Multaniette Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 female fantasy authors not being good is bullshit of the highest order. most of the better writers, specially in epic fantasy, are female. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyanna Stark Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 EHK, You may want to give Lynn Flewellyn's "The Bone Doll's Twin" a try. It's very good and Lynn is definitely female. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eurytus Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 female fantasy authors not being good is bullshit of the highest order. most of the better writers, specially in epic fantasy, are female. Hobb apart (and even that is questionable in its epic status) I can't think of a single good female author of epic fantasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Child of the Forest Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 I disagree, actually. I'm not even a very big fan of the Mule, to be honest, but none of the characters in Asimov stories ever really struck me as posessing tremendous depth. Then again, it's been a really long time since I read them, so I could just be failing to remember things properly. It could also be a difference in what we're considering a "good" character. You're right that Asimov doesn't delve deep into his characters' psyches. But I enjoy reading about some of them much more than a character that is shown, in greater depth, to be not as interesting a person. Both what I find "interesting" and the criteria itself are matters of taste, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 The interesting thing about Robin Hobb was that the books (the UK versions at least) didn't hint at her gender until the Liveship Traders series by which time the Farseer books had been successful. The author info section in the Farseer books didn't mention gender, just referred to her as 'Robin' which is a gender-neutral name, and not her real name. My guess is that it was decided that some readers in fantasy are biased against women so they pulled a little sleight of hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Nice. A bit of the ol' "James Tiptree, Jr." action. I am trying to think of other female authors who use ambiguous names (or merely initials + last name), perhaps exactly for this reason... CJ Cherryh CS Friedman PD James JK Rowling James Triptree, Jr. who else? ETA: on second thought...maybe this is a topic of its own? There could be a surprise or two in there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niamh Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Well I like Anne mcCaffrey, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and KJ Parker is brilliant. On the other hand some well known male writers .................. So, no I'm definitely not biased against women in fantasy (which would be pretty close-minded to be honest), and will give them an equal chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multaniette Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Hobb apart (and even that is questionable in its epic status) I can't think of a single good female author of epic fantasy. Hobb Carey West Wurts Marillier Flewelling Elliot Friedman Britain Le Guin May Wells McKinley Shinn Moon Hearn McKillip Werde Rawn Bujold Fallon Roberson Granted, none of them are as good as Tolkien, Kay, Martin, Williams and Bakker - I find most of the above to be much better then the likes of Farland, Feist, Jordan, Marco, Stackpole, Duncan, Benjamin, Bunch, Gemmell, Fergusson, Coe and on par with Keyes, Adams, Erikson, Cook and Russell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eurytus Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Granted, none of them are as good as Tolkien, Kay, Martin, Williams and Bakker - I find most of the above to be much better then the likes of Farland, Feist, Jordan, Marco, Stackpole, Duncan, Benjamin, Bunch, Gemmell, Fergusson, Coe and on par with Keyes, Adams, Erikson, Cook and Russell. I guess we have different views on what constitutes epic fantasy as many of those female authors (at least those I have even heard of) don't write what I think of as epic fantasy. Then again I haven't heard of several of your male authors either. Of the female authors you list that I have heard of (Hobb apart) I would put Erikson way above any of them, even though he has his flaws. But certainly Elliot is nowhere near as good as him imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashara Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Well, if we are talking about female writers overoll, not just fantasy, I always loved French writer Sagan, Polish writer Khmelevskaya and a British one Lindsey Davis. :cool: Oh, and I did like McKillip's only book I read so far better than Williams and Bakker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daemrion Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 The one that I most distrust is Barbara Hambly. She can't write. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niamh Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Lindsey Davies deserves a medal. I love Falco to bits But that really isn't fantasy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Falco? As in "Rock Me Amadeus" and "Der Kommisar" fame? Sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niamh Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Falco? As in "Rock Me Amadeus" and "Der Kommisar" fame? Sweet! Nah, I don't gravitate that high ........... Falco the roman detective of Lyndsey Davies' :D PS: Brave of you to keep that flag, unlike some I know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Ah, I figured it wasn't...but I remember those songs well from my pre-teen/early teen years in the 80s! As for the flag...take a closer look at it, it never was completely 100% pro-US, even if I'm an American I'm changing it after 9 July, since the agreement was to keep the names and stuff until then. But Argentina was my favored team all along (exploring options of emigrating there, actually, but that's years away after I finish a degree in teaching English as a Foreign Language). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashara Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 But that really isn't fantasy Right, that's why the post starts with the "if we are talking about female writers overoll, not just fantasy..." There were a few posts earlier that took a more universal approach to writing than fantasy. As for fantasy, well, I have two "favorite" male writers, Martin and Kay; and two "favorite" female writers - Hobb and McKillip. There was a bunch of other writers listed. Sure, some like a particular authoress, some not, but it is exactly the same with the males. (Shrug) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niamh Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Most people are changing allegiance or retreating, so don't worry about switching to Argentina And yeah, I know those horrid songs, I am old enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Gotcha - although I was never 'switching,' I was just assigned to support the US over Argentina And hey, those songs aren't too bad...kinda like a guilty pleasure, like playing Dead or Alive's You Spin Me Right Round Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niamh Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 ....You Spin Me Right Round OMG that song JUST popped in my mind too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 What about Bow Wow Wow's I Want Candy? Hrmm...a case could be made that there were some great female pop singers in the 80s, just to tie it in a little bit with this post's original intent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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