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'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").