{"id":27079,"date":"2014-10-23T06:30:18","date_gmt":"2014-10-22T17:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=27079"},"modified":"2014-10-28T20:40:59","modified_gmt":"2014-10-28T07:40:59","slug":"more-great-heroines-of-sff-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2014\/10\/23\/more-great-heroines-of-sff-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"More Great Heroines Of SFF: Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Monday<\/a>, I commenced a two-part post looking at some favourite heroines from SFF I’ve read over the past three years (since my Six Great Heroines Of SFF<\/strong>, Part 1<\/a> & Part 2<\/a> posted in 2011.) All ten heroines are in books by contemporary authors that have been relatively recently published, i.e. not just recently read by me (although that is<\/em> also the case.)<\/p>\n

The list is presented in alphabetical order by heroine\u2019s name; no further preference should be inferred. \";-)\"<\/p>\n

Now, please meet my concluding five.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"Frost<\/a>M<\/strong> is for Mercy Thompson<\/strong> in Patricia Briggs’ Moon Called<\/strong><\/em> & Frost Burned<\/strong> <\/em>(Genre: Urban Fantasy)<\/p>\n

I am something of a latecomer to the Mercy Thompson fanclub, having discovered the series in 2011, five years after Moon Called<\/em><\/strong> was first published—but I was hooked from Book 1. What’s not to like, after all, about a coyote shapeshifter who is also a motor mechanic? But in fact Mercy is such a smart, feisty and good-hearted character that I feel it would be very hard not<\/em> to like her. I also think Patricia Briggs’ take on the supernatural-as-part-of-our-everyday-world with the Mercy Thompson<\/strong> novels is one of the better urban fantasy series out there. And fun: that, too.
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"MiserereFinalCover\"<\/a>R<\/strong> is for Rachael<\/strong> in Teresa Frohock’s Miserere\u2013An Autumn Tale<\/em><\/strong><\/em> (Genre: Epic Fantasy)<\/p>\n

I really love the character of Rachael in Miserere<\/em> because she is both a paladin and a flawed individual, albeit one who is “more sinned against than sinning.” She is also cussedly stubborn and refuses to take the easy way out of very difficult circumstances, or to give up, despite almost overwhelming odds. Rachael is undoubtedly “kick-ass”, too, including when the chips are down, which makes her a very different proposition to the cookie-cutter style of “kickass-but-not-really” heroines fund in a lot of paranormal urban fantasy in particular.
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"way_of_kings1_uk\"<\/a>S<\/strong> is for Shallan<\/strong> in Brandon Sanderson’s The Way Of Kings<\/strong> <\/em>& Words Of Radiance<\/strong><\/em> (Genre: Epic Fantasy)<\/p>\n

Shallan is another favourite heroine of recent epic reads. She’s smart (and a tad smartass, too, from time to time), resourceful, courageous, and powerful—and although she appears to be youthful and naive when first encountered in the story (and in fact is) you gradually learn there’s a great deal more to her backstory. I also like the way she both develops as a character in the realtime of the story, at the same time as the mystery of her backstory unfolds. Definitely an interesting, multi-dimensional heroine and one I am keen to meet again as the Stormlight<\/strong> series continues.<\/p>\n

\"trinity-rising\"<\/a>T<\/strong> is for Teia<\/strong> in Elspeth Cooper’s Trinity Rising<\/em><\/strong> & The Wild Hunt<\/em><\/strong> (Genre: Epic Fantasy)<\/p>\n

I wasn’t sure about Teia when I first met her in Elspeth Cooper’s Trinity Rising.<\/em><\/strong> I thought she might have been going to be one of those “everyone-is-mean-to” style of secondary female characters—but she not only turned out to be one of the most important characters in the series, but also my favourite character. Teia has had difficult times, but she is a heroine who rises above it through quiet resolution and a “know thyself” inner strength. I also really like that Teia, unusually for (epic) fantasy, is first pregnant and then a new mother as the story progresses, experiences that are integral to her “journey.”
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Hundred-Thousand-Kingdoms\"<\/a>Y<\/strong> is for Yeine<\/strong> in NK Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms<\/strong> <\/em>(Genre: Epic Fantasy)<\/p>\n

Yeine is one of the more intriguing heroines I’ve encountered in recent reading. Initially she presents as a classic romantic heroine, albeit in an epic fantasy setting: i.e. Yeine is young, an inexperienced player thrust into the cut-and-thrust of dynastic ambition and political intrigue, and apparently at the mercy of (male) gods. To survive, Yeine has to evolve and change in ways that are as unexpected to herself as to others. And survival, at the end, may look far different from what either the reader, or Yeine for that matter, expects at the story’s inception. So-o: complex, diverse, and definitely not a black-and-white (that’s a pun actually, but you’ll have to read the story to get it) character…<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

So there you are, between Monday<\/a> and today, a sampler of ten of the more compelling heroines I’ve discovered in my SFF reading over the past three years. Here’s the full list:<\/p>\n

Bitterblue (Bitterblue<\/em>)<\/strong>
\nBlue (The Raven Boys<\/em>)<\/strong>
\nCanny (Mortal Fire<\/em>)<\/strong>
\nKarou (Daughter of Smoke and Bone<\/em> <\/strong>trilogy)<\/strong>
\nMieli (The Quantum Thief; The Fractal Prince<\/em>)<\/strong>
\nMercy Thompson (Mercy Thompson series<\/em>)<\/strong>
\nRachael (Miserere–An Autumn Tale<\/em>)<\/strong>
\nShallan (The Way Of Kings; Words Of Radiance<\/em>)<\/strong>
\nTeia (The Wild Hunt series<\/em>)<\/strong>
\nYeine (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

You may feel there are a few “obvious” omissions, such as Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games<\/strong> trilogy, but in fact I mentioned Katniss—and a great number of other heroines, too—three years ago<\/a> so have deliberately focused on books read since<\/em> then, with this current post. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

So how about you? Who’s a favourite heroine, or heroines, from your recent reading (SFF or otherwise?)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday, I commenced a two-part post looking at some favourite heroines from SFF I’ve read over the past three years (since my Six Great Heroines Of SFF, Part 1 & Part 2 posted in 2011.) All ten heroines are in books by contemporary authors that have been relatively recently published, i.e. not just recently […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-epicfantasy","category-funstuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27079"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27124,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27079\/revisions\/27124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}