Rec me some SF & F?

[luzula]

I'm ordering a big batch of science fiction and fantasy books from Sweden's SF & F bookstore, and I need a few more books to get over the free freight limit. I'm getting the rest of Karen Traviss' "Wess'Har" series (annoyingly, part 2 is out of print and I had to order it second hand from the US). And I'm also probably getting Jo Walton's "Among Others". But I'd love some recs as to what else I should get!

I'm in the mood for:
- interesting female characters
- interesting world-building
- not sure how to phrase this, but: books that deal with political issues, or environmental issues. Or characters who want to do the right thing, or struggle with various allegiances.

I'm not in the mood for:
- books where the main plot is a romance
- epic high fantasy

but if you have something so good that it will transcend my mood, just rec it anyway!

Have not read Robin McKinley's various fairy tale rewritings and am curious about them. If you have opinions about them, please share!

Comments

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

Brunner was a poet, and a far red Marxist, which makes him a good balance to the usual run of SF writers of his generation. He also was a bit of a joker in his characterisation, especially. Practically everything of his is out of print, except the two titles I mentioned. I love everything he wrote, although I had to drown one of his books after I read it and had nightmares just keeping it in my apartment.

Julia, the only book I've mindfully destroyed was The Sheep Look Up; it's also the beginning of my inability to tolerate apocafic.

[the_antichris.livejournal.com]

John Brunner was a Marxist? Why have I never heard that? BRB, promoting him up my reading queue.

/buttinski

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

Remember when the British Labour Party had some hard core far-left socialists. He was at the farthest left.