Top 25 Best Fantasy Books by Female Authors

A Wizard Of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle) Start here

by Guin, Ursula K. Le

Today, Ursula K. Le Guin’s magic system may not sound exceptional. Like many, it uses the knowledge of true names to control elements, creatures, and even humans. Consider, however, that this book was published in 196...

The Curse Of Chalion (World Of The Five Gods) Start here

by Bujold, Lois Mcmaster

Lois McMaster Bujold did not start off writing fantasy, instead rising to fame in the early 1990s as a prolific science-fiction novelist, winning numerous accolades such as the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards for her work...

1975: The Forgotten Beasts Of Eld

by Mckillip, Patricia A.

Sybel is 16 years old, and alone in the world, orphaned by her princess mother and her wizard father. Her only goal in life is to maintain the magical animals left to her by her father and to extend the menagerie through...

Howl's Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle) Start here

by Jones, Diana Wynne

A journey of discovery and wonder. This story is part fairy tale, but flips some of the typical conventions—like the main character is an old lady.

Before famous director, Hayao Miyazaki turned Howl's Moving Castle into an animated film, it was an enchanting novel written by Diana Wynn Jones. This novel follows the life a young girl who is destined, as the eldest...

Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer) Start here

by Hobb, Robin

Several sets of linked trilogies and short stories of high fantasy set in the same world.

How could a story about the apprentice of an assassin not be grimdark? It couldn't, that's how. This first entry sparked off three trilogies about the one protagonist, which contain some of the best characterization e...

The Mists Of Avalon (The Mists Of Avalon) Start here

by Bradley, Marion Zimmer

A story of King Arthur's court, through the eyes of Arthur's half-sister Morgaine Le Fay.

I can't do a list of the top 50 fantasy novels with strong female leads without including The Mists of Avalon. Considered one of the great classics of modern fantasy literature, it won the Locus Award for Best Fantas...

War Of Light And Shadow (Wars Of Light And Shadow)

by Wurts, Janny

This series is epic in every sense of the word. It takes place over many generations, its world is complex and detailed and the quest at the heart of the plot is the kind that legends are made of.Why it made this listIn...

The Mirror Empire (Worldbreaker Saga) Start here

by Hurley, Kameron

This first installment in the Worldbreaker Saga (the second came out last October) is an epic fantasy with intriguing world(s), an engaging plot, and complex characters. Throughout the 500 plus page novel, Hurley takes...

Ash: A Secret History

by Gentle, Mary

A gritty, realistic story that is also a part Military Fantasy; set in medieval France.

Ash: A Secret History is one of the few novels on this list with ties to the present world, framed from the start and throughout as a story a historian finds in dusty manuscripts. Gentle is so serious about her writing a...

2005: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

by Clarke, Susanna

The revival of magic in an alternate Britain with two very different magicians and some fairies, too.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is an epic tale of the rebirth of magic in nineteenth-century England. Taking place among the regular historical occurrences of the time, the main difference between this world and ours is...

Kushiel's Dart

by Carey, Jacqueline

Comparisons to George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series abound when discussing Kushiel's Dart, but this novel isn't what you would think of as typical fantasy; it's much more focused on the sex, which is exp...

His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire) Start here

by Novik, Naomi

This series explores a post-colonial world and both sides have their faults.

The Napoleonic Wars seem to be an especially fascinating era for writers; this series is the second on the list set in this time period at the turn of the 19th century. His Majesty's Dragon, the first in the Temeraire se...

The Goblin Emperor

by Addison, Katherine

This Hugo and Nebula nominee goes outside the realm of traditional fantasy in a blend of steampunk and dark magic. All too often, fantasy focuses on human protagonists, or half-elves/faeries. Maia is a little more ex...

Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone

by Rowling, J. K.

Say what you may, but on a list of fantasy books with female authors, J.K. Rowling, likely the most popular female fantasy author of all time, can hardly be left out. The Harry Potter series created engaged, imaginative...

War For The Oaks

by Bull, Emma

What happens when a rock star is pulled into a supernatural conflict between good and evil? Well, let's head on over to Minneapolis of all places and find out

It was in the 80s that the subgenres of fantasy we know today started. One of these – urban fantasy – owes much of its development from War for the Oaks, which was one of the titles that pioneered it. If this is the only...

The Golden Key

by Rawn, Melanie

The Golden Key is the only book on this list with multiple authors (and three of them at that), perhaps because such works have a tendency to be disjointed, a result of the difficulty caused by attempting to meld multipl...

2004: Tooth And Claw

by Walton, Jo

Different from other books in the Fantasy of Manners sub-genre in that the characters are dragons. It is a story about the death of a patriarch and love, money, and familial conflict.

The story opens with a moderately well-to-do family gathering at the deathbed of their father, and fighting over the inheritance - not his gold hoard, which has been divided equitably, but what portion each of his childr...

A Cavern Of Black Ice (Sword Of Shadows) Start here

by Jones, J. V.

Set in the same world as her bestselling The Book of Words trilogy, A Cavern of Black Ice is the first book in the separate Sword of Shadows series. This gritty novel follows the stories of its two stubborn main characte...

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

by Jemisin, N. K.

First book in The Inheritance Trilogy, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms centers on the novel's narrator, Yeine, granddaughter of the ruler of the world. Yeine suddenly is named heir to this throne, despite the fact that she...

The Golem And The Jinni

by Wecker, Helene

In Wecker's debut novel, two very unusual immigrants arrive, separately, in 19th century immigrant New York. These two characters are (unsurprisingly) a golem named Chava, created by a Jewish rabbi in Poland, and Ahmad,...

The Queen Of The Tearling

by Johansen, Erika

One of the more recently published novels on this list, Queen of the Tearling has elicited strong reactions; this seems to be one of those love it or hate it books. The premise may seem somewhat familiar: a princess must...