Best Science Fiction With a Female Protagonist
Science fiction only (no fantasy / urban fantasy), and only 1 book from a series, to keep it organized.
1,327 books ·
2,909 voters ·
list created January 4th, 2009
by Dara S..
Emily
1575 books
20 friends
20 friends
Molly
676 books
44 friends
44 friends
Snail in Danger (Sid)
5307 books
12 friends
12 friends
Bernice
68 books
5 friends
5 friends
Kirstin
149 books
16 friends
16 friends
Michael
1386 books
176 friends
176 friends
Eugenia
41 books
10 friends
10 friends
Maebhe
1222 books
35 friends
35 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-50 of 58 (58 new)
![Amy](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1311958347p1/5913634.jpg)
pro·tag·o·nist/prōˈtagənist/
Noun:
1.The leading character or a major character in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text.
![Rachel Popham](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1331828210p1/2279374.jpg)
![biblioceraptor](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1522663397p1/7552485.jpg)
Or even if you want to argue it's sci-fi, then I can just get any fictional book and argue it has sf/f elements in it!
And then there's freakin'
![Twilight (Twilight, #1) by Stephenie Meyer](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1307515757s/41865.jpg)
and I can tell the people who voted for it don't even read sf/f and just want that accursed book on every list on goodreads!
![biblioceraptor](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1522663397p1/7552485.jpg)
No. So many times 'no'.
![Text Addict](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1275738272p1/2356141.jpg)
And that's not even mentioning the ones that are debatable. But I added 10 more actual SF books.
![Cindy](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1672559463p1/339857.jpg)
Also, some are steampunk, like Behemoth and Airborn. I could go either way on those. Want me to leave them or take them out?
![Craig Fulton](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1352493534p1/8587882.jpg)
Twilight is NOT science fiction.
![Cindy](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1672559463p1/339857.jpg)
![Katlyn](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1359762756p1/8125188.jpg)
![David](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1354939735p1/9497155.jpg)
Betrayals
Bite Me
Code Name: Silence
Coraline
Dealing with Dragons
Defiance
Demon Inhibitions
Fall of Eden
Heir to Power
High Wizardry
I Shall Wear Midnight
Jealousy
Mistborn
Monstrous Regiment
Mortal Abomination
Reckoning
Strange Angels
Wicked
Wolfwalker
![Clyde](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1519993840p1/8013907.jpg)
Disclaimer: The book is written by me.
**edit**
After considering the logic of Kelley's post below, I've deleted the link and what came across as blatant advertising for my book.
Maya will be a protagonist eventually...
![Kelley](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
An example of this would be Zelazny's Lord of Light. First, the synopsis makes it abundantly clear that the protagonist is male. Second, none of the numerous reviews I read of the book even mentioned a female character by name. Third, more than one reviewer commented on the whiff of misogyny in the book, noting that female characters are few in number and painted in a negative light. Why, with all that, would this book be voted into inclusion on a "Best Science Fiction With a Female Protagonist" list?
This isn't the only instance. The Maze Runner is included also, and while no reviewer accuses this book of misogyny, the reviews do make clear that the protagonist is male and that while the female character is somewhat important, her role is actually very small.
These lists are a valuable resource. We should all value them highly enough to do what we can to keep them free of books that don't belong on them.
![Carla Patterson](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1352012842p1/14241704.jpg)
Why aren't the following true sci fi books on the list?
The Adventures of Alyx and Picnic on Paradise (both by Joanna Russ)
The Color of Distance and Through Alien Eyes (both by Amy Thomson) - oh and Virtual Girl is another of hers which is good
Clay's Ark (by Octavia Butler - well, actually, everything by Octavia Butler!) ;)
The Shore of Women (Pamela Sargent)
So many more...
![Kelley](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
I found a few more that don't belong:
First, let me say that I adore Terry Pratchett, and I don't know of any, as in ANY male writer who creates stronger, smarter, funnier female protagonists than he. Entirely too often, when male writers attempt to create a "tough female," they make her humorless (which tends to render her unlikable), and Pratchett, God bless him, lets his kick-butt heroines be funny.
But Monstrous Regiment and I Shall Wear Midnight don't really belong on this list. Both are great books with wonderful female protagonists, but they're set in the Discworld, and the Discworld is fantasy, not science fiction. Fantasy tends to feature female protagonists a bit more often than science fiction does, so science fiction really needs its own list.
It is still bugging me that Lord of Light, which features a male protagonist and no sympathetic female characters at all (would it ever have occurred to Zelazny to create a female protag?), is higher on this list than Telzey Amberdon and Biting the Sun. I'd be grateful if someone could explain how/why.
![Aude](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1550776856p1/23069756.jpg)
pro·tag·o·nist/prōˈtagənist/
Noun:
1.The leading character or a major c..."
Ever heard of Hermione? The main problem with Harry Potter is that the books aren't science-fiction.
![jennifer](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1387727546p1/21812557.jpg)
![Sarah](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1612196939p1/23079142.jpg)
- Wicked
- I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
- Graceling
- Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
- Pegasus by Robin McKinley
- the Earthsea books
- Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon
- The Wheel of Time
![Chantelle Costa](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1421760148p1/39372106.jpg)
![Anastasia](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
Clearly states only ONE book per series.
(Just had to point it out)
Also, The One, Insurgent and Allegiant
![Nick](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1237259576p1/2134976.jpg)
![Kelley](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
One book whose removal I hate to recommend is #355, "To Say Nothing of the Dog." It's a delightful book, and the female lead is smart and charming. But yet again, the protagonist -- the first-person narrator in this case -- is male.
![Lizzie](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1627628566p1/39446933.jpg)
![Kelley](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
![Brooke](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
![Tony Harmsworth](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1520265614p1/11525959.jpg)
It seems to me that science fiction needs to be separated out from fantasy, magic, witches and vampires.
![Rick](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_25x33-8a3530ed95c3dbef8bf215b080559b09.png)
Okay, but Pern is also sort of science fiction. Their society came from the stars, and they ended up settling the planet and using their ships to create their initial homes. They used the dragons to defend themselves from a natural enemy. I suppose they do come across more as fantasy than science fiction, however.
![Rick](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_25x33-8a3530ed95c3dbef8bf215b080559b09.png)
If we are arguing that, then even Star Wars isn't technically science fiction, as it is more science fantasy/space opera. There are so many sub-categories. There is the category of space horror, and there are books about space vampires. It gets complicated. If we're only speaking of hard science fiction, then that severely limits science fiction lists. I do agree that if it doesn't have space ships or futuristic technology, then it isn't science fiction. For instance, Harry Potter or Twilight, etc, which would both be supernatural/fantasy.
![Louise Sparrow](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1336259976p1/9298304.jpg)
248 Graceling
317 Mistborn
359 Mistborn 2
369 Mistborn 3
941 I am Alice
942 I am Grimalkin
![Tony Harmsworth](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1520265614p1/11525959.jpg)
Star Wars is more science fiction than fantasy and Felicity Jones is a brilliant female lead. But in hard science fiction I don't believe good female protagonists can be counted on more than two hands which is sad. They are half the human race. I don't know what triggered me to choose Evelyn instead of Charles as the main character - it just seemed she was more likely to be fascinated by the beauty of her surroundings.
![David R](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1380645592p1/24378114.jpg)
True, if only the first book in that protagonist's series is listed. Note: The "Shadows of Saganami" series' protagonists are MOSTLY female, but non-Honor. "Mike" Henke, Helen Zilwicki, Abigale Hearns & etc., are really too much of an ensemble cast to cite just one of them.
![Kelley](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
![Elyse](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.gr-assets.com/users/1718823476p1/6506088.jpg)
![Kelley](https://cdn.statically.io/img/s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
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