There have been a lot of lists going around recently. So this isn’t really one of them. It is instead a celebration of ten women who wrote the fantasies that built up our love for the genre, from the mid-sixties to the mid-eighties. We don’t care whether or not they’re the best, or what-have-you. We grew up on them. If you read modern fantasy, by women or men, you should check out at least some of these.
Most of our articles happen by accident. This one came from seeing a list of authors and going “Hey, she’s not in this. You suck!” And reading a post on Facebook which asked “Are you influenced by the gender of the writer when you buy a book?”
The answer to that question is no, we’d never thought about it until then. Why would we? We don’t check their shoe size or their hair colour either. Our youthful reading, as far as we could remember, was full of women authors. So we checked again, and yes it was.
In those far-off days the library was the first port of call, and the Children’s Section especially, because that held some of the most imaginative fantasy books. The ones they brought out for kids, then they got popular and suddenly they cashed in by publishing them as adult books. Watership Down (not by a woman) is an obvious example.
Then a job in an actual bookshop turned up during those awkward teenage years. Harrumble! First the Puffin Books, then the Penguin range, and finally the SF and Fantasy section came under our grimy wing. Within months, we owed the bookshop more money than we’d started with (30% discount for employees was the ruination of us). As a result, virtually every book mentioned below is still up there in the Magic Loft. So here are our Ten Classic Female Fantasy Authors…
These are in a sort of chronological order, and focus on the books which hit home at the time. Fittingly, we start with with someone who spent nearly twenty years as a librarian before she became a full-time writer.
1) Andre Norton
American Andre Norton (born Alice Mary Norton) also wrote as Allen Weston and Andrew North. She was the first woman to be Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy, first to be SFWA Grand Master, and first inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Although we came across her SF initially, what grabbed us was the Witch World series.
Basically, the action starts with a chap called Tregarth escaping trouble through a portal to ‘somewhere else’. There are suggestions of other worlds and dimensions, but nothing is laid out as rational science. Tregarth ends up in Estcarp, where ancient and sorcerous powers still struggle for dominance, with the added menace of the cold, technological Kolder race, who also come from ‘somewhere else’. This starts what is called the Estcarp Cycle, initially covering the adventures of Tregarth, his witch wife Jaelithe, and their children Kyllan, Kemoc and Kaththea.
Witch World itself was the first of five linked books which establish the scene.
- Witch World (1963) – Simon Tregarth’s arrival and meeting with Jaelithe
- Web of the Witch World (1964) – the continuing struggle of the witches and their allies against their enemies the Kolder
- Three Against the Witch World (1965) – the start of the saga of the three (grown-up) children
- Warlock of the Witch World (1967)
- Sorceress of the Witch World (1968)
Later on the series was expanded with the High Hallack Cycle, on a different continent from Estcarp and its neighboring lands. In the end there were over twenty novels.
A lot is owed to these books. Despite being from the sixties, they are not Tolkien-based, and any other races introduced are strange and fey, including those of the Light, those of the Dark and some who are quite neutral. There is no one hack Dark Lord or Magic Hairpin – instead, there are many conflicts and misunderstandings between different peoples and beliefs – and a lot of magic! Check them out.
2) Susan Cooper
A British author, Susan Cooper is an entirely different kettle of badgers. Her main fantasy sequence, The Dark is Rising, is still very well known, and draws on British lore for much of its symbology – in particular, there are strong elements of Welsh mythology underlying much of what happens in the sequence.
Plenty has been written about her work, so we won’t bang on about it here.
- Over Sea, Under Stone (1965) – more for younger readers, but sets the scene
- The Dark Is Rising (1973) – you can actually start with this one, if you want
- Greenwitch (1974)
- The Grey King (1975) – probably the most powerful of the five
- Silver on the Tree (1977)
Note: The more recent Dark is Rising film was dreadful. It mangled the story, spoiled the feel, and should NOT be watched. We will say no more.
3) Katherine Kurtz
Katherine Kurtz, another American, wrote a lot of fantasy, including sixteen fantasy novels in the Deryni series. The first novel, Deryni Rising sets out a clearly-defined fantasy world governed by religious beliefs and ritual magic, with substantial conflict between the two.
Unlike the Witch World books, the Deryni series is fantasy which has the ring of a solid historical saga, with classic tropes of heresy and religious duty. Not as ‘different’ as Norton, but maybe deeper in some ways. One critic called Kurtz “the first writer of secondary-world historical fantasy”.
The Deryni in question are a line of humans who have hereditary powers, such as telepathy, certain spells or healing, and are variously respected or reviled in different lands. We admit we never finished all sixteen, but try the first one or two:
- Deryni Rising (1970) – Kelson Haldane must protect his crown from a Deryni usurper.
- Deryni Checkmate (1972) – Alaric Morgan and Duncan McLain face the wrath of the Holy Church.
- High Deryni (1973) – Kelson Haldane attempts to repair an ecclesiastical schism on the eve of a foreign invasion.
4) Joy Chant
Joy Chant, a British fantasy writer, is probably less well-known that some of the other women here. We came across her because of her House of Kendreth series, set in the world of Vandarei, and the Puffin edition of Red Moon and Black Mountain. This time it’s easier to see influences, including echoes of C S Lewis and Tolkien, but there’s also a great feel to Vandarei and a certain wildness there. The first book won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for 1972.
The trilogy is, in order:
- Red Moon and Black Mountain (1970)
- The Grey Mane of Morning (1977)
- When Voiha Wakes (1983)
Editor and critic David Pringle (coincidentally another alumnus of Leeds SF and a founder of the SF magazine Interzone) rated Red Moon and Black Mountain as one of the hundred best fantasy novels in 1988. This book was also included as the thirty-eighth volume of the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in March, 1971.
5) Patricia Wrightson
Patricia Wrightson was an Australian writer who might be said to have specialised in magical realism. She wrote nearly thirty books, but the one which caught our eye and got us into her work was The Nargun and the Stars. Importantly, she incorporated Australian Aboriginal beliefs into her work, which gives them a wonderfully different feel to a lot of fantasy.
The four we recommend looking at are:
- The Nargun and the Stars (1973)
- The Ice is Coming (1977) – first of the three Song of Wirrun books
- The Dark Bright Water (1978)
- Behind the Wind (1981)
Read these to get away from Western medievalism for a change.
6) C J Cherryh
You might say that C J Cherryh (from the US) is more of a science fiction writer, but she has a touch for, and fascination with, other cultures which has always drawn us in. Conflict between cultures is a key element in some of her work, and to be honest, our favourite collection of hers is probably the Faded Sun trilogy.
To counter that, we do like the Morgaine Cycle, which we would call fantasy or science fantasy – excepting that there is no ‘real’ magic, so be warned. Morgaine is a time-traveling heroine straight out of heroic fantasy, accompanied by her loyal companion Nhi Vanye i Chya as she seeks to destroy gateways in time and space. Many of the societies with which she has to deal are typical feudal/medieval ones, and she certainly packs one hell of a sword, called Changeling.
- Gate of Ivrel (1976)
- Well of Shiuan (1978)
- Fires of Azeroth (1979)
- Exile’s Gate (1988)
7) Patricia McKillip
Patricia McKillip is an American author who has written plenty of works which are most definitely fantasy. You might know her because of The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (1974), the winner of the 1975 World Fantasy Award, or the marvellously titled The Throme of the Erril of Sherril (1973). Our interest today is in her outstanding Riddlemaster trilogy.
Again there’s a Celtic influence, but only indirectly. Morgon, the Prince of Hed, was born with three stars on his forehead (but no-one knows why) and has a crown under his bed which he won in a riddle-game with the spirit of a dead king. When Morgon finds out that Mathom of An has pledged to marry his daughter to the man who wins that crown from the ghost, he sets off from his quiet farming community…
It sounds like a typical heard-it-all-before quest fantasy, but it’s not. It’s fabulous. It contains some of the most moving moments and twists, especially involving the apparently hostile shapechangers and Morgon’s wish for things to make sense and be at peace. Great characters and concepts, such as the land law which resides with the land ruler of each of the kingdoms, making them theoretically aware of everyone and everything which is within their boundaries.
The three books are:
- The Riddle-Master of Hed (1976)
- Heir of Sea and Fire (1977)
- Harpist in the Wind (1979)
It’s hard to believe that you would be disappointed by them, even in 2016.
8) Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones was another writer from Britland, and produced a range of fantasy for children and adults. Some would probably be described nowadays as YA, and in this case we’d suggest browsing her range to see if there’s anything you like. There’s the Chrestomanci series, started in 1977 with Charmed Life, and of course the Howl series:
- Howl’s Moving Castle (1986)
- Castle in the Air (1990)
- House of Many Ways (2008)
That’s not why we’re here though. Our own introduction to Wynne Jones, and the reason why she came to mind, is the Puffin book, Power of Three, which we grabbed from that shelf in the bookshop (remember). It received a Guardian Prize commendation, and is a slightly different cross-cultural fantasy, where youngsters of two myth-type races find common ground – but there’s also an interesting twist.
- Power of Three (1977)
This is a children’s book, but it was a surprisingly satisfying find back in the day.
Our last two authors drag us into the early eighties, which is as far as we’re going.
9) Barbara Hambly
Barbara Hambly, from the USA, has written fantasy, mystery, science fiction and all sorts (a technical writers’ term). The books which brought her to our attention were the Darwath books, set in what could be called an alternate dimension, and these are definitely fantasy.
Darwath is a place of conflict, and if we claw our way back to Katherine Kurtz, also contains a degree of struggle between religion and magic. Society is threatened by the Dark, which is an actual semi-physical foe. Warriors, wizards and less gifted folk must fight to protect their communities, with some hard choices, betrayals and consequences along the way.
Intelligent fantasy, which holds up well nowadays and is still quite exciting. There are three main linked books, and then a few with the same general background:
- The Time of the Dark (1982) – first of the trilogy
- The Walls of Air (1983)
- The Armies of Daylight (1983)
Also Darwathian:
- Mother of Winter (1996)
- Icefalcon’s Quest (1998)
10) Sheri Tepper
Sheri Tepper is another American writer who, like Hambly, has produced work across a range of genres, including science fiction, horror and mystery. While we could pay tribute to some of her more challenging and thoughtful fiction, we’re here for a specific fantasy series – although this too has its moments.
Our interest is in the trilogy of trilogies known as The True Game. In actual fact, the trilogies were written and published out of chronological order, although they are deeply intertwined. The Peter series was the first published. The Mavin series takes place earlier, providing some deep background to the Peter books along the way. The third trilogy, the Jinian series, is notable because it takes place during and after the same time period as the Peter series, giving a different perspective on the same events.
It’s fairly important to start with the Peter trilogy. This starts with the young protagonist, Peter, learning to control talents which come as part of a person’s heritage – shape-changing, telekinesis, energy storing, mental dominance and many others, often in set combinations. Society is predominantly feudal and dominated by the stronger talents – the Gamesmen – and their demesnes, but all is not what it seems. Dot dot dot.
We don’t want to spoil the books if you haven’t read them yet, because there are a lot of twists. They’re a rich and rewarding read, with new ideas and revelations coming in every book, some lessons in morality and some very original takes on the use of magic and power, including the nature of wizards.
The Books of the True Game: Peter
- King’s Blood Four (1983) – the first novel
- Necromancer Nine (1983)
- Wizard’s Eleven (1984)
The Books of the True Game: Mavin Manyshaped
- The Song of Mavin Manyshaped (1985)
- The Flight of Mavin Manyshaped (1985)
- The Search of Mavin Manyshaped (1985)
The Books of the True Game: Jinian
- Jinian Footseer (1985)
- Dervish Daughter (1986)
- Jinian Star-Eye (1986)
There we are. Classic fantasy by women writers, the bulk of it from over thirty years ago. No, we haven’t included Ursula LeGuin, or a number of other female notables – ten is quite enough for now. You go and write your own blog – we’re busy here. Explore and enjoy.
Back in a couple of days with something completely different…
