by Nicole F
As an avid reader I’m always on the look-out for new authors and new books and new authors to enjoy. It hasn’t been until the last couple of years that I have stepped back and released that I rarely read books written by men, so I decided it was time to branch out. I started picking up more and more books written by men, but it didn’t take long for me to notice a disappointing trend. More often than not, all of the female characters were flat, one dimensional characters who were only there to be the damsel in distress, the sex pot, or the tomboy. They were all just generic women meant to enhance the main male lead rather than be an actual fully fleshed out character.
This didn’t stop me, I continued to pick up books written by male authors until I finally found a few who could, not only write women well, but write amazing stories that are worth reading no matter your gender.
Jay Kristoff
I will never stop raving about how amazing I think this man’s writing is. His first series, The Lotus Wars, is a Japanese inspired steampunk fantasy story featuring a female lead and literal chainsaw katanas. Chainsaw. Katanas. But back to the point, the main character of that series was honestly the first time I had read a female lead written by a man that was actually a fully fleshed out character. Kristoff even continued the trend and in his second independant series, Nevernight, has another female lead who is just as well written as the first series, though this series has the added bonus of being a story of revenge based in a fantasy version of Venice Italy.
I highly recommend either of these series for anyone who enjoys fantasy novels and doesn’t mind cursing and some graphic violence and sex scenes. Both Yukiko (The Lotus Wars) and Mia (Nevernight) have become some of my favorite fictional characters. Yukiko is a very emotionally complex character who can speak to animals in a world where that kind of magic could result in her execution. She ends up standing up to the corruption and pollution that’s happening in her world and doing her part to save it. Mia is a little less honorable, but if you like morally grey characters you’d love her. In the very first opening chapters of Nevernight there’s a beautiful comparison of her losing her virginity and killing her first target and that pretty much sets the tone for the entire story.
Brandon Sanderson
While not all of his main characters are women, Sanderson shows the kind of care and respect towards his female characters that all male authors should strive to achieve. The first series I ever read of his is also probably his most popular, the Mistborn trilogy. Following a street rat named Vin who is a part of a gang we get to see the aftermath of a world where the hero won, but has turned into a corrupt and feared leader.
Vin is another female character that has so much complexity and layers to her that I can’t even really begin to sum her up. Sanderson has written her so well that when I was reading the series, I felt like she was a real person. He even manages to flip some romance tropes on their head by having her fall for a book-ish prince who brings books to parties and reads rather than interacting with others, making her the brave adventurer who strives to protect him.
Stephen King
This one may be a little controversial depending on what books written by King you’ve read, but if you’ve read Gerald’s Game you’ll understand why he is on the list. I have never been so impacted by a horror novel than I was by this one. The premise is very simple, a husband and wife go on vacation together to try and spice up their sex life and improve their marriage. Husband handcuffs the wife to the bed and then suffers a fatal heart attack, leaving the wife stranded and stuck with no way to call for help.
I cannot stress enough how much more this book is than just that. What starts as a story that would give someone with claustrophobia nightmares, becomes this deep internal struggle of a woman coming to terms with being sexually abused as a child and how that has affected her entire life. While it’s not confirmed in the books, it’s also heavily implied that the main character, Jessie, is also schizophrenic due to the voices she hears while trapped and her history of therapy. The whole book very quickly turns into a terrifyingly realistic metaphor for dealing with trauma and overcoming sexual abuse. King also just takes a very hard look at the way women are thought of by the men who abuse them, leaving me with the unforgettably sickening line, ‘What is a woman? A life support system for a cunt.’
Massive trigger warning for sexual assault and abuse.
These three authors were the ones I wanted to talk about the most, but I’m sure there are more men out there that have proven that women can be more than just props in a narrative. They can actually be fully-fleshed out and amazing characters with real pain and real depth. I highly recommend all of these book for anyone looking to read some amazing stories about women!
BONUS:
So, I wanted to include this little side story just because to this day it still embarasses me and involves one of the authors on this list. In 2016 I went to Bookcon in Chicago where Jay Kristoff was also in attendance with his co-author Amie Kaufman. As I was walking around the convention, I spotted this guy with an amazing sleeve of tattoos. I am always a fan of good ink so I walked up to him and complimented him on his tattoos. I then looked up at his face and it was Jay Kristoff (he’s tall af, in case anyone was wondering).
The next words out of my mouth haunt me to this day.
“You’re Jay Kirstoff! I can’t wait for Gemini to come out!” What was so embarrassing about that, you might be wondering. I SAID THE WRONG TITLE OF HIS BOOK. TO. HIS. FACE. It ended up ok because I got an advanced copy of the book and posted a review of it raving about how good it was, followed by an apology for mispronouncing the title. He liked the review. I think we’re cool now, but fucking Gemini…..
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