Today’s guest is Kristin, who runs the wonderful blog My Bookish Ways! Kristin has an extraordinary amount of reviews, interviews, and giveaways of all kinds of different books, and I simultaneously envy and admire her sheer volume and quality of content (especially her awesome interview with Seanan McGuire). She covers books from a wide variety of genres, including urban fantasy, horror, science fiction, fantasy, suspense, and historical fiction. Right now she has a giveaway for a copy of the new YA fantasy Fair Coin by EC Myers along with a great interview with the author that I recommend checking out. You can also follow her on Twitter as mybookishways.
Please give a warm welcome to Kristin as she shares some of her favorite female authors of fantasy and science fiction!
The lovely Kristen of Fantasy Café suggested I make a list of some of my favorite female fantasy/sci-fi authors and tell you a little bit of why I love them. This was not an easy thing to do. I tried to stick to mostly sci-fi (with a couple of exceptions), and I found it to be an absolutely heroic effort to keep it to a Top 5. So, here’s my list, and even though it says “Top 5”, it’s by no means all-inclusive, because there are so many talented ladies out there writing in these genres, and I encourage you to seek them out!
Here they are, in no particular order:
Elizabeth Bear: The wonderful Ms. Bear is a writing powerhouse, and she’s written books that fall under speculative fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi (like I said, powerhouse), but my favorite series by her is probably her Jenny Casey trilogy (Hammered, Scardown, and Worldwired). Jenny is the ultimate badass sci-fi chick, and I keep hoping for more in this series. Ms. Bear’s newest book, Range of Ghosts, just came out, so be sure to give that one a look as well!
Marianne de Pierres: I love Ms. De Pierres’ Parrish Plessis series (Nylon Angel, Code Noir, Crash Deluxe.) This series is a fast-paced, sci-fi, cyberpunk extravaganza and it’s not to be missed! I recently interviewed Marianne, so if you’d like more proof of her awesome, click here!
Jaye Wells: I’ve been following Jaye’s career since Red-Headed Stepchild, the first book in her superb Sabina Kane series. Not only does the series kick some serious butt (the 5th and final book, Blue-Blooded Vamp, is out in June), but Jaye is a local author to me, and she’s always been gracious and sweet whenever I stalk the poor woman at signing events. If you haven’t discovered Jaye Wells, now’s the time!
Lucy A. Snyder: Ms. Snyder is the author of one of my favorite series, the Spellbent series featuring Jessie Shimmer. I suppose, technically, that these books place in the urban fantasy category, but they’re not your typical UF fare. Lucy has a knack for horror, and the Spellbent series is woven through with classic horror elements. Jessie Shimmer and her friends are a ton of fun, and the world that the author has created in these books is rich and engaging (and sometimes chilling), so what are you waiting for?
Ann Aguirre: Ms. Aguirre’s Sirantha Jax series (Grimspace, Wanderlust, Doubleblind, Killbox, and Aftermath) is the cream of the crop, and it’s what opened me up to reading more science fiction, period. Rich worlds, fascinating characters, alien races, the coldness of space, and heartbreaking romance are at your fingertips with this series, and even if you think you’re not a sci-fi reader, check out this series and tell me what you think. You’ll be calling yourself a sci-fi fan in no time.
