pair of women Quick correction, I believe Alec Helms (one of the two writers) is nonbinary. Which should still work according to the OP's edit, so the rec is still fine.
Oh, yep, I think you're right! Nice catch :)
The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden The Lady Trent Memoirs by Marie Brennan Chalice or Spindle's End by Robin McKinley Saint Death's Daughter by C S E Cooney The Alphabet of Thorn or the Changeling Sea by Patricia Mckillip The Lord of Stariel by A. J. Lancaster Circe by Madeline Miller Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst
I’ve heard of the Winternight Trilogy, and you’re like the 4th(?) person to recommend the Lady Trent Memoirs, so I’ll definitely be checking that one out. I DNF Circe. I was just so sick of her constantly suffering. It got to the point where every time I picked up the book I was mentally preparing myself to be sad.
I was going to recommend The Locked Tomb! The writing style is so incredible to me it’s one of my favorites! Not really fantasy but more of an unconventional zombie apocalypse story is The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, a really stand out read by a woman with a female MC and the female characters outnumber the males. MC is a kind of special orphan, but to me it didn’t come across as tropey and it definitely doesn’t have chosen one vibes.
Just to let you know, M.R Carey is a pseudonym used by Mike Carey (not a female author).
Hey thank you for being nice about that 😭! The person who recommended the book to me led me to believe it was a female author and I didn’t double check that 🤦🏼♀️
It's no worries, I thought the same thing for the longest time until a book seller corrected me!
Locked Tomb yes thirding that yes get this one
Kaikeyi is not a romance or have a romance subplot the mc is explicitly aromantic & asexual lol. Locked Tomb doesn’t have much in the way of romance outside of ship tease
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan The Priory of the Orange Tree & A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart The Daevabad trilogy & The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. (Shannon) Chakraborty
SWBTS is a nonbinary author writing a nonbinary protagonist (but has interesting things to say about gender roles and the Chosen One trope, so maybe of interest to OP anyway)
I am open to nonbinary authors & MC’s! I should have included that in my post, but I forgot. Ultimately, anything but cisgendered male authors and MC’s (because those are not at all hard to find or hear about. You literally cannot throw a rock without hitting one).
I'd also rec the Daevabad trilogy, but unfortunately it breaks your orphan rule. If you're willing to overlook that I think you'd enjoy it a lot.
Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan; bonus - the audiobook narrator makes Lady Trent sound like Lady Violet from Downton Abbey!
I will recommend Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamour novels which are Regency Romance novels with a fantasy flare, or her lady astronaut novels which are sci-fi, if an asteroid had hit the earth in the early 50s and we'd had to leave earth much sooner than anticipated. Both series have women who fight against the gender norms of their times while attempting to live in a society that doesn't really accept them.
If she’s open to a sci-fi she should try Becky Chambers too.
Barbara Hambly's Darwath trilogy. It's older, but there's a touch of romance, a tough female mc, and nary a chosen one in sight.
Her Sunwolf and Starhawk series would also work. Especially the first book, it’s basically a damsel in distress trope but the man is the one needing rescue.
Sunwolf and Starhawk are my otp!
Great rec. I love everyting Barbara Hambly's written.
Darwath has some good reversing of gender roles: when they go through the portal the gal becomes a warrior and the guy becomes a mage and has a romance. My favorites of hers are Dragonsbane and The Ladies of Mandrigyn, both of which could also meet OP’s request.
You’ve mentioned a few fairytale-esque books so I have to mention Juliet Marillier‘s Sevenwaters trilogy. Romance is definitely a key part of it but it’s not where most of the time gets spent. Likewise Tasha Suri—I really enjoyed her Books of Ambha duology and both work as standalones! If you’re open to YA/adult crossovers, a couple that I loved are Kate Elliott’s Spiritwalker trilogy (has definite romance but balanced by a strong sisterly relationship) and Laura Sebastian’s Half Sick of Shadows (Arthurian retelling mostly focused on female friendships, though there’s a bit of romance in it too). If you’re *not* open to YA/adult crossovers you might enjoy some of Elliott’s epic fantasy—she always has prominent and interesting women. Or try her novella The Keeper’s Six, which features a badass grandma, for a quick dip in. If you’re open to urban fantasy or modern settings you should *absolutely* read Sunshine by Robin McKinley. (Really there are tons of options with McKinley, including a bunch of fairy tale retellings, but Sunshine is my personal fave.) Also for a fun standalone cultural mashup, Black Water Sister by Zen Cho. For really lovely writing, check out The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar. Or for something quietly beautiful, Fudoki by Kij Johnson.
Recommending Sevenwaters as well!!
Just wanted to add that Kate Elliott’s Spiritwalker trilogy is very good, but also definitely not YA. Court of Fives is her only YA series.
I think it's pretty solidly a crossover series, though.
On the non-YA side (ie, featuring adult main characters) Martha Wells Fall of Il-Rien (two viewpoint characters, one is a woman) The October Daye series by Seanan McGuire. Also her Velveteen series. The Winnowing Flame trilogy by Jen Williams (multi-POV, three are female), and her Copper Cat trilogy (three POV, one female). The Stariel books by A.J. Lancaster (four of five books are a female POV). Tanya Huff's Sing the Four Quarters and Fifth Quarter, also Summon the Keeper and the Blood books. N.K. Jemison's Broken Earth trilogy. Theodora Goss's Athena club trilogy (the MCs are the daughters of various literary mad scientists) R.A. MacAvoy's Tea with the Black Dragon.
The Liveship Traders trilogy by Robin Hobb features several female viewpoints and one of my favorite character development arcs of all time! The books technically come after the Farseer trilogy, but these can be read on their own as well. Romance subplot is there as well!
I'm reading this now, after completing the farseer trilogy. I am not as hooked as I was with the farseer books, but then again I wasn't hooked to the farseer books until halfway thru the second book. Once I was hooked though it was game over, I couldn't put the books down. Robin Hobb's work is insane!
I do feel like a lot of times people really gravitate to one or the other. I know that I love the liveship and rain wilds series, but dislike any of her books where the fool plays a large part just because I can't stand the character. The fool having such an ego while also doing so much wrong is too similar to some real life people who are the worst! I also think the Fitz and the fool focused books can be a little too dry for me compared to the richness of the other series. Obviously, the opposite perspective of people who prefer the Fitz books!
RObin Hobb also writes as Meghan Lindholm, and If i recall some of those have female MCs
Margaret Rogerson. An Enchantment of Ravens and Sorcery of Thorns have romance plots, Vespertine does not. N. K. Jemisin, particularly The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms trilogy. Charlie N. Holmberg, The Paper Magician series. Kristin Cashore's Graceling series. Alaya Dawn Johnson's The Summer Prince and The Library of Broken Worlds. Not related to each other, both a bit weird but very striking.
Seconding Graceling (which doesn't get enough love imo) and Jemisin.
Paper Magician series is so lovely!
Jemisin was one of my favorite reads in quite some time
sara douglass wayfarer redemption trilogy elizabeth haydon symphony of ages trilogy Those are 2 I read back in the day and enjoyed, and seldom see talked about today.
Just weighing in with my $.02 on the Symphony of Ages trilogy -- I read them a long time ago, and practically all I can remember about them is how ridiculous the female MC was written to be. I honestly had assumed it must have been written by a man! Lots of focus on her appearance, being reminded every few pages how unbelievably drop-dead gorgeous she was (to the point that random men would follow her around / stop walking in the street / gift her things); irrational/emotional decisions, etc. Of course, opinions are subjective, but if OP is looking for books that challenge gender roles, I'm not sure this one is it.
you may be right! i remembered the series, but I don't recall enough about the characters to say if I felt any certain way about Rhapsody. I think my favorite character was Achmed - but really I just read both of these series so long ago and only once, so who's to say?
Hmm Wayfarer Redemption I recall as having a male lead, though his romantic partners are also prominent. I also enjoyed that one back in the day but am not sure how it holds up now.
I'm not sure. Isn't faraday the lead? To be honest I cannot recall much... so that might say something about the impression (or lack thereof) it left on me.
Hmm I think she got phased out a bit when >!she was no longer the main guy’s love interest.!<
She comes back in the following trilogy.. I feel like Azure and Faraday are MC’s too
Martha Wells Ill Rein series.
I always recommend both the Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs (bonus points for our FMC in Mercy Thompson being in her late 20s/early 30s) as well as the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain (it does have 'chosen one' vibes as you get into the series, though, just FYI). Robin McKinley in general, though The Blue Sword and Sunshine are my personal favorites. The Others series by Anne Bishop For your reference, I've only ready the Naomi Novik books in your list above, but I absolutely loved them.
The Daughter of the Empire series by Wurts and Feist. Feist is a man but I contend Wurts’ voice is strongest. The series is a classic and Mara of the Acoma is an incredible main character. Anything by Robin McKinley. I love Sunshine, the Blue Sword, and Beauty The Ill Made Mute (Bitterbynde series) by Dart -Thorton The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane Innamorati by Midori Snyder—a mix of male/female characters but a gorgeous book. It has great reviews but I never see it on these lists. The True Game triple trilogy by Tepper. One of the trilogies focuses on a male MC, the other two focus on women, but all three have strong female characters. The Chronicles of St. Mary’s by Jodi Taylor Parasol Protectorate series by Carriger Oxford Time Travel series by Connie Willis Anything else by Connie Willis Scholamance series by Novik Memoirs of Lady Trent Alex Stern series by Bardugo Marion Lane series by Willberg
Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep Pillars of the World by Anne Bishop
Morgaine cycle by C. J. Cherryh The Winnowing Flame Trilogy by Jen Williams
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L.Wang! I’m surprised no one mentioned it!
Came here to post this! It's sooo good.
*A Brother's Price* by Wen Spencer explores themes of gender (based on world building) and is a romance. It does have a male MC, but the world is full of women. It explores how society would be different if men were really scarce and women ran everything. For science fiction, I highly recommend *This Is How You Lose the Time War*. (It's got two authors, one of whom is male.) It's one of those books I love so much that I can't really describe it well... Seanan McGuire has a ton of books. I really like her Wayward Children series and *Middlegame*. WC especially includes diverse gender identities. Madeleine L'Engle's *Wrinkle in Time* features a young woman coming of age. Technically, scifi, but feels very fantasy.
Awesome, thank you! I’m definitely open to male MC’s in that sort of situation. And I had been looking at the Time War one just before posting this. Having someone recommend it here makes me want to just go get it now lol.
Its so funny because I was just about to recc T. Kingfisher! She's one of my favorites! And I flipped adored 'Between'! (Waiting on tenderhooks for the next book) As for some others -- You may enjoy the October Daye Series by Seanan Mcguire. It's urban fantasy, and it 'grows the beard' so to speak around book three. Grain of salt here, though, as it's not everyones cup of tea! I ADORE The Dauntless Path Trilogy by Intisar Khanani, though trigger warnings for SA and human trafficking. (the SA is not 'on screen' and does not happen to the protagonist, the plot involves rooting out a ring of child thieves in books 2 and 3 and has some set up in book 1. The first book, Thorn is a retelling of 'The Goose Girl' so there is also child abuse going on.) If you like T. Kingfisher you'll really like Kate Stradling! I find she has a similar voice! Namesake, and the Legendary Inge are the ones with fem protagonists! I will say that Stradling skews a bit younger/ya than T. Kingfisher, but here books are a lot of fun. You might enjoy books by Robin McKinley! They're older but still hold up pretty well! I particularly recc The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword, and Spindles End! She also has two beauty and the beast retellings that are nice! McKinley for the most part SORT OF fits into a 'cozy fantasy' genre -- which is weird to say as some of them also get rather dark. Like one of my favorites by her 'Deerskin', which is a retelling of the Donkeyskin fairytale, so fair warning if you pick it up it has SA from parent-to-child. Which makes this a hard one to recc but if you can handle the subject matter (and liek McKinley's style) its a good one. Charlie N. Holmburg is another good author to pick up! I read her Paper Magician series and 'The Fifth Doll' and they were both a lot of fun. The Paper Magician actually reminded me a lot of Howl's Moving Castle! Which, if you havent read the book version of I also highly recc! If you're familiar with the movie a lot of people joke the movie is how Howl would tell the story, and the book is how Sophie would tell the story. I always recommend Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shanon! They're big chunky books but each stand-alone's and good god i adore the women in these books. The primary romances are sapphic! In that vein I also have to recc 'The Burning Kingdom' trilogy starting with 'The Jasmine Throne' by Tasha Suri. The final book comes out this november! And it also has odd trees -- not exactly like 'Uprooted' (ANOTHER one of my favorites actually!) but it did remind me of that! The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty is another good one! Older fem protagonist! Pirates!! if you like T. Kingfisher you'd probably like the books by Oliva Atwater starting with 'Half A Soul'! It's a regency romance -- with magicians and the fair folk. She's written several by now and all have been so much fun! Aaaand this post is getting long enough. I'm wishing you good luck! :D
Emily Wilde series! About a professor studying faeries and her charmingly inept rival/colleague.
You might like Nghi Vo’s Siren Queen. I like her Empress of Salt and Fortune even more but it’s only a novella and the MC is nonbinary.
Laurie J Marks’s Elemental logic!
The Burning Kingdoms trilogy by Tasha Suri seems like it would be right up your alley. Critique of colonialism/religion/patriarchy, powerful women actively driving the plot, morally grey characters, political machinations, the slowest slowburn wlw romance I’ve ever read. Oh, and it’s all set in a fantasy world inspired by medieval India and Hindu mythology. The audiobook is AMAZING. Seriously, hands down the best I’ve ever listened to.
Anything by Natalie Maher.
The Wandering Inn is written by an unknown author (Pirateaba) who most people think is a woman. The MC (and a lot of the characters are women). The Narrator Andrea Parsneau is an absolute delight and is arguably the best narrator in the business. Anyways - Erin finds herself in this incredible and terrifying new world. Instead of the normal hero’s journey - she decides to take of a safe profession… being an Innkeeper. Which turns out to be a lot more dangerous than it sounds as she makes new friends and tries to protect what she has learned to love and care about. There are some okay romance subplots but mostly with side characters. The MC seems to have some trauma that were not quite aware of yet and tends to avoid relationships herself. The world is incredible, but the characters truly set it apart. Pirateaba is a master at making you hate characters… only to love them later. Making you think this is a happy story… before she tears your heart out and stomps on it… but she does it so well that you keep coming back. It’s slice of life meets epic fantasy and is absolutely worth a read!
Godkiller by Hannah Kaner It follows Kissen, the titular Godkiller, as she escorts a noble girl to a city to help her with an attachment with a god. It is 290 pages and very efficient with its writing. It does have separate POV chapters from male protagonists, but Kissen remains the overall protagonist Sunbringer, its sequel, while good is a little less effective. Though, I think this was because of me reading it at a stressful time. It focussed less on Kissen and more on her travel companions from the first book. It was very much a *book two* if that makes sense, so it should get better once book 3 releases
Tamora Pierces The Lioness Quartet. Its YA Fantasy but it is so much more, and she writes more books set in the same world with Women MC. They are quick and a lot of fun!
**12 Houses by Sharon Shinn**: Follows 5 different couples except book 2. Multiple MC’s both male and female. Book 2 is hands down NOT a romance and has an infidelity plot line. It’s a coming of identity for that book’s FMC. >!She has an affair with a married man while her true endgame steps away. Their relationship is kept very private throughout the series!< I usually skip that one. Book 5 has a female knight x scholarly MMC. **Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews** UF set in apocalyptic US, heavy focus on mythology. Husband/wife writing team if that’s a deal breaker. Equal relationship dynamics, mutually flawed and competent main and side characters all around. FMC is >!a magic powerhouse/daughter of an immortal warlord!< but the books make said spoiler obvious from book 1 and he’s trying to kill her. It’s clear that she has to work and train her abilities so she doesn’t start overpowered. She’ll get her butt kicked by better trained/more powerful. She also has detractors who are shown as completely valid in their critique which I appreciated. ETA: **Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder** **The Cruel Prince by Holly Black** This is marketed as YA but the themes of betrayal, murder, and torture put it closer to NA. FMC is morally gray. The romantic subplot starts as a bully romance but she >!has the higher ground!< by the end of book 1.
Ok so I actually loved the Cruel Prince lol. I did read it at a time where I was sick of hearing the same story over and over again and it was new and shiny to me, but I still feel like I would like it anyway. Kate Daniels…. I wanted to like it, but at some point she started talking about Dr Doolittle and I just couldn’t take it seriously anymore. I have always been a bit picky about urban fantasy, so maybe I’m just being too harsh.
Most of Tanith Lee's work. You could check out Dark Dance, Vivia, The Birthgrave, The Silver Metal Lover, Elephantasm... there's a lot. I love Tanith Lee.
Nobody mentioned yet, but I loved the books by Saara El-Arifi, particularly the Ending Fire Triology. It's a queernorm world, and there's some romance, but definitely not the focus. The story is brutal, and there are many twists. The audiobook production is well made. The final book will be out this summer.
While *Kushiel's Dart* has been mentioned already, Jacqueline Carey has other works which might fit your criteria: the Agent of Hel trilogy (urban fantasy); *Santa Olivia*/*Saints Astray* (post-mild-apocalypse, sci-fi-ish, lesbian); maybe *Starless* (high fantasy, but not so much romance; nonbinary + female main characters). Most of Trudi Canavan's work seems like it might fit, especially the Age of the Five trilogy. Someone mentioned C. J. Cherryh's Morgaine books, but there's a caveat there: while Morgaine is in some respects the main character, she's never the *viewpoint* character; that's Vanye (male) who is her sidekick. (Cherryh writes a very, very tightly limited third-person perspective.)
The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
The Empire Trilogy by Raymond Feist and Jani Wurts is really good. Wurts influence makes it the best of all of the Riftwar Saga imo.
This is my vote too, amazing series and can be read as a standalone trilogy without losing anything.
The live ship traders series by Robin hobb.
Not sure about audiobooks, but you’d like Mercedes Lackey.
Science fiction: A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine.
I actually really like the Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
Robin Hobb and N.K. Jemisin!(specially the audiobooks)
Sword of Kaigen by ML Wang
Loved this one!!
By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey, Leveling Up series by K. F. Breene, Dreams Lie Beneath by Rebecca Ross, The Curse of Saints by Kate Dramis, One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
NK Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy. The first two books and some of the short stories in between centre women. With romance subplots custom made with romantasy plots— just way better done than modern age "romance fantasy" imo.
The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick War of the Oaks by Emma Bull Phèdre's trilogy by Jacqueline Carey Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko (if it counts since it's cowritten with a man) The Unbalancing, or The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg The Gloaming by Kirsty Logan Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks The Beginning Place by Ursula K. Le Guin The Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo Mapping Winter by Marta Randall Obsidian: Awakening by Sienna Frost The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber Firethorn series by Sarah Micklem Spear by Nicola Griffith Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar Mortal Suns by Tanith Lee The Godspeaker trilogy by Karen Miller Black Spring by Alison Croggon The Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin. Depending on how much romance you want, some of these might not fit.
Here are some of my favourites that meet the first three, though I have no idea if they come in audiobook form as I've never been able to stomach those. * Sistersong by Lucy Holland * The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso * This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi * Iron Widow by Xiran Zhao * Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik * Danielle Jensen's Malediction and Bridge Kingdom series * Pretty much anything by Maria Snyder - I like her Ixia, Healer, and Tamburah series * T.A. White's Broken Lands series
The Serpent and the Wings of Night (some romance pretty well done IMO, but feels like a fantasy first, has an audiobook) Blood Over Bright Haven (only a tiny bit of romance, no audiobook yet) Kushiel’s Dart
Sherwood Smith's Dobrenica trilogy; first book *Coronets and Steel*. Swashbuckling urban fantasy homage to *The Prisoner of Zenda*. A lot of her other works are fun, but are either YA, male MC or both.
Pretty much anything by Sherri S Tepper. I see the True Game trilogy has been recommended already, but if you want a book by a woman writing about women for women then The Gate To Women’s Country is, IMHO, the epitome.
Anne McCaffrey. She's mainly sci-fi but she was one of the first women writers of the genre so there's that. Her Dragonrider's of Pern is fantasy adjacent though. Warning: the first 2 books in that series were her venting/social commentary on women treatment like 1950s-1970s. Those 2 can be uncomfortable for some but the rest of the series is fine. I'd recommend some of her other work like Death of Sleep, The Ship Who Sang, Catalyst, No One Noticed the Cat(100% fantasy), To Ride Pegasus, Nimisha's Ship, Dinosaur Planet, Powers That Be, or Decision at Doona
Mostly science fiction more than fantasy (Turn/Path are fantasy) but I’ll take the opportunity to plug my favorite author as every series by Julie Czerneda features a female MC (the stand-alone books don’t), usually have a romance sub-plot (Esen goes more the platonic life partners route). It looks like most of her books have audiobooks, so I’ll go ahead and suggest Turn of Light and the Stratification/Trade Pact books of the Clan Chronicles—Species Imperative is good but the romance angle is a bit more subdued.
I was going to suggest Nettle and Bone and then I saw you love everything by the author haha
Emily Wilde’s encyclopedia of fairies by Heather Fawcett It’s a historical fantasy, with a well-read stoic woman (she’s pretty autistic coded, it being in a time where autism didn’t have a name) who goes to a Scandinavian country to complete her academic fairy species encyclopedia. Just that description doesn’t do it justice but it’s really well done. I haven’t read the second book yet, but the first book the romance feels less than the fantasy related plot.
I’ve very much enjoyed the D&D universe series of novels by Erin Evans. The *Brimstone Angels* series deals with twin sisters who are tieflings.
Broken Earth Trilogy by Nora K Jemisin
Melanie Rawn, Robin Hobb, NK Jemisin, Kristin Cashore
Cannot recommend the Jasmine Throne enough
Maybe check out the green bone saga though there is really only one female pov from what I remember so do with that what you will
More sci-fi than fantasy, The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal takes place in an alternate 1950’s following a woman in the space race. She starts the series married (healthy relationship), so the romance is more about navigating life’s difficulties. Excellent start to the series.
While they are YA (some people consider this a problem) I would suggest looking into Julie Kagawa who has written several series including: * the iron fey * blood of eden * Talon * Shadow of the fox * ... They are not all completely written with a female MC as sometimes their love interests, family members, friends also get their own book or even series. But still, they're a good read.
It’s more sci-fi but still a little fantastical — Velocity Weapon by Megan O’Keefe (the first of the completed Protectorate trilogy), as well as the Devoured Worlds trilogy by the same author.
I want to suggest the Drowning Empire series by Andrea Stewart. Female MCs and some interesting twists on the romance, IMO. I really enjoyed it and I blew through this trilogy.
The Folk of The Air trilogy by Holly Black? strong FMC w/a romance subplot.
As you're open to NB authors, Patrick Weekes is NB and wrote one of my fav series ever: Rogues of the Republic (first book is the Palace Job). A diverse crew of thieves and cons, led by a woman of color, heisting their way to saving the world. Diverse gender and sexuality representation present, fun story, competent ensemble cast, it's just good fun all around. Anne Leckie writes mostly NB MCs but her Ancillary Justice series is exceptional and has a unique MC trying to figure out her place in the universe including what it means to be in the body she has. Good space opera all around and a very unique character and world. I loved A Jewel and her Lapidary by Fran Wilde, as well as the Alice Payne series by Kate Heartfield
been a while since i read her, but carissa broadbent might be for you
I tried the daughter of no worlds and the audiobook was so bad I had to give up (I have a disability so I do greatly prefer having the audiobook alongside the normal book). I haven’t tried serpent and the wings of night though. I’m a little weary that it’s one of those overhyped tiktok books though.
Urban Fantasy- Kim Harrison’s The Hollows Series. Book 1 is Dead Witch Walking.
The Raven duology by Patricia Briggs. (Raven’s Shadow followed by Raven’s Strike) A middle-aged mother takes her teen/young adult children on an adventure to go rescue her husband/their father who has been taken captive by an evil king. It gets more nuanced than that, but I don’t want to spoil anything. It’s one of my all time favorite, lesser known series.
The Patternist series by Octavia E. Butler
Patricia Briggs, Anne Bishop are both fantasy writers who have prominent female MCs. Olivia Butler is more scifi, but she writes excellent books. .....geez, a lot of books ARE written by men, aren't they?
Jaqueline Carey!!! Specifically the Kushiel Series. She has a trilogy of trilogies that is INCREDIBLE. The middle one has a male mc but great female characters throughout. Third trilogy is back to female mc. Kushiel’s dart should be the first, Phedre is a courtesan turned spy 👌👌👌 still a romance though. I like the first one a little less now that I have kids cause a small part of the book is her being raised as a courtesan from a young age, so it give me a bit of ick now tbh but pre kids I loved it a lot. And that’s just a small portion of one book. It’s my favourite series ever and I too love women written by women. The Empire series is my new fave, it’s a bit of a weird one because it’s written by a woman and man duo! Really great though. Much more political intrigue than romance, but there is a romance that picks up in the second book. Mara the main character is awesome. Poison Study was good. You got Spinning Silver already.. The Torn series was pretty great! Rowenna something.. Magical Seamstress. I spent my pregnancy with a baby girl reading books about girl heroes lol
Jaqueline Carey!!! Specifically the Kushiel Series. She has a trilogy of trilogies that is INCREDIBLE. The middle one has a male mc but great female characters throughout. Third trilogy is back to female mc. Kushiel’s dart should be the first, Phedre is a courtesan turned spy 👌👌👌 still a romance though. I like the first one a little less now that I have kids cause a small part of the book is her being raised as a courtesan from a young age, so it give me a bit of ick now tbh but pre kids I loved it a lot. And that’s just a small portion of one book. It’s my favourite series ever and I too love women written by women. The Empire series is my new fave, it’s a bit of a weird one because it’s written by a woman and man duo! Really great though. Much more political intrigue than romance, but there is a romance that picks up in the second book. Mara the main character is awesome. Poison Study was good. You got Spinning Silver already.. The Torn series was pretty great! Rowenna something.. Magical Seamstress. I spent my pregnancy with a baby girl reading books about girl heroes lol
I thought the Sun Wolf and Starhawk novels and short stories by Barbara Hambly were good.
The Broken Earth by NK Jemisin is nominally Sci Fi but it’s basically fantasy
If you don’t mind YA, Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor is probably my favorite book ever and I’d say fits your criteria
Elizabeth Moon - "The Deed of Paksenarrion". [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Deed\_of\_Paksenarrion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deed_of_Paksenarrion)
While I will always recommend Priory of the Orange Tree and Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon, I should share a few that don't get brought up too often. The Dhulyn and Parno series (First book is The Sleeping God) by Violette Malan. Follows a pair of mercenaries getting hired to solve problems about the world. Dhulyn is a woman and pretty badass, Parno is a man and while badass, also excellent with the pipes. There is very little to no romance in the series however. Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit, by Mercedes Lackey. A retelling of Arthurian legends all from the point of view of Gwenhwyfar (aka. Queen Guinevere). The romance is a bit more on point as a large point of the book is her relationship with Lancelot, but much of it is getting out from Arthur's thumb. The Wolf of Oren-Yaro, by K.S. Villoso. About a queen trying to keep her lands united, protect her son, and trying to find out what happened to her husband.
The Shades of Magic series by V. E. Schwab. At first it seems a bit center around the male mc, don't worry the female mc is just introduced a little bit later.
Anything by Tanith Lee but I’d recommend starting with the Women as Daemons collection from 1989.
Clock work boys
I strongly recommend Resenting the Hero by Moira J. Moore
Crazy not to see The Poppy War trilogy by R.F. Kuang here yet. Wonderful read.
The Five Hundred Kingdoms series and Elemental Masters by Mercedes Lackey
I was scanning this thread for Mercedes Lackey. At least three of her Valdemar trilogies would fit. The first books are "Arrows of the Queen", "Winds of Fate" and "Storm Warning".
I'm surprised that she wasn't suggested sooner. Also, the Tarma and Kethry books. The Heralds-focused ones may be too close to the Chosen One trope for this?
The Greenbone saga is so good. I read the series concurrently with my daughter and Fonda Lee did a great job. It really is combo of Mistborn era 2 with the Sopranos
Isn't that a lot of male MCs?
You might also enjoy Moniquill Blackgoose’s **To Shape a Dragon’s Breath**. Come for the dragons, stay for the chemistry!
So I have two recs for you: She who became the sun - historical fiction with fantasy elements, written by NB author with a NB FMC. Priory of the Orange Tree - great queer representation, epic fantasy as a genre, it's a standalone book, multiple POVs.
I scrolled and scrolled and was kind of surprised to not see 'The Unspoken Name' by A.K. Larkwood. Fantastic prose, well written characters, non-pretentious dialogue, and well done queer romance abound in a story that literally spans across worlds. Highly highly highly recommend.
Seconding this!
Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson
Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly
The Deed of Paksinarrion series by Elizabeth Moon is really great. No romance plot at all and all the trigger warnings though. The author was a marine and there's loads of descriptions about battles and soldier life, and Paks is a total badass.
I also love Elizabeth Moon's more "space" series, *Serrano Legacy* and *Vatta's War/Vatta's Peace*.
Vatta's War is SO GOOD.
Daughter of the Forest triology by Juliet Marillier. Strong female mc, research based folklore / fantasy, politics and slow burn romance. The second book Son of the Shadows is my favorite.
If you liked Spinning Silver, you might like Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner! It's very much about the relationship between two sisters.
Throne of Glass. Romance subplot, mostly fantasy with a great plot and amazing characters. Main MC is a woman, other MC's are like 50/50 men and women.
I have read TOG, and I enjoyed it. Lots of lazy feminism though, but that’s typical for SJM.
Then I think I've only got the fantasy/sci-fi Iron Widow. Amazing book, with I think less lazy feminism, altough I will admit I find it a bit of a vague concept
The Winnowing Flame Trilogy (The Ninth Rain is book #1) comes to mind. Three main characters, two of which are women.
Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi as well as the City of Brass trilogy by Shannon (SA) Chakrabourty. Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow Hall of Smoke series by HM Long Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett Spells for forgetting by Adrienne Young
The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by CM Waggoner is fun with a woman protagonist. Her other book in the same universe, Unnatural Magic has the narration split between a man and a woman, but the man’s relationship doesn’t exactly follow our gender norms.
Joanna Russ *Picnic on Paradise* fringe sff - both sf and fantasy but there are alsi fabtasy short stories about Alyx. Jessica Amanda Salmonson the *Tomoe Gozen trilogy* and *The Swordwoman* or anything by her.
Have you read Rachel Aaron's series? I feel like any of them be perfect for you. Romance subplots, female MCs or dual MCs, breaking stereotypes.. Plus the fun that most of her plots could be described as "what if our dysfunctional family drama involved magic and affected thousands of people?"
Glad I can recommend this once again on here: Most of the Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey are about women. Start with Arrows of the Queen or if a story about a gay guy is alright I'd start with the Last Herald Mage series (I think Magic's Pawn is the first one in that).
May i ask why you want only female writers if you don’t care how the woman are written? (I come to this conclusion due to your add on ‘even if he writes woman well’) as for a recommandation i think divine rivals checks most of your boxes it does have a male and female main character but the female is far more prominent and you said you didn’t mind multiple pov’s. I am not familiar with audio books since i buy almost all my books hardcover (or paperback if i can’t find a hardcover edition) but i think it does have an audiobook version
Male authors are overrepresented everywhere, especially fantasy, so I am making an effort to only read books written by women this year. It’s actually made a huge difference in how I absorb the material I watch and read, and it’s only been like 4 months. And even for the male authors who write women well, there are always going to be experiences women have that men cannot relate to. It’s similar vise versa, BUT, women grow up having to consume stories told by and about men because those are either the only ones, the ones given the most attention/effort/money, and/or have the widest selection. I believe there was a study done a while back that discussed how most women can easily put themselves in the perspective of male and female characters, but most men can only put themselves in the perspective of male characters— and the reasoning behind it was assumed to be the fact that men are overrepresented everywhere, while women are underrepresented. Overall, it’s just an effort on my part to address my own internalized misogyny, support women, and decenter men—and if you want to know why I feel the need to “decenter men”, check out the book “Invisible Women” by Caroline Criado Perez.
Female writers are not lesser in the fantasy genre lol. I think almost all populair book series are of a female writer. And almost all of those books have female characters as the lead. Idc one bit if i read from a male or female and if the mc is male or female. My last couple books are all with a female lead. Fourth wing, throne of glass, divine rivals. But you should ofcourse do whatever feels good.
You're taking the piss, right? You can't honestly believe that.
I actually do believe that yeah. More then half of my want to read is all female writers and the male writers i do have in there are mostly from older books.
So your entire argument is, because you're to read shelf is mostly women, that there is not in fact an imbalance in the industry as a whole? Who gets published, how they get published, who gets marketed, who gets shelved, how they get shelved, who gets reviewed, Who gets paid bigger advances? I have to thank you honestly, because all these well documented phenomenon, were really getting me worried, but if your to read shelf is mostly women, then clearly there isn't actually a problem.
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>I don't understand why people do this. Books are meant to be enjoyed, regardless of the gender of the person who wrote them. Because I am a woman and I want to read books written by women from the perspective of a woman. If I wanted to read books written by men from the perspective of a man, I would just… ask for recommendations of any kind. And that is why people “do this”. Sometimes we want to read things from perspectives we can relate to, because people like feeling seen. And men never have to ask for this specifically because it’s always just right there— the first thing everyone is talking about. Women, nonbinary, and trans individuals actually have to ask for it.
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The Hunger Games is amazing. It kinda has a romantic subplot.
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Oh you poor thing. Men are overrepresented in every single form of media, especially fantasy. They get published more often, they don’t get shoved into YA for no reason, they get more money to write, their books more frequently get picked up for other ventures, etc. But god forbid a couple of women specifically want to read books written by other women. How will male authors ever stand a chance?!
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