Since the beginning of science fiction, women have always played a crucial role in the development of the genre. And as the genre continues to grow, so does the long list of talented women writing stories that are at the heart of science fiction. From the classics to the newer talents looming large at the Hugo and Nebula Awards, here are some of the names from the long list of must-read female science fiction writers.
Science fiction authors that should not be missing from your bookshelf
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it does include some of my favorites. A special mention goes to Mary Shelly, who is generally considered the founder of the genre. If you haven’t read Frankenstein, give it a chance, and then pick up one of these phenomenal science fiction authors.
Ursula K. LaGuin
La Guin is a master at illustrating complex and challenging social ideas and playing them out in the form of science fiction literature. She doesn’t shy away from issues like race, gender, and social politics and weaves them into complex and alien worlds.
Books like The expropriated And Left Hand of Darkness Taking topics that may sound familiar to us and examining how we would behave as people if they were polarized, La Guin can imagine a world where the things we take for granted, like sex and world politics, are completely turned on their head. Each of her books is a dive into human psychology and morality.
Margaret Atwood
If you missed the award-winning show, The Handmaid’s Taleget her book trilogy before you watch it. Besides this series of novels, there is her lesser known but still exceptional Maddam Trilogy. Atwood likes to explore dystopias in her writing and keeps them disturbingly close to reality.
Both in the Maddam And Maids In this trilogy, we are confronted with a reality not too far from our own. Atwood writes about dystopias that we could easily imagine our own world in. Giant corporations have turned the earth into a desolate, uninhabited landscape and fascist governments have turned people into powerless slaves. Her science fiction is terrifying, prescient, and always a little strange.
Octavia E. Butler
Octavia E. Butler is a multi-award-winning science fiction author. She has won several Hugo and Nebula awards for her collection of works. She is an author who always comes back into the conversation when her works lose relevance. Butler has been writing since the 1970s and has put together quite a long reading list during that time.
Her work is often described as Afrofuturistic and contains themes such as race, God and the human struggle within. Octavia E. Butler’s first two series, tHe Patentist And Xenogenesis Collections examine racial differences. They explore how people in their science fiction stories deal with enforced racial segregation by aliens, genetically modified humans, and other strange inventions.
But their parable The series explores what we consider to be God. In the future she paints in her science fiction books, she questions what we need from God and what religion could and should mean in the future of human society.
Becky Chambers
Becky Chambers is becoming increasingly popular with her heartwarming studies of personality and society. I wouldn’t say it’s a study of people, because her science fiction microcosms include all sorts of other elements and organisms. These little worlds, immersed in science fiction, make her one of my favorite authors of the moment.
To get a perfect insight into Becky Chambers’ skills in her science fiction, read walker Series. This collection of four books is set in confined environments and explores the interactions of the various beings. Each new book brings together different personalities, backgrounds, and often physiologies and examines how they react. Their emotional intelligence is what sets them apart from the rest.
NK Jemisin
As far as excellent science fiction writers go, there are few who can stand alongside NK Jemsin. Her various works have been widely praised, with her Broken Earth The first trilogy to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel for all three books, the collection shook up the world of science fiction and created some of the best works in the genre of its generation.
With her award-winning Broken Earth As an example, we see Jemisin’s ability to draw huge, multi-generational science fiction novels. In this trilogy, a planet is ravaged by seasons that last for generations, wiping out humanity and reshaping the planet. In these books, we see the human struggle to survive and survive the apocalypse time and time again.
Arkady Martin
With several science fiction novels under her belt, Martine is certainly one to keep an eye on on the list of best female science fiction writers. The first two books in her Teixcalan The series has already caused a stir and won several awards. She has caught the attention of the science fiction world and is making a name for herself.
Her Teixcalan The series is a fascinating mix of ancient Mayan cultures, cyberpunk futures, and dramatic space opera. These books take an incredibly gripping crime approach, telling a story of murder, political intrigue, and of course, the great unknown of space.
CJ Cherry
Looking at CJ Cherryh’s repertoire, you have to wonder when she had time for anything other than writing. In her illustrious career as one of the best science fiction writers of all time, she has published over 80 novels that make even Stephen King look like a part-time worker. She has written extensive science fiction collections based on deep and sophisticated universes.
If you had to choose from her mountain of books, start with something from her Union Alliance series. The multi-award-winning Cyteen is a fantastic introduction to the collection. Set in a world in the Union where children are raised in tanks and are ‘banded’ from birth, the intricate and engaging narrative delves deeper into the world and problems of this setting.
Anne McCaffrey
The first woman to win the Nebula and Huga Awards, she can’t be left out of any list of the best science fiction writers. She has published an extensive library of works ranging from fantastic to science fiction. When asked about her work, she insists that she is much more interested in the science fiction genre than fantasy, but for any fans of both genres, there are many elements of both.
Her most famous works in Dragonriders of Pern The series is a fantastic introduction to McCaffrey. Humans have colonized a planet that is regularly terrorized by a flesh-eating alien. To fight back, the planet’s dragons have been genetically modified to ally with humans. If that introduction isn’t enough to get you to pick up one of her books, nothing will.
Cameron Hurley
With subgenres including space operas, grimdark, military science fiction, and her self-coined term bugpunk, Hurley is a very accomplished science fiction writer. She may not have as many published works as McCafrey or CJ Cherryh, but she is definitely making waves with her varied and engaging science fiction.
The Light Brigade is not only an interesting look at the theory of light-speed travel, but also a look at human psychology and motivations between government wars. In this book, we see the world through a soldier waging war on a distant planet. When things go wrong with his airdrops, the cause he’s fighting for starts to fall apart, or maybe it’s all just his imagination.
Nnedi Okorafor
Okorafor is of African-American descent and is one of the best writers in the Africanfuturism subgenre of science fiction. She has written for children, adults, and comics, winning numerous awards. Her works have been adapted into films and television series in collaboration with Hulu, HBO, and George RR Martin.
The Binti Okorafor’s series is being adapted as a Hulu series, so now is the perfect time to read it. This series from one of the best science fiction writers centers on our heroine traveling to a prestigious university on another planet. On the trip, her mode of transport is overrun by aliens who wipe out the rest of the crew. However, she is able to communicate with them and negotiate a sort of truce.
