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

[akamine_chan]

A Bait of Dreams by Jo Clayton. Jo was one of my favorite female writers and this story, while technically part of her Diadem series, is a stand-alone books that meet all of your requirements - strong female character, fascinating world building and characters who struggle with doing the right thing.

It might come off as a fantasy book, but it's fairly clear that it's sci-fi - one of the main characters is an offworlder and there are many alien races living on the planet.

Might be hard to find, though, it's been out-of-print for a number of years...*sadface*

Aaaand there is a romance, but it is definitely not the focus of the story.

[luzula]

Yeah, seems to be out of print, so not an option for buying in this batch. Thanks for the rec, though--it sounds interesting!