Fantasy by Women Who Broke Away from Europe
A List Complied by Martha Wells
This is a sampler list of fantasy novels and short story collections with non-European settings, or secondary fantasy worlds drawn from non-European influences, all by women writers.
Non-European fantasy can be hard to find, so this is meant to be a resource for readers and a way to focus on older or less well-known books by women writers. Hopefully at some point it can be expanded and annotated.
This list was compiled in a couple of days from my bookshelves and from recommendations, so I know there are many more authors and books that should be included. If you know of any fantasy novels that should be added, especially books published in languages other than English, please leave them in the comments. (Remember, the list is focusing on fantasy by women writers; there were some great books suggested but they were left off the list because they were categorized as science fiction.)
The main two things I was trying to avoid (at least for now) were 1) fantasies where European-type characters traveled to non-European settings (for example, Naomi Novik's Temeraire books) and 2) books primarily set in the US, even if they use a fantasy element from another source (like Tananarive Due's books). I did include a book by Judith Berman set in North America, but it has all Native American characters, is set before Europeans arrived, and a book by Sharon Shinn which is set mostly in an alt universe where China colonized North America.
Thanks to Kate Elliott, N.K. Jemisin, Kari Sperring, and Judith Tarr for suggestions and encouragement, and thanks to all the people who made suggestions on Twitter. Thanks to Marie Brennan for many additions from her similar list here. And thanks to the Mad Hatter Review.
At the moment, there are
Daughter of the Bright Moon
Alma Alexander
Secrets of Jin-Shei, Embers of Heaven
Elizabeth Bear
Range of Ghosts
Carol Berg
Transformation
Revelation
Restoration
Judith Berman
Bear Daughter
Beth Bernobich
Fox and PhoenixClare Bell
The Jaguar Princess
Hilari Bell
Farsala Trilogy
Aliette de Bodard
Servant of the Underworld, Harbinger of the Storm, Master of the House of Darts
Alice Borchardt
The Silver Wolf
Gillian Bradshaw
The Horses of Heaven
Marie BrennanWarrior, Witch
Octavia Butler
Wild Seed
Lillian Stewart Carl
Wings of Power
Rae Carson
The Girl of Fire and Thorns
Kylie Chan
White Tiger, Red Phoenix, Blue DragonJoy Chant
Red Moon, Black Mountain
The Grey Mane of Morning
C.J. Cherryh
Rusalka, Chernevog, Yvgenie
The Paladin
M. Lucie Chin
The Fairy of Ku-She
Catherine Cooke
Winged Assassin Trilogy
The Web of Wizardry, The Death God's Citadel
Leah Cutter
The Jaguar and the Wolf
Paper Mage
The Caves of Buda
Kara Dalkey
Goa, Biajipur, Bhagavati
Little Sister
The Heavenward Path
The Nightingale
Genpei
Euryale
The Brotherhood of the Conch series
The Palace of Illusions
Sara Douglass
Threshhold
Amanda Downum
The Drowning City, The Bone Palace
Doris Egan
Gate of Ivory
Kate Elliott
Crossroads Trilogy
Spiritwalker
Cold Fire
Lion of Senet, Eye of the Labyrinth, Lord of the Shadows
Nancy Farmer
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
The House of the Scorpion
Catherine Fisher
The Oracle Betrayed
The Sphere of Secrets
The Scarab
Alphabet of Dreams
Eugie Foster
Returning My Sister's Face and Other Far Eastern Tales of Whimsy and Malice (short story collection)
Esther Friesner
Nobody's Princess, Nobody's Prize
Wishing Season
Sphinx's Princess, Sphinx's Queen
Child of the Eagle
Jane Gaskell
The Serpent, Atlan, The City, Some Summer Lands
The Scroll of Saqqara
Heather Gladney
Teot's War
Bloodstorm
Lisa Goldstein
The Red Magician
Allison Goodman
Eon: Dragoneye Reborn
Angelica Gorodischer
Kalpa Imperial
Hiromi Goto
Half World
Black Ships
The Hand of Isis
Kathryn Grant
The Phoenix Bells
The Black Pearl Road
The Willow Garden
Kerry Greenwood
Cassandra
Electra
Medea
Shannon Hale
Book of a Thousand Days
Sisters of the Raven, Circle of the Moon
Anne Harris
Inventing Memory
Lian Hearn
Across the Nightingale Floor, Grass for His Pillow, Brilliance of the Moon, The Harsh Cry of the Heron, and Heaven's Net is Wide
P.C. Hodgell
Godstalk
Nalo Hopkinson
The Salt Roads
The New Moon's Arms
Skin Folk (short story collection)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, The Kingdom of the Gods
The Killing Moon, The Shadowed Sun
K. V. Johansen
Blackdog
Alaya Dawn Johnson
Racing the Dark, The Burning City
Kij Johnson
The Fox Woman, Fudoki
Amberlight
Lee Killough
The Leopard's Daughter
Patrice Kindl
Lost in the Labyrinth
Naomi Kritzer
Freedom's Gate, Freedom's Apprentice, Freedom's Sisters
Glenda Larke
Watergivers trilogy
The Mirage Makers trilogy
The Isles of Glory trilogy
Ursula LeGuin
Lavinia
Tanith Lee
Tamastara (short story collection)
Cyrion
Night's Master
Death's Master
Delirium's Mistress
Night's Sorceries
A Heroine of the World
Grace Lin
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Huntress
Karen Lord
Redemption in Indigo
Nathalie Mallet
The Princes of the Golden Cage, The King's Daughters
Zoe Marriott
Shadows on the Moon
The Seekers of Shar-Nuhn
How the Gods Wove in Kyrannon
Carole McDonnell
Wind Follower
Juliet E. McKenna
Aldebreshin Compass series
Antonia Michaelis
Tiger Moon
Godspeaker Trilogy
Sasha Miller
Ladylord
Miyuki Miyabe
The Book of Heroes
Ico: Castle in the Sky
Donna Jo Napoli
Bound
Beast
Wraiths of Time
Shadow Hawk
Dragon Magic
Empire of the Eagle (co-written with Susan Shwartz)
Imperial Lady: A Fantasy of Han China (co-written with Susan Shwartz)
Noriko Ogiwara
Dragon Sword and Wind Child
Nnedi Okorafor
Akata Witch
Who Fears Death
Fuyumi Ono
The Twelve Kingdoms
Holly Phillips
The Engine's Child
Cindy Pon
Silver Phoenix, Fury of the Phoenix
Tomoe Gozen, Thousand Shrine Warrior, The Golden Naginata
Fay Sampson
Star Dancer
Marella Sands
Sky Knife
Serpent and Storm
Courtney Schafer
The Whitefire Crossing
Heirs to Byzantium Trilogy
The Grail Of Hearts
Silk Roads and Shadows
Arabesques I and II, editor
Empire of the Eagle (co-written with Andre Norton)
Imperial Lady: A Fantasy of Han China (co-written with Andre Norton)
Carol Severance
Demon Drums, Storm Caller, Sorcerous Sea
Nisi Shawl
Filter House (story collection)
The Horse of Flame
The Shining Falcon
Sharon Shinn
Gateway
General Winston's Daughter
Kari Sperring
The Grass King's Concubine
Nancy Springer
The White Hart, The Silver Sun, The Sable Moon
Shiva's Fire
Judith Tarr
Alamut, The Dagger and the Cross
A Wind in Cairo
The Hall of the Mountain King, The Lady of Han-Gilen, A Fall of Princes
Arrows of the Sun, Spear of Heaven, Tides of Darkness
Lord of the Two Lands
Pillar of Fire
King and Goddess
Throne of Isis
The Shepherd Kings
White Mare's Daughter, Lady of Horses, Daughter of Lir
The Golden Horn
Dark Matter: Reading the Bones, Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora
Heather Tomlinson
Toads & Diamonds
Nahoko Uehashi
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, Moribito II: Guardian of the Dark
Catherynne Valente
The Grass-Cutting Sword
Mary Victoria
Tymon's Flight
City of Bones
Wheel of the Infinite
The Cloud Roads, The Serpent Sea
Elizabeth E. Wein
A Coalition of Lions
The Sunbird
The Lion Hunter
The Empty Kingdom
Michelle West
The Sun Sword series
Secrets of the Sands
Carol Wilkinson
Dragon Keeper
Cherry Wilder
A Princess of Chameln, Yorath the Wolf, The Summer King
Liz Williams
Snake Agent, The Demon and the City, Precious Dragon, The Shadow Pavillion, The Iron Khan
Sarah Zettel
Sword of the Deceiver
***
Many thanks to Martha Wells for compiling this huge list. Again please chime in the comments with any other recommendations that fit with this list.
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