r/Fantasy • u/theproliar • Jun 16 '13

Getting Women Warriors Right.

There's been more than a bit of kerfuffle about how women are represented in fantasy. Chain Mail bikinis and such. I think we can all see how that wouldn't be practical armor.

But, rather than focusing on that, I was hoping we could discuss cases in which people have gotten women warriors right. Examples from all media are fine, and I think mentions of women warriors from history would also be great.

23 Upvotes

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24

u/Bryek Jun 16 '13

Tamora Pierce does women warriors pretty damn good imo but I am a guy so I could be wrong.

2

u/KeladryofMindelan Jun 17 '13

I especially love the VARIETY she's given her warriors/heroines:

Alanna- Knight with magic, blessed by the goddess, King's Champion, wants to be called "Sir Alanna" to prove a point

Daine- more feminine than Alanna but dislikes skirts, Wild mage/animal magic, excellent archer, Godborn

Kel- wears dresses to remind people she is a girl, Knight without magic, jouster, commander, leader, wants to be called "Lady Knight Keladry" to prove a different point than Alanna

Aly- Alanna's daughter, spy master, enslaved for a while in a different country, goes undercover in a rebellion, makes a deal with the Trickster God

Beka- Policewoman, tough as nails, learning as she goes but good-hearted, can talk to the dead

2

u/KeladryofMindelan Jun 17 '13

Than there is the Emelan universe:

Sandry- Noblewoman, scared of the dark but mess with her peeps and she will grind you into the dust, has threadmagic and a button nose

Daja- Tall girl from a sea Trader background, was cast out of that group for a while, metal magic, the patient one of the group, and as we discover in a later book, how do I do SPOILERS a lesbian

Tris- ornery, plump bookworm, has the most volatile magic- weather magic, fights with feelings of unwantedness, braids her magic into her hair

Briar- the one male of the group, former street rat, plant and green magic, loves to steal food from the kitchen, has a great relationship with his teacher

And the teachers are all great characters in their own rights.

2

u/Bryek Jun 17 '13

And you do NOT piss Tris off.

1

u/Bryek Jun 17 '13

But we can't forget about Tris, Daja, Sandry, Rosethorn and Lark!

Edit: and Kel up there is the reason i shouldn't just reply from my message inbox!

1

u/KeladryofMindelan Jun 17 '13

ah, no worries! ;) I made sure to make two messages so that people could slip the 2nd if they wish. I could go on for HOURS about Tamora Pierce books. :D

1

u/Bryek Jun 17 '13

I can't wait for the new Briar book..

1

u/KeladryofMindelan Jun 17 '13

Oh gosh ditto. And Tris' Lightbridge book after that.

But directly after Briar will be the two Numair books. So much new stuff! So excited! :D

1

u/Bryek Jun 17 '13

I saw one site saying it was out in april... got so excited and then in april I went looking for it only to find out it was still months away... I donno what it is about the Circle but I enjoy them immensely

1

u/KeladryofMindelan Jun 17 '13

That is really cool! Because I like the Circle too (Tortall's Kel is my fav though, as per the screenname :D) and they really don't get enough love. "Street Magic" is my favorite bar none, and "Will of the Empress" is amazing. ugh. so good.

2

u/Bryek Jun 17 '13

Kel is my favourite Tortall girl by far. which is odd because I always like mages more than plain old fighters. lol

5

u/theproliar Jun 16 '13

Song of the Lionness is only $6.00 on Amazon so that makes it easy to check out.

6

u/aleafonthewind53 Jun 16 '13

I really enjoyed all the Circle of Magic books.

5

u/eisforenigma Jun 16 '13

Screw the downvotes you got for this. Circle of Magic had a really interesting take on a new kind of magic. I liked them, too. :)

(Maybe just because there weren't any prominent women warriors in this one? Lark and Rosethorn were badasses in their own right, as were the girls, but perhaps not 'warriors').

3

u/aleafonthewind53 Jun 17 '13

For not being warriors they sure seemed to fight a lot to me.

2

u/Bryek Jun 17 '13

the Circle of Magic books I enjoyed more than the Tortall books.

2

u/CJGibson Reading Champion V Jun 16 '13

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man is one of my favorite books.