Women in SF meme
Bold the women by whom you own books
Italicize those by whom you've read something (short stories count)
* Star those you don't recognize
( Read more... )
Italicize those by whom you've read something (short stories count)
* Star those you don't recognize
( Read more... )
My favorites off your list:
Andre Norton: Almost one of the first science-fiction authors I read: I think I started reading her Central Control / Free Traders universe stories when I was around 8-9 in the early 1970's. I didn't find out she was a woman until I was a teenager, sometime around 1980. I have a whole boxful of her books, and still don't have all of them -- her writing career spanned from the mid-1930's through her death in 2005 (and some of her series have been continued by collaborators)! I ran and reviewed "All Cats Are Gray" on Fantastic Worlds.
C. L. Moore: A truly great stylist, with some very memorable characters, especially Northwest Smith. Her career was sadly cut short when her husband and writing partner, Henry Kuttner, died in 1958 -- the heart to write went out of her, and then she married another man, who hated the idea of her writing weird tales. She lived until 1987, so we lost almost 30 more years of her potential output. I ran and reviewed "Song in a Minor Key" (her very last Northwest Smith story).
Tanith Lee: Epic fantasist whose specialty is weaving intricate, wicked and utterly bizarre tales set in fantasy-worlds ranging from the completely-imaginary to ones based on various real-world mythologies and cultures, most notably her Tales of the Flat Earth, which are in a world like that of the Arabian Nights but heavily influenced by Lord Dunsany, H. P. Lovecraft and Lin Carter. More demons than you can shake a holy symbol at, and most of them aren't much affected by holy symbols, as this is more like the Pre-Islamic than Islamic Mideast.
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro: Famous for just one series, the historical horror-fantasies about her 4000+ year old hero, Sanct-Germain. Over 20 meticulously-researched books detailing the adventures of the kindly, intellectual physician and alchemist, who just happens to be a vampire, and is always far nicer than the murderous, fanatical, greedy humans among whom it is his misfortune to be cast, in whatever century and country the tale is set. One of the first "good guy" vampires to become popular in the field, long before the notion became common. And last I checked, she was still writing them!
Lois McMaster Bujold: Writes crisp but perfect prose. Most of her stories are biotechnological space operas and planetary adventures about the unlikeliest of war heroes, the stunted and brittle-boned, but incredibly-cunning, barbarian noble mercenary Miles Vorkosigan, sometime around the middle of the 3rd millennium in an interstellar society linked by warp gates. Massive mood whiplash between action, fear, horror and sheer comedy, with numerous memorable and mold-breaking characters. She's recently branched out into fantasy.
J. K. Rowling: Has written only one extensive work so far, but we all know itts name. She juggles complex plots with Loads and Loads of Characters in a seven-volume series, does it almost entirely from Limited Third Person POV, and makes it look so easy that more critics than I can name massively underestimate her. When she gets back to fantasy she's headed for even more great things.
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