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

[luzula]

I'll check out "Leah's Daughters", it sounds intriguing!

I've read one book by Walton before: "Tooth and Claw", the Regency novel with dragons instead of people. I thought it had cool worldbuilding and a cool premise, but it didn't really grab me emotionally. I'll try "Among Others" first, and then maybe go on to her others.

Am about 100 pages into "Oath of Fealty". I am so-so about it so far, because what I really want is The Further Adventures of Paks, you know? But I will give it some more time.

[the_antichris.livejournal.com]

I felt the same emotionally about T&C as I do about actual Trollope, which was not much. But the worldbuilding was really cool, and it got me reading the rest of Walton. I found Farthing et seq. much more involving, FWIW.

I know. :( Instead of The Further Adventures of Paks, you get People Talk About How Great Paks Is While She Is Somewhere Else. But I'm enjoying Dorrin and Kieri, especially Dorrin, who's basically playing a deadly serious D&D campaign in her relatives' dungeons.

[luzula]

I found Farthing et seq. much more involving, FWIW.

That's good to hear!

And yeah, Dorrin's just coming into it now, and it seems promising! I always liked her. As for Paks, I'm going to request her for Yuletide again this year. I live in hope. I mean, sure, she pretty much got to the end of her coming-of-age arc in the first trilogy, but I think there's a lot that could be written about still. For example, I'd love to see her older and as a teacher, with a paladin-candidate of her own.