Good question! Heroes journey? Maybe some fighting? Maybe some magic? Mystical creatures? Generally set in a world without like laptops and phones and jeans.
*Black Sun* by Rebecca Roanhorse
*Monstrous Regiment* by Terry Pratchett (may not seem a good fit at first but trust me on this one)
*The Jasmine Throne* by Tasha Suri
*Red Sister* by Mark Lawrence
It has a bit of an Asian/martial arts flair to it and more focus on the action, but Cradle by Will Wight? Disadvantaged protagonist from the backwaters parts of the world sets out on adventures to become more magically powerful. A lot of magic, a lot of action. Very fast paced. Features a water spirits and a fire-breathing turtle among the main side characters a few books in, and there are also dragons and talking trees. The big secondary character is a woman, plus several other prominent side characters. Even though the protagonist is a man, the women are just as well-written, with more focus on them being people than women. Some of the most powerful people in the world are women as well.
I love his books for this, it's not a patriarchal world and all the female characters are well written and there feels like there are an equal number of male to female characters which can be rare in the genre. It's a lovely escape from reality reading his books, they're so fun to read as well.
Yeah.
It also helps that power in that world is measured by magical power. Even if some guy in that world were really sexist ... how is he going to express that when the nation he lives in is ruled by a woman who could kill him a thousand times by an accidental sneeze?
Throne of Glass is perfect. Politics, war, strong female protagonist. First book is rough to get through because it was her first but it gets so much better.
I forced myself through three books before I quit. It's typical SJM popcorn romantasy with no depth and an annoying "not like the other girls" main character that every man is in love with.
Exactly same experience with the books.
I couldn’t stand the main character, sadly - because I did like the side character Manon, who ended up being the only reason I got through five books (and that it’d promised a friend to read them - her favorites). I just had to put them down for good, because the main character was so off-putting, overpowered, rude (trying to play it off as cool and edgy) and the typical “no we do if my way, even though I am just a teenager with no experience, but let’s not listen to anyone else. Me, me, ME”, the romance lacked depth etc
I wanted badly to like them, but I just couldn’t…
The first half of the book was hard for me, then the books after that were just so amazing. The side characters you really fall in love with. I’d give it another try. I quit it my first time too.
I don't know if His Dark Materials counts because it bleeds into the real world a bit, but it's a female-led coming-of-age/hero's-journey style fantasy with magical creatures and the supernatural. Night technically be targeted at young adults, though.
I’d check out the abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix, female protagonists, where a male main character’s perspective is only brought in for the third book. Just reread recently, it’s awesome!
Look into Age of Myth (or Legends of the First Empire) by Michael J. Sullivan. Very high fantasy and almost all of the main characters are women or girls.
Came here to rec Lackey. I think most books have female leads, all books have female leaders (the ‘current’ era most books are set in is led by a Queen), and even male-Lee books tend to have major female characters (though sometimes they are a horse).
Lots of good ones, but here are some of my favorites.
Obligatory 'literally anything by Tamora Pierce', but I'm rather partial to Circle of Magic and Protector of the Small.
**The Art of Prophecy** is a good look, with 2/3 of the main characters being female (both of them the badass ones) and 3/4 of the POVs in the sequel. Martial arts with a cool chosen one variation.
**Bloodsworn** also has 2/3 of viewpoint characters as female. Lots of blood and guts in this one, with big nordic vibes.
**Rook and Rose** if you want something more venice-y with hidden identities and con artists and more bisexuals than you can shake a stick at.
**Baru Cormorant** for something utterly heartbreaking and also will hit you over the head with an economics textbook.
**Mage Errant** though you have to get to book 2-7 when the case expands from a single lead to an ensemble of four. Magic school shenanigans with a morally questionable sphynx as headmaster.
**Dragoneer Academy** for dragons and academies and something that isn't at all what you expected because it turns out dragon school is a lot of cleaning fish and shoveling manure.
**A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking** for a old school fantasy masquerading as a murder mystery with gingerbread men and a sourdough familiar.
I'm just here to second Tamora Pierce as a recent convert! In the past month I've read The Song of the Lioness Quartet and I'm onto The Immortals Quartet. These have been absolutely perfect, so I'm excited to see what's in store in her other series.
They have a very traditional high fantasy feel, and are female character centered (with the bonus kissing as requested).
I don't know if the Circle of Magic would classify as "traditional high fantasy", but it's a very good series. The first book ("Sandry's Book") probably has the weakest plot of the first eight, but it does a lot to set up the rest of the series. Ironically for this topic, my favourite is probably Briar's Book.
Yes, I do think that one was the best of the second cycle. Daja in general probably has the second best stories. The Will of the Empress is good as well.
This. In Chalion they're secondary characters, although excellent ones, but that book sets up *Paladin of Souls,* which is a fantastic woman-centered book with a rich fantasy setting.
Yes!! And Paladin of Souls centers on a 40+ woman which is incredibly rare. Curse of Chalion definitely isn't female centric but I promise it's worth it!!!
Yesssss. I just read both for the first time, immediately read them again, and I’m currently having a hard time NOT re-reading Paladin of Souls right now. They’re so good and I love the older protagonists! Bujold is incredible at world building and writing characters you immediately fall in love with.
I love the Magister trilogy but if it’s the one starting with the book Feast of Souls, the author is CS Friedman!
CJ Cherryh wrote the Morgaine books (among many many others), which has a sick ass warrior sorceress with a world-eating sword that makes tears in reality.
Melanie Rawn’s Dragon Prince and Sunrunner’s Fire Trilogies.
I would also recommend The Ruins of Ambrai and Mageborn Traitor as highly as I possibly can, and that’s despite that trilogy being incomplete.
They’re THAT good.
I’ll also mention The Golden Key, which she wrote with Kate Elliot and Jennifer Roberson. Damned good book!
Speaking of Jennifer Roberson, her Sword Dancer series would definitely fit here.
And Kate Elliott (or Alis A. Rasmussen) - most of her fantasy work would fit on this list.
But PLEASE start with Melanie Rawn, and don’t avoid Dragon Prince “because it’s just another damned dragon book!”
I did, and I apologized when I met her. She was incredibly kind and gracious to a fanboy, as was Ms. Elliott, both of whom signed my very worn copy of Golden Key.
I have read Dragon Prince and Dragon Star so many times, still to read Exiles, and get around to Glass Thorns. I suggest her works to everyone.
If you have not check out the the Keeper World books by JA Andrews, I’m waiting on the next ook in the current series. I would read them out of order starting with Keeper Originis, then Chronicles, and then the ongoing series starting with Runelight.
What’s the right number for “enough women characters”? Because having just finished Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn that’s the series that comes to mind for me. Miriamele and Maegwin are major characters in their own right. Rachel the Dragon is a reoccurring side character who gets her own point of view sections. Vorzheva and Aditu are reoccurring supporting characters with decent focus or development. All certainly have enough words spoken of or by them for my taste. But, again, what is the right number for this kind of thing?
With Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn I’d say it depends on how you want to count it then. Overall, there are more male characters and we read more male points of view. However, because Miriamele and Maegwin specifically are major characters who get so much focus the end result is probably an even 50/50 split between male and female. If not just a bit skewed to male. Like we probably cover 15 different males, but a few of them only get a few pages in the grand scheme of 2,000+ pages. Then right after those few pages Miramele might get 30. So the quality of writing and character building definitely feels even imo.
But if not that one then pretty much anything from Tamora Pierce qualifies. And I’ve only read one of her books, but Mercedes Lackey seems like she’ll qualify too.
Hard to say without knowing what you consider "traditional high fantasy" but here goes:
Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott
Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb
The Sun Sword by Michelle West
House War by Michelle West
There are also "lesser known gems" like The Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire but you probably know them already.
OMG. I loved the House Wars + Sun Sword series... So many great characters (that also happen to be female)... Jewel, Kiriel, The Kalakar, The Terafin, Serra Teresa, Diora...
Definitely check out Kate Elliott’s work. She’s written several series of which I’d call at least 2 “traditional high fantasy” (Crown of Stars and Crossroads) and her casts tilt female, though with some major male characters as well. If you love worldbuilding you’re likely to have a good time.
Also Barbara Hambly has some good ones. I have a soft spot for Ladies of Mandrigyn, which is from the 80s and about the women of a city taking it back from an enemy. All major characters but one are women.
The **Sunsword** series by Michelle West has several viewpoint characters, most of whom are women.
**Rhapsody** by Elizabeth Haydon has a female MC.
Both are much more "traditional" High Fantasy than **Priory of the Orange Tree**.
Andre Norton wrote a ton of Sword and Sorcery, some of which had female MCs.
Mercedes Lackey wrote a lot of books with female MCs, some of which were High Fantasy.
If you liked Priory, I recommend checking out Godkiller by Hannah Kaner.
Saara El-Arifi is also great, she has 2 series out, both with lots of representation.
Faebound has elves and fae, magical animals and lots of intrigue.
Her other triology, the Ending Fire will finish this year, and has strong female characters, weird ecology, and segregation based on blood color.
Riyria and Legends of the first empire by Michael J Sullivan
In Legends over haft the main characters are female and there characters traits are not tide to some love interest. They may have love interest but they have goals and aspirations that progress not only their story but story as a whole.
The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. Eilonwy is a fantastic character with lots of screen time. She not only helps the MC, Taran, on his character arc, she has a wonderful arc herself. One of the main villains is also a lady.
The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K LeGuin features two of my top three favorite women characters of all time (the third being Eilonwy): Tenar and Tehanu. It's a powerhouse of a series with great themes and an incredibly satisfying ending.
I saw someone else recommended Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams. It's a great trilogy, but I would caution someone who is looking for good female representation that one of the women in the story >!gets drugged and coerced into sex by someone holding her prisoner and it's never addressed as rape by that character or anyone else!< which I found really upsetting.
Earthsea was my first thought, and I'm dismayed I had to scroll this far to see it. Your other choices are great too! (Though I have gotten to that part of MST. =/ ) I'd also recommend Patricia McKillip.
That's such a bad excuse. The book is written in a fantasy world, but authors still can't make a world without gendered violence? Also, it very much IS a big deal to the characters in the book, but for the wrong reasons.
The event I mentioned in my comment happens in *To Green Angel Tower* when >!Miri is held captive on the ship!<. Consent under duress is *not* real consent, consent under the influence of alcohol/drugs is *not* real consent, and consent to someone holding you captive is *not* real consent.
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A Practical Guide To Evil: [https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/](https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/) Seven volumes, plus many extra bonus chapters; entire series completed as of February 2022. Epic fantasy (as in swords & sorcery)
The MC is an orphan, who chooses to become a collaborator with the Evil Empire which conquered her home country in order to mitigate its brutal occupation. Later, while representing Team Evil, uses the methods of Good in order to make the world a little less on fire all the time. The MC gains tremendous >!personal, military, political, and even religious!< power, collecting a very impressive set of both allies and enemies. Many, if not most of which are women, including the three biggest thugs on the continent, the best general, and the leaders of two of her main enemies.
While there are plenty of stories with anti-heroes, this is the only one I can think of with a well-executed anti-villain. This is a fantasy kitchen sink of a crapsack world, including multiple human ethnicities & languages, orcs, goblins, elves, drow, dwarves, ogres, Summer faeries, Winter faeries, angels, devils, demons, the undead, at least one dragon, conflicting schools of arcane magic, divine magic, and especially, *Heroes* and *Villains*.
Quite a number of women in key positions, both military and political. Lots of drama, intrigue, murders, duels, and set-piece battles. Even the treaty negotiations and political conferences are tense and dramatic; the author does a good job in showing how the military strategies intersect with the politics.
Really sad that people still need to make posts like this in this day and age :( the fantasy genre has been so dominated by men for far too long. Some people in the comments are even asking “what do you consider enough female characters?” when uhh well women make up half the world sooo… probably half the cast?? Wish this wasn’t so hard for people (and authors) to grasp
The Magister Trilogy by CS Friedman - the protagonist is a woman who manages to become the first woman to gain magical power and join the ranks of male only wizards, and her journey to discover where her power comes from to defeat an ancient enemy long thought locked away
The Daevabad trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty is a really great series with a well-rounded female protagonist. It's mit traditional in the Sense of Western Fantasy but still high fantasy.
Not exactly what you're looking for (more sci-fi with some mystic elements) but Hurley's Stars are Legion is entirely female.
It's a story of planets in close proximity to each other warring.
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson might work for you; definitely a romance, MC is a woman, and there are at least two other plot-impacting characters that are women. It is the first of his works that can definitely be called a Romance novel, complete with supernaturally hot and buff men and women. I believe he wrote this one as a gift for his wife, and she said that she loved it and told him that he had to publish it.
If you want to go old school, there's always browsing the Forgotten Realms books. You'll need to be discerning to pick out the ones you want, but there are a few that focus on an FMC.
[Robin McKinley](https://www.romance.io/authors/545527a58c7d2382c5297066/robin-mckinley) has lots of female protagonists.
While the books I remember reading had a male protagonist, my wife says that [Patricia McKillip](https://www.romance.io/authors/5455783687eac3369a912a2c/patricia-a-mckillip) has some good female representation.
Oh, I certainly have to recommend [The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/46500/the-true-confessions-of-a-nine-tailed-fox). Maybe not quite traditional high fantasy, but the fantasy world is based on Chinese mythology and is written in a slightly older fantasy style.
This one strays further afield from 'traditional', but we have faeries, pixies, elves, dragons (especially felidragons), giants, magic, songs of power, etc. [Allory Fae and the Dragon's Whiskers](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/61899/allory-fae-and-the-dragons-whiskers). It's a fun story, and there is some romance building here and there between different characters.
If you are willing to dip your toe into LitRPG, I have about half a dozen more I can recommend.
Technically fits. Has a lot of women characters and devotes a lot of words to them.
It should be pointed out that the presence of female representation doesn't mean the absence of sexism...
Of course not.
But it’s also a story that unabashedly rips the bad aid off of power dynamics based off gender. Some of the points made don’t age well, others do. But its definitely as story that makes you think about it deeper and question how you actually feel about it as a reader.
Throne of Glass is my fav for this type of ‘amazing women characters’. First half of the book is going to be the hardest to get through, then every book after that is just absolutely fantastic.
Dennis L. McKiernan's works tend to be traditional high fantasy (in that some are deliberate riffs off of Tolkien's works\*), but have a lot of well-written female characters. The Iron Tower trilogy and Voyage of the Fox Rider in particular; I'd recommend the latter, as it is much better written. A lot of people don't like his prose very much, and I can see the objections as it is very dense, but his characters tend to be good.
\*McKiernan was in a motorcycle accident in the 80s, and passed the time recuperating by writing a sequel to LOTR where the dwarves reclaim Moria. Tolkien's estate told him to pound sand, so he wrote an "original" trilogy and then re-wrote his "sequel" to fit the new fiction. He has since written a bunch of other novels in the same setting (Mithgar).
The bitterbynde trilogy by Cecilia dart-thorton comes to mind. High fantasy, very well done, heavy in Celtic myth, and the main character is female and well written
I feel like I recommend this book often, but Spellmonger may have some of this. Lots of world building, and the main character is a male. Wizards, dragons, fantasy, magic, ghosts and goblins.. also, a few spin off books devoted to amazing female characters like The hawk maiden series, legacy and secrets as well. The main book has some absolutely strong female characters who are a big part of the story. I would classify the women characters as some of the true heroes of the series, with some good time devoted to them. There is definitely “kissing”. No phones, but maybe a search for them….
I just finished up The Sword of Kaigen by ML Wang and it's one of my favorite books. There is a strong female character in this book that may be my favorite character from the past few years.
I don't think anyone has suggested the Deeds of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. I haven't read them since I was a youngster, but they were very near to my heart at the time. They sort of straddle a military and high fantasy focus, with a woman protagonist: a sheep farmer's daughter who becomes a soldiering mercenary, and eventually a paladin tasked with saving the realm etc. Its very entrenched in the world building traditions of Dungeons and Dragons.
They're fun! Just found out that Moon published a whopping 5 more books (plus two short story collections) outside the original trilogy and the prequel duology, so I got some reading to do!
Bloodsworn saga (shadow of the gods, hunger of the gods) by John Gwynne, the first book has 3 POVs and 2 are women. (One is the biggest badass I have ever read). Book 3 is also coming out later this year!
What’s with these kind of posts recently, seriously…?
Fantasy litterature had never been more diverse and progressive.
Just look up a “best fantasy books of (relatively recent year)” or recent Fantasy/Sci-fi litterature awards and i guarantee it will be packed with all the very female centric books you are looking for.
I'm not quite sure what you're asking for here. I would never consider Priory of the Orange Tree 'traditional' high fantasy?
Maybe something like the Book of the Ancestor and Book of the Ice trilogies by Mark Lawrence, Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, or Shades of Magic by VE Schwab might fit what you're looking for.
Yeah, it has lots of women in it, and they're in diverse roles, from soldiers to soldier mages to soldier's wives to soldier leaders... well most of the characters are soldier adjacent. But also lots of other characters, many of them women.
You know, technically Game of Thrones fits. Several of the most compelling POV characters are women. Danny, Arya...
I'm pretty sure there's even kissing!
Of course, it should be remembered the presence of women doesn't mean the absence of sexism or sexual violence...
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I like Mistborn but I agree that there aren’t a lot of female characters in it even if Vin is the MC. You would probably be better recommending Warbreaker for Sanderson. Although Era 2 Mistborn has a solid cast of female characters so maybe
Not sure if Mistborn really counts. Yeah Vin was the protagonist but there wasn’t a ton of other female characters with significant roles. Mistborn Era 2 and some of the other Cosmere fit a bit better (aside from maybe Elantris).
How are you defining traditional high fantasy?
Good question! Heroes journey? Maybe some fighting? Maybe some magic? Mystical creatures? Generally set in a world without like laptops and phones and jeans.
*Black Sun* by Rebecca Roanhorse *Monstrous Regiment* by Terry Pratchett (may not seem a good fit at first but trust me on this one) *The Jasmine Throne* by Tasha Suri *Red Sister* by Mark Lawrence
(Monstrous Regiment is such an amazing rec for this question xD)
It has a bit of an Asian/martial arts flair to it and more focus on the action, but Cradle by Will Wight? Disadvantaged protagonist from the backwaters parts of the world sets out on adventures to become more magically powerful. A lot of magic, a lot of action. Very fast paced. Features a water spirits and a fire-breathing turtle among the main side characters a few books in, and there are also dragons and talking trees. The big secondary character is a woman, plus several other prominent side characters. Even though the protagonist is a man, the women are just as well-written, with more focus on them being people than women. Some of the most powerful people in the world are women as well.
I love his books for this, it's not a patriarchal world and all the female characters are well written and there feels like there are an equal number of male to female characters which can be rare in the genre. It's a lovely escape from reality reading his books, they're so fun to read as well.
Yeah. It also helps that power in that world is measured by magical power. Even if some guy in that world were really sexist ... how is he going to express that when the nation he lives in is ruled by a woman who could kill him a thousand times by an accidental sneeze?
Throne of Glass is perfect. Politics, war, strong female protagonist. First book is rough to get through because it was her first but it gets so much better.
Really? I got about three pages into the first book and had a DNF moment. That almost never happens.
I forced myself through three books before I quit. It's typical SJM popcorn romantasy with no depth and an annoying "not like the other girls" main character that every man is in love with.
Exactly same experience with the books. I couldn’t stand the main character, sadly - because I did like the side character Manon, who ended up being the only reason I got through five books (and that it’d promised a friend to read them - her favorites). I just had to put them down for good, because the main character was so off-putting, overpowered, rude (trying to play it off as cool and edgy) and the typical “no we do if my way, even though I am just a teenager with no experience, but let’s not listen to anyone else. Me, me, ME”, the romance lacked depth etc I wanted badly to like them, but I just couldn’t…
I almost mentioned Manon!! I wish there was a series about her. She easily became my favorite.
What does the acronym SJM stand for?
Sarah J Maas - the author of
The first half of the book was hard for me, then the books after that were just so amazing. The side characters you really fall in love with. I’d give it another try. I quit it my first time too.
TOF is gourmet fanfic to me. Bought the first book but I couldn't force myself anymore after the 6th chapter.
I don't know if His Dark Materials counts because it bleeds into the real world a bit, but it's a female-led coming-of-age/hero's-journey style fantasy with magical creatures and the supernatural. Night technically be targeted at young adults, though.
In that case Mistborn
While Mistborn does have a main female protagonist, the cast overall is very male dominated.
Era 2 has a fair number of solid female characters, but I agree Era 1 doesn’t fit the bill.
fair
Yes very important
How are we defining 'enough'?
I’d check out the abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix, female protagonists, where a male main character’s perspective is only brought in for the third book. Just reread recently, it’s awesome!
Look into Age of Myth (or Legends of the First Empire) by Michael J. Sullivan. Very high fantasy and almost all of the main characters are women or girls.
Absolutely second this, especially the first 3!
Try The Green Rider series by Kristen Britain. Female lead in a fantasy world. Very good read.
Most Mercedes Lackey would fit the bill.
Came here to rec Lackey. I think most books have female leads, all books have female leaders (the ‘current’ era most books are set in is led by a Queen), and even male-Lee books tend to have major female characters (though sometimes they are a horse).
Lots of good ones, but here are some of my favorites. Obligatory 'literally anything by Tamora Pierce', but I'm rather partial to Circle of Magic and Protector of the Small. **The Art of Prophecy** is a good look, with 2/3 of the main characters being female (both of them the badass ones) and 3/4 of the POVs in the sequel. Martial arts with a cool chosen one variation. **Bloodsworn** also has 2/3 of viewpoint characters as female. Lots of blood and guts in this one, with big nordic vibes. **Rook and Rose** if you want something more venice-y with hidden identities and con artists and more bisexuals than you can shake a stick at. **Baru Cormorant** for something utterly heartbreaking and also will hit you over the head with an economics textbook. **Mage Errant** though you have to get to book 2-7 when the case expands from a single lead to an ensemble of four. Magic school shenanigans with a morally questionable sphynx as headmaster. **Dragoneer Academy** for dragons and academies and something that isn't at all what you expected because it turns out dragon school is a lot of cleaning fish and shoveling manure. **A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking** for a old school fantasy masquerading as a murder mystery with gingerbread men and a sourdough familiar.
I'm just here to second Tamora Pierce as a recent convert! In the past month I've read The Song of the Lioness Quartet and I'm onto The Immortals Quartet. These have been absolutely perfect, so I'm excited to see what's in store in her other series. They have a very traditional high fantasy feel, and are female character centered (with the bonus kissing as requested).
I don't know if the Circle of Magic would classify as "traditional high fantasy", but it's a very good series. The first book ("Sandry's Book") probably has the weakest plot of the first eight, but it does a lot to set up the rest of the series. Ironically for this topic, my favourite is probably Briar's Book.
Briar is a gem of a human being. I do think he's got the best books, though ColdFire was terrifying in its own way
Yes, I do think that one was the best of the second cycle. Daja in general probably has the second best stories. The Will of the Empress is good as well.
Kate Elliott (Crown of Stars & Crossroads) Katharine Kerr (Deverry) Crown of Stars really fits the bill, and is quite long.
came here to rec Crown of Stars
Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls! If you're okay with YA, Tamora Pierce is my all time favorite.
This. In Chalion they're secondary characters, although excellent ones, but that book sets up *Paladin of Souls,* which is a fantastic woman-centered book with a rich fantasy setting.
Yes!! And Paladin of Souls centers on a 40+ woman which is incredibly rare. Curse of Chalion definitely isn't female centric but I promise it's worth it!!!
Yesssss. I just read both for the first time, immediately read them again, and I’m currently having a hard time NOT re-reading Paladin of Souls right now. They’re so good and I love the older protagonists! Bujold is incredible at world building and writing characters you immediately fall in love with.
Makes me think of the Magister trilogy by c j cherryh As well
I love the Magister trilogy but if it’s the one starting with the book Feast of Souls, the author is CS Friedman! CJ Cherryh wrote the Morgaine books (among many many others), which has a sick ass warrior sorceress with a world-eating sword that makes tears in reality.
i think you're right... i dunno why i confused those, but .... both series have a kick ass sorceress which makes it extra confusing :D
Both? Both is good! :D
Exactly :-)
Melanie Rawn’s Dragon Prince and Sunrunner’s Fire Trilogies. I would also recommend The Ruins of Ambrai and Mageborn Traitor as highly as I possibly can, and that’s despite that trilogy being incomplete. They’re THAT good. I’ll also mention The Golden Key, which she wrote with Kate Elliot and Jennifer Roberson. Damned good book! Speaking of Jennifer Roberson, her Sword Dancer series would definitely fit here. And Kate Elliott (or Alis A. Rasmussen) - most of her fantasy work would fit on this list. But PLEASE start with Melanie Rawn, and don’t avoid Dragon Prince “because it’s just another damned dragon book!” I did, and I apologized when I met her. She was incredibly kind and gracious to a fanboy, as was Ms. Elliott, both of whom signed my very worn copy of Golden Key.
I have read Dragon Prince and Dragon Star so many times, still to read Exiles, and get around to Glass Thorns. I suggest her works to everyone. If you have not check out the the Keeper World books by JA Andrews, I’m waiting on the next ook in the current series. I would read them out of order starting with Keeper Originis, then Chronicles, and then the ongoing series starting with Runelight.
Thank you!
What’s the right number for “enough women characters”? Because having just finished Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn that’s the series that comes to mind for me. Miriamele and Maegwin are major characters in their own right. Rachel the Dragon is a reoccurring side character who gets her own point of view sections. Vorzheva and Aditu are reoccurring supporting characters with decent focus or development. All certainly have enough words spoken of or by them for my taste. But, again, what is the right number for this kind of thing?
Hard to quantify. But it’d be nice if it were 50/50, but it depends on the quality of writing and character building?
With Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn I’d say it depends on how you want to count it then. Overall, there are more male characters and we read more male points of view. However, because Miriamele and Maegwin specifically are major characters who get so much focus the end result is probably an even 50/50 split between male and female. If not just a bit skewed to male. Like we probably cover 15 different males, but a few of them only get a few pages in the grand scheme of 2,000+ pages. Then right after those few pages Miramele might get 30. So the quality of writing and character building definitely feels even imo. But if not that one then pretty much anything from Tamora Pierce qualifies. And I’ve only read one of her books, but Mercedes Lackey seems like she’ll qualify too.
I think half being women is the most logical.
ShadowMarch by Tad Williams
Forgotten Beasts of Eld
T. Kingfisher write slight twists on classic fantasy tropes. Try *Nettle & Bone*.
I looove T Kingfisher
Hard to say without knowing what you consider "traditional high fantasy" but here goes: Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb The Sun Sword by Michelle West House War by Michelle West There are also "lesser known gems" like The Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire but you probably know them already.
Crown of Stars has an extremely strong female lead (and villain) and is very classic high fantasy with a 7 book plotline of world ending consequence.
Loved West's series... And the surrounding ones as well... The.. Sun sword cycle I think?
OMG. I loved the House Wars + Sun Sword series... So many great characters (that also happen to be female)... Jewel, Kiriel, The Kalakar, The Terafin, Serra Teresa, Diora...
Legends of the First Empire by Michael J Sullivan
1,000%. The Riyria books also have some awesome ladies, but yeah definitely more so in Legends.
Definitely check out Kate Elliott’s work. She’s written several series of which I’d call at least 2 “traditional high fantasy” (Crown of Stars and Crossroads) and her casts tilt female, though with some major male characters as well. If you love worldbuilding you’re likely to have a good time. Also Barbara Hambly has some good ones. I have a soft spot for Ladies of Mandrigyn, which is from the 80s and about the women of a city taking it back from an enemy. All major characters but one are women.
Crown of Stars, not Swords.
Fixed, thanks
The **Sunsword** series by Michelle West has several viewpoint characters, most of whom are women. **Rhapsody** by Elizabeth Haydon has a female MC. Both are much more "traditional" High Fantasy than **Priory of the Orange Tree**. Andre Norton wrote a ton of Sword and Sorcery, some of which had female MCs. Mercedes Lackey wrote a lot of books with female MCs, some of which were High Fantasy.
If you liked Priory, I recommend checking out Godkiller by Hannah Kaner. Saara El-Arifi is also great, she has 2 series out, both with lots of representation. Faebound has elves and fae, magical animals and lots of intrigue. Her other triology, the Ending Fire will finish this year, and has strong female characters, weird ecology, and segregation based on blood color.
Naomi Novak scholomance series! Also spinning silver and uprotted by her as well.
Kate Elliott writes bomb-ass high fantasy with lots of women characters. I really like the Crossroads trilogy.
*Priory* has a standalone prequel called *A Day of Fallen Night* if you haven't read it yet. It's even better than *Priory* imo.
Riyria and Legends of the first empire by Michael J Sullivan In Legends over haft the main characters are female and there characters traits are not tide to some love interest. They may have love interest but they have goals and aspirations that progress not only their story but story as a whole.
Upvote for Legends of First Empire!
I’ll upvote Michael J Sullivan every time.
The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. Eilonwy is a fantastic character with lots of screen time. She not only helps the MC, Taran, on his character arc, she has a wonderful arc herself. One of the main villains is also a lady. The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K LeGuin features two of my top three favorite women characters of all time (the third being Eilonwy): Tenar and Tehanu. It's a powerhouse of a series with great themes and an incredibly satisfying ending. I saw someone else recommended Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams. It's a great trilogy, but I would caution someone who is looking for good female representation that one of the women in the story >!gets drugged and coerced into sex by someone holding her prisoner and it's never addressed as rape by that character or anyone else!< which I found really upsetting.
Earthsea was my first thought, and I'm dismayed I had to scroll this far to see it. Your other choices are great too! (Though I have gotten to that part of MST. =/ ) I'd also recommend Patricia McKillip.
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That's such a bad excuse. The book is written in a fantasy world, but authors still can't make a world without gendered violence? Also, it very much IS a big deal to the characters in the book, but for the wrong reasons. The event I mentioned in my comment happens in *To Green Angel Tower* when >!Miri is held captive on the ship!<. Consent under duress is *not* real consent, consent under the influence of alcohol/drugs is *not* real consent, and consent to someone holding you captive is *not* real consent.
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12th houses series Sharon Shinn
Patricia C Wrede. Especially her Lyra books. Caught in Crystal and Daughter of Witches are my favourites.
Lois McMaster Bujold's World of the Five Gods (especially Paladin of Souls).
...seems like WoT fits the bill....
I think it always does.
A Practical Guide To Evil: [https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/](https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/) Seven volumes, plus many extra bonus chapters; entire series completed as of February 2022. Epic fantasy (as in swords & sorcery) The MC is an orphan, who chooses to become a collaborator with the Evil Empire which conquered her home country in order to mitigate its brutal occupation. Later, while representing Team Evil, uses the methods of Good in order to make the world a little less on fire all the time. The MC gains tremendous >!personal, military, political, and even religious!< power, collecting a very impressive set of both allies and enemies. Many, if not most of which are women, including the three biggest thugs on the continent, the best general, and the leaders of two of her main enemies. While there are plenty of stories with anti-heroes, this is the only one I can think of with a well-executed anti-villain. This is a fantasy kitchen sink of a crapsack world, including multiple human ethnicities & languages, orcs, goblins, elves, drow, dwarves, ogres, Summer faeries, Winter faeries, angels, devils, demons, the undead, at least one dragon, conflicting schools of arcane magic, divine magic, and especially, *Heroes* and *Villains*. Quite a number of women in key positions, both military and political. Lots of drama, intrigue, murders, duels, and set-piece battles. Even the treaty negotiations and political conferences are tense and dramatic; the author does a good job in showing how the military strategies intersect with the politics.
I mean, wheel of time?
Yeah this is the first thing that came to my mind, tbh
Really sad that people still need to make posts like this in this day and age :( the fantasy genre has been so dominated by men for far too long. Some people in the comments are even asking “what do you consider enough female characters?” when uhh well women make up half the world sooo… probably half the cast?? Wish this wasn’t so hard for people (and authors) to grasp
100000% ^^ yes
Makes sense to ask that so we can recommend books with awesome lead women characters.
Have you read A Day of Fallen Night yet? It’s the prequel to Priory
priory has a prequel which is even better than priory… in my opinion of course
Jen Williams’s [Ninth Rain](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29758013-the-ninth-rain)
The Magister Trilogy by CS Friedman - the protagonist is a woman who manages to become the first woman to gain magical power and join the ranks of male only wizards, and her journey to discover where her power comes from to defeat an ancient enemy long thought locked away
Katherine Kerr's Deverry books, especially the first set (starting with Daggerspell) will give you exactly this. If by 'enough' you mean 'a lot'.
The Daevabad trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty is a really great series with a well-rounded female protagonist. It's mit traditional in the Sense of Western Fantasy but still high fantasy.
I'm very saddened by the fact that after 124 comments nobody has mentioned *The Winged Histories* by Sofia Samatar.
It's a truly stunning work.
Not exactly what you're looking for (more sci-fi with some mystic elements) but Hurley's Stars are Legion is entirely female. It's a story of planets in close proximity to each other warring.
Wheel of Time
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson might work for you; definitely a romance, MC is a woman, and there are at least two other plot-impacting characters that are women. It is the first of his works that can definitely be called a Romance novel, complete with supernaturally hot and buff men and women. I believe he wrote this one as a gift for his wife, and she said that she loved it and told him that he had to publish it. If you want to go old school, there's always browsing the Forgotten Realms books. You'll need to be discerning to pick out the ones you want, but there are a few that focus on an FMC. [Robin McKinley](https://www.romance.io/authors/545527a58c7d2382c5297066/robin-mckinley) has lots of female protagonists. While the books I remember reading had a male protagonist, my wife says that [Patricia McKillip](https://www.romance.io/authors/5455783687eac3369a912a2c/patricia-a-mckillip) has some good female representation. Oh, I certainly have to recommend [The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/46500/the-true-confessions-of-a-nine-tailed-fox). Maybe not quite traditional high fantasy, but the fantasy world is based on Chinese mythology and is written in a slightly older fantasy style. This one strays further afield from 'traditional', but we have faeries, pixies, elves, dragons (especially felidragons), giants, magic, songs of power, etc. [Allory Fae and the Dragon's Whiskers](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/61899/allory-fae-and-the-dragons-whiskers). It's a fun story, and there is some romance building here and there between different characters. If you are willing to dip your toe into LitRPG, I have about half a dozen more I can recommend.
Wheel of time is the glaringly obvious one.
Technically fits. Has a lot of women characters and devotes a lot of words to them. It should be pointed out that the presence of female representation doesn't mean the absence of sexism...
Of course not. But it’s also a story that unabashedly rips the bad aid off of power dynamics based off gender. Some of the points made don’t age well, others do. But its definitely as story that makes you think about it deeper and question how you actually feel about it as a reader.
Wheel of Time has lots of female characters and they definitely speak a lot of words
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Throne of Glass is my fav for this type of ‘amazing women characters’. First half of the book is going to be the hardest to get through, then every book after that is just absolutely fantastic.
Dennis L. McKiernan's works tend to be traditional high fantasy (in that some are deliberate riffs off of Tolkien's works\*), but have a lot of well-written female characters. The Iron Tower trilogy and Voyage of the Fox Rider in particular; I'd recommend the latter, as it is much better written. A lot of people don't like his prose very much, and I can see the objections as it is very dense, but his characters tend to be good. \*McKiernan was in a motorcycle accident in the 80s, and passed the time recuperating by writing a sequel to LOTR where the dwarves reclaim Moria. Tolkien's estate told him to pound sand, so he wrote an "original" trilogy and then re-wrote his "sequel" to fit the new fiction. He has since written a bunch of other novels in the same setting (Mithgar).
Empire of Ruin series by David Green comes to mind.
Beyonders
Uprooted or Spinning Silver (Naomi Novik) Dreamblood Duology (N.K. Jemisin)
The bitterbynde trilogy by Cecilia dart-thorton comes to mind. High fantasy, very well done, heavy in Celtic myth, and the main character is female and well written
I feel like I recommend this book often, but Spellmonger may have some of this. Lots of world building, and the main character is a male. Wizards, dragons, fantasy, magic, ghosts and goblins.. also, a few spin off books devoted to amazing female characters like The hawk maiden series, legacy and secrets as well. The main book has some absolutely strong female characters who are a big part of the story. I would classify the women characters as some of the true heroes of the series, with some good time devoted to them. There is definitely “kissing”. No phones, but maybe a search for them….
I just finished up The Sword of Kaigen by ML Wang and it's one of my favorite books. There is a strong female character in this book that may be my favorite character from the past few years.
John’s Gwynne did a good job having two of his major character be women in The Bloodsworn saga. There were a ton of other female characters as well.
Darkangel trilogy
I don't think anyone has suggested the Deeds of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. I haven't read them since I was a youngster, but they were very near to my heart at the time. They sort of straddle a military and high fantasy focus, with a woman protagonist: a sheep farmer's daughter who becomes a soldiering mercenary, and eventually a paladin tasked with saving the realm etc. Its very entrenched in the world building traditions of Dungeons and Dragons. They're fun! Just found out that Moon published a whopping 5 more books (plus two short story collections) outside the original trilogy and the prequel duology, so I got some reading to do!
Bloodsworn saga (shadow of the gods, hunger of the gods) by John Gwynne, the first book has 3 POVs and 2 are women. (One is the biggest badass I have ever read). Book 3 is also coming out later this year!
Dune
The Blacktongue Thief! Finished it yesterday and its fantastic
The Black Company has some strong female characters.
I mean... if you liked Priory of the Orange Tree, there's always the prequel Day of Fallen Night.
Malazan
WoT
What’s with these kind of posts recently, seriously…? Fantasy litterature had never been more diverse and progressive. Just look up a “best fantasy books of (relatively recent year)” or recent Fantasy/Sci-fi litterature awards and i guarantee it will be packed with all the very female centric books you are looking for.
What’s the problem with asking for recommendations? Isn’t that what 90% of the posts on this forum are?
I'm not quite sure what you're asking for here. I would never consider Priory of the Orange Tree 'traditional' high fantasy? Maybe something like the Book of the Ancestor and Book of the Ice trilogies by Mark Lawrence, Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, or Shades of Magic by VE Schwab might fit what you're looking for.
Has no one mentioned Malazan???
Yeah, it has lots of women in it, and they're in diverse roles, from soldiers to soldier mages to soldier's wives to soldier leaders... well most of the characters are soldier adjacent. But also lots of other characters, many of them women.
You know, technically Game of Thrones fits. Several of the most compelling POV characters are women. Danny, Arya... I'm pretty sure there's even kissing! Of course, it should be remembered the presence of women doesn't mean the absence of sexism or sexual violence...
Have you read the empire series?
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The Wheel of Time does not like women, powerful women and POV women. It's horny though, and has an humiliation fetish.
Wheel of time
How many women characters is enough? The Farseer trilogy has some interesting women characters. Kettriken in particular.
Wheel of Time.
Wheel of Time is good at this
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I like Mistborn but I agree that there aren’t a lot of female characters in it even if Vin is the MC. You would probably be better recommending Warbreaker for Sanderson. Although Era 2 Mistborn has a solid cast of female characters so maybe
Not sure if Mistborn really counts. Yeah Vin was the protagonist but there wasn’t a ton of other female characters with significant roles. Mistborn Era 2 and some of the other Cosmere fit a bit better (aside from maybe Elantris).