20 Favorite Female Authors Picked by the Women at IGN

Kelly Sue DeConnick

Kelly Sue DeConnick has been battling successful the trenches of the “boys club” of comics for years. When she wrote for Marvel, she was the 1 who brought the rubric of Captain Marvel to Carol Danvers, a bequest brought implicit into the MCU years aboriginal with her sanction successful the credits arsenic a advisor for the films. Outside of the Big Two, she's been an ever-present dependable successful indie comics with works similar Pretty Deadly (if you're looking for a much mystical occidental theme) and Bitch Planet (if you privation a much sci-fi, dystopian, feminist vibe). She continues with her existent project, FML, from Dark Horse Comics for those looking for a much supernatural vibe successful our stories. If you haven't work thing she's written yet, you're doing yourself a disservice: DeConnick is an unthinkable writer and an astonishing human. –Chelsea Reed

Sarah Rose Etter

Sarah Rose Etter writes weird but clear-eyed books for weird radical (like me). Though she’s lone published 2 novels frankincense far, some person been among my favourite books of the twelvemonth they came out. The Book of X, astir a pistillate calved to generational nutrient farmers and women with their tummy twisted into a knot, was surreal and painfully relatable; Ripe, astir a young pistillate suffering done her occupation astatine a recognizably psychotic San Francisco startup and haunted by an ever-present void, swapped that look (and besides ends not dissimilar Rose Glass’ movie Saint Maud). I anticipation she writes 100 much books similar these successful my lifetime. –Leanne Butkovic

Isabel Greenberg

I americium excited to spot the movie adaptation of this feminist medieval communicative and to spot Charli XCX represent Rosa! –Kelly Pham

N.K Jemisin

It's improbable this is the archetypal clip you're being recommended N.K. Jemisin's unthinkable The Broken Earth Trilogy. Though her different phantasy novels merit attraction successful their ain right, Jemisin's captivating writing, characters, and originative magic strategy successful The Broken Earth Trilogy (specifically successful the 2nd book, The Obelisk Gate) marque it the easiest to recommend. Her astonishing playfulness with storytelling successful The Fifth Season whitethorn beryllium confusing for immoderate astatine first, but instrumentality with it – the payoff is fantastic. It follows Essun, a pistillate trying to hunt down her hubby who murdered their lad and kidnapped their girl portion trying to past a recurring cataclysmic lawsuit and fell that she has powers to manipulate the precise world astir her. It's an incredible, Hugo Award-winning ride. –Miranda Sanchez

T. Kingfisher

It's astounding conscionable however overmuch T. Kingfisher publishes successful a twelvemonth but my adventure-loving bosom appreciates the fig of Kingfisher's consistently absorbing retakes connected classical fairy tales and fearfulness stories. Kingfisher's stories thin to skew toward gothic fearfulness and acheronian fantasy, but adjacent still, her comedic pacing and thoughtfully written characters supply a sometimes needed equilibrium for assorted novels' dense themes. Whether it's the dilatory and creeping exploration of affectional maltreatment successful "What Moves the Dead" oregon her exquisite Saint of Steel phantasy romance bid that deals with idiosyncratic individuality and loss, I've travel distant with a afloat bosom (and feeling a small creeped out). –MS

Han Kang

Maybe it’s overly evident to beryllium recommending the astir caller Nobel Prize victor for Literature – adjacent members of BTS celebrated her accomplishment connected Instagram – but each of the praise lauded connected Han Kang is evident erstwhile you ace unfastened 1 of her novels. Like astir people, I was introduced to her enactment done The Vegetarian erstwhile it was translated into English successful 2015 and was instantly taken by its disturbingly mesmerizing crippled astir a housewife who stops eating meat, to the disorder and dismay of those astir her, and yet nutrient altogether. (It’s adjacent much aesthetically arresting knowing that it released successful South Korea a afloat 8 years prior.) I’ve followed her ever since, from the thematically akin Greek Lessons to the true-to-life South Korean governmental atrocities successful Human Acts and We Do Not Part, and I cannot implore you capable to work Han Kang. She is simply a genius and implicit badass. –LB

Yume Kitasei

Newly published but already connected her mode to releasing a 3rd novel, Yume Kitasei is an imaginative sci-fi writer with a promising vocation up of her. While galore of my favourite sci-fi writers thin to person expansive series, Kitasei's one-off stories delightfully physique their worlds quickly, and their engaging stories determination adjacent faster. Her debut, The Deep Sky, is simply a neat execution enigma aboard a tech-filled spaceship bound for the hopeful aboriginal location of humanity that was hard to enactment down. Her follow-up, The Stardust Grail, is an Indiana Jones-style escapade arsenic its protagonist races her enemies to find an past alien artifact that is the cardinal to her friend's endurance but perchance the doom of her own. Both are beauteous and imaginative, and I can't hold to work her adjacent caller that's retired aboriginal this fall. –MS

Gail Carson Levine

Perfect for kids conscionable getting started successful fantasy. –MF

Sarah J. Mass

Sarah J. Mass is simply a queen successful the phantasy romance genre who perpetually leaves maine jaw-dropped with everything she has created. Her world-building and storytelling are truthful incredibly detailed, that she rapidly became 1 of my favourite phantasy authors. She’s mostly champion known for the singular bid A Court of Thorns and Roses – presently a five-book bid with much releases coming – which dives into a communicative astir a young pistillate who ends up surviving successful a magical realm. In it, she finds her assurance and spot portion battling done interior and outer wars among the Fae – who are fundamentally humans with ace strength, magical powers, and immortality. Her archetypal bid was Throne of Glass, an astonishing eight-book bid that started her phantasy penning and world-building erstwhile she was lone a teenager. Her latest series, Crescent City, has 3 books truthful far, with a 4th to come. All 3 of her bid instrumentality spot successful the phantasy satellite of the Fae, truthful erstwhile readers are fans of 1 of her series, they thin to bask the others arsenic well. Mass’ quality to make beardown characters and breathtaking twists leaves her stories arsenic entwined with the fantastical elements of the communicative and the romance broadside of things. For those looking for epic phantasy stories with romance and a spot of spice, leap into the Fae satellite with these books. –Jessie Wade

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

There seemingly isn't a genre Silvia Moreno-Garcia won't tackle. Whether it's a humanities romance with a interaction of phantasy successful The Beautiful Ones oregon a acheronian vampire escapade acceptable successful Mexico City successful Certain Dark Things, Moreno-Garcia nails it each time. Some of her romance-forward stories consciousness a small akin successful their dynamics if you work them backmost to back, but it's casual to marque definite that doesn't hap if you're caller to her tiny room of published works. The bulk of her works thin to skew toward acheronian humanities phantasy acceptable passim North America – and, much often than not, successful Mexico, which is wonderfully refreshing. Anything she publishes has a guaranteed spot connected my constricted bookshelf space. –MS

Erin Morgenstern

Erin Morganstern's 2 novels, The Night Circus and The Starless Sea, work similar falling into a dream. Morganstern is different of the precise fewer authors whose books I volition not lone bargain successful hardcover instantly but besides drawback aggregate copies to cod the assorted editions. The Night Circus is simply a luscious, humanities phantasy romance astir 2 magicians trained since puerility for their inevitable conflict against 1 different astatine a mysterious circus. It's guaranteed to interruption maine retired of a speechmaking slump whenever I prime it up again and was the publication that drew maine backmost into regularly speechmaking arsenic an adult. (Sometimes you've gotta not look astatine a screen, arsenic overmuch arsenic I emotion spending my clip playing video games.) Her 2nd novel, The Starless Sea, is simply a winding, enchanting communicative astir stories. It begins successful the satellite we cognize earlier protagonist Zachary finds his mode into an underground realm that serves arsenic the room of each stories and it's successful danger. Like her debut, The Starless Sea is wonderfully written and champion paired with a lukewarm cupful of tea. –MS

Helen Oyeyemi

I get a small giddy erstwhile I perceive that a caller Helen Oyeyemi publication is connected its way. A genuinely singular voice, Oyeyemi is hard to pin down successful a mode that’s similar – instrumentality with maine present – trying to pursuit down a wispy shade that’s purposefully messing with you but you’re inactive having a large clip anyway. Her novels are fantastical, but aren’t truly phantasy astatine all; a chunk of them are inspired by Hans Christian Anderson folktales, but the look and consciousness could not beryllium further from their progenitors. (Gingerbread, for example, is vaguely Hansel and Gretel-ish enactment done a capitalist nutrient grinder.) Mostly they’re each fever imagination adventures that nuke the rules of literate fiction. As different large writer Alexandra Kleeman said to The Nation, Oyeyemi’s enactment has “the discombobulating prime of walking done a moving conveyance portion carrying a full-to-the-brim cupful of precise blistery tea.” –LB

Leomi Sadler

Tummy Bugs is simply a postulation of implicit a decennary of enactment from Leomi Sadler and afloat of agleam colors and acheronian humor. –KP

Samantha Shannon

For those of you who person been mourning the extremity of the Game of Thrones TV amusement and are waiting alternatively impatiently for George R.R. Martin to yet people The Winds of Winter, Samantha Shannon is present to easiness your suffering. The Roots of Chaos series, starting with The Priory of the Orange Tree, is precisely the benignant of precocious phantasy bid we each deserve. With affluent characters, dragons, magic, suspense, tragedy, and a satisfying twist, this 845-page publication volition support you connected the borderline of your spot and immersed successful different satellite for arsenic agelong arsenic you fto it. Another prequel, A Day of Fallen Night, was published lone 3 years later, but excitement continues with yet different prequel, Among the Burning Flowers, which volition beryllium coming retired aboriginal this year. If you've been itching to commencement a caller series, this is the cleanable clip to leap in. –CR

Gail Simone

Gail has been penning comics (and different media) for a agelong clip and has done astonishing enactment successful portraying the quiescent but nary little almighty moments successful superheroes’ lives. She has won GLAAD awards and is the archetypal pistillate solo writer for Uncanny X-Men. She is much astonishing than a abbreviated blurb tin say. Check her out! –MF

Sue Lynn Tan

Sue Lynn Tan's debut, Daughter of the Moon Goddess, is simply a gorgeous reimagining and enlargement of the Chinese fable of the satellite goddess and continues with its follow-up, Heart of the Sun Warrior. Together, they are the astir delicious romanticist adventures I've read. The duology eloquently gives discourse to Chinese mythology for those unfamiliar with it portion keeping the gait of the enactment steady. As the archetypal book's rubric suggests, the hidden girl of the exiled satellite goddess, Xingyin, takes the relation of protagonist erstwhile she's sent into hiding among the Celestial Kingdom portion her parent indispensable proceed her imprisonment connected the moon. Determined to acceptable her parent free, Xingyin goes connected an epic, inspiring escapade to acceptable things right. Tan's analyzable characters and beardown knowing of romanticist pacing marque these instant standouts among romanticist phantasy novels. –MS

Morgan Vogel

Morgan's enactment is visceral and intelligent, beautifully drawn but besides profoundly unsettling. It captures the value of being mislaid online, successful the world, oregon wrong yourself. –KP

Jacqueline Wilson

Written for young adults, Jacqueline Wilson's works interaction connected hard-to-talk-about topics specified arsenic grief and loss, substance abuse, bullying, and abandonment. I grew up speechmaking Wilson's books, and could often subordinate to her characters owed to my ain pugnacious upbringing. I would often flight to my section room and hide myself successful 1 of her books to consciousness little unsocial successful what I was going through. She has won respective awards for her work, including a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (basically the champion grant you tin get!) by King Charles III for her "services to Literature." –Meg Koepp

Rebecca Yarros

Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean bid is simply a striking big phantasy romance that follows a young woman’s acquisition going to a warfare assemblage for dragon riders. If you tin ideate humans moving with dragons to hole for war, you tin conjecture (correctly) that it’s brutal close disconnected the bat. Even though unit takes a prominent, integral relation successful the books, it doesn’t overtake the value of the storyline itself, the characters, and the world-building. Yarros does a phenomenal occupation creating relatable characters who woody with superior challenges, some carnal and mental, they request to larn to overcome, but there’s a taxable of relationship and enactment throughout. The romance is woven into the communicative successful an integrated mode that complements the crippled well, portion inactive keeping the excitement successful the phantasy world. Even for those not funny successful the romance broadside of it, you’ll apt extremity up adoring the characters’ experiences unneurotic and crave much of it the further you read. Yarros has this quality to make specified analyzable storylines with truthful galore unexpected twists and turns, leaving you perpetually hyped. She reveals much of her worlds arsenic she goes connected done the books, and erstwhile I accidental she’ll crush your satellite and past rebuild it (hopefully), I mean it. You’ll beryllium amazed however attached you get to dragons and deliberation of them arsenic existent people. The Empyrean bid is simply a five-book bid and the 3rd publication was released connected January 21, 2025, with 2 inactive to come. –JW

This nonfiction features written contributions by: Chelsea Reed (Video Editor), Jessie Wade (Sr. Manager of Promotions and Events), Kelly Pham (IGN Store), Leanne Butkovic (Project Manager), Lindsey Salzer (Commerce Director), Marhyan Franzen (Supervising Technical Producer), Meg Koepp (Guides Editor, Trends) and Miranda Sanchez (Executive Editor, Guides).

Originally posted:

Mar 22, 2025 1:16 am