sf mistressworks meme

[iansales]

I've put together a list of 91 sf novels by women sf writers here. See how many you've read. And spread it around too, please.

 

[Fried Egg]

I've only read two from that list:

1 *Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (1818)
15 *The Dispossessed, Ursula K Le Guin (1974)

Although I have read a few of the authors on your list, just not the particular books on your list.

 

[iansales]

Which ones? Perhaps they belong on the list more than the ones I've chosen.

 

[Parson]

I would agree the F.E. I have read quite a few authors on the list but not the books you list.

I have read:

Witch World -- Andre Norton (I read in High School and had no clue then that this was a female)
Dreamsnake -- Vonda McIntyre
The Snow Queen -- Joan D. Vinge
In Conquest Born -- C.S. Friedman (Didn't know she was female)
Cyteen -- C.J. Cheeyth (Don't believe this was one of her better works)
Chrystal Singer -- Anne Mcaffery (Much better than her Pern books)

 

[Fried Egg]

Probably not, often it's because the book in question is more fantasy than SF.

 

[iansales]

Parson, the Cherryh was a hard call because she's written so many good books. Angel with the Sword is probably my favourite of hers, but it's nowhere near as complex or ambitious as Cyteen, or even Downbelow Station.

 

[Ian Whates]

Great idea and an interesting list, Ian. A little surprised that
The Sword of Aldones, Marion Zimmer Bradley (1962)
didn't make your list, and I might even argue a case for:
Alien Earth, Megan Lindholm (1992)

Otherwise, this is pretty comprehensive, I reckon (okay, I could be picky about one or two of the titles, preferring an alternative book by the same author, but what the heck?)

Using the bold for those I've read and italics for those I own but haven't yet system, my 'score' on your existing list is as follows:

1 *Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (1818)
7 The Sword of Rhiannon, Leigh Brackett (1953)
9 Memoirs of a Spacewoman, Naomi Mitchison (1962)
10 Witch World, Andre Norton (1963)
15 *The Dispossessed, Ursula K Le Guin (1974)
17 *The Female Man, Joana Russ (1975)
20 *Floating Worlds, Cecelia Holland (1976)
21 *Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, Kate Wilhelm (1976)
23 Dreamsnake, Vonda N McIntyre (1978)
28 The Snow Queen, Joan D Vinge (1980)
30 The Silver Metal Lover, Tanith Lee (1981)
31 The Many-Coloured Land [Saga of the Exiles], Julian May (1981)
33 The Crystal Singer, Anne McCaffrey (1982)
35 The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1985)
42 The Journal of Nicholas the American, Leigh Kennedy (1986)
47 Kairos, Gwyneth Jones (1988)
48 Cyteen , CJ Cherryh (1988)
53 Grass, Sheri S Tepper (1989)
56 The Archivist, Gill Alderman (1989)
60 Polar City Blues, Katharine Kerr (1990)
63 Beggars in Spain [Sleepless trilogy], Nancy Kress (1991)
65 Hermetech, Storm Constantine (1991)
67 Fools, Pat Cadigan (1992)
69 Lost Futures, Lisa Tuttle (1992)
70 Doomsday Book, Connie Willis (1992)
77 Primary Inversion [Skolian Saga], Catherine Asaro (1995)
79 The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell (1996)
80 Memory [Vorkosigan series], Lois McMaster Bujold (1996)
81 Remnant Population, Elizabeth Moon (1996)
87 Vast, Linda Nagata (1998)
89 Brown Girl in the Ring, Nalo Hopkinson (1998)
90 Dreaming in Smoke, Tricia Sullivan (1999)
91 Ash: A Secret History, Mary Gentle (2000)

 

[iansales]

A pretty good showing, Ian. You've read many of the same ones as me.

I assumed MZB's books were all fantasy - well, except the Darkover ones... Damn, should have included one of those. I've never heard of Alien Earth, but I shall make a note of it.

 

[Connavar]

A really good list Ian because i have felt guilty and annoyed by the fact i have not read enough female SF writers. I have similar list to go by and read acclaim SF authors.

I read novels by Cj Cherryh,Tanith Lee,Elizabeth Moon,Lois McMaster Bujold,Anne McCaffrey. None of the books in that list though. Except Cherryh,Tanith Lee im on a tryout zone with the others i have read.

Leigh Brackett,CL Moore,Nancy Kress,Connie Willis i have read in short stories. Big collections of Brackett and CL Moore. Their best works are not novels.

Mostly its annoying its hard to find any of those novels if you dont buy as new except Frankenstien. I dont why the male author books are easier to find...

 

[iansales]

Agree that Brackett and Moore's best works are short stories - the titles I chose for them are sort of cheats. The Sword of Rhiannon was an Ace double, I believe, so it really short.

 

[Ian Whates]

A pretty good showing, Ian. You've read many of the same ones as me.

I assumed MZB's books were all fantasy - well, except the Darkover ones... Damn, should have included one of those. I've never heard of Alien Earth, but I shall make a note of it.

Yes, The Sword of Aldones was the first Darkover novel MZB wrote, though not the first in the chronology of the series. I loved it and the book was always a favourite with fans, though the author herself almost disowned it, claiming her writing was far better in later books and she couldn't understand this one's continued popularity.

She had a point, but this one wins hands down in terms of pace and excitement over any other in the series, and the wonder of a society reliant on psychic science rather than technology was still fresh and sharp; later volumes made it seem quite mundane.

Alien Earth is a very quirky and interesting novel from an author better known for her fantasy. It involves an organic spaceship and actors whose performances are almost entirely CGI -- they just have to provide a set routine of poses and spoken phrases and the computers do the rest (if I remember rightly -- long time since I read this).

 

[nixie]

Shamefully admits too only having read 3.

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein

Julian May's The Many Coloured Land

Mary Gentle's Ash

 

[drosdelnoch]

Not doing too well with that list but the ones I've read are 14/99:
1 Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (1818)
3 Orlando, Virginia Woolf (1928)
15 The Dispossessed, Ursula K Le Guin (1974)
30 The Silver Metal Lover, Tanith Lee (1981)
31 The Many-Coloured Land [Saga of the Exiles], Julian May (1981)
33 The Crystal Singer, Anne McCaffrey (1982)
35 The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1985)
47 Kairos, Gwyneth Jones (1988)
48 Cyteen , CJ Cherryh (1988)
53 Grass, Sheri S Tepper (1989)
80 Memory [Vorkosigan series], Lois McMaster Bujold (1996)
81 Remnant Population, Elizabeth Moon (1996)
84 Fool’s War, Sarah Zettel (1997)
91 Ash: A Secret History, Mary Gentle (2000)

 

[biodroid]

I have only ever read The Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K Le Guin as a set book in school. I think that is the only female writer I read. I did try one of the Pern books byAnne McCaffery but I didn't like fantasy then I was into Dean Koontz and Stephen King. Basically if it wasn't for them I would not bother reading.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I've read 14. I didn't count Jirel of Joiry because, although I've read some of the stories, I don't know if I've read all that were included in that particular collection.

1 Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (1818)
3 Orlando, Virginia Woolf (1928)
7 The Sword of Rhiannon, Leigh Brackett (1953)
10 Witch World, Andre Norton (1963)
23 Dreamsnake, Vonda N McIntyre (1978)
28 The Snow Queen, Joan D Vinge (1980)
30 The Silver Metal Lover, Tanith Lee (1981)
31 The Many-Coloured Land [Saga of the Exiles], Julian May (1981)
32 Darkchild [Daughters of the Sunstone], Sydney J van Scyoc (1982)
33 The Crystal Singer, Anne McCaffrey (1982)
48 Cyteen , CJ Cherryh (1988)
53 Grass, Sheri S Tepper (1989)
64 A Woman of the Iron People, Eleanor Arnason (1991)
70 Doomsday Book, Connie Willis (1992)

And with some of the writers on that list, I've read some of their science fiction, but not the books you mention.

 

[Parson]

Parson, the Cherryh was a hard call because she's written so many good books. Angel with the Sword is probably my favourite of hers, but it's nowhere near as complex or ambitious as Cyteen, or even Downbelow Station.

Complex and ambitious are very good words for Cherryh. I am nearing the end of the available "Foreigner" series, and either I am understanding them better or some of the complexity has weathered away from this series. But still very enjoyable stuff. If I had to pick her bellwether novel it would be Downbelow Station. I didn't even know of "Angel with the Sword." I will have to look it up.

 

[Ian Whates]

I didn't even know of "Angel with the Sword." I will have to look it up.

A very entertaining novel. Written as part of the Alliance-Union series, it features a feisty female potagonist living in Merovin, a city on another world but modelled on Venice.

The book spawned the 'Merovingen Nights' shared world anthologies which Cherryh edited, featuring stories set in the same world.

 

[iansales]

The book spawned the 'Merovingen Nights' shared world anthologies which Cherryh edited, featuring stories set in the same world.

Indeed. I have all seven of them. Read about half of them.

 

[iansales]

I've read 14. I didn't count Jirel of Joiry because, although I've read some of the stories, I don't know if I've read all that were included in that particular collection.

Some of them were probably never published in the US. As for the Moore - I'd sooner have picked the Fantasy Masterworks collection (even though it's science fiction, like the Brackett collection in the same series), but it would have made the list even more 1990s-heavy.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Some of them were probably never published in the US.

Are you talking about the Jirel stories, or the Cherryh series mentioned in the thread above that one?