Score

Removed The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss because it was published in 2007 and belongs on the 2000s list.

Removed The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks - published 2008
Removed Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie - published 2009
Removed The Magicians by Lev Grossman - published 2009
Removed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie - published 2006

Does no one else find it disturbing that you have to go down to (at the time I write this) number 20 (TWENTY) to find a single author with a female IDed name?

Fellow Guys: Reading women authors will NOT give you cooties. Go check out your shelves and count your numbers. Are they skewed WILDLY towards men? Consider rectifying this! Women are some of the BEST fantasy writers out there. Seriously.

This should be deleted as it was not published in the '10s

Empress by Karen Miller (2007)

Ezekiel wrote: "Does no one else find it disturbing that you have to go down to (at the time I write this) number 20 (TWENTY) to find a single author with a female IDed name?

Fellow Guys: Reading women authors ..."

I don't think it's an issue of males discriminating against female authors, but rather a comment on the scarcity of female authors. This is purely antecdotal evidence on my part, so naturally take it with a grain of salt, but the number of female epic fantasy authors seems to be pretty low. Granted, to your point it could just be that the male authors sell better (because of your men don't read female authors point) which is why I'm familiar with more male authors than female authors. Either way, assuming that the low percentage of female authors on this list is predicated on the fact that men actively avoid female authors seems silly. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing female writers (Robin Hobb, Ursula K Leguin, Lois McMaster Bujold, C.S. Friedman, to name a few), there just isn't an abundance of female authors to begin with. A much more interesting discussion would be to look at the average rating of female fantasy authors, as opposed to quantity. This would provide a better look at the male/female reading habits of fantasy authors. Of course, there is like a 90% chance I have no idea what I'm talking about.

I agree, it would be VERY silly to assume that guys *actively* avoid female authors. No. I think that most guys *unconsciously* avoid female writers. Which is why I think that we should all actively count, to give ourselves a good baseline of what is actually happening, instead of our perceptions of it.

What would it be like to actively SEEK OUT female authors writing female protagonists? I think if one were to hold themselves accountable to an even split they would find that there are a LOT more female authors out there than they anticipated.

(I note that in your response you specify "epic fantasy" as opposed to fantasy in general, even though this list is *not* explicitly an epic fantasy list. The focus on "epic fantasy" as high art with "urban fantasy" or "YA fantasy" considered unserious is actually a great example of this [aka unconscious bias]. As is who gets to decide what is "epic" and what isn't.)

Not to mention that even in "epic fantasy" I am CERTAIN there are many more women authors than you are aware of, but since they don't get the hype the male authors get (see my concern about not a single female name until number 20 on this list), they are less likely to have nearly as large an audience, even when they have been writing for decades.


In fact, there are a number of studies that show that men are much less likely to willingly read female authors and/or stories with female protagonists than women are regarding male authors/male protagonists. And of course there is the fact that historically and currently those genres that are considered female author-heavy transition to being considered "un-serious" about exactly when women start having a significant presence, and transition the other way when sizable enough numbers of men enter the genre. Read up on the history of the "novel," look at how "urban fantasy" is defined, watch and see how YA is regarded until male authors come in to make it "more intellectual".


If you are interested in making your reading more diverse I'd be more than willing to suggest any number of female authors, and I really DO recommend looking at the actual break down and then committing yourself to bringing that number closer to parity.

I'm always looking for new authors. Although I will argue that the definition of epic fantasy is fairly straightforward, and I don't think anyone will ever mix up a YA or urban fantasy for epic. As for epic being a "higher" calling, I wouldn't say that's true, I would simply say that it is different. Because of the length of epic fantasies you get a lot more world building and character development (typically, but by no means always). I think that's why a lot of readers lean that way. But, like I said, I would gladly take some recommendations :-D

I find that many female fantasy authors write fantasy that isn't quite as epically epic as the guys'. I consider them more 'high' fantasy than epic. Maybe that's why they don't get noticed as much. I enjoy both, but I do feel there's a difference. I actually think character development tends to be even better because there's less focus on battles and more on world, politics, relationships, etc. (Not to say there aren't any battles.)

Trudi Canavan, Martha Wells, Kate Elliott, Carol Berg, and Elizabeth Moon are some good examples to try beyond Robin Hobb. Just off the top of my head. :)

Thanks for the suggestions! I've read Trudi Canavan's Black Magician series and enjoyed it, I'll have to look for the others.

Out of the fantasy series in the T25 (with at least 2 installments eligible), ranking:
Great - Stormlight Archive
Okay - Wheel of Time, Demon Cycle, Throne of Glass, Powder Mage, Red Rising, Broken Empire, Raven’s Shadow, Lightbringer, Riyria Chronicles, Kingkiller Chronicle, Ascendance, Reckoners

Re: female authors-- I am actually less concerned about an author's gender than I am about characters' gender. I like to read about smart, competent heroines doing cool stuff, and I'll read any skilled author, male or female, who gives me that.

Yet I don't like Urban Fantasy. Very occasionally I'll find an urban fantasy novel I enjoy (e.g. Daniel O'Malley's "The Rook" -- male author, great female protagonist and supporting characters), but for the most part, I feel Urban Fantasy defeats my reason for reading fantasy in the first place: to involve myself in another world. The "conventional wisdom" holds that while Urban Fantasy is a female-dominated genre, Epic or Second-World Fantasy, which I prefer, still centers heavily on male characters, even when women are writing it.

So I come to lists like this to see which authors might be changing that picture a little. One series I recommend highly: Elizabeth Bear's "Eternal Sky" trilogy.

Ezekiel wrote: "I agree, it would be VERY silly to assume that guys *actively* avoid female authors. No. I think that most guys *unconsciously* avoid female writers. Which is why I think that we should all acti..."

Excuse me, but do you mind sharing a few of those female authors with me?

So I read a lot. These what I read is a lot more varied, but when I was a teenager and in my early twenties I read about 90% fantasy. I haven't been able to add all the books I read to my bookshelves on Goodreads because I just can't remember them all and most of them were pocket books and have long since gone to charity.

I wouldn't be surprised if male fantasy authors get more hype and advertising (although last fantasy book I saw splashed up all over the tube in London was Robin Hobb...), but to be honest I think it is more that established authors got the hype and while I haven't seen the statistics I'd have thought there are more established male authors than women in this particular genre, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong on that.

To be honest, in my library I have absolutely no interest in having (or caring about) a 50/50 split between male and female authors; I don't see the point. I read Robin Hobb when I was younger, completely sure it was a man and there was another author I was sure was a woman (obviously this is a bit embarrassing to admit as I was very wrong in both cases) and to put it frankly I didn't, and still don't, care. When I am looking for a new book I will go onto my recommendations, read the outline/splash/synopsis or whatever and then the reviews. Then have a bit of a look around for what is popular and recommended. Recent reviews and such. Or I will get recommendations from friends (including friends on here). And I assure you; "Is it a woman author?" will never ever be something that I ask, because to me the story line and the characters and the writing style is what is important, not the genetalia of the author. Although I must admit that I do often check out a book with a flashy cover, but many female authors have flashy covers and Young Adult Fantasy work really hard on that it appears (it won't go on the list if the outline doesn't live up to the cover though).

Bottom line, if a book looks like it'd be something I'd enjoy it'll go on my (ever growing) "want to read" list. The author can be an alien for all I care.

Ezekiel, it would not surprise me for one moment if men are less likely to pick up a book by a female author for whatever silly preconceived ideas they may have, but to me it never has and never will matter, or in fact come up in conversation. Like Alex I would greatly appreciate if you would friend me and send me some recommendations (male or female author). Especially if you have any up and coming ones, I do really enjoy discovering new authors.

I do love Goodreads and the open and spririted debate that is always going on here. Finding new books (and especially new authors) is amazing, it's like having thousands of friends giving you book advice! :)

removed The Lies of Locke Lamora since it was first published in 2006

Warded Man is 2008.

removed