...agreed.. my fault... should have said.. poetess..more poetic [winks:]

Jerin1701 wrote: "...such a great writress."

OK, I just have to respond to this - you mean writer or author, right? or did you mean writers in the plural?
There is no 'special' gendered term for female writers (thank goodness!)

..a collaboration with D.C. Fontana would count.. I hope... such a great writress.

You're welcome, Jason! Let us know if you like it.

Werner wrote: "Jason, Susannah Clarke has a short story collection out, The Ladies of Grace Adieu."


Thanks Werner! I'll have to check that out.

Connie Willis'Passage is also excellent. Not funny like To Say Nothing of the Dog, but memorable. After reading it, my husband and I always refer to the Titanic when the topic of near death experiences comes up.

Ryan wrote: "Marion Zimmer Bradley is one that immediately comes to mind. I fell in love when I read Mists of Avalon. How could you not?

Not sci-fi I know...."

Well, The Mists of Avalon is always worth mentioning, as far as I'm concerned. = )
MZB is one of my favorite authors - the entire Darkover series is great science fiction (some of it with a fantasy feel), although most of the rest of her writing is fantasy.

Marion Zimmer Bradley is one that immediately comes to mind. I fell in love when I read Mists of Avalon. How could you not?

Not sci-fi I know....

Jason, Susannah Clarke has a short story collection out, The Ladies of Grace Adieu. I haven't read it, but I understand it's set in the same alternate early 19th-century English milieu as the novel (which I also really liked!).

I also loved "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell." I thought it had a strong "Harry Potter" feel to it. I wonder when Susanne Clarke will write something new?

Patricia Mckillip only wrote one SF novel, Fool's Run, but it is very well done.
Another woman who wrote both F & SF was C. L. Moore. She married Kuttner and they wrote as a team later. Moore wrote about Northwest Smith in short stories.

I also think Zenna Henderson one of the best writers in her day.
http://www.adherents.com/lit/bk_Zenna.ht...

Umm i know she only written Fantasy but I loved "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susanne Clarke.

Connie Willis' "To Say Nothing of the Dog" is a hilarious trip into what happens when beauracracy and time travel intersect, with the threat of cosmic annihilation looming meekly compared to the personal drama.

Elizabeth Moon's "The Speed of Dark" is a fascinating look inside the mind of a man with autism.

Ursula K. le Guin and Margaret Atwood are my favorites.

Found many new ones I want to check out after reading this thread, though...

Michele wrote: ...Sheri S. Tepper - amazing work, and (thankfully) a good amount of it so if you like her, there's lots to keep you busy. (There's nothing more frustrating than reading a fabulous book and then finding out the author hasn't written any more!) Quite a lot of her books have something to do with gender roles; her worldbuilding is topnotch, and there's usually a little flavor of mystery thrown in as well. Top picks: Grass, The Gate to Women's Country, and Gibbon's Decline and Fall.
"

Sheri Tepper is one of my favourate authors, her books can be a little preachy at times, favourate topics sexual politics, ecology, and religious bigotry. But in most cases the story usually as a good enough pace that things don't get bogged down by the speeches.
My favourates are "Plague of Angels", "Grass", "Raising Stones" and "Sideshow"

My personal favorite female Sci-Fi authors

Elizabeth Moon - She's great with characters. I highly recommend Remnant Population and The Speed of Dark.

Lois McMaster Bujold - I can't help it, I love the Vorkosigan series

C.S. Friedman - This Alien Shore is one of my all time favorite books.

I think The Chanur Saga and Downbelow Station by Cherryh C. J. are some of the best sci-fi I have ever read and would recommend them to everyone.

I have to admit I haven't read that many female sci-fi/fantasy authors, but I do also like Anne McCaffrey. I did like Aurian by Maggie Furey but I just haven't got round to reading the rest of the series.

James :-)

Some of my favorites are:
C J Cherryh
Andre Norton
Lois McMaster Bujold
Pat Murphy
Elizabeth Bear
Connie Willis
Elizabeth Moon
Kate Wilhelm
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Anne McCaffrey
Kristine Smith
Karen Traviss
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Karin Lowachee
Sherri S. Tepper

Kristine, Carolyn's right in noting that the specific SF focus was requested in the original post. But there are a lot of brilliant female writers of fantasy too --if you're interested in those, why not start a similar discussion thread with that focus? My guess is that it would generate as many posts as this one has! :-)

Probably, and I'm sure that they counted all those pre-ordered books as sold on the day of release which would pump up the number, as well.

I could believe that about Rowling. By the 4th or 5th novel, I was pre-ordering on Amazon while others were waiting in lines at midnight. I got mine at 9am on Saturday, about 8 hours after they got theirs. The stores were clogged all weekend, too.

Did JK Rowling really sell 11 Million copies in 1

day, Hardcover to?

I presume because the OP was looking for suggestions of female SciFi authors.

Why only Sci-Fi? What about Fantasy authors?

As soon as I've finished the Pellinor series I can hear the Phoenix Legacy calling.

When I read Sci Fi or Fantasy I don't expect to find romance, sometimes it works (in small doses or at the very end - ie boy meets girl, we know that they are meant to be together, but the romance doesn't detract from the main story).

I highly recommend Lois McMaster Bujold and I've been enjoying the Brain Ship series with Anne McCaffrey although some lean heavily towards romance.

You're welcome! I've read the trilogy three times also. Haven't in a while though, might be time to get them out for another go-round. = )

Thanks Carolyn for reminding me of MK Wren's Phoenix Legacy - definitely worth reading. I've read it three times and enjoyed each time.

My list includes lois McMasters Bujod,i love the sharing knife series
also C.L. Wilson Her series is printed under romance but its about a man who can change into a flying cat and do magic.
I read a lot of the list and im not relisting there are so many good female authors.
Linda

Oy, I can see my TBR pile expanding already...

I read a combo of SF and SFR, so some of my recommendations are written to both an SF arc and a romance arc (ie: the relationship between the protagonists is one of the book's key conflicts). In no particular order:

Elizabeth Moon - love her Vatta series
C J Cherryh - the best there is, to me
Ann Aguirre - Grimspace is awesome!
Julie E. Czerneda- Love her Trade Pact
Jacqueline Lichtenberg - a mistress of the craft of fiction, and an incredibly generous person
Susan Grant - Moonstruck combines fast SF action with hot romance without sacrificing either
Stacey Klemstein- an admitted Roswell fan who writes gripping SF/SFR for small press and who has a debut YA paranormal (as Stacey Kade) coming from Hyperion/Harper in 2010
Tanya Huff - Torin Kerr rocks!
Marianne de Pierres- Parrish Plesis rocks!
Eve Kenin - don't discount Dorchester's SHOMI line for terrific post-apocalyptic SF/SFR, and Kenin, with a microbiology degree, is no wimp.
Colby Hodge - another SHOMI author with TWIST being highly recommended
Sherwood Smith- Exoridium series!
Catherine Asaro - top notch stories, incredibly nice person
Robin D. Owens - part fantasy, part SF, her HEART series is just a lovely way to pass the time (with cats)

And lots more but I wanted to add in some of the cross genre stuff some of you might not be aware of.

And Carolyn, thanks for the mention! ~Linnea

Wow, what a great list!
I have read many of the authors listed here already and love them! I've also found a couple I hadn't heard of before, and I'll be checking them out (and soon!)

Some I haven't seen listed already (forgive me if I missed them in the list above):

Pamela Sargent, especially The Shore of Women
Suzy McKee Charnas
Leigh Richards
Catherine Asaro, especially the Skolian series, start with Primary Inversion
Deborah Chester, the Alien Chronicles
Flynn Connolly, only one book, but its a doozy
Suzette Haden Elgin, Native Tongue series
Tanya Huff, esp the Valor series
Katherine Kerr, has some scifi books in addition to her popular fantasy series
Joan D. Vinge, best known for Snow Queen, etc, but her Cat series is also excellent
Sharon Lee, co-writer of the excellent Liaden universe books
Louise Marley, esp The Child Goddess
Susan R. Matthews
Maxine McArthur
Colleen McCullough, A Creed for the Third Millennium
Sandra McDonald, Outback Stars and sequel
Lisanne Norman, the Sholan series is a favorite of mine
Ayn Rand, the novel Anthem is short and very good, but hardly ever mentioned
Kristine Kathryn Rusch, her Disappeared series is very good - mysteries set in outer space with alien cultures and ethics issues mixed in
Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, especially Healers War
Linnea Sinclair
Joan Slonczewski - anything by her!
S.L. Viehl, StarDoc series
M. K. Wren, the Phoenix Legacy trilogy

They aren't in any particular order, but they all have books in my Read-scifi shelf (in addition to many of the authors mentioned above. = )

My favourites in no particular order are:

Anne McCaffrey - Crystal Singer
Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Moon - Sassinak
Lois McMaster Bujold - Miles,Chalion
Elizabeth Moon - Suiza and Serrano, Paksenarrion
Alison Croggon - Pellinor
Sarah Zettel - Camelot

Some of my favorite women fantasy authors include:

Barbara Hambly
Sara Douglass
Mercedes Lackey (for By the Sword)
Marion Zimmer Bradley (mostly the Darkover novels and The Mists of Avalon)
Jennifer Fallon
Patricia Kennealy-Morrison (for Keltia)
Katherine Kurtz (for some of the Deryni series, but not all of it)
Julian May (for the Pliocene Epic)
Elizabeth Moon (for The Deed of Paksenarrion)
Melanie Rawn (for the original Dragon Prince trilogy)
Mickey Zucker Reichert
Victoria Strauss

It's hard to pick a single favorite work of science fiction written by a woman, because there are so many wonderful ones to choose from! And I've really enjoyed a number of the writers and books that have been mentioned. One that hasn't been cited so far, though, is Zenna Henderson's corpus of stories about the People, a benevolent human-like alien race with an array of psi abilities. When their sun went nova around the year 1890, they fled their planet; and a branch of them crash-landed and settled in the out- of-the way mountains of Henderson's native Arizona. Mostly written in the 1950s and 60s, these stories have been collected in book form in 1995 by the New England Science Fiction Assn., as Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson. If you like upbeat science fiction with a solid moral grounding, this is for you!

I was so happy to see Anne McCaffrey's Crystal Singer series mentioned above! I absolutely loved it! I love the alternate worlds that she comes up with.

The Pern series are excellent as well.

I'm afraid I don't have any new authors to add, but as far as Octavia Butler suggestions go, my favorites were the duology Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents, and Wild Seed.

Jennifer mentioned Jacqueline Carey--I didn't know she wrote sci-fi, I only know her fantasy works, but they *are* very good.

On that note, there are some women doing great work over in fantasy as well: Sherwood Smith's Inda series and anything and everything by Robin Hobb are the first two that come to mind.

Sometimes, women use initials so you don't know they're women.

I love everything I've read by C.S. Friedman

And, P.D. James' "Children of Men" is way different than the movie, but still excellent.

Hi - I'm new to the group (and good reads) and very excited to find so many great leads for sci/fi fantasy reads! this thread has me wondering if any one ever compiles all these great suggestions and if a file is created that the group can then access? I'll volunteer to do this one if someone can instruct me about where and how to post.
oh - and some of my favorite women authurs are sherri tepper, elizabeth moon, loiuse cooper, sharon shinn, marion zimmer bradley, susan cooper, maria gripe, ursula k leguin, madeleine l'engle, tanith lee, and katherine neville.
thanks!
betsy

I've got to add Kate Elliot to the list. She's slightly less Brilliant and Disturbing than someone like Butler, but she can be more entertaining if you want a book on the bounderies of junkfiction and literture.

FYI, Wikipedia has a great list of women sf/f authors here. .

Michele

jennifer

I have read all of Smith's books up to the last one and I like her a lot.

If you want to look into fantasy works by woman, I would recommend the Sharon Shinn books in her Mystic and Rider series.

Pamela Briggs
Carol Berg
Martha Wells
Emma Bull
Wen Spencer
CJ Cherryh
Rosemary Kirstein are all good authors as well

Julie E. Czerneda! She writes the best aliens ever. Start with Beholder's Eye, and go from there.

I also really like Melissa Scott, and Nancy Kress.

I second Butler, Le Guin, Tepper, Russ, Willis.

Nobody's mentioned Kage Baker yet. I've just recently discovered her and am enjoying her books very much.

C.S. Friedman is very good too.

Butler, McCaffrey, and L'Engle are all awesome.

Has no one read anything by Kristine Smith? I love her work.

I definitely recommed Sheri S. Tepper. Start with The Gate to Women's Country. Also how about Sharon Shinn's Samaria Series? Fist in that series: Archangel

I got into Elizabeth Moon through her "Vatta's War" series of books. A+ in my eyes, i highly recommend her. I will be looking into the other women writers mentioned in this thread and see what books to add to my list as well.

Thanks for the Andre Norton ideas, I'm gonna see what is available at my library for my next read.

Also, Michelerc, thanks for the lead on Sylvia Engdahl. I just read Enchantress from the Stars and absolutely loved it!

My two favorite Andre Norton's, which I rarely hear anyone talk about, are Dread Companion and Breed to Come. Dread Companion is an updated retelling of the old old story about straying through into another realm, e.g. entering the fairy hill, and finding when you come out that things are not the way you recall. Breed to Come is about intelligent evolved cats. Very cool.

She's not much for depth or complex plots, I have to say, but her books are good fast reads and always entertaining.

Norton:
I would actually give Witch World a pass at first. However, The Crystal Gryphon is my favorite from her, and I recommend it and its sequels. I also recommend The Jargoon Pard, Catseye, Forerunner, Perilous Dreams and... darn, can't think of the title. -_-;;

I'll have to try Clayton's Diadem series. I've read some of her books, but they've generally been near misses for me.

For McCaffery's Pern, I really recommend the Harper Hall trilogy over the original.

I'm more a fantasy reader than a sci-fi one, but there have been some that I've really enjoyed - and are a bit of a blend too.

I liked Ann MacCaffrey's Crystal Singers trilogy (I didn't get past the first Pern book). I also loved her short story about the Ship that Sang - not sure of the exact title. I read one Starhawk novel years ago but couldn't finish it.

I absolutely love Isobelle Carmody, who writes both fantasy and sci-fi. Her Obernewtyn Chronicles are post-apocalyptic, so they classify them as sci-fi, and Scatterlings too - both are excellent and I really recommend them. They're generally put in the YA section but that never stops me!

Another YA sci-fi book that I loved when I was a teenager is Polymer by Sally Rodgers-Davidson, hard to come by now, sadly.

I second the Sharon Shinn rec. Especially good if you're not huge into sci-fi.

Oh, and I loved Karen Traviss - I read the first book, City of Pearl, and I'm keen to read the rest of the series. Anyone else read her?