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Any good series with female characters as complex as the one in ASOIAF?


TheWhiteDevil

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16 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

If you can oppose The Spritwalker Trilogy then I can oppose The Girl With All The Gifts. That book's popularity baffles me.

That's fair, I admit it's not the strongest book I have ever read, but it's still better than -in the same genre- I am A Legend, and not a bait and switching crypto-romance book like the Spiritwalker trilogy, there's that. I just wanted to have some UF here, but nothing sprung to mind, maybe Karen Beukes would have worked, or maybe the Black Sun Daughter, though I really wasn't convinced by it, as much of an Abraham fan I can be.

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I'm actually not a big fan of spiritwalker compared to Elliot's other work. I don't hate it, but compared to Crossroads or Crown of Stars it's kind of average.

Theres debate on if the craft sequence counts as UF or not but either way they tend to have very awesome female POVs in my opinion, particularly book three.

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The only of the Craft Sequence I read (Three parts dead; I think it should qualify as some kind of Fantasy) does have a female lead.

Actually, with "genre" the OP must have meant subgenres of SF/F. Apart from certain genre fiction there has been no lack of important female characters in literature since ca. 1800; just look at the titles of all that famous 19th century novels. And even ones that do not mention them in the title often have important (co-protagonist) female characters, e.g. Wuthering Heights.

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19 hours ago, TheWhiteDevil said:

I've searched through many genres and tried many books, never finding a character like Daenerys. A woman's with its own storyline and value, not a staple, not used to further other characters'plot. Not just a wife. Not just a consort, Not just a quota to fill. A full fledged co-protagonist. Many people claim her to be a cliche, ( I don't agree) and quite common in the genre, however I cannot find "her" in any other book. Any suggestion will be apreciated. Thanks you.

I'd agree with everyone who has recommended The Liveship  Traders.

If you're looking for a female protagonist who is somewhat similar to Daenerys, then I'd recommend Queen Gisel in The Sarantine Mosaic duology.  She's not as important to the story as Daenerys is to ASOIAF, but she is a main protagonist, whose predicament is somewhat similar to Daenerys',  but who resolves her problems very differently.

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As Jo498 for genre I meant fantasy, sci-fiction, urban fantasy , space opera and all that can be put under the unbrella therm of fantasy. I got into this genre after reading GoT. I am absolutely happy about all the suggestions I am receiving, among those I did read the Iron Dragon's daughter suggested by Errant Bard and I loved the book fiercely to a point, the latest chapters and the end baffled me. 

I will take all the suggestions into a summary master post and share my thoughts on ithe books as I read. Liveship Traders and Ash received the highest number of recs, so I will start from those.

 

 

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15 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

I was waiting for someone to make the obvious joke.

Hm… Esmenet in R Scott Bakker’s Second Apocalypse is as interesting a character as any I’ve found in the genre. (I heavily self-identify with her, as I do with Catelyn, so that may be part of my bias.) So I submit her quite unironically.

Mieville was already mentioned, but I submit Lin from Perdido Street Station. Maybe too alien to qualify as a female character, but the book is good anyway.

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8 hours ago, Crixus said:

Enterprise of Death, Jesse Bullington. Not a series, 1 book with a great female protagonist, biting humour and a refreshingly different plot. 

Now that you mention him, his fantasy novels under the pen name of Alex Marshall feature two relatively strong female leads-- the old veteran warlord/former queen and the upstart heir apparent to her legacy.

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2 hours ago, Happy Ent said:

Hm… Esmenet in R Scott Bakker’s Second Apocalypse is as interesting a character as any I’ve found in the genre. (I heavily self-identify with her, as I do with Catelyn, so that may be part of my bias.) So I submit her quite unironically.

Mieville was already mentioned, but I submit Lin from Perdido Street Station. Maybe too alien to qualify as a female character, but the book is good anyway.

o.O

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19 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

On a serious note, yes, Robin Hobb and Kate Elliott for the win.

C'mon dude,stop pimping Hobb and Elliott all the time! :P

 

Seriously though,what about Ben Peek's 'The Children' series ? I think you'll agree it has some great female characters.:)

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The Shattered Sea series by Joe Abercrombie, particularly the latter two books. Also, Best Served Cold and Red Country, although they're 4th and 6th in a shared continuity.

The Tiger and Del series by Jennifer Roberson.  The male lead is the only POV, but the female lead has a substantial arc and characterization.

The Trial of Blood and Steel series by Joel Shepard.  Pretty good epic fantasy with a female lead.

If you have a high tolerance for weeabooisms, the Lotus War Trilogy by Jay Kristoff is pretty great.  It's set in a fantasy Japan with steampunk power-armored samurai.

All feature action oriented heroines save for "Half a War" (Shattered Sea #3) which has a Danerys-type political heroine.

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16 minutes ago, Mars447 said:

If you have a high tolerance for weeabooisms, the Lotus War Trilogy by Jay Kristoff is pretty great.  It's set in a fantasy Japan with steampunk power-armored samurai.

 

I can not UN recommend this series enough. It's the most poorly researched/offensive cultural appropriated dreck I've read in the last decade. The author admits all he did for his research into Japanese culture was watch Akira and read a wiki article. The main character might as well be a heroine from a harlequin romance novel.

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24 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

I can not UN recommend this series enough. It's the most poorly researched/offensive cultural appropriated dreck I've read in the last decade. The author admits all he did for his research into Japanese culture was watch Akira and read a wiki article. 

You can make an argument for it being culturally appropriative, although the Japanese are not exactly a marginalized and nearly destroyed culture that needs protection. However,

24 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

The main character might as well be a heroine from a harlequin romance novel.

Say what?  I can't even comprehend the logic that leads to that kind of conclusion.

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3 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

C'mon dude,stop pimping Hobb and Elliott all the time! :P

 

Seriously though,what about Ben Peek's 'The Children' series ? I think you'll agree it has some great female characters.:)

I am constant in my fandom!

Also, yeah, Ben Peek has some great female characters, good catch.

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