16 Sci-Fi Books Written by Women | Recommending Best Sci-Fi Books, Recent Releases or Re-releases

[@becausereadingis]

I love Light From Uncommon Stars!! I can't stop thinking about it and I wish there was more of it. 💗💗💗💗

[@HG-ok4yp]

Some female authored sci-fi The Noumenon trilogy - Marina J Lostetter (space opera, generational) The Universe of Xuya -Aliette de Bodard (Novellas/shortstories, Vietnamese inspired culture) The Employees - Olga Ravn (literary sci-fi, translated from Danish) White Space duology - Elizabeth Bear (space opera, companion novels) I'm Waiting for You - Kim Bo-Young (short story collection, translated from Korean) The Question Mark - Muriel Jaeger (literary sci-fi, Published in 1926) The Planetfall Quartet - Emma Newman (companion novels, the second one is also a murder mystery) 1)Touch, 2)The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August, 3) 84K - Claire North (literary sci-fi) The Stars Are Legion - Kameron Hurley (Space Opera, not a single male character in the entire book) From The Wreck - Jane Rawson (historical fiction/sc-fi blend)

[@osmia]

Thanks for including all these

[@mariareadsssf]

I highly recommend both "Parable of the Sower" and "Parable of Talents". I think the best place to start with Octavia E. Butler is "Kindred", her time travel historical fiction. I also love the "Broken Earth" by N. K. Jemisin. Thank you for the recommendations!

[@vickief5213]

I second others who recommend Elizabeth Moon (Vatta's War series). Patrice Fitzgerald. Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

[@anne-marie339]

Really great recs! I've read a few and many are on my TBR but I hadn't yet heard of the first two recs (which makes me happy). I've recently purchased on a whim In the Company of Others by Julie Czerneda, which is a scifi novel from about 20 years ago. Hoping to get to that this year... we'll see :P

[@reneeelich4893]

Great list! I'd add Frankenstein and The Harper Halls of Pern by Anne McCraffrey as they made me a sci-fi reader/lover.

[@magpiemuze]

Yes! I love transforming folks' perspective on scifi. I would add Failure to Communicate by Kaia Sonderby, which is a great character-driven indie scifi with autistic rep. There are also SO many women scifi authors in this year's Self-Published Science Fiction Competition that everyone should check out, with many varied genres covered (cyberpunk, romance, space adventure, thriller, etc.). Two I've read so far and would recommend include The Left Hand of Dog by Si Clarke and Exin Ex Machina by G.S. Jennsen.

[@RKStumblingbear]

I like a lot, but I am only going to give you one right now: Valor's Choice by Tanya Huff.

[@kaygee5346]

Lois McMaster Bujolds Vorkosigan saga is one of the best space opera series around Tanya Huff has written some military sci-fi which is great Catherine Asaro's Skolian Empire is a space opera Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's Liaden series

[@Brianna-qg1iz]

Yes! I just knew someone had to have mentioned the Vorkosigan Saga in the comments - such a great series!

[@Quaisior]

I love all of these too! For space opera/romantic SF, I also love Ann Aguirre, Rachel Bach, Karen Traviss, Debra Doyle & James D. Macdonald, Kristine Smith, Jacqueline Koyanagi, Sara Creasy, Laura E. Reeve, Chris Moriarty, Elizabeth Bonesteel, and Julie E. Czerneda. Some other SF I love that isn't space opera: Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre, Sharon Shinn's Samaria Series (a lot of people categorize this series as fantasy, so I guess it's a genre blend), Joan D. Vinge's Tiamat Cycle, and The Color of Distance by Amy Thomson. Thank you for this video Bethany. I've been reading SF (and fantasy) by women for a long time now and it's nice to see someone focusing on women authors.

[@maddiem982]

A great set of recommendations! I'll add: Ancillary Justice - space opera Station Eleven - post-apocalyptic Oryx and Crake - post-apocalyptic

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Thanks for the suggestions!

[@marcjohnson5991]

I thoroughly enjoyed both Station Eleven and Ancillary Justice (I’m yet to read the rest of the series)

[@bookwormdreams5182]

I would recommend The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes, a fantastic space opera that I think would be great for fans of the Expanse and John Scalzi. (m)

[@thiadesg]

Some additional recommendations: - Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie (first book Ancillary Justice), a great space opera about revenge - Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon, a quiet space opera about an elderly woman who stayed behind on a planet that was abandoned - The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy, post-apocalyptic about artists rebuilding a life for themselves and resisting a military invasion - The Power by Naomi Alderman, post-apocalyptic about women suddenly being stronger than men and the shift in the society it generated

[@woodsforager2955]

Remnant Population sounds great! Thanks for suggesting!

[@jynxdcoffee8498]

Immediately rewatched this video with to make a reading list 😄 For fans of Murderbot: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie is great (less funny, but a very well constructed dual-timeline story) For fans of weird, short sci-fi: The Employees by Olga Ravn did not get enough hype (it's a bunch of log-entries from an space-exploration HR, that show you what happened to one of their ships)

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I really need to try Leckie at some point!

[@VanessaMarieBooks]

I've never really been interested in Gideon the Ninth, but when you described it as fantasy/horror with a murder mystery plot, that definitely got me interested. I've heard it described before as like a sci-fi space fantasy with lesbians. I'm not a huge sci-fi reader, especially sci-fi that takes place in space, I usually don't really enjoy space settings, but if there's horror and a murder mystery, then I'm definitely more interested in trying it out.

[@TheBookishMom]

Unconquerable Sun sounds SO good! I pulled Long Way for a Small Angry Planet to read this month and I can't wait!

[@zixaz00]

As someone who mainly reads SFF books by women, I love that I’ve read 11 of these books lol. Of these, Becky Chambers will always be my favorite, but Light from Uncommon Stars is a close second! My favorite female sci-fi author not mentioned is G.S. Jennsen. She’s an indie author who writes crazy fast and her world building and plotting is truly *chef’s kiss*

[@FIT2BREAD]

Great selection. There were a couple I haven't read, so I'm excited to add them..the list has so much variety and tone, style, and mood..from The slow journey with Chambers, to the deadpan humor from Wells, then the (absolutely correct adjective) quirky Aoki book, to Muir's no-clean-lines experimental style to of course one of the all time greatest...Octavia E. Butler. Excellent video

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Thanks Michael! I tried to include a wide variety

[@lisaswartz4633]

Great video. So many authors I will be adding to my TBR. Also, just ordered my haunted ring light shirt. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Yay!!!

[@lusalma5404]

I find it very frustrating that there is very little other than Le Guin that is recommended before 2010... Please, look up some of these: Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Moon, Andre Norton, Julian May and C.J. Cherryh some older and grand dames of SFF

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Some of these I've read and they are great! As I said at the end, this was just scratching the surface with books I have on my shelves and have read recently. At some point I may do a video focusing on older women writers in the genre, that just wasn't the project here. Though Octavia Butler is also amazing and wrote a bit earlier. Editing to say I re-read this and realized it might not have been intended as specific criticism and I may have been a bit defensive. Thank you for pointing these out and I hope people will pick them up!

[@nicoswanmakes]

Thank you for these!

[@jynxdcoffee8498]

Yess to C.J. Cherryh! will check out the others, thanks

[@lusalma5404]

@@BeautifullyBookishBethany It is not meant to be specific; I realize that most of the book-tubers are fairly young and I am not. My first adult fiction forays were Piers Anthony, Anne McCaffrey and Jean M Auel (mainly because my father had them on our bookshelf). Part of the frustration is how much they contributed and how much the fostered and collaborated with other women and for SFF in general. MZB was also a huge part of bringing new authors an opportunity, but she is far, far more problematic than JKR. Fortunately, she is deceased and proceeds for her books go to Save the Children. For Anne McCaffrey Pern you can see how much her world and themes changed with the times. Restoree was romance sci fi with a strong female protagonist written in '67 if I recall correctly. For Elizabeth Moon fantasy Deed of Paksenarrion, for the rest, all I can say is take a look through and see if something resonates. I am glad to see that you did a video highlighting women authors as so many channels seem to highlight and talk about male authors in the sff category especially if they are talking older books. I do apologize if it felt like a direct attack.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I really appreciate this because I’ve had it on my mind to do a project at some point highlighting some of the women who pioneered SFF and have a few others on my radar as well. Anne McCaffrey was a big deal when I was growing up, and I didn’t know until more recently that Andre Norton wasn’t male. I have seen the stuff about MZB and it’s very rough. A lot of what I read is new releases for review, but I also try to select a set of older titles every year to round things out. I do think women today are doing a lot of cool things in the genre, but the groundwork was laid much earlier. And I’m sorry too, this is why I shouldn’t respond to comments at the end of a long day. 😅 My kids just went back to school and I initially interpreted this more critically.

[@TheWordN3rd]

You have my respect for filming and editing this in clearly the same day. Iconic

[@TheWordN3rd]

Okay, that one that is similar to the Expanse is going on my TBR.

[@Emily-fh8en]

Me trying to explain Becky Chambers books "it's not so much a novel(la) as it is a reading experience but it's great" lol

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

THIS!

[@LiteratureScienceAlliance]

The Best of All Possible worlds getting a mention brings me joy 💜 Prey of Gods by Nikki Drayden is also a great genre blend!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Yes!! And I need to read more Nikki Drayden

[@meghannpalmer7417]

Kate Elliot is so so underrated. Her stuff is fantastic. I’ve read Tamsyn Muir. While I loved the first necromancer novel, I wasn’t a huge fan of the second. May still pick up the third.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Elliott is great!

[@karendavies7510]

Shards Of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold is a favourite of mine. I've also recently returned to an author I read when I was in my teens: Andre Norton. I've read two books in her Time Traders series lately which I have enjoyed - despite them being dated. Also: I would love to know what you might make of Ada Palmer's Too Like The Lightning. I DNF'd it because I wasn't in the right head space for it at the time (ok, that's my way of saying I felt too dumb to keep up with it).

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I haven’t heard of that last one! Interesting..

[@KristinKravesBooks]

Ohh I love your edition of Unconquerable Sun! I just started a book club with some fellow booktubers and that is our book this month, so it it reassuring that you enjoyed it!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Yay! I have the UK edition

[@ronwarrenmusic]

Thanks for the excellent list. Silvia Moreno-Garcia's novella Prime Meridian is one of my very fave coming of age reads (in a sci-fi/dystopian setting). YA for you? I'm not good at categorizing...

[@WildeBookGarden]

I've been really enjoying Claudia Gray's YA sci-fi romance series! first book is Defy the Stars.

[@caitcoy]

Love this list! I've got a number of them on my TBR, I really need to read more sci-fi since I always tend to gravitate towards fantasy. I recently picked up Bluebird by Ciel Pierlot and while I still need to finish it, I'm really enjoying it as a super fun sci-fi romp that almost feels like a videogame and features two badass ladies.

[@blandae5670]

Thank you! 2 new titles added to my TBR, it's getting too long... Have you read Nancy Kress? I haven't but there are 2 of her books laying around on my bookshelf, I got them as gift for being helper on sff convention few yars ago. It seems like they're based on short story awarded with the Nebula, so I should probably read them.

[@ohladysamantha]

sci-fi is one of my least-read genres so thank you for this list! I have Gideon the Ninth from Prime reading checked out so I need to give it a try.

[@psikeyhackr6914]

No mention of the *Vorkosigan Saga* by Lois McMaster Bujold Start with *Cordelia's Honor* which is an omnibus of the 1st two books.

[@yanivrosenfeld-cohen7517]

This is a great video with so many options and suggestions, thanks!

[@yogiwithabook]

I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts on Malta Older's Infomocracy and Aliette de Bodard's Xuya series. for the latter I say the series because the books are all a little difficult to get to (indie from a few years ago), but they both do things in sci fi I don't read often!

[@sweeteliz]

I don't read a lot of sci-fi but I really enjoyed both books in the Robot & Monk series by Becky Chambers and also Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor and The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin. I'd especially like to read more from Nnedi Okorafor and N.K. Jemisin! And THANK YOU-- because I found these based on a video you and Angela made on where to start with Sci-Fi. 🤩

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I love this!

[@ina_loves_books]

Thanks for the recommendations! I don't read that much scifi, but I'd like to try more. I enjoyed We Lost the Sky by Marie Howalt. She's an indie author from Denmark and her books are available on kindle unlimited.

[@misty306]

Everyone, read Megan E. O'Keefe's books. Her last sci-fi/space opera trilogy was awesome!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I need to try her!

[@misty306]

@@BeautifullyBookishBethany Enjoy!

[@marcjohnson5991]

I recently read Remnant Population and it was such a wonderful and different science fiction story

[@asdfghjklasdfghjkl321]

I read both of the Becky Chambers novellas duology and it just didn't work for me 😭 I will say that I did love the world building and the atmosphere/vibes; however, I did not like the characters at all and yeah the plot just felt preachy instead of being subtle or better interwoven like in the Muderbot Dairies which I really liked! I know I shouldn't compare the two but the humor was better, the characters didn't feel like they were just tools for the author to be preachy, and I was more effected/got more of a enlightening experience from the Murderbot novellas 🤧 So yeah, I just don't think Becky Chambers is for me 😅

[@Neverrgreen]

Finder by Suzanne Palmer was a great SciFi novel, I'd put it in space opera but that might not be completely correct. Something similar to Murderbot would be Activation Degragation by Marina J Lostetter. One I haven't read yet but am curious about is Tomorrow's Kin by Nancy Cress -this is a first contact story set on earth.

[@Emily-fh8en]

Some recs that are scifi blend are "Into the drowning deep" (killer mermaids) and the "newsflesh" trilogy (zombies and reporters) by Mira Grant (Sheanan Mcguire). Also it's very very light scifi but "one last stop" has a speculative element to the romance (girl from the 70s gets trapped on a train in our current day) Casey Mcquiston is non-binary she/they.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Drowning Deep is fantastic! I didn't think about adding that.

[@caitmcg4382]

I read Ammonite by Nicola Griffith this past spring. Right after reading it I rated it 3 stars because it was really long for my tastes... But I have thought about that book so much since finishing it! So much of it really stuck with me. Recommend for a "survive on an alien planet" story. I also loved The Power by Naomi Alderman; it features gender-swapped power dynamics on a global scale, plus a framing device that I thought was a nice touch. This was pretty brutal though. Not a fun read necessarily but really interesting and well done. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel was my absolute favorite book I read in 2019. I bought it for sooo many friends that Christmas... And promptly had to tell them that it's an intense pandemic book and maybe read it later? Haha, probably now would feel ok to read it. The through-line of the importance of art was so good, and unexpected given the content.

[@anix670]

About Becky Chambers... didn't enjoy the first Wayfarers book. It just felt really juvenile to me and so, so boring. I was really looking forward to it but it didn't hit my sci-fi spot at all. It reads more like a super naive new adult learning all the spaceship stuff and that's not my jam. Also The Calculating Stars, I didn't vibe with the main character at all even after reading quite a bit of it, and so I didn't finish the book. Definitely prefer Martha Wells's writing (sci-fi and fantasy, especially her short stories in both!) , but what I really crave is something similar to Iain M. Banks, who was mighty. Also, definitely recommend Elizabeth Bear for the weirdness that makes you think, although some novels are pretty melancholy. Also, shoutout to Andre Norton (The Ship Who series) and Anne McCaffrey, my first forays into sci-fi and fantasy. I would highly recommend Rosemary Kirstein's Steers women series, that is A-plus writing and brilliant. Thanks for this video!

[@kphamma]

Hi Bethany, I could use your help a lot. About a year ago I watched an ad commerical featuring a current female science fiction author who writes novels about space mining in our solar system in the future and I loved how she talked about some of the characters she created like some military personal. I could not trace the book mark down, but it was shown on youtube when it popped up during when I was looking for youtube videos on The Expanse tv series which is also based from books also. Do you have any idea who this female author can be? From the video she looked close to 30 so younger I would think but I really would love to read her books but I'm in a dilema here hope you can help. Thank you so much!

[@JayGTheAwkwardBookworm]

I want to read Light From Uncommon Stars so bad 👀

[@angelaholmes8888]

Unconquered sun is really great 🙂

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

It is!