TTT: Hidden Gems in Fantasy

Today I wanted to feature some oldie loves for me from the Fantasy Genre. This is part of the Top Ten Tuesday series (see the full list here). At first I was at a loss for what I wanted to write about. I seriously sometimes feel like a broken record. Trumpeting and praising certain books I cannot get over. I am a pretty easy going reader too, so I like a lot of things. You’ve got to really upset me to get me to give a bad rating. But today I wanted to focus on some fantasy authors that are not so talked about recently. But they should be! This list might be a little smaller than normal. But I’m focusing on authors here! By the way, I haven’t read all of each, so I cannot speak for their entire body of work.

Jacqueline Carey

I have been such a long time fan of her fantasy series. This one in particular, Kushiel’s Dart, was everything to me growing up. I actually haven’t finished the series yet, so shame on me. But for me Phedre was everything I wanted to be – she was intelligent, kind, and powerful in her own way. It’s strange to say she was a role model type of figure for me, but she definitely was one of the ‘strongest literature ladies’ for me.

I need to re-read these, but the world building here is immense and absolutely fantastic. There is history and politics, and intrigue. And it is just the cherry on top. The more I read the books, the more I love them as the entire series looks at various other perspectives in this world. And not to mention that my very first OTP came from this series, even though I had no idea what that was.

Additionally, I read Carey’s re-imagining of the Tempest and reviewed it. Suffice it to say, I want everyone to be hyping about the strength of characters in her books. She is such a fantastic author.

Julliet Marillier

I am in love with Marillier’s entire Sevenwaters series. The Daughter of the Forest one is just this intertextual piece of art. It engages with that story about the woman whose family is turned into swans and she has to labor to turn them back into humans. I’m not the only one who knows this right? Well clearly not since Marillier wrote it. Look, I found it on Wikipedia for you. For some reason, it was a favorite tale of mine when I was younger and then when I found this – it’s like a giant puzzle piece clicked. Then this became a series and I ate up each of these books. I don’t remember when I stopped, but I’ll have to revisit them – and all of these authors actually. They just get so good and even though the plot moves around, there’s fairies here, swans, and magic all around.

Anne McCaffrey

Actually I have already reviewed one of McCaffrey’s books here, but I cannot believe it took me so long to find them. I seriously wish someone had sat me down when I was younger and told me about this fantasy ladies. I reviewed Dragonsong and this was what my dreams where made of when I was younger. A girl who wants to fly with dragons? Heck that’s still what my dreams are made of. I wish I had read about the main character’s rebellious spirit and passion to follow her dreams even if they weren’t the ones society had expected of her.

Anyway, that concludes my three underwhelmed fantasy ladies of literature. I would love to do this for other genres, so if you have any suggestions please let me know. Maybe urban fantasy? I could always write a bit about my Kim Harrison obsession.

Discussion

Who belongs on your underrated ladies of fantasy list?

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