sci-fi female Buck Rogers

[jamspooon]

Hi, I'm trying to find some novels that would have a strong female lead. Like a female Buck Rogers or something like a Barbarella. Solo or part of a team, not military. Tomb Raider in space?
I hope I don't sound too scattered all over the place.

 

[JoanDrake]

Read the Arya chapters in Game of Thrones, though she's from a Medieval Fantasy, not SF, her character and presentation are the current modern form of the strong female trope. Some might recommend Brienne too, but I don't. She's a much more peripheral character and IMO, she's too much of the "manlywoman" character type. OTOH, I've not followed her that much and I hear Martin actually sees her as something of an experiment in creating a new type of heroine, so I could be wrong here.

Another that comes to mind is John Varleys Gaian Trilogy, there are others. I might jump back into the thread if I remember any

 

[The Judge]

Hi, I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I'll move this over to General Book Discussion, and with luck you'll get plenty more recommendations -- Book Search is really designed for members trying to find a specific book they read years before and want to re-read, having forgotten author and title.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Cordelia in the first two Vorkosigan books? She's is a military leader but it's a survey team as opposed to in battle and, whilst the later books concentrate on her son, she remains a central character. Sadly, as they were the first of the author's (Bujold) books, they aren't as polished as her later books. In fact, the whole series has a lot of strong female characters -- Ellie Quinn ends up as an Admiral and Taura... well, she's a whole different ball game.

 

[Montero]

Ann Aguirre's Sirantha Jax books - Sirantha definitely a strong (not to say bloody minded) character. The series opens after her pilot partner has died, and she is on the run.

Julie E Czerneda - not quite literally kick-ass but still tough. Species Imperative series has a scientist as a main character. She is not out brawling but she is a strong character. Starts on earth but goes out into space.
Trade Pact and Stratification series (which is actually a prequel series to Trade Pact). Again strong female lead.

Both writers do excellent aliens as well.

I think Ann Aguirre's character is more "Buck Rogers" than Julie E Czerneda, but both are fun reads - well put together adventure stories.

 

[iansales]

Check out some of the books on SF Mistressworks or Daughters of Prometheus.

 

[Vertigo]

I think maybe anything along these lines is likely to have have some military bias (afterall wasn't Buck Rogers originally a naval commander or something). But here's a few:

Moon's Serrano Legacy - semi-military
Moon's Vatta's War series - less military and much more female Buck Rogers
David Weber's In Fury Born - starts military but then the heroine breaks off and does her own thing in very Back Rogers style (bit more serious though).
Mike Shpeherd's Kris Longknife series - yes military technically however Kris Longknife operates mostly solo (along with her little team of helpers). A lot of the cavalier Back Rogers feel to that series.

Although it's not space opera and it is also fantasy cross-over I think Justina Robson's Lila Black in her Quantum Gravity books might fit the bill.

 

[Verse]

Friday by Robert Heinlein
Yes, he was a dirty ol' perv.

 

[Vince W]

Wasteland of Flint by Thomas Harlan. Definitely not military and is almost exactly Tomb Raider in space. Gretchen Andersen is an archaeologist. There are two other books that follow.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Friday by Robert Heinlein
Yes, he was a dirty ol' perv.

Beat me to it.

How about David Weber's Honor Harrington series? Starts with On Basilisk Station, should be read in order.

Edited: Sorry, went back and realized you didn't want military. I'll leave it there just in case, as they really are great books.

You might also try CJ Cherryh's Cyteen series -- three books. The female in question is young, but no one would ever accuse her of being anything but strong.

 

[Pyan]

You might also try CJ Cherryh's Cyteen series -- three books. The female in question is young, but no one would ever accuse her of being anything but strong.

The same author's Chanur series has one of the strongest female leads in the genre, IMHO.

 

[Suzecog]

You could try the Wess'Har series by Karen Traviss. Shan Frankland fits the bill, and the Wess'Har being matriarchal, there are lots of strong female characters in there!

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Scirocco Jones in John Varley's trilogy (Titan, Wizard, and Demon) is a three-dimensional female space adventurer. Her nickname ("Rocky") is clearly a reference to the old TV space opera hero Rocky Jones, so Varley knows her ancestry.