SciFi by Women

Science Fiction used to be a genre almost entirely written my men and for men. The few women who wrote science fiction has to use male pseudonymns or use their initials and hide their gender. Women rarely were in leadership positions or won major awards.

The genre is still dominated by men, but there are many women writing science fiction now as well. The current president of SFWA is a woman, Catherine Asaro. The Nebula and Hugo Awards for 2004 were won by a woman (Lois McMaster Bujold's Paladin of Souls won both) as was the Philip K. Dick Award (Gwyneth Jones' Life). The Campbell Award this year was won by a man, but two of the five finalists were women. Though some men think women are too stupid to write science fiction, there are many, many women out there proving that that isn't true.

I started reading science fiction about four years ago, and I have read many different authors, but I tend to gravitate more toward the female authors. I enjoy the speculation and the ideas and the science and the cool gadgets that both men and women use to populate their worlds, but the women whose books I read tend to bring more humanity and more connection to their books (this isn't universally true, but is a tendency that I have seen in science fiction). Part of this may be that if men inject relationships into their books, they'll no longer be a member of the boys' club, whereas women have never had that worry (the reverse of this is that some women who are stretching the boundaries of romance are being treated like they aren't part of the girls' club by other romance authors).

I know most of the people who read my blog are romance readers first and probably most, but in case you were wondering about or interested in reading some science fiction, take a look at my favorites on the sidebar or at these interesting books that have caught my eye. Some are established authors, some are new, but these are recent books that I have on my TBR stack or am planning to buy as they come out.

Contact Imminent by Kristine Smith
November 2003


Apocalypse Array by Lyda Morehouse
May 2004


Grasp the Stars by Jennifer Winegert
July 2004


Marque and Reprisal by Elizabeth Moon
September 2004


Banner of Souls by Liz Williams
September 2004


Crossing the Line by Karen Traviss
November 2004


Finders Keepers by Linnea Sinclair
April 2005


Buried Deep by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
April 2005


Cagebird by Karin Lowachee
April 2005


Scardown by Elizabeth Bear
June 28, 2005


End in Fire by Syne Mitchell
June 30, 2005


Nylon Angel by Marianne de Pierres
July 5, 2005


A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer
July 5, 2005


War Surf by M. M. Buckner
August 30, 2005


Rebel Ice by S. L. Viehl
January 2006