The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books Written By Women
“What are the best Female Written Science Fiction & Fantasy?” We looked at 276 of the top books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 33 titles, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Female Sci-Fi & Fantasy” book lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 200+ books, as well as the lists we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.
Happy Scrolling!
Top 33 Female Science Fiction & Fantasy Books
33 .) Among Others by Jo Walton
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Science Fiction Books
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
“Raised by a half-mad mother who dabbled in magic, Morwenna Phelps found refuge in two worlds. As a child growing up in Wales, she played among the spirits who made their homes in industrial ruins. But her mind found freedom and promise in the science fiction novels that were her closest companions. Then her mother tried to bend the spirits to dark ends, and Mori was forced to confront her in a magical battle that left her crippled–and her twin sister dead.
Fleeing to her father whom she barely knew, Mori was sent to boarding school in England-a place all but devoid of true magic. There, outcast and alone, she tempted fate by doing magic herself, in an attempt to find a circle of like-minded friends. But her magic also drew the attention of her mother, bringing about a reckoning that could no longer be put off…
Combining elements of autobiography with flights of imagination in the manner of novels like Jonathan Lethem’s The Fortress of Solitude, this is potentially a breakout book for an author whose genius has already been hailed by peers like Kelly Link, Sarah Weinman, and Ursula K. Le Guin. “
32 .) Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Best Fantasy Books
- Classics Of Science Fiction
For the beautiful young woman Ash, life has always been arquebuses and artillery, swords and armour and the true horrors of hand-to-hand combat. War is her job. She has fought her way to the command of a mercenary company, and on her unlikely shoulders lies the destiny of a Europe threatened by the depredations of an Infidel army more terrible than any nightmare.
31 .) Beggars In Spain by Nancy Kress
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Science Fiction Books
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Whizzpast
“In a world where the slightest edge can mean the difference between success and failure, Leisha Camden is beautiful, extraordinarily intelligent … and one of an ever-growing number of human beings who have been genetically modified to never require sleep.
Once considered interesting anomalies, now Leisha and the other “”Sleepless”” are outcasts — victims of blind hatred, political repression, and shocking mob violence meant to drive them from human society … and, ultimately, from Earth itself.
But Leisha Camden has chosen to remain behind in a world that envies and fears her “”gift”” — a world marked for destruction in a devastating conspiracy of freedom … and revenge.”
30 .) Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Huffington Post
“The rich and privileged have fled the city, barricaded it behind roadblocks, and left it to crumble. The inner city has had to rediscover old ways–farming, barter, herb lore. But now the monied need a harvest of bodies, and so they prey upon the helpless of the streets. With nowhere to turn, a young woman must open herself to ancient truths, eternal powers, and the tragic mystery surrounding her mother and grandmother.
She must bargain with gods, and give birth to new legends.”
29 .) China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Culturally Disoriented
With this groundbreaking novel, Maureen F. McHugh established herself as one of the decade’s best science fiction writers. In its pages, we enter a postrevolution America, moving from the hyperurbanized eastern seaboard to the Arctic bleakness of Baffin Island; from the new Imperial City to an agricultural commune on Mars. The overlapping lives of cyberkite fliers, lonely colonists, illicit neural-pressball players, and organic engineers blend into a powerful, taut story of a young man’s journey of discovery. This is a macroscopic world of microscopic intensity, one of the most brilliant visions of modern SF.
28 .) Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Science Fiction Books
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever collects eighteen brilliant short stories from a luminary of the science-fiction genre, James Tiptree, Jr. This updated edition is the quintessential Tiptree collection and contains revisions from the author’s original notes. Tiptree’s fiction reflects the darkly complex world its author inhabited: exploring the alien among us; the unreliability of perception; love, sex, and death; and humanity’s place in a vast, cold universe.
27 .) Ink by Sabrina Vourvoulias
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Bustle
- Upworthy
What happens when rhetoric about immigrants escalates to an institutionalized population control system? The near-future, dark speculative novel INK opens as a biometric tattoo is approved for use to mark temporary workers, permanent residents and citizens with recent immigration history – collectively known as inks. Set in a fictional city and small, rural town in the U.S. during a 10-year span, the novel is told in four voices: a journalist; an ink who works in a local population control office; an artist strongly tied to a specific piece of land; and a teenager whose mother runs an inkatorium (a sanitarium-internment center opened in response to public health concerns about inks). The main characters grapple with ever-changing definitions of power, home and community; relationships that expand and complicate their lives; personal magicks they don’t fully understand; and perceptions of “otherness” based on ethnicity, language, class and inclusion. In this world, the protagonists’ magicks serve and fail, as do all other systems – government, gang, religious organization – until only two things alone stand: love and memory.
26 .) Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Lists It Appears On:
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
- Culturally Disoriented
Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana’s life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.
25 .) Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson
Lists It Appears On:
- Bustle 2
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
“It’s Carnival time and the Caribbean-colonized planet of Toussaint is celebrating with music, dance, and pageantry. Masked “”Midnight Robbers”” waylay revelers with brandished weapons and spellbinding words. To young Tan-Tan, the Robber Queen is simply a favorite costume to wear at the festival–until her power-corrupted father commits an unforgiveable crime.
Suddenly, both father and daughter are thrust into the brutal world of New Half-Way Tree. Here monstrous creatures from folklore are real, and the humans are violent outcasts in the wilds. Tan-Tan must reach into the heart of myth and become the Robber Queen herself. For only the Robber Queen’s legendary powers can save her life . . . and set her free.”
24 .) Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
When Cordelia Naismith and her survey crew are attacked by a renegade group from Barrayar, she is taken prisoner by Aral Vorkosigan, commander of the Barrayan ship that has been taken over by an ambitious and ruthless crew member. Aral and Cordelia survive countless mishaps while their mutual admiration and even stronger feelings emerge.
23 .) Shikasta by Doris Lessing
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
This is the first volume in the series of novels Doris Lessing calls collectively Canopus in Argos: Archives. Presented as a compilation of documents, reports, letters, speeches and journal entries, this purports to be a general study of the planet Shikasta–clearly the planet Earth–to be used by history students of the higher planet Canopus and to be stored in the Canopian archives. For eons, galactic empires have struggled against one another, and Shikasta is one of the main battlegrounds.Johar, an emissary from Canopus and the primary contributor to the archives, visits Shikasta over the millennia from the time of the giants and the biblical great flood up to the present. With every visit he tries to distract Shikastans from the evil influences of the planet Shammat but notes with dismay the ever-growing chaos and destruction of Shikasta as its people hurl themselves towards World War III and annihilation.
22 .) Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Huffington Post
“Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.
Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.”
21 .) The Children of Men by P.D. James
Lists It Appears On:
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Sci-Fi Addicts
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
“The human race has become infertile, and the last generation to be born is now adult. Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. Oxford historian Theodore Faron, apathetic toward a future without a future, spends most of his time reminiscing. Then he is approached by Julian, a bright, attractive woman who wants him to help get her an audience with his cousin, the powerful Warden of England. She and her band of unlikely revolutionaries may just awaken his desire to live . . . and they may also hold the key to survival for the human race.
Told with P. D. James’s trademark suspense, insightful characterization, and riveting storytelling, The Children of Men is a story of a world with no children and no future.”
20 .) The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Lists It Appears On:
- Bustle
- Sci-Fi Addicts
- Upworthy
“This is the way the world ends…for the last time.
A season of endings has begun.
It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world’s sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun.
It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter.
It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.
This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy. “
19 .) The Gate to Women’s Country by Sherri S. Tepper
Lists It Appears On:
- Barnes & Noble
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Sci-Fi Addicts
Classic fantasy from the amazing Sheri S. Tepper. Women rule in Women’s Country. Women live apart from men, sheltering the remains of civilization. They have cut themselves off with walls and by ordinance from marauding males. Waging war is all men are good for. Men are allowed to fight their barbaric battles amongst themselves, garrison against garrison. For the sake of his pride, each boy child ritualistically rejects his mother when he comes of age to be a warrior. But all the secrets of civilization are strictly the possession of women. Naturally, there are men who want to know what the women know! And when Stavia meets Chernon, the battle of the sexes begins all over again. Foolishly, she provides books for Chernon to read. Before long, Chernon is hatching a plan of revenge against women!
18 .) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, “The Hunger Games,” a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.
17 .) The Shore of Women by Pamela Sargent
Lists It Appears On:
- Barnes & Noble
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Portalist
In this futuristic tale, set in a world where women control society, primitive men fight for survival, and romantic love between the sexes is unknown, Birana and Arvil search for a place where they can live as equals
16 .) The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Culturally Disoriented
A visionary work that combines speculative fiction with deep philosophical inquiry, The Sparrow tells the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, who leads a scientific mission entrusted with a profound task: to make first contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life. The mission begins in faith, hope, and beauty, but a series of small misunderstandings brings it to a catastrophic end.
15 .) The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Sci-Fi Addicts
“In the near future, disease will be a condition of the past. Most genetic defects will be removed at birth; the remaining during infancy. Lou Arrendale, a high-functioning autistic adult, is a member of the lost generation, born at the wrong time to reap the rewards of medical science. He lives a low-key, independent life. But then he is offered a chance to try a brand-new experimental “cure” for his condition. With this treatment Lou would think and act and be just like everyone else. But if he was suddenly free of autism, would he still be himself? Would he still love the same classical music—with its complications and resolutions? Would he still see the same colors and patterns in the world—shades and hues that others cannot see? Most important, would he still love Marjory, a woman who may never be able to reciprocate his feelings? Now Lou must decide if he should submit to a surgery that might completely change the way he views the world . . . and the very essence of who he is.
Thoughtful, provocative, poignant, unforgettable, The Speed of Dark is a gripping journey into the mind of an autistic person as he struggles with profound questions of humanity and matters of the heart.”
14 .) Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Bustle
- Huffington Post
“In a post-apocalyptic Africa, the world has changed in many ways; yet in one region genocide between tribes still bloodies the land. A woman who has survived the annihilation of her village and a terrible rape by an enemy general wanders into the desert, hoping to die. Instead, she gives birth to an angry baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand. Gripped by the certainty that her daughter is different—special—she names her Onyesonwu, which means “”Who fears death?”” in an ancient language.
It doesn’t take long for Onye to understand that she is physically and socially marked by the circumstances of her conception. She is Ewu—a child of rape who is expected to live a life of violence, a half-breed rejected by her community. But Onye is not the average Ewu. Even as a child, she manifests the beginnings of a remarkable and unique magic. As she grows, so do her abilities, and during an inadvertent visit to the spirit realm, she learns something terrifying: someone powerful is trying to kill her.
Desperate to elude her would-be murderer and to understand her own nature, she embarks on a journey in which she grapples with nature, tradition, history, true love, and the spiritual mysteries of her culture, and ultimately learns why she was given the name she bears: Who Fears Death.”
13 .) Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Science Fiction Books
- Book Riot
- Bustle
- Classics Of Science Fiction
“On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.
Once, she was the Justice of Toren – a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.
Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.”
12 .) Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Culturally Disoriented
- Whizzpast
“For Kivrin, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity’s history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received.
But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin — barely of age herself — finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history’s darkest hours.
Five years in the writing by one of science fiction’s most honored authors, Doomsday Book is a storytelling triumph. Connie Willis draws upon her understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering and the indomitable will of the human spirit.”
11 .) Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Science Fiction Books
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
- The Guardian
When black cloaked Sarah Canary wanders into a railway camp in the Washington territories in 1873, Chin Ah Kin is ordered by his uncle to escort “the ugliest woman he could imagine” away. Far away. But Chin soon becomes the follower. In the first of many such instances, they are separated, both resurfacing some days later at an insane asylum. Chin has run afoul of the law and Sarah has been committed for observation. Their escape from the asylum in the company of another inmate sets into motion a series of adventures and misadventures that are at once hilarious, deeply moving, and downright terrifying.
10 .) The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Sci-Fi Addicts
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. he will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life. Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Anarres, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.
9 .) Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Science Fiction Books
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Sci-Fi Addicts
- The Guardian
“Before becoming one of today’s most intriguing and innovative mystery writers, Kate Wilhelm was a leading writer of science fiction, acclaimed for classics like The Infinity Box and The Clewiston Test.
Now one of her most famous novels returns to print, the spellbinding story of an isolated post-holocaust community determined to preserve itself, through a perilous experiment in cloning. Sweeping, dramatic, rich with humanity, and rigorous in its science, Where Later the Sweet Birds Sang is widely regarded as a high point of both humanistic and “”hard”” SF, and won SF’s Hugo Award and Locus Award on its first publication. It is as compelling today as it was then.”
8 .) Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Science Fiction Books
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Sci-Fi Addicts
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
- Whizzpast
“The Beyond started with the Stations orbiting the stars nearest Earth. The Great Circle the interstellar freighters traveled was long, but not unmanageable, and the early Stations were emotionally and politically dependent on Mother Earth. The Earth Company which ran this immense operation reaped incalculable profits and influenced the affairs of nations.
Then came Pell, the first station centered around a newly discovered living planet. The discovery of Pell’s World forever altered the power balance of the Beyond. Earth was no longer the anchor which kept this vast empire from coming adrift, the one living mote in a sterile universe.
But Pell was just the first living planet. Then came Cyteen, and later others, and a new and frighteningly different society grew in the farther reaches of space. The importance of Earth faded and the Company reaped ever smaller profits as the economic focus of space turned outward. But the powerful Earth Fleet was sitll a presence in the Beyond, and Pell Station was to become the last stronghold in a titanic struggle between the vast, dynamic forces of the rebel Union and those who defended Earth’s last, desperate grasp for the stars.”
7 .) Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Bustle
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Portalist
- Upworthy
When unattended environmental and economic crises lead to social chaos, not even gated communities are safe. In a night of fire and death, Lauren Olamina, an empath and the daughter of a minister, loses her family and home and ventures out into the unprotected American landscape. But what begins as a flight for survival soon leads to something much more: a startling vision of human destiny…and the birth of a new faith, as Lauren becomes a prophet carrying the hope of a new world and a revoltionary idea christened “Earthseed”.
6 .) Synners by Pat Cadigan
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Science Fiction Books
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Sci-Fi Addicts
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
- The Guardian
“Synners are synthesizers – not machines, but people. They take images from the brains of performers, and turn them into a form which can be packaged, sold and consumed. This book is set in a world where new technology spawns new crime before it hits the streets.
In SYNNERS the line between technology and humanity is hopelessly slim; the human mind and the external landscape have fused to the point where any encounter with reality is incidental.
A classic novel from one of the founders and mainstays of the cyberpunk movement”
5 .) The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Lists It Appears On:
- Portalist
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Flavorwire
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
- Whizzpast
“Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable.
Offred can remember the days before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now….”
4 .) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Lists It Appears On:
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Flavorwire
- Huffington Post
- Sci-Fi Addicts
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
- Whizzpast
“It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.
“”Wild nights are my glory,”” the unearthly stranger told them. “”I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I’ll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract.””
A tesseract (in case the reader doesn’t know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L’Engle’s unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O’Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg’s father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem.”
3 .) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Science Fiction Books
- Book Riot
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Flavorwire
- Sci-Fi & Scary
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
- Whizzpast
“Few creatures of horror have seized readers’ imaginations and held them for so long as the anguished monster of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The story of Victor Frankenstein’s terrible creation and the havoc it caused has enthralled generations of readers and inspired countless writers of horror and suspense. Considering the novel’s enduring success, it is remarkable that it began merely as a whim of Lord Byron’s.
“”We will each write a story,”” Byron announced to his next-door neighbors, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and her lover Percy Bysshe Shelley. The friends were summering on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland in 1816, Shelley still unknown as a poet and Byron writing the third canto of Childe Harold. When continued rains kept them confined indoors, all agreed to Byron’s proposal.”
2 .) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Lists It Appears On:
- Bustle
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Culturally Disoriented
- Flavorwire
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
- The Guardian
- Whizzpast
A lone human ambassador is sent to Winter, an alien world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants can change their gender whenever they choose. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters…
1 .) The Female Man by Joanna Russ
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Science Fiction Books
- Book Riot
- Bustle
- Classics Of Science Fiction
- Flavorwire
- Sci-Fi Addicts
- The Best Sci Fi Booka
- The Guardian
- Whizzpast
Living in an altered past that never saw the end of the Great Depression, Jeannine, a librarian, is waiting to be married. Joanna lives in a different version of reality: she’s a 1970s feminist trying to succeed in a man’s world. Janet is from Whileaway, a utopian earth where only women exist. And Jael is a warrior with steel teeth and catlike retractable claws, from an earth with separate-and warring-female and male societies. When these four women meet, the results are startling, outrageous, and subversive.
The 225+ Additional Best Women’s Science Fiction & Fantasy Books
| # | Books | Authors | Lists |
| (Titles Appear On 2 Lists Each) | |||
| 34 | A Door into Ocean | Joan Slonczewski | Barnes & Noble |
Classics Of Science Fiction | |||
| 35 | A Stranger in Olondria | Sofia Samatar | Book Riot |
Huffington Post | |||
| 36 | A Wizard of Earthsea | Ursula K. Le Guin | Best Fantasy Books |
| Portalist | |||
| 37 | Alanna: The First Adventure | Tamora Pierce | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot | |||
| 38 | Ancient, Ancient | Kiini Ibura Salaam | Book Riot |
| Bustle | |||
| 39 | Assassin’s Apprentice | Robin Hobb | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot | |||
| 40 | Binti | Nnedi Okorafor | Portalist |
| Upworthy | |||
| 41 | Boneshaker | Cherie Priest | Book Riot |
Classics Of Science Fiction | |||
| 42 | Chorus of Mushrooms | Hiromi Goto | Book Riot |
Huffington Post | |||
| 43 | Cyteen | C.J. Cherryh | Classics Of Science Fiction |
The Guardian | |||
| 44 | Dragonflight | Anne McCaffrey | Book Riot |
Classics Of Science Fiction | |||
| 45 | Foreigner | C.J. Cherryh | A Dribble Of Ink |
Classics Of Science Fiction | |||
| 46 | God’s War | Kameron Hurley | Best Science Fiction Books |
| Portalist | |||
| 47 | Grass | Sheri S. Tepper | Classics Of Science Fiction |
The Guardian | |||
| 48 | Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone | J.K. Rowling | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot | |||
| 49 | He, She and It | Marge Piercy | Classics Of Science Fiction |
Sci-Fi Addicts | |||
| 50 | His Majesty’s Dragon | Naomi Novik | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot | |||
| 51 | Howl’s Moving Castle | Diana Wynne Jones | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot | |||
| 52 | Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel | Susanna Clarke | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot | |||
| 53 | Kushiel’s Dart | Jacqueline Carey | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot | |||
| 54 | Lilith’s Brood | Octavia E. Butler | Best Science Fiction Books |
| Whizzpast | |||
| 55 | Native Tongue | Suzette Haden Elgin | Book Riot |
Classics Of Science Fiction | |||
| 56 | Oryx and Crake | Margaret Atwood | Classics Of Science Fiction |
Sci-Fi Addicts | |||
| 57 | Queen City Jazz | Kathleen Ann Goonan | Best Science Fiction Books |
Classics Of Science Fiction | |||
| 58 | Shadow Over Avalon | C.N. Lesley | Sci-Fi Addicts |
The Best Sci Fi Booka | |||
| 59 | Slow River | Nicola Griffith | Classics Of Science Fiction |
Sci-Fi Addicts | |||
| 60 | Swamplandia! | Karen Russell | Book Riot |
Huffington Post | |||
| 61 | Swastika Night | Katharine Burdekin | Best Science Fiction Books |
Classics Of Science Fiction | |||
| 62 | The Blazing World | Margaret Cavendish | Best Science Fiction Books |
| Book Riot | |||
| 63 | The City, Not Long After | Pat Murphy | A Dribble Of Ink |
Best Science Fiction Books | |||
| 64 | The Falling Woman | Pat Murphy | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| Portalist | |||
| 65 | The Forgotten Beasts of Eld | Patricia A. McKillip | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot | |||
| 66 | The Hearing Trumpet | Leonora Carrington | Book Riot |
Huffington Post | |||
| 67 | The Island of Eternal Love | Daína Chaviano | Book Riot |
| Upworthy | |||
| 68 | The Lathe of Heaven | Ursula K. Le Guin | Classics Of Science Fiction |
Sci-Fi & Scary | |||
| 69 | The Mirror Empire | Kameron Hurley | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot | |||
| 70 | The Mists of Avalon | Marion Zimmer Bradley | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot | |||
| 71 | The Queen of the Tearling | Erika Johansen | Best Fantasy Books |
| Book Riot | |||
| 72 | The Salt Fish Girl | Larissa Lai | Book Riot |
| Bustle | |||
| 73 | The Snow Queen | Joan D. Vinge | Book Riot |
Classics Of Science Fiction | |||
| 74 | The Vorkosigan Saga | Lois McMaster Bujold | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| Inverse | |||
| 75 | To Say Nothing of the Dog | Connie Willis | Classics Of Science Fiction |
The Best Sci Fi Booka | |||
| 76 | Up the Walls of the World | James Tiptree Jr | The Best Sci Fi Booka |
The Guardian | |||
| 77 | War for the Oaks | Emma Bull | Book Riot |
Best Fantasy Books | |||
| 78 | Woman on the Edge of Time | Marge Piercy | Book Riot |
Classics Of Science Fiction | |||
| 79 | Zoo City | Lauren Beukes | Best Science Fiction Books |
Classics Of Science Fiction | |||
| (Titles Appear On 1 List Each) | |||
| 80 | A Brother’s Price | Wen Spencer | Barnes & Noble |
| 81 | A Cavern of Black Ice | J. V. Jones | Best Fantasy Books |
| 82 | A Princess Of Mars | Edgar Rice Burroughs | Best Science Fiction Books |
| 83 | A Woman of the Iron People | Eleanor Arnason | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 84 | Adaptation | Malinda Lo | Bustle 2 |
| 85 | Air | Geoff Ryman | Culturally Disoriented |
| 86 | Alanya to Alanya | L. Timmel Duchamp | Sci-Fi Addicts |
| 87 | Always Coming Home | Ursula K. Le Guin | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 88 | Amberlight | Sylvia Kelso | Barnes & Noble |
| 89 | Ammonite | Nicola Griffith | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 90 | An Ember in the Ashes | Sabaa Tahir | Book Riot |
| 91 | Ancillary Mercy (Imperial Radch) | Ann Leckie | Bustle 2 |
| 92 | Ancillary Sword | Ann Leckie | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 93 | Armageddon Cometh | J.K. Accinni | The Best Sci Fi Booka |
| 94 | Arrows of the Queen | Mercedes Lackey | Book Riot |
| 95 | Barrayar | Lois McMaster Bujold | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 96 | Beholder’s Eye | Julie E. Czerneda | The Best Sci Fi Booka |
| 97 | Biting the Sun | Tanith Lee | Book Riot |
| 98 | Black Glass | Karen Joy Fowler | Huffington Post |
| 99 | Black Sun Rising | C.S. Friedman | A Dribble Of Ink |
| 100 | Black Trillium | Andre Norton | Portalist |
| 101 | Black Wine | Candas Jane Dorsey | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 102 | Blackout/All Clear | Connie Willis | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 103 | Bold as Love | Gwyneth Jones | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 104 | Bone Dance | Emma Bull | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 105 | Borders of Infinity | Lois McMaster Bujold | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 106 | Brightness Falls from the Air | James Tiptree Jr. | Portalist |
| 107 | Cast in Shadow | Michelle Sagara | Book Riot |
| 108 | Catching Fire | Suzanne Collins | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 109 | Chimera (Parasitology) | Mira Grant | Bustle 2 |
| 110 | Cinder | Marissa Meyer | Book Riot |
| 111 | Cordelia’s Honor | Lois McMaster Bujold | Culturally Disoriented |
| 112 | Damocles | S.G. Redling | Sci-Fi & Scary |
| 113 | Daughter of Smoke & Bone | Laini Taylor | Book Riot |
| 114 | Daughter of the Blood | Anne Bishop | Book Riot |
| 115 | Daughter of the Forest | Juliet Marillier | Book Riot |
| 116 | Dawn | Octavia E. Butler | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 117 | Dead Until Dark | Charlaine Harris | Book Riot |
| 118 | Death’s Master | Tanith Lee | Huffington Post |
| 119 | Deathless | Catherynne M. Valente | Book Riot |
| 120 | Divine Endurance | Gwyneth Jones | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 121 | Dragon Sword and Wind Child | Noriko Ogiwara | Book Riot |
| 122 | Dreamsnake | Vonda N. McIntyre | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 123 | Dune | Frank Herbert | Flavorwire |
| 124 | Ender’s Game | Orson Scott Card | Flavorwire |
| 125 | Falling Free | Lois McMaster Bujold | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 126 | Feed | Mira Grant | Culturally Disoriented |
| 127 | Filter House | Nisi Shawl | Bustle |
| 128 | Fledgling | Octavia E. Butler | Sci-Fi Addicts |
| 129 | Flesh and Spirit | Carol Berg | Book Riot |
| 130 | Folding Beijing | Hao Jingfang | Upworthy |
| 131 | Four Ways to Forgiveness | Ursula K. Le Guin | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 132 | Fullmetal Alchemist | Hiromu Arakawa | The Best Sci Fi Booka |
| 133 | Fury | Joan De La Haye | Sci-Fi & Scary |
| 134 | Glory Season | David Brin | Barnes & Noble |
| 135 | Graceling | Kristin Cashore | Book Riot |
| 136 | Hainish Cycle | Inverse | |
| 137 | Half World | Hiromi Goto | Huffington Post |
| 138 | Herland | Charlotte Perkins Gilman | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 139 | Hild | Nicola Griffith | Book Riot |
| 140 | Home (Binti #2) | Nnedi Okorafor | Bustle 2 |
| 141 | In War Times | Kathleen Ann Goonan | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 142 | Infomocracy | Malka Older | Bustle 2 |
| 143 | Inheritance | Malinda Lo | Bustle 2 |
| 144 | Inkheart | Cornelia Funke | Book Riot |
| 145 | Just One Damned Thing After Another | Jodi Taylor | Sci-Fi & Scary |
| 146 | Karen Memory | Elizabeth Bear | Book Riot |
| 147 | Legend | Marjorie Lu | Upworthy |
| 148 | Life After Life | Kate Atkinson | Best Science Fiction Books |
| 149 | Light Music | Kathleen Ann Goonan | The Guardian |
| 150 | Love Is the Drug | Alaya Dawn Johnson | Upworthy |
| 151 | Luck in the Shadows | Lynn Flewelling | Book Riot |
| 152 | Magic for Beginners | Kelly Link | Book Riot |
| 153 | Master of None | N. Lee Wood | Barnes & Noble |
| 154 | Maul | Tricia Sullivan | Best Science Fiction Books |
| 155 | Memoirs of a Spacewoman | Naomi Mitchison | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 156 | Memory | Lois McMaster Bujold | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 157 | Mindplayers | Pat Cadigan | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 158 | Mirror Dance | Lois McMaster Bujold | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 159 | Mirror in the Sky | Aditi Khorana | Bustle 2 |
| 160 | Mockingjay | Suzanne Collins | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 161 | Moving the Mountain | Charlotte Perkins Gilman | Book Riot |
| 162 | Moxyland | Lauren Beukes | Bustle 2 |
| 163 | Mr | Helen Oyeyemi | Book Riot |
| 164 | My Christina & Other Stories | Mercè Rodoreda | Book Riot |
| 165 | My Soul to Keep | Tananarive Due | Book Riot |
| 166 | Natural History | Justina Robson | The Guardian |
| 167 | Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind | Hayao Miyazaki | Flavorwire |
| 168 | Octavia’s Brood | Walidah Imarisha and Adrienne Maree Brown | Bustle |
| 169 | On Joanna Russ | Joanna Russ | Portalist |
| 170 | Parable of the Talents | Octavia E. Butler | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 171 | Passage | Connie Willis | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 172 | Queen Of The States | Josephine Saxton | Best Science Fiction Books |
| 173 | Raising the Stones | Sheri S. Tepper | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 174 | Redemption in Indigo | Karen Lord | Book Riot |
| 175 | Remnant Population | Elizabeth Moon | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 176 | Ring of Swords | Eleanor Arnason | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 177 | Rogue Genesis | Ceri London | The Best Sci Fi Booka |
| 178 | Rosemary and Rue | Seanan McGuire | Book Riot |
| 179 | Shadow Man | Melissa Scott | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 180 | Shadows of Tomorrow | Jessica Meats | Sci-Fi & Scary |
| 181 | Shutter | Courtney Alameda | Sci-Fi & Scary |
| 182 | Sister Light, Sister Dark | Jane Yolen | Portalist |
| 183 | Slave to Sensation | Nalini Singh | Book Riot |
| 184 | So Far from God | Ana Castillo | Book Riot |
| 185 | Sorcerer to the Crown | Zen Cho | Book Riot |
| 186 | Soulless | Gail Carriger | Book Riot |
| 187 | Spirits of the Ordinary | Kathleen Alcala | Book Riot |
| 188 | Star Man’s Son: 2250 A.D. | Andre Norton | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 189 | Starshine | G.S. Jennsen | The Best Sci Fi Booka |
| 190 | Stranger in a Strange Land | Robert A. Heinlein | Flavorwire |
| 191 | Sunshine | Robin McKinley | Book Riot |
| 192 | Swordspoint | Ellen Kushner | Book Riot |
| 193 | The Alchemy of Stone | Ekaterina Sedia | Book Riot |
| 194 | The Aleutian Trilogy | Gwyneth Jones | Best Science Fiction Books |
| 195 | The Antelope Wife | Louise Erdrich | Book Riot |
| 196 | The Best Of | C L Moore | Best Science Fiction Books |
| 197 | The Best of C.L. Moore | C.L. Moore | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 198 | The Bloody Chamber | Angela Carter | Book Riot |
| 199 | The Book of the Damned | Tanith Lee | Portalist |
| 200 | The Chanur series | Inverse | |
| 201 | The Crystal Cave | Mary Stewart | Book Riot |
| 202 | The Curse of Chalion | Lois McMaster Bujold | Best Fantasy Books |
| 203 | The Curse of the Mistwraith | Janny Wurts | Best Fantasy Books |
| 204 | The Darkangel | Meredith Ann Pierce | Book Riot |
| 205 | The Devil’s Arithmetic | Jane Yolen | Book Riot |
| 206 | The Disfavored Hero | Jessica Amanda Salmonson | Portalist |
| 207 | The Etched City | K.J. Bishop | Book Riot |
| 208 | The Forbidden Words of Margaret A. | L. Timmel Duchamp | Huffington Post |
| 209 | The Ghost Bride | Yangsze Choo | Book Riot |
| 210 | The Giver | Lois Lowry | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 211 | The Goblin Emperor | Katherine Addison | Best Fantasy Books |
| 212 | The Golden Key | Melanie Rawn | Best Fantasy Books |
| 213 | The Golem and the Jinni | Helene Wecker | Best Fantasy Books |
| 214 | The Grass Dancer | Susan Power | Upworthy |
| 215 | The Healer’s War | Elizabeth Ann Scarborough | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 216 | The House of the Spirits | Isabel Allende | Book Riot |
| 217 | The House on the Lagoon | Rosario Ferré | Book Riot |
| 218 | The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms | N. K. Jemisin… | Best Fantasy Books |
| 219 | The Jane Austen Book Club | Karen Joy Fowler | Huffington Post |
| 220 | The Just City | Jo Walton | Huffington Post |
| 221 | The Killing Moon | N.K. Jemisin | Book Riot |
| 222 | The King’s Dragon | Kate Elliott | Best Fantasy Books |
| 223 | The Long Tomorrow | Leigh Brackett | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 224 | The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet | Becky Chambers | Sci-Fi & Scary |
| 225 | The Many-Colored Land | Julian May | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 226 | The Moon and the Sun | Vonda N. McIntyre | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 227 | The Murray/O’Keefe series | Inverse | |
| 228 | The Night Circus | Erin Morgenstern | Book Riot |
| 229 | The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth Trilogy) | N.K. Jemisin | Bustle 2 |
| 230 | The Oxford Time Travel series | Inverse | |
| 231 | The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake | Aimee Bender | Book Riot |
| 232 | The Philosopher Kings | Jo Walton | Huffington Post |
| 233 | The Privilege of the Sword | Ellen Kushner | Best Fantasy Books |
| 234 | The Pyramid Waltz | Barbara Wright | Book Riot |
| 235 | The Quantum Rose | Catherine Asaro | Sci-Fi Addicts |
| 236 | The Raven Boys | Maggie Stiefvater | Book Riot |
| 237 | The Red | Linda Nagata | Book Riot |
| 238 | The Red Magician | Lisa Goldstein | Portalist |
| 239 | The Second Mango | Shira Glassman | Book Riot |
| 240 | The Ship Who Sang | Anne McCaffrey | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 241 | The Species Imperative | Inverse | |
| 242 | The Spirit Chaser | Kat Mayor | Sci-Fi & Scary |
| 243 | The Stars Are Legion | Kameron Hurley | Barnes & Noble |
| 244 | The Story Until Now | Kit Reed | Best Science Fiction Books |
| 245 | The Telling | Ursula K. Le Guin | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 246 | The Thief | Megan Whalen Turner | Book Riot |
| 247 | The Time Traveler’s Wife | Audrey Niffenegger | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 248 | The True Game Series | Sheri S. Tepper | Best Fantasy Books |
| 249 | The Vor Game | Lois McMaster Bujold | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 250 | The Warrior’s Apprentice | Lois McMaster Bujold | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 251 | The Water of Possibility | Hiromi Goto | Huffington Post |
| 252 | The Wind’s Twelve Quarters | Ursula K. Le Guin | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 253 | The Windup Girl | Paolo Bacigalupi | Flavorwire |
| 254 | The Winged Histories | Sofia Samatar | Upworthy |
| 255 | The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet and Other Stories | Vandana Singh | Book Riot |
| 256 | The Women Men Don’t See | Alice Bradley Sheldon | Huffington Post |
| 257 | The Wrath and the Dawn | Renée Ahdieh | Book Riot |
| 258 | The Xenogenesis trilogy | Inverse | |
| 259 | Through the Woods | Emily Carroll | Sci-Fi & Scary |
| 260 | Tooth and Claw | Jo Walton | Best Fantasy Books |
| 261 | Trouble and Her Friends | Melissa Scott | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 262 | Unquenchable Fire | Rachel Pollack | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 263 | Up Against It | M.J. Locke | A Dribble Of Ink |
| 264 | Valor’s Choice | Tanya Huff | Book Riot |
| 265 | Vampires in the Lemon Grove | Karen Russell | Huffington Post |
| 266 | Vast | Linda Nagata | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 267 | Waking the Moon | Elizabeth Hand | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 268 | Walk to the End of the World | Suzy McKee Charnas | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 269 | Warchild | Karin Lowachee | A Dribble Of Ink |
| 270 | We | Yevgeny Zamyatin | Best Science Fiction Books |
| 271 | We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves | Karen Joy Fowler | Huffington Post |
| 272 | We Have Always Lived in the Castle | Shirley Jackson | Book Riot |
| 273 | White Queen | Gwyneth Jones | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 274 | Wicked As They Come | Delilah S. Dawson | Book Riot |
| 275 | Wild Seed | Octavia E. Butler | Classics Of Science Fiction |
| 276 | Witch World | Andre Norton | Whizzpast |
20 Best Female Book Sources/Lists
| Source | Article |
| A Dribble Of Ink | Let’s Talk About Science Fiction Books by Women |
| Barnes & Noble | 9 Sci-Fi Books in Which Women Rule |
| Best Fantasy Books | Top 25 Best Fantasy Books by Female Authors |
| Best Science Fiction Books | 100 Must-Read Sci-Fi Fantasy Novels By Female Authors |
| Book Riot | 100 Must-Read Sci-Fi Fantasy Novels By Female Authors |
| Bustle | 11 Sci-Fi Books Every Woman Should Read |
| Bustle 2 | 9 Modern Women Science Fiction Writers You Need To Be Celebrating |
| Classics Of Science Fiction | Science Fiction by Women Writers |
| Culturally Disoriented | Eight Great Science Fiction Books for Women – An Alternative List |
| Fiat Physica | The 10 Best Female Science Fiction Writers |
| Flavorwire | 10 Great Science Fiction Books for Girls |
| Huffington Post | 14 Women Writers Who Dominate The Universe Of Sci-Fi |
| Inverse | 8 Great Sci-Fi Series Written By Women, From Ursula K. Le Guin To Margaret Atwood |
| Portalist | 14 Impactful Female Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors |
| Sci-Fi & Scary | 10 Science Fiction & Horror Books Written by Women |
| Sci-Fi Addicts | 17 of the Best Sci-Fi Books by Female Science Fiction Writers |
| The Best Sci Fi Booka | The 23 Best Science Fiction Books by Female Authors |
| The Guardian | Gwyneth Jones’s top 10 science fiction by women writers |
| Upworthy | 10 sci-fi books written by women of color to add to your reading list. |
| Whizzpast | Femtastic Lit: History’s 10 greatest sci-fi novels written by women |
