Give me books or give me death!
August 15, 2015 8:56 AM Subscribe
Here's yet another "What should I read next?" for you:
My favorite kind of book could be called Women Who Get Shit Done. Female main characters who have a mission and use their brains/cunning/dumb luck to get it done. Bonus points for books with a historical or fantasy bend.
Things I don't want:
- Dead kids/babies.
- A lot of traveling.
- Politics.
George R.R. Martin, David Eddings, and Robert Jordan are not my friends.
Authors and books I like:
- Brandon Sanderson
- Margaret Atwood
- Phillip Pullman
- Philippa Gregory
- Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
- Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Things I don't want:
- Dead kids/babies.
- A lot of traveling.
- Politics.
George R.R. Martin, David Eddings, and Robert Jordan are not my friends.
Authors and books I like:
- Brandon Sanderson
- Margaret Atwood
- Phillip Pullman
- Philippa Gregory
- Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
- Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Best answer: I think you'd love the Mary Russell series by Laurie King.
It starts with The Beekeeper's Apprentice.
The titular beekeeper being an older, retired and reclusive Sherlock Holmes.
The apprentice being a young, very young, Mary Russell.
The game is afoot! :)
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 9:07 AM on August 15, 2015 [4 favorites]
It starts with The Beekeeper's Apprentice.
The titular beekeeper being an older, retired and reclusive Sherlock Holmes.
The apprentice being a young, very young, Mary Russell.
The game is afoot! :)
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 9:07 AM on August 15, 2015 [4 favorites]
The Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles. I guess it has a "historical bent," as it takes place in NYC before the Second World War.
posted by holborne at 9:17 AM on August 15, 2015
posted by holborne at 9:17 AM on August 15, 2015
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L. A. Meyer. It's Hornblower meets Pippi Longstocking. The female protagonist is very capable, and becomes even more so as the book goes on: and she teaches other women how to be more capable as well.
"Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas.
There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret. This could be the adventure of her life--if only she doesn't get caught..."
The Second Mango, Shira Glassman
A mystery-solving Queen who really comes into her power in books 1 and 2.
"Queen Shulamit never expected to inherit the throne of the tropical land of Perach so young. At twenty, grief-stricken and fatherless, she's also coping with being the only lesbian she knows after her sweetheart ran off for an unknown reason. Not to mention, she's the victim of severe digestive problems that everybody think she's faking. When she meets Rivka, an athletic and assertive warrior woman from the north who wears a mask and pretends to be a man, she finds the source of strength she needs so desperately.
Unfortunately for her, Rivka is straight, but that's okay -- Shulamit needs a surrogate big sister just as much as she needs a girlfriend. Especially if the warrior's willing to take her around the kingdom on the back of her dragon in search of other women who might be open to same-sex romance. The real world outside the palace is full of adventure, however, and the search for a royal girlfriend quickly turns into a rescue mission when they discover a temple full of women turned to stone by an evil sorcerer."
posted by Hot buttered sockpuppets at 9:20 AM on August 15, 2015 [4 favorites]
"Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas.
There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret. This could be the adventure of her life--if only she doesn't get caught..."
The Second Mango, Shira Glassman
A mystery-solving Queen who really comes into her power in books 1 and 2.
"Queen Shulamit never expected to inherit the throne of the tropical land of Perach so young. At twenty, grief-stricken and fatherless, she's also coping with being the only lesbian she knows after her sweetheart ran off for an unknown reason. Not to mention, she's the victim of severe digestive problems that everybody think she's faking. When she meets Rivka, an athletic and assertive warrior woman from the north who wears a mask and pretends to be a man, she finds the source of strength she needs so desperately.
Unfortunately for her, Rivka is straight, but that's okay -- Shulamit needs a surrogate big sister just as much as she needs a girlfriend. Especially if the warrior's willing to take her around the kingdom on the back of her dragon in search of other women who might be open to same-sex romance. The real world outside the palace is full of adventure, however, and the search for a royal girlfriend quickly turns into a rescue mission when they discover a temple full of women turned to stone by an evil sorcerer."
posted by Hot buttered sockpuppets at 9:20 AM on August 15, 2015 [4 favorites]
Best answer: If you're looking for something on the light side, I've been enjoying Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series. She is a private detective in London from 1929 through the 1930's. The series is still going and she is just entering the 1940's. The first book actually starts in 1912 with flashbacks, and then it goes from there.
She's very smart but not perfect. The minor characters are well-drawn and Winspear does a great job of painting 1930's London without going on and on about it. They're kind of light, but (as a reader of heavy, in-depth historical fiction) I am not ashamed to say that I LOVE them.
posted by Elly Vortex at 9:21 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
She's very smart but not perfect. The minor characters are well-drawn and Winspear does a great job of painting 1930's London without going on and on about it. They're kind of light, but (as a reader of heavy, in-depth historical fiction) I am not ashamed to say that I LOVE them.
posted by Elly Vortex at 9:21 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Ooh! "The Rook" by Daniel O'Malley. Alt history British fantasy, with intrigue and a very capable heroine. One of my very favorite recent reads.
posted by purenitrous at 9:23 AM on August 15, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by purenitrous at 9:23 AM on August 15, 2015 [10 favorites]
Discount Armageddon, Seanan McGuire.
The female protagonist is good at mysteries, tactics, and hand to hand combat, among other things... and very very driven.
"The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity – and humanity from them.
Meet Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she’d rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan to pursue her dream career in professional ballroom dance. That is, until talking mice, telepathic mathematicians, and a tangle with the Price family’s old enemies, the Covenant of St. George, get in her way…"
posted by Hot buttered sockpuppets at 9:25 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
The female protagonist is good at mysteries, tactics, and hand to hand combat, among other things... and very very driven.
"The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity – and humanity from them.
Meet Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she’d rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan to pursue her dream career in professional ballroom dance. That is, until talking mice, telepathic mathematicians, and a tangle with the Price family’s old enemies, the Covenant of St. George, get in her way…"
posted by Hot buttered sockpuppets at 9:25 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
Connie Willis - To Say Nothing of the Dog
Ned Henry is badly in need of a rest. He's been shuttling between the 21st century and the 1940s searching for a Victorian atrocity called the bishop's bird stump. It's part of a project to restore the famed Coventry Cathedral, destroyed in a Nazi air raid over a hundred years earlier.
But then Verity Kindle, a fellow time traveler, inadvertently brings back something from the past. Now Ned must jump back to the Victorian era to help Verity put things right--not only to save the project but to prevent altering history itself.
posted by heathrowga at 9:28 AM on August 15, 2015 [5 favorites]
Ned Henry is badly in need of a rest. He's been shuttling between the 21st century and the 1940s searching for a Victorian atrocity called the bishop's bird stump. It's part of a project to restore the famed Coventry Cathedral, destroyed in a Nazi air raid over a hundred years earlier.
But then Verity Kindle, a fellow time traveler, inadvertently brings back something from the past. Now Ned must jump back to the Victorian era to help Verity put things right--not only to save the project but to prevent altering history itself.
posted by heathrowga at 9:28 AM on August 15, 2015 [5 favorites]
Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series is exactly this. There are twenty books so far. They are pretty light reading, so I treated them more like chapters of one larger book. Read them in order.
posted by raisingsand at 9:39 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by raisingsand at 9:39 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
Have you read any of Ken Follett's historical novels? Both Pillars of the Earth and the Century Trilogy are full of such women. Pillars of the Earth takes place in medieval England and each of the Century Trilogy books takes place in a different period spanning the U.S. and Europe (roughly: WWI, WWII, and the Cold War, though they are not really "war books").
Also, have you read any Marge Piercy? Lots of these woman-driven plots in her historical novels.
Oh, and Maeve Binchy might be a bit too sappy for you, but she has lots of these types of plucky heroines who figure things out.
posted by lunasol at 9:43 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
Also, have you read any Marge Piercy? Lots of these woman-driven plots in her historical novels.
Oh, and Maeve Binchy might be a bit too sappy for you, but she has lots of these types of plucky heroines who figure things out.
posted by lunasol at 9:43 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
City of Stairs! It has a kick ass spy protagonist.
posted by Omnomnom at 9:46 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Omnomnom at 9:46 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski detective novels.
posted by easter queen at 10:06 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by easter queen at 10:06 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
Oh shit, no dead kids! Well, her first book definitely has a dead (teen) kid. Don't know about the rest.
posted by easter queen at 10:06 AM on August 15, 2015
posted by easter queen at 10:06 AM on August 15, 2015
seconding sara paretsky. also, my partner is enjoying pattern recognition (william gibson) more than i expected when i suggested it, and that has a female heroine who gets things done.
posted by andrewcooke at 10:08 AM on August 15, 2015
posted by andrewcooke at 10:08 AM on August 15, 2015
Karen Marie Moning's FEVER series. The first is DARKFEVER. Do not be put off by the fact that these are sometimes considered romance -- these are exactly what you described. And the series is GREAT.
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:09 AM on August 15, 2015
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:09 AM on August 15, 2015
Best answer: Anything by Tamora Pierce. Well, The Hunt Records has dead children, but the others work. Best feminist fantasy I've read so far.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 10:15 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by LoonyLovegood at 10:15 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
The Girls of the Kingfisher club, a prohibition era rebelling of 12 dancing princesses. Agnes and the hitman by Jennifer Crusie, no historical or fantasy bent but a woman who is done with putting up with things, a funny comfort author for me.
Kelley Armstrong's women of the underworld might scratch your itch. And the first Miles Vorkosigan book by Lois McMaster Bujold is all his mother Cordelia encountering and surviving a very traditional, patriarchal society. I have it as Shards of Honour but I think there are a few compilations released.
posted by five_cents at 10:16 AM on August 15, 2015
Kelley Armstrong's women of the underworld might scratch your itch. And the first Miles Vorkosigan book by Lois McMaster Bujold is all his mother Cordelia encountering and surviving a very traditional, patriarchal society. I have it as Shards of Honour but I think there are a few compilations released.
posted by five_cents at 10:16 AM on August 15, 2015
Seveneves. I took yesterday off to read most of it.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:25 AM on August 15, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by Lyn Never at 10:25 AM on August 15, 2015 [7 favorites]
If don't mind a bit of romance mixed in Ilona Andrews (especially the Kate Daniels series) is my recommendation.
posted by estelahe at 10:26 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by estelahe at 10:26 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you're open to memoirs, West With The Night is absolutely incredible.
posted by you're a kitty! at 10:33 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by you're a kitty! at 10:33 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes. He's currently the head writer for Dragon Age and wrote the story arc for the trans character in DA:Inquisition. I haven't read any of his other stuff tho.
It's a great heist book.
posted by fiercekitten at 10:39 AM on August 15, 2015
It's a great heist book.
posted by fiercekitten at 10:39 AM on August 15, 2015
A lot of the Pattern Recognition peeps also like PopCo by Scarlett Thomas. It's great, one woman against capitalism and the heroine is thoughtfuland Gets Shit Done.
posted by Omnomnom at 10:42 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Omnomnom at 10:42 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
Octavia Butler. I'd specifically suggest Kindred given your preferences but really everything she wrote is fantastic.
posted by teremala at 10:53 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by teremala at 10:53 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Terry Pratchett's Tifffany Aching (wikipedia, goodreads) was pretty kickass and I enjoyed the novels immensley. They trend a little more YA than the earlier Disc Worlds novels, but do so more successfully and more satisfactoirly than the later ones, in my opinion.
posted by mce at 10:55 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by mce at 10:55 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
If you liked Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment (Terry Pratchett is good with this: his witches get things done), Django Wexler's Shadow Campaigns books (The Thousand Names, The Shadow Throne, The Price of Valor -- three books out in a planned pentalogy) are about a lesbian girl who joins her world's equivalent of the French Foreign Legion. The first book is rather Beau Geste-y, the following ones are basically the French Revolution with magic and girls who do things. They're combat-heavy books but not nearly as grimdark as GRRM.
posted by sukeban at 11:00 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by sukeban at 11:00 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I came in to recommend Laurie R. King's Mary Russell mysteries but Major Matt Mason Dixon beat me to it. Great series!
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 11:02 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 11:02 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I came in here to suggest "The Rook" but I see that purenitrous beat me to it.
It's a great read!
posted by firei at 11:04 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's a great read!
posted by firei at 11:04 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I will recommend anything by Catherine Asaro because she epitomizes writing about women who get things done. Most of what I've read is science fiction, but she's definitely worth checking out. Her voice and writing style is unlike anyone I've ever read before.
posted by lunastellasol at 11:06 AM on August 15, 2015
posted by lunastellasol at 11:06 AM on August 15, 2015
The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix is pretty great for this: capital M Missions, (eponymous) women protagonists who are getting shit done on their own, fairly well-developed fantasy setting. Start with Sabriel, which can absolutely stand on its own, and if you like it, try Lirael and Abhorsen, which are effectively a two-book series. There's now a fourth book, Clariel, though it's is much more of a tragedy (in the classical sense) than the othera, and is a bit of a downer--definitely read the others first.
They're also refreshingly light on romance, though it is a theme in Sabriel. Clariel could probably be described as ace/aro if that's a bonus for you. All of the books deal extensively with death and dead people (spoiler: main characters are necromancers as a hereditary vocation) but there is no child- or character-killing a la George R. R. Martin.
posted by pullayup at 11:16 AM on August 15, 2015 [5 favorites]
They're also refreshingly light on romance, though it is a theme in Sabriel. Clariel could probably be described as ace/aro if that's a bonus for you. All of the books deal extensively with death and dead people (spoiler: main characters are necromancers as a hereditary vocation) but there is no child- or character-killing a la George R. R. Martin.
posted by pullayup at 11:16 AM on August 15, 2015 [5 favorites]
Have you tried Robin McKinley?
Sunshine - urban fantasy, great female lead (she is a baker who gets taken by vampires). Lots of world building; I think on the first read the end can feel cliff-hanger-y, but it holds up really well on re-reads.
Chalice - rural fantasy world setting, lead is a beekeeper who is learning a new magical role.
Spindle's End - re-telling of Sleeping Beauty, with a tomboy princess
Beauty (or Rose Daughter) - re-telling of Beauty & the Beast, which McKinley did twice. I prefer the earlier one, which I think was Beauty.
A lot of people love The Blue Sword/The Hero and the Crown books, but they were too YA for me.
Deerskin - re-telling of Perrault's "Donkeyskin" is incredibly powerful, but it is the fairy tale about the widowed king who decides to obey his wife's dying command that he should only remarry to someone as beautiful as she by marrying his daughter, and there are some very traumatic scenes in the book. But some very uplifting ones too. So, if you become a McKinley fan, it's worth tracking down, but it's not one to start with.
posted by oh yeah! at 11:48 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
Sunshine - urban fantasy, great female lead (she is a baker who gets taken by vampires). Lots of world building; I think on the first read the end can feel cliff-hanger-y, but it holds up really well on re-reads.
Chalice - rural fantasy world setting, lead is a beekeeper who is learning a new magical role.
Spindle's End - re-telling of Sleeping Beauty, with a tomboy princess
Beauty (or Rose Daughter) - re-telling of Beauty & the Beast, which McKinley did twice. I prefer the earlier one, which I think was Beauty.
A lot of people love The Blue Sword/The Hero and the Crown books, but they were too YA for me.
Deerskin - re-telling of Perrault's "Donkeyskin" is incredibly powerful, but it is the fairy tale about the widowed king who decides to obey his wife's dying command that he should only remarry to someone as beautiful as she by marrying his daughter, and there are some very traumatic scenes in the book. But some very uplifting ones too. So, if you become a McKinley fan, it's worth tracking down, but it's not one to start with.
posted by oh yeah! at 11:48 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
Best answer: If you can handle YA, Homecoming by Cynthia Voight has a tough-as-shit female character in Dicey Tillerman, who has to get her younger siblings cross-country to safety after their mom can't take care of them anymore. Lyra from His Dark Materials reminds me of her quite a lot.
Likewise, the women in the ongoing Saga comic series are pretty much all badasses.
posted by emjaybee at 11:51 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
Likewise, the women in the ongoing Saga comic series are pretty much all badasses.
posted by emjaybee at 11:51 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
Also by Seanan McGuire, the Toby Daye series. The first book is "Rosemary and Rue":
You'd have to define "dead kids", though, because there's at least one dead teenager in the series.
posted by sailoreagle at 12:12 PM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
The world of Faerie never disappeared; it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie's survival—but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Outsiders from birth, these half-human, half-fae children spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or, in the case of October "Toby" Daye, rejecting it completely. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas...The first few books can drag a bit at times (world establishing is a bitch), but the series as a whole is great. I devoured the eight currently-available books in 5 days, and I'm not terribly fond of the urban fantasy genre.
The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the secret regents of the San Francisco Bay Area, pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening’s dying curse, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant to the Duke of Shadowed Hills and begin renewing old alliances that may prove her only hope of solving the mystery...before the curse catches up with her.
You'd have to define "dead kids", though, because there's at least one dead teenager in the series.
posted by sailoreagle at 12:12 PM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I just finished reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik, about a girl who turns the tables on a wizard who took her as a servant and discovers her own power. I fell in love with this book hard. Also, East, a retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon is similarly epic.
posted by batbat at 12:35 PM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by batbat at 12:35 PM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series is about a woman who investigates literary crimes -- in the first one, someone has invaded Jane Eyre and changed the ending, so Agent Thursday Next has to go into the book herself and correct things. (Note from that description that everything about this book and the world in which it is set is completely batshit crazy.)
posted by Etrigan at 12:42 PM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 12:42 PM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
You might like Kate Atkinson's Life After Life. The main character, Ursula, does die in childhood several times, but she's always born again on the next page.
posted by amarynth at 12:47 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by amarynth at 12:47 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Erm, my suggestion of Seveneves might not be perfect given that 7 billion people die and there's a lot of orbiting, which is sort of travel, and there's politics, but much more on the level of "because Politics, this next action sequence happened" rather than long passages of meeting minutes and that sort of thing. I promise it's not fantasy-esque at all, in fact I keep boggling at how squeaky-tight the writing/story is given that this is the same person who spooled out all 47 volumes of The Baroque Cycle.
And it is definitely about kickass women.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:51 PM on August 15, 2015
And it is definitely about kickass women.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:51 PM on August 15, 2015
Response by poster: Clarification on death for easter queen and sailoreagle: Teens are ok(ish). I'm pregnant and have a toddler so miscarriages, stillbirths, baby death, and toddler death are definitely no go.
posted by peasandcarrots at 12:58 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by peasandcarrots at 12:58 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
In that case I'd probably avoid the Toby Daye series, good as it is. I don't remember any deaths that are earlier than teenagers, but there's a fair bit of kid imperiling in the series, and in the case of one book specifically, a lot. The event that kicks off book 3 is the kidnapping of a bunch of kids, ranging from age 4 - which I'd personally still consider a toddler - all the way up to teenagers, so... yeah, avoid, if it's a touchy subject at all.
posted by sailoreagle at 1:15 PM on August 15, 2015
posted by sailoreagle at 1:15 PM on August 15, 2015
Teens are ok(ish). I'm pregnant and have a toddler so miscarriages, stillbirths, baby death, and toddler death are definitely no go.
The Django Wexler books have a POV character with a six-year-old Dead Little Sister that is somewhat implied to be not dead at all (it's a "they never found the body" type of thing and there are heavy hints that some other character might be this sister, grown up) but YMMV. It's only alluded in backstory and imagined in a dream sequence.
posted by sukeban at 1:37 PM on August 15, 2015
The Django Wexler books have a POV character with a six-year-old Dead Little Sister that is somewhat implied to be not dead at all (it's a "they never found the body" type of thing and there are heavy hints that some other character might be this sister, grown up) but YMMV. It's only alluded in backstory and imagined in a dream sequence.
posted by sukeban at 1:37 PM on August 15, 2015
I'm pregnant and have a toddler...
Skip Seveneves for now then. I think it will be fine once you have the baby, but I read it while pregnant and there are definitely a couple of scenes that I could have done without.
posted by teremala at 1:54 PM on August 15, 2015
Skip Seveneves for now then. I think it will be fine once you have the baby, but I read it while pregnant and there are definitely a couple of scenes that I could have done without.
posted by teremala at 1:54 PM on August 15, 2015
I just finished Max Gladstone's Three Parts Dead, which was very enjoyable and meets your criteria.
posted by dfan at 2:59 PM on August 15, 2015
posted by dfan at 2:59 PM on August 15, 2015
so miscarriages, stillbirths, baby death, and toddler death are definitely no go.
Deerskin is a no-go then.
posted by oh yeah! at 3:09 PM on August 15, 2015
Deerskin is a no-go then.
posted by oh yeah! at 3:09 PM on August 15, 2015
Best answer: If you enjoy well-written young-adult fantasy, Tamora Pierce and Kristin Cashore are both very enjoyable.
posted by jackbishop at 3:10 PM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by jackbishop at 3:10 PM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
Lois McMaster Bujold's Chalion series might work - the first has a middle aged dude protag, second is a middle aged woman, third is a younger man, but first and third have very strong female characters. No baby-imperilling. I adore her SF work but there is a bunch of reproductive stuff in there that would probably be difficult.
posted by geek anachronism at 3:16 PM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by geek anachronism at 3:16 PM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
Seconding the Kate Shugak series. Light and entertaining, no dead kids in the ones I read.
The Second Mango, Shira Glassman
"Queen Shulamit never expected to inherit the throne of the tropical land of Perach so young. At twenty, grief-stricken and fatherless, she's also coping with being the only lesbian she knows after her sweetheart ran off for an unknown reason."
Jewish lesbian queens and warrior women?!? Wow, I'm going to sink my teeth into THAT series!!
posted by RRgal at 3:20 PM on August 15, 2015
The Second Mango, Shira Glassman
"Queen Shulamit never expected to inherit the throne of the tropical land of Perach so young. At twenty, grief-stricken and fatherless, she's also coping with being the only lesbian she knows after her sweetheart ran off for an unknown reason."
Jewish lesbian queens and warrior women?!? Wow, I'm going to sink my teeth into THAT series!!
posted by RRgal at 3:20 PM on August 15, 2015
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell. Ree Dolly is a teen with a sick mother, two young siblings and a father who has skipped bail. Except he hasn't, he just didn't show up because he's dead. Missing and dead. But Ree has to prove it in order to keep the family home from being forfeited to pay the bond. Which means searching and asking questions amongst a suspicious, mean set of clan and acquaintances and sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong.
Very somber, stark tone in dirt poor Ozarks. Excellent read and the movie is top notch, too, with Jennifer Lawrence in a break-out role.
posted by SLC Mom at 4:21 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Very somber, stark tone in dirt poor Ozarks. Excellent read and the movie is top notch, too, with Jennifer Lawrence in a break-out role.
posted by SLC Mom at 4:21 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I really love Pamela Christie's Arabella DuMont mystery series. Regency, with an unrepentant, unapologetic courtesan living as fantastic a life as she possibly can, and solving a few crimes along the way.
posted by lemniskate at 4:27 PM on August 15, 2015
posted by lemniskate at 4:27 PM on August 15, 2015
I'm currently reading "Graceling" by Kristin Cashore (the first in the Graceling Realm series) after much pushing from those who know the good books and loving the main character of Katsa.
I'll also recommend the Spellman books by Lisa Lutz. They're kind of light but the character of Isabel Spellman, private detective, is enjoyable and complicated.
posted by Merinda at 4:28 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'll also recommend the Spellman books by Lisa Lutz. They're kind of light but the character of Isabel Spellman, private detective, is enjoyable and complicated.
posted by Merinda at 4:28 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I just finished the first book in the Ava Lee series. Martial art wielding forensic accountant who kicks ass and beats bad guy scammers. This woman gets shit gets done.
posted by girlpublisher at 4:48 PM on August 15, 2015
posted by girlpublisher at 4:48 PM on August 15, 2015
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson.(A review, if you're interested.)
posted by iamfantastikate at 6:25 PM on August 15, 2015
posted by iamfantastikate at 6:25 PM on August 15, 2015
For a twisted take on that sort of female character, Tampa by Alissa Nutting. The narrator is a high school teacher whose life revolves around enabling her sexual trysts with young boys.
Also, if you like short stories, the collection Almost Famous Women by Meghan Mayhew Berman.
posted by mermaidcafe at 8:16 PM on August 15, 2015
Also, if you like short stories, the collection Almost Famous Women by Meghan Mayhew Berman.
posted by mermaidcafe at 8:16 PM on August 15, 2015
Marie Brennan's Lady Trent series is about a Victorian-ish naturalist who studies dragons. It's fabulous, and full of adventure, and the eponymous Lady Trent is all about getting things done. The first book is A Natural History of Dragons.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:06 PM on August 15, 2015
posted by ocherdraco at 9:06 PM on August 15, 2015
How has nobody recommended Rosemary Kirstein yet? The Steerswomen novels are SF in fantasy clothing, and basically they are adventure/mystery novels about the scientific method. The lead characters are both women, one of them basically a scientist-adventurer, and the other a poet and badass warrior. Together, they solve crime try to decipher the world! And defeat evil wizards.
A summary I put on my LJ some years ago: Spectacular world-building, great interesting characters, a series-spanning mystery plot, and even the occasional explosion. It looks like bog-standard quest fantasy from the outside: in fact, it's very very good science fiction, addressing things like epistemology and the place of knowledge in a community, the intersection of technology and political power, colonialism, cultural clashes, biology and sociology...
Highly, highly recommended.
posted by suelac at 10:53 PM on August 15, 2015 [4 favorites]
A summary I put on my LJ some years ago: Spectacular world-building, great interesting characters, a series-spanning mystery plot, and even the occasional explosion. It looks like bog-standard quest fantasy from the outside: in fact, it's very very good science fiction, addressing things like epistemology and the place of knowledge in a community, the intersection of technology and political power, colonialism, cultural clashes, biology and sociology...
Highly, highly recommended.
posted by suelac at 10:53 PM on August 15, 2015 [4 favorites]
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, is set during WWII with a female lead who is blind and fighting to survive.
Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson, does start with the death of a baby girl, but that child is continually reborn, and is stronger and wiser with each rebirth. Again, WWII.
Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series is a steampunk fantasy, with a strong female protagonist.
In Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven nearly everyone in the world is wiped out, but one of the primary survivors is a young girl/woman.
posted by kbar1 at 12:27 AM on August 16, 2015
Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson, does start with the death of a baby girl, but that child is continually reborn, and is stronger and wiser with each rebirth. Again, WWII.
Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series is a steampunk fantasy, with a strong female protagonist.
In Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven nearly everyone in the world is wiped out, but one of the primary survivors is a young girl/woman.
posted by kbar1 at 12:27 AM on August 16, 2015
I agree with recommendations for Laurie R King; in addition to the Mary Russell series, she has another series set in more-or-less modern day SF with female detective Kate Martinelli, who is indeed no-nonsense, gets things done and has an awesome supporting cast of other strong women. I read a Martinelli first and was so impressed I have devoured everything King has done.
I really can't believe no one has mentioned Diana Wynne Jones, who wrote books straddling YA and adult, mostly with a firm fantasy slant (which she also sends up in her classic Tough Guide to Fantasyland). Not all of her books have female protagonists, but all of them do have strong female characters. My favourite is Fire and Hemlock, which gets better every time I read it and benefits also from a read of T S Eliot's Four Quartets beforehand. Its protagonist, Polly, starts out as a young girl who gate-crashes a funeral and finds herself drawn into figuring out what it means to be a hero instead of just make-believing one. Others you might like include The Time of the Ghost, The Spellcoats, Howl's Moving Castle (very different to the anime film of the same name) and Hexwood (though I wouldn't begin with that one).
Also try Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher series (the books are the source for the TV series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries). While they can be more than a bit improbable and Mary Sue-ish, they are also good fun. Greenwood has said that she wanted to write a female James Bond, full of derring-do, panache and sexiness while getting all the beautiful men she wants and solving crimes. They don't feature the gadgetry, explosions and over-the-top violence of a Bond flick, but instead are set in Melbourne in the 1920s and have beautiful cars and clothes. And a much better sense of humour.
posted by Athanassiel at 3:05 AM on August 16, 2015
I really can't believe no one has mentioned Diana Wynne Jones, who wrote books straddling YA and adult, mostly with a firm fantasy slant (which she also sends up in her classic Tough Guide to Fantasyland). Not all of her books have female protagonists, but all of them do have strong female characters. My favourite is Fire and Hemlock, which gets better every time I read it and benefits also from a read of T S Eliot's Four Quartets beforehand. Its protagonist, Polly, starts out as a young girl who gate-crashes a funeral and finds herself drawn into figuring out what it means to be a hero instead of just make-believing one. Others you might like include The Time of the Ghost, The Spellcoats, Howl's Moving Castle (very different to the anime film of the same name) and Hexwood (though I wouldn't begin with that one).
Also try Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher series (the books are the source for the TV series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries). While they can be more than a bit improbable and Mary Sue-ish, they are also good fun. Greenwood has said that she wanted to write a female James Bond, full of derring-do, panache and sexiness while getting all the beautiful men she wants and solving crimes. They don't feature the gadgetry, explosions and over-the-top violence of a Bond flick, but instead are set in Melbourne in the 1920s and have beautiful cars and clothes. And a much better sense of humour.
posted by Athanassiel at 3:05 AM on August 16, 2015
Definitely skip the early Bujold Vorkosigan books. There is a lot of pregnancy drama, sorry for the bad rec.
posted by five_cents at 3:03 PM on August 16, 2015
posted by five_cents at 3:03 PM on August 16, 2015
This question has made me realize how few adult books, with adult women as protagonists, fit your description. Or at least, how few I've read. I second a lot of the books in this discussion -- personal favorite is Robin McKinley's Sunshine, didn't like the writing style of Seanan McGuire but her zombie plague books definitely feature a woman getting shit done. Given your restrictions, I really really wouldn't recommend Life after Life.
Edit: Little Sister and The Heavenward Path by Kara Dalkey are great.
posted by brightwhite at 3:26 PM on August 16, 2015
Edit: Little Sister and The Heavenward Path by Kara Dalkey are great.
posted by brightwhite at 3:26 PM on August 16, 2015
The first Phryne Fisher book has a plot moppet in peril, and deals with abortionists. A few others have pregnancies in peril/abusive situations. They're all trashy fluff though.
posted by geek anachronism at 5:58 PM on August 16, 2015
posted by geek anachronism at 5:58 PM on August 16, 2015
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein! Young female pilots in WWII, spies, intrigue, masterfully written!
posted by wsquared at 7:19 PM on August 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by wsquared at 7:19 PM on August 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Came in to say Code Name Verity. I just finished reading it a few days ago. It is so good. There is a best friendship between women that is just....so amazing and I loved the whole book.
posted by bilabial at 8:38 PM on August 16, 2015
posted by bilabial at 8:38 PM on August 16, 2015
Check out Annihilation, the first book in the Southern Reach trilogy, by Jeff Vandermeer.
posted by chinston at 8:46 PM on August 16, 2015
posted by chinston at 8:46 PM on August 16, 2015
I just finished reading The Girl in the Road, by Monica Byrne. It was good. Lots to chew on. It's set in the near future, when global warming is starting to take its toll, and India has become of the world's dominant nations. It's told from the perspective of two different women, one describing a journey across Africa on her way to Ethiopia, and one traveling to Ethiopia from India.
posted by picea at 7:52 AM on August 17, 2015
posted by picea at 7:52 AM on August 17, 2015
I got many good answers in a question I asked several years ago:
fantasy novels with strong women characters
posted by raw sugar at 2:06 PM on August 17, 2015
fantasy novels with strong women characters
posted by raw sugar at 2:06 PM on August 17, 2015
Late, but Mists of Avalon is my annual re-read in this genre.
posted by TravellingCari at 9:37 AM on August 30, 2015
posted by TravellingCari at 9:37 AM on August 30, 2015
You may want to reconsider saying so out loud.
The sooner she's forgotten, the better.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:39 PM on August 30, 2015
The sooner she's forgotten, the better.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:39 PM on August 30, 2015
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Other favorites that fit your description:
- Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Sci-fi/Fantasy)
- Starbridge by AC Crispin (YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
- the Outlander series (historical romance/erotica with a great heroine)
posted by galaxy rise at 9:05 AM on August 15, 2015 [5 favorites]