Mothers As Main Characters in Fantasy & SciFi (Reprised)
Yesterday, May 14, being Mother’s Day here in NZ, I thought I’d repost a 2016 post featuring “Mothers as Main Characters” in fantasy and science fiction literature.
The post was sparked by a preceding post on Jessica, the mother of Paul Atreides in the science fiction classic, Dune, but also a main character in her own right:
About Jessica in “Dune” – and Why She’s Still Kickass After 50 Years
As mentioned in that post, I still consider Jessica to be one of the most kickass female characters in SFF and “still one of the very few (I know: 50 years later!) where being a mother is central, not peripheral, to her part in the story.”
The follow up post was where I put on my thinking cap to come up with some other candidates – not unlike my current post on Supernatural Underground where I had to think long and hard to come up with some “bands of sisters” contenders. ICYMI, that post is here:
Celebrating the “Band of Sisters” in Speculative Fiction
Returning to Mother’s Day, here’s the gist of the Mothers As Main Characters post:
“I have by no means read all the available fiction in SFF, but I still had to put on my thinking cap when it came to “Great Mums of SFF.” So although I am going to suggest a few more contenders now, I am hoping you may be able to help me out with a few more names and books.
Just to be clear, here are the criteria:
— the character doesn’t have to be the main character in the book but does have to be a central character with major page time.
— being a mother has to be central in some way to the character’s role in the story, rather than a background fact that otherwise doesn’t really affect the character’s arc. (For example, this would rule out Mara in the Empire series, where motherhood is not really a significant part of her arc: imho.)
— the character can appear in any form of SFF: from magic realism, through paranormal and steampunk to epic fantasy; from near future dystopia through space opera to hard Sci Fi. The book can also appear in Junior, YA, or adult SFF.
OK, here’s the rest of my little list, besides Jessica:
- Briar Wilkes in Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker — Briar is the main character in the book and enters a zombie infested Seattle to rescue her son. (See cover above.)
- Rosala de Garsenc and Signy de Barbentain in Guy Gavriel Kay’s A Song For Arbonne — both are prominent characters in the story. Signy is Countess of Arbonne and her relationship with her daughters, one living, one dead, plays an important part in shaping her character and role in the story. Rosala flees her husband and her country in the late stages of pregnancy because her father-in-law has threatened to take her baby and because she does not want her child raised to emulate his cruelty and megalomania.
- Jenny Waynest in Barbara Hambly’s Dragonsbane — Jenny is a wizard and the main character in the book; she has two sons and although they don’t play a large part in the story directly, part of what Jenny struggles with as a character is how to reconcile being a wizard as well as a mother.
- Teia in Elspeth Cooper’s The Wild Hunt quartet, is pregnant through much of the first two books and a new mother by the end of the third book (the fourth — not unlike mine 😉 — is forthcoming), so motherhood is unarguably central to her arc and gives it additional interest, imo. (See cover below right.)
- Catelyn Tully and Cersei Lannister in George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series (aka A Game Of Thrones after the first book) are both women whose love and concern for their children (chiefly Catelyn) as well as their ambition for them (chiefly Cersei) are central to their character arcs in the story.
- Rayvan in David Gemmell’s The King Beyond the Gate scrapes in as both a sufficiently prominent secondary character and also because, as a widow with adult children, it is her concern for them as well as their community and wider issues of justice that drive her to becme a rebel and leader in the wider world.
- Morgaine is the central character in Marion Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon and the mother of Mordred (Gwydion), which shapes (or twists) both her arc and the “Matter of Britain” story. (See cover below right.)
- Vianne Rocher in Chocolat — since I have included magic realism in the Fantasy pantheon (as I believe it is) Vianne Rocher’s motherhood to Anouk is a key aspect of the book and she therefore belongs on this list.”
Reader Suggestions:
Readers suggestions in the Comments on the original post included:
- Ista, from Lois McMaster Bujold’s Curse of Chalion, but particularly the sequel, The Paladin of Souls.
- Kate Daniels, from Ilona Andrews’ series of the same name.
- Isana from Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher; also Charity Carpenter, Susan Rodriguez, and Mab in the Dresden Files.
- The Reverend Mother in Robin LaFevers’ Mortal Heart.