Who is your all-time favourite female space opera character? > Likes and Comments

My thanks to Caitlin for reminding me that International Women’s Day was on 8th March (and that two of her novels feature complex, multifaceted female leads). Which also reminded me about the recent posts in our “Monthly threads discussion” suggesting the return of “feedback chats”.

So after that boring preamble……who is your all-time favourite female space opera character – and why? (No bimbos on covers need apply).

I suggest robots, drones and ship avatars should be regarded as gender-neutral. (So sadly, no Dors Venabili).

I guess I have got to say Diziet Sma a Special Circumstances Agent and very cool female human character from The Culture featured in The State Of The Art and Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks

I thought you might choose Diziet Sma, Paul - and she was the first one that entered my head. Banks created some great female characters, like Lededje Y'breq and Perosteck Balveda. But Sma or Lady Sharrow from the standalone space opera Against a Dark Background are probably in the lead..... but I'll need to give this some more thought.

Too many good ones, can’t decide even top three.

I was expecting Honor Harrignton to get an early mention, simply because the series is so popular.

Yes, one of mine is Honor Harrington. Kick-ass military heroine, but so much more. Open minded, creative, compassionate. But stubborn and does not tolerate fools or traitors. And at the same time, she has a strong streak of humility, and in some areas lacks confidence. She'a a fully realized person.

Also, Tocohl Susumo of Hellspark. A polyglot trader tasked with solving an impossible problem on a newly discovered planet, she is able to weave the various members of the survey team -- all from different planets with very different cultures -- into a coherent group, solve a murder mystery, and birth a new non-human sentient being. Pretty much all by herself.

It might be cheating to step outside literature for this, but I'm going to pick Martha Jones from the Doctor Who reboot. She just seemed very real, very believable, which is precisely the kind of character that most appeals to me.

Lots of contenders for me.

Cordelia Naismith-Vorkosigan from Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan saga is the tough genius who holds that family together.

Pilot Lt. Erica Ortegas from Star Trek: Strange New World is awesome.

Beka Rosselin-Metadi from Debra Doyle’s Mageworlds series is a combination of Princess Leia and Han Solo.

The amoral Doctor Aphra from Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 1: Aphra is recklessly charming.

I can’t really choose one, tbh.

It feels like many of our favourites come from series, maybe because the author has the time and space to develop them.

I have two favourites - both from Iain Banks; Diziet Sma who Paul has already mentioned, appears in two Culture series novels, while Lady Sharrow appears in his stand-alone space opera Against a Dark Background.

Like all Banks heroines, they are both strong, competent and effective. Sharrow is probably the most ruthless and reckless of the two.

On balance, my favourite is Sma - intelligent, manipulative, cynical, and vibrant (and I love her drone companion). She is culture human rather than earth human, so has slightly different anatomy.

The first one that came to mind was B'Elanna Torres from Star Trek: Voyager. Both Christie Golden and Kirsten Beyer have made her a multi-layered character in their books. She is balancing being an engineer, spouse, daughter, mother, mentor, and several other roles.

I'm quite new to sci-fi. Apart from film characters like Ripley in 'Alien', in books I really loved Mei, the main character in Mark Lawrence's 'Queen of Venus' https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Lady Jessica, I reckon.
The way she stands up against the Bene Gesserit, defiant and strong. And how she loves Duke Leto. Nobody loves anyone in the royal houses, only her. And how her actions trigger the complete mess that spreads out into the entire universe for another [I've lost count] books!

Mmm, this question made thing Dr. Liara T Soni, she is from the Mass Effect franchise. She is an asari. Their entire race is femenine, or that's the appearance at least. They can reproduce with any other race, haha.