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

[innocentsmith]

Anything by Connie Willis, but especially:

Doomsday Book, wherein a near-future academic is sent back in time (by a relatively new time travel process) to study the medieval era, and she accidentally lands bang in the middle of a plague outbreak. This one is devastating, and not to be read when you're feeling depressed and/or sick, but so, so good. Everyone should read it.

To Say Nothing of the Dog, wherein the same time-travel-by-academics idea is used, but this time it's a fluffy, goofy romp as a loopy jetlagged time traveller is sent back to the late Victorian era on a vacation/search for a really ugly piece of art. Hijinks ensue. Has tons of Wodehousian plot twists, interesting discussion of how history should be approached, and some really charming animal characters.

Passage, a novel about a neuroscientist and a psychologist who have developed a way to artificially induce near-death experiences in order to try to figure out what they really are, and how this goes terribly wrong. Also, the Titanic. Really thinky and fascinating: starts slow, and reasonably light, but gets more and more tense and dark as it goes on.

I think you'd also really like Rosemary Kirstein's Steerswoman series. I'm just going to quote Wiki on this: It follows the journey of Rowen, who is a Steerswoman in an age that is just beginning to gain technology and advancement, though most don’t understand it and those who do hoard the knowledge amongst themselves. A Steerswoman (or Steersman, though far less frequently) is a traveling scholar looking to supplement as well as share their knowledge. They are required to answer any question put to them by anyone and in turn, any question they ask must be answered, or the questioner will be placed under a ban where no Steerswoman will ever answer a question from them again. There are two groups that commonly pay little attention to the Steerswoman’s ban, those being wizards, who refuse to share their magical secrets, and Outskirters, who, as their name suggests, live on the outskirts of civilization and aren’t really familiar with Steerswomen or their customs.

There's a practical and down-to-earth sense to the worldbuilding, and the knowledge that the Steerswomen gain, and lots of awesome women.

Also, anything by Octavia E. Butler, if you haven't already read her. I liked the Parable series and Kindred best, I think, but any of her stuff is well worth reading, and chock-full of feminist and political issues.

As for Robin McKinley, I've read pretty much everything she's ever written. ♥ her. For you, I think I'd recommend Spindle's End, which has absolutely lovely, fun worldbuilding and nicely avoids some annoying narrative traps of Disney-fied fairytales. And Deerskin, which is dark and deals with triggery content, but deals with it really well and in a way that affirms that survivors of abuse can regain their sense of self and go on to live their own lives. It's really excellent.

[luzula]

I've read and loved "Doomsday Book" (and also "Blackout" and "All Clear")! I started listening to "To Say Nothing of the Dog", but for whatever reason it didn't grab me. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for fluffy? My library has "Passage", so I'll try that one, since it seems I tend to like Willis' serious books better.

I've been curious about the "Steerswoman" series before! *makes note to get hold of them*

I've got the audiobook of Butler's "Parable of the Sower" and plan to listen to it soon. And yeah, I really ought to have read her before.

The only thing I've read by McKinley is "Sunshine", which I absolutely loved. I'll get one of the two you recced, then (none of which my library has, though they do have "Beauty").