Book recommendations, please
February 8, 2020 3:56 AM Subscribe
I've read fairy tale retellings of Naomi Novik and Robin McKinley, as well as lots of T. Kingfisher / Ursula Vernon. Who else can I read with a similar vibe? (Not necessarily fairy tales, but magic world...female author and female world view.) Thanks!
Maresi, by Maria Turtschaninoff, was one of my absolute favorite books of the year a couple of years ago and very much fits your description. This is exactly what you're looking for.
Shannon Hale has some YA books that fit this description perfectly--Goose Girl (which is first in a series) and Book of a Thousand Days are my favorites.
posted by gideonfrog at 4:21 AM on February 8, 2020
Shannon Hale has some YA books that fit this description perfectly--Goose Girl (which is first in a series) and Book of a Thousand Days are my favorites.
posted by gideonfrog at 4:21 AM on February 8, 2020
Did you read the Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden? It's exactly what you want.
I'd also recommend the Goblin Emperor by Catherine Addison for a similar fairy-tale-by-woman feel, though there are more politics, so avoid if you don't like that.
posted by hought20 at 4:42 AM on February 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
I'd also recommend the Goblin Emperor by Catherine Addison for a similar fairy-tale-by-woman feel, though there are more politics, so avoid if you don't like that.
posted by hought20 at 4:42 AM on February 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
If you haven't read Patricia McKillip, I think she'd be right up your alley! Quiet, poetic, intensely lovely books. Alphabet of Thorn and Song for the Basilisk are good places to start.
posted by Jeanne at 4:48 AM on February 8, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Jeanne at 4:48 AM on February 8, 2020 [5 favorites]
Also.
Erin Bow has several books that also fit this description. The Scorpion Rules is technically more scifi, but it very much has a fantasy feel.
I also very much loved her Sorrow's Knot, which has a Native American fantasy setting.
Nancy Werlin's Impossible is very fairy tale-like, about a girl who has to break the family curse or go mad by her 18th birthday. It's not so much high adventure and a celebration of family and mundane grit.
Mercedes Lackey (who I loved as a teen and I now consider very hit or miss) has one called the Black Swan that I would put on this list--it's a retelling of Swan Lake.
posted by gideonfrog at 4:56 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Erin Bow has several books that also fit this description. The Scorpion Rules is technically more scifi, but it very much has a fantasy feel.
I also very much loved her Sorrow's Knot, which has a Native American fantasy setting.
Nancy Werlin's Impossible is very fairy tale-like, about a girl who has to break the family curse or go mad by her 18th birthday. It's not so much high adventure and a celebration of family and mundane grit.
Mercedes Lackey (who I loved as a teen and I now consider very hit or miss) has one called the Black Swan that I would put on this list--it's a retelling of Swan Lake.
posted by gideonfrog at 4:56 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe! Which I’m pretty sure I learned about from ask metafilter last year.
posted by moonmilk at 5:56 AM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by moonmilk at 5:56 AM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
You might look at Nina Kiriki Hoffman, who writes about a magical family although they are set in this world, not a fantasy setting. They may be more gentle than you want, but she does play with similar problems for her characters that you find in fantasy settings.
posted by PussKillian at 6:08 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by PussKillian at 6:08 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
posted by willnot at 6:40 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by willnot at 6:40 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Eleanor Arnason might be up your alley.
posted by shadygrove at 6:47 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by shadygrove at 6:47 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber - a classic for a reason.
posted by sohalt at 6:54 AM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by sohalt at 6:54 AM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
Erin Morgenstern's The Starless Sea and The Night Circus.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 7:00 AM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 7:00 AM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
Not so magical, but I loved by Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue and a lot of it has stuck with me.
posted by theora55 at 7:15 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 7:15 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Nicola Griffith, Hild
Ann Leckie’s Radch books or the new one, The Raven Tower
Le Guin, Left Hand of Darkness (epic!!)
Tamora Pierce which is mostly YA but since you like Robin McKinkley...
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:30 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Ann Leckie’s Radch books or the new one, The Raven Tower
Le Guin, Left Hand of Darkness (epic!!)
Tamora Pierce which is mostly YA but since you like Robin McKinkley...
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:30 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Bujold’s Chalion books? The first one has a male protagonist, but fits your bill otherwise, and the second is dead on.
posted by LizardBreath at 8:39 AM on February 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by LizardBreath at 8:39 AM on February 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
Lois McMaster Bujold’s Penric and Desdemona novellas, set in the same universe as her Chalion books, may also fit the bill and are lovely.
posted by bananacabana at 8:49 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by bananacabana at 8:49 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
You might like Kristen Cashore's work, particularly Graceling and Bitterblue.
posted by TwoStride at 9:06 AM on February 8, 2020
posted by TwoStride at 9:06 AM on February 8, 2020
Resourceful heroines against supernatural difficulties:
Kirsty Logan (try The Gloaming)
Laurie J. Marks (the Elemental Logic series)
Katherine Arden (the Winternight Trilogy)
Jane Yolen (the first two books of the Great Alta series)
Kristin Cashore (Graceling)
Frances Hardinge (A Face Like Glass, Gullstruck Island)
Diana Wynne Jones (Howl's Moving Castle)
Erin Bow (Plain Kate)
Not necessarily resourceful heroines up against supernatural difficulties, but might still suit your tastes:
Catherynne M. Valente (I would particular recommend the Orphan's Tales duology)
Patricia McKillip (... everything)
L-J Baker (Broken Wings)
posted by kyrademon at 9:31 AM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
Kirsty Logan (try The Gloaming)
Laurie J. Marks (the Elemental Logic series)
Katherine Arden (the Winternight Trilogy)
Jane Yolen (the first two books of the Great Alta series)
Kristin Cashore (Graceling)
Frances Hardinge (A Face Like Glass, Gullstruck Island)
Diana Wynne Jones (Howl's Moving Castle)
Erin Bow (Plain Kate)
Not necessarily resourceful heroines up against supernatural difficulties, but might still suit your tastes:
Catherynne M. Valente (I would particular recommend the Orphan's Tales duology)
Patricia McKillip (... everything)
L-J Baker (Broken Wings)
posted by kyrademon at 9:31 AM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
+1 for Cat Valente. The Orphan's Tales books are amazing. You might also like her The Girl Who series starting with The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. Also ditto McKillip, Yolen, and Carter.
Margo Lanagan would also fit the bill; see Tender Morsels and The Brides of Rollrock Island. (Do read up on them first. Her work can be unflinching.)
I enjoy Holly Black a lot for readable YA with just enough blending of grit and heart. Francesca Lia Block might also be worth checking out.
I've only read one of Helen Oyeyemi's books, but I know her work often gets mentioned in discussions of modern women-centered fairy tales/fairy tale-adjacent stories.
Jeanette Winterson!
posted by xenization at 9:43 AM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
Margo Lanagan would also fit the bill; see Tender Morsels and The Brides of Rollrock Island. (Do read up on them first. Her work can be unflinching.)
I enjoy Holly Black a lot for readable YA with just enough blending of grit and heart. Francesca Lia Block might also be worth checking out.
I've only read one of Helen Oyeyemi's books, but I know her work often gets mentioned in discussions of modern women-centered fairy tales/fairy tale-adjacent stories.
Jeanette Winterson!
posted by xenization at 9:43 AM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
Sarah J Maas has two delightful “new adult” series: Throne of Glass and Court if Thorns and Roses. Throne of Glass now spans, I think, six or seven books? Plus several short stories that can be read before starting the series, or after the first book. Court of Thorns and Roses is four books total. Both series are complete.
posted by pecanpies at 9:50 AM on February 8, 2020
posted by pecanpies at 9:50 AM on February 8, 2020
Speaking as someone who loves the authors you mentioned, here are other female authors writing female characters I've loved, in parentheses specific recommendations all of which have a female main character.
Patricia C. Wrede (dealing with dragons)
Diana Wynne Jones (hexwood and deep secret)
Diane Duane (So you want to be a wizard)
Madeleine L'engle (a wrinkle in time)
Laurie J Marks (elemental logic series)
Seconding: Ann leckie, tamora pierce, Lois mcmaster bujold.
posted by Cozybee at 10:30 AM on February 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
Patricia C. Wrede (dealing with dragons)
Diana Wynne Jones (hexwood and deep secret)
Diane Duane (So you want to be a wizard)
Madeleine L'engle (a wrinkle in time)
Laurie J Marks (elemental logic series)
Seconding: Ann leckie, tamora pierce, Lois mcmaster bujold.
posted by Cozybee at 10:30 AM on February 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
You would probably enjoy the Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman.
posted by mogget at 10:32 AM on February 8, 2020
posted by mogget at 10:32 AM on February 8, 2020
Pamela Dean's Tam Lin fits. It is based on a Scottish ballad, so that's close to a fairy tale.
posted by The Incredible Gnome at 11:13 AM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by The Incredible Gnome at 11:13 AM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis
Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter
posted by brook horse at 12:02 PM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis
Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter
posted by brook horse at 12:02 PM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Juliet Marrillier's Sevenwaters series has everything you're looking for.
posted by Beethoven's Sith at 12:41 PM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Beethoven's Sith at 12:41 PM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
I really liked Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust. How Rory Thorned Destroyed the universe by K Eason (more SF but with magic and fairy tales). Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire is not magic but sort of felt similarish. The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas, maybe, but a bit less Wins The Quest.
Sarah Beth Durst's Queens of Renthia books. Megan Whalen Turner's Thief books.
I agree with the Cashore rec, Erin Bow (maybe EK Johnston too). I'm not sure about Erin Morgenstern -- I like her books, but she's more worldbuilding than characterization.
(An Unkindness of Magicians, one of my favourite books of 2019, is probably not quite right for this question.)
posted by jeather at 2:07 PM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Sarah Beth Durst's Queens of Renthia books. Megan Whalen Turner's Thief books.
I agree with the Cashore rec, Erin Bow (maybe EK Johnston too). I'm not sure about Erin Morgenstern -- I like her books, but she's more worldbuilding than characterization.
(An Unkindness of Magicians, one of my favourite books of 2019, is probably not quite right for this question.)
posted by jeather at 2:07 PM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Definitely read Orphan's Tales by Valente.
posted by FirstMateKate at 2:16 PM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by FirstMateKate at 2:16 PM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Eden Robinson’s Son of a Trickster and Trickster Drift. She’s an Aboriginal author and it’s very much what would be considered a female world view in Western terms, though her protagonist is a teenaged boy. There’s a third one coming and I can’t wait.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:50 PM on February 8, 2020
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:50 PM on February 8, 2020
Check out Donna Jo Napoli’s YA (and middle grade even). In particular, Dark Shimmer sprang to mind, but I think a lot of her books would fit your bill.
posted by bluebird at 2:54 PM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by bluebird at 2:54 PM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Cynthia Voigt did some novels around The Kingdom, that can be read in any order: Elske, Jackaroo, On Fortune's Wheel, The Wings of a Falcon. All good and absorbing. Not magical but very much fantasy/, fairytale like.
posted by emjaybee at 4:15 PM on February 8, 2020
posted by emjaybee at 4:15 PM on February 8, 2020
Sherwood Smith's Wren series
Megan Whalen Turner's The Queen's Thief series
Martha Wells' Ile Rien books
posted by emmling at 5:12 PM on February 8, 2020
Megan Whalen Turner's The Queen's Thief series
Martha Wells' Ile Rien books
posted by emmling at 5:12 PM on February 8, 2020
Skin Folk by Nalo Hopkinson
posted by Gin and Broadband at 11:00 PM on February 8, 2020
posted by Gin and Broadband at 11:00 PM on February 8, 2020
Theodora Goss - In The Forest Of Forgetting
posted by augustimagination at 12:15 AM on February 9, 2020
posted by augustimagination at 12:15 AM on February 9, 2020
Andre Norton wrote a ton of fantasy books set in her "Witch World" universe. A good one that stands alone pretty well would be 'Ware Hawk, which you could try to see if her style suits you. If so, you could then try some others. There are a lot of lists of "best of" Witch World books to consult to get ideas, though The Crystal Gryphon is another good one (alternating male and female POV).
posted by gudrun at 8:23 AM on February 9, 2020
posted by gudrun at 8:23 AM on February 9, 2020
Response by poster: These suggestions are all so friggin' awesome! Thank you!
posted by Omnomnom at 11:42 AM on February 9, 2020
posted by Omnomnom at 11:42 AM on February 9, 2020
Shari S. Tepper wrote Sci-Fi/fantasy that sometimes used vintage fairy tale themes & plots in a kind of parody/gentle teasing... 'A Plague of Angels' or 'Beauty'.
posted by ovvl at 8:28 AM on February 10, 2020
posted by ovvl at 8:28 AM on February 10, 2020
Just read and liked “The vine witch” by Luanne G. Smith and am currently reading “Heart of the fae, a beauty and the beast retelling” by Emma Hamm, but have been warned about the cliffhanger ending, it’s the first book in a series.
posted by meijusa at 10:31 AM on February 10, 2020
posted by meijusa at 10:31 AM on February 10, 2020
Response by poster: Just wanted to let you know that since posting my Ask I've read 4 of the novellas/novels mentioned and I am a happy reader! Thank you!
posted by Omnomnom at 11:26 AM on February 10, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Omnomnom at 11:26 AM on February 10, 2020 [5 favorites]
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posted by Omnomnom at 4:09 AM on February 8, 2020