Top Ten SF Novels by Women
In the Guardian, Gwyneth Jones has a Top Ten list of SF novels written by women. It’s an interesting list, though I note that only two of them are from the 21st century. Which is fair enough, considering it’s a Top Ten of all-time sort of list. But seeing the list made me wonder: What would this top ten list look like if we restricted the timeframe to books published in 2000 or later? So let’s hear it: What’s in your top ten? (Keep in mind we’re specifically talking about SF here, not fantasy.)
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9 Responses to “Top Ten SF Novels by Women”
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Not until you fix the #@$%&! May acquisitions.
Yrs,
“.”
LOL @ whomever did wrote the first response to this message.
~ E Thomas
Elsewhere–ignoring the word “best”–I made a list of SF novels that I could think of off the top of my head that were written by women.
Here are the ones that are 2000 or later:
_Carnival_ by Elizabeth Bear
_Empire of Bones_ by Liz Williams
_The Ghost Sister_ by Liz Williams
I also included _The Poison Master_ by Liz Williams at the end of my other list, even though it is more science fantasy.
This list looks rather abysmal, but the reason is that the majority of my reading of things published in 2000 or later is in short fiction (and even there I am behind).
P.S. I forgot to say that the above list was of books I enjoyed, even though I was ignoring the word “best.”
I particularly recommend Bear’s _Carnival_.
~E Thomas (pseuddnonymous as “.”)
I don’t think I’ve read enough recent science fiction to come up with a top 10. That in mind, I did really enjoy Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson.
Undertow
Bold As Love
Castles Made Of Sand
Carnival
Hammered
Scardown
Worldwired
Nylon Angel
Code Noir
Crash Deluxe
Rainbow Bridge
Blue Silence
Time Future
Spin State
Silver Screen
[…] Before I dash off again, John Joseph Adams has a question: In the Guardian, Gwyneth Jones has a Top Ten list of SF novels written by women. It’s an […]
Might I point out that Gwyneth’s list dates from December 2003, hence the absence of more recent works.
Amongst the obvious candidates for a post-2000 list are of course several of Gwyneth’s own novels Bold As Love and Life (and pre-2000 White Queen should be there too.)
In addition, Sarah Hall’s The Carhullan Army has to be considered, along with these:
Elizabeth Bear – Carnival
Andrea Hairston — Mindscape
Kit Reed — @ Expectations
My top ones:
Vatta Series – multiple books (Elizabeth Moon)
Spin state and Spin Control – Chris Moriarty
Carnival – Elizabeth Bear
…and I’m just now reading Cyteen based on that top ten list…
Oh, the Vatta’s War series is a great pick. I love those books.
Ditto Spin State–thought that was terrific (haven’t read Spin Control yet).
Haven’t read Carnival yet either, but I thought it sounded really cool.