Intro to Female-Authored Speculative Fiction

We at the Fantasy Inn are always a fan of anything that helps people to discover new books they might enjoy. It’s one of the reasons we became reviewers in the first place.

This time, we explored female-authored speculative fiction! It’s mostly fantasy with a little science fiction thrown in for good measure.

For similar flowcharts with different focuses, check out these:

We had a few goals when developing this flowchart:

  1. Include books from a variety of decades, not just recent releases.
  2. Provide enough variety that seasoned and novice fantasy readers alike can discover new books to love.
  3. Feature a variety of storytelling mediums, such as graphic novels, short fiction, and audio dramas.
  4. Only first books in a series are included, and each author is only listed once.

The final flowchart has 126 entries, and we could’ve included many more if we had room. Feel strongly about a book we left out? Let us know in a comment!

Here’s the chart:

Female-Authored Flowchart (3)

High resolution image here.

If any of these books strike your fancy, here they are in list form with links to Goodreads and Amazon. Enjoy!

Classic Fantasy

Blockbuster 

Mythic Fantasy

Urban Fantasy

Paranormal Romance

Erotic Fantasy

Science Fantasy

Science Fiction

Dystopian

Apocalyptic

Zombie Fiction

Gaslamp Fantasy

Steampunk

Time Travel

Fantasy of Manners

Historical Fantasy

Portal Fantasy

Pirate Fantasy

Comedic Fantasy

Young Adult

Middle Grade

Grimdark

Fairy Tale

Dark Fantasy

Myths & Legends

Animal Fantasy

Literary SFF

Magical Realism

Weird West

Weird Fiction

Military Fiction

Flintlock Fantasy

Sword & Sorcery

Poison Fantasy

LitRPG

  • Forever Fantasy Online by Rachel Aaron and Travis Bach | Goodreads | Amazon (US / UK / Canada)

Non-Western

Epic Fantasy

Graphic Novel

Web Comic

Novella

Short Story

Standalone

Audio Drama

  • Girl in Space by Sarah Rhea Werner | Website
  • The Bright Sessions by Lauren Shippen | Website

Author: Travis

Lover of all things fantasy, science fiction, and generally geeky. Forever at war with an endless TBR and loving every moment. Host of the Fantasy Inn podcast.

20 thoughts on “Intro to Female-Authored Speculative Fiction

  1. Great chart with some great books! I’d also suggest checking out Geraldine Harris’ Seven Citadels quartet, Monica Hughes’ Isis trilogy and Meredith Ann Pierce’s work for some excellent YA-leaning spec fic.

  2. Love this list and love the in build jokes. Everytime it gets serious there is this quick remaek rhat breaks the tension I think I spotted a mistake. The describtion of Jennifer Fallon’s book does jot fit with the book itself. The immortals are in the tide lord trilogy beginning with “the immortal prince”. The medalon book Is about gods who like to interfier with mortals

  3. Very nice. And it hardly scratches the surface.

    One thing I would say is that there is so much amazing middle grade fantasy by women right now that it seems slightly odd to choose a couple of really old books from Susan Cooper and Madeleine L’Engle.

  4. Any Gaslamp Fantasy list should contain The Nine by Tracy Townsend. It’s such a brilliaint book. Well done anyway!

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