This week’s topic from The Broke and the Bookish is a great one: top ten heroines. Let’s see…
- Yeine, from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. Seriously, seriously kickass lady who navigates politics, would prefer a fair fight, and becomes a goddess. Why not?
- Tenar, from The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin. That was always my favourite book of the bunch. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but Tenar is strong in a way that has nothing to do with physical strength.
- Mori, from Among Others by Jo Walton. Because she’s quite a lot like me, only she really can see fairies and she has a streak of pragmatism I could really use.
- Harriet Vane, from the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy L. Sayers. Bit of a change of pace from the first three, being a different genre. But she’s a woman in a man’s world, pursuing both writing and academia, a strong woman who knows her own mind and sticks to her principles. But at the same time, she’s not perfect: she snarls at Peter, she’s unfair, etc, etc.
- Phèdre nó Delaunay de Montrève, from Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey. If there’s anything that can hold her back, I don’t know what it is. She’s gorgeous, she’s a spy, she manipulates politics and gets involved in all kinds of stuff on behalf of her country.
- Katherine Talbert, from The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner. Even if she doesn’t want to learn to fight at first.
- Ki, from Harpy’s Flight by Megan Lindholm. Practical, determined, fierce, and good to her animals, to her friends.
- Caitrin, from Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier. She doesn’t seem like she’s going to be a strong person at first, yet she learns to face her fears — without it ever seeming too easy.
- Mirasol, from Chalice by Robin McKinley. She’s thrown in at the deep end, with very little gratefulness or support from those around her, and she pushes through it to do whatever she has to do.
- Csethiro Celedin, from The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. She basically says that if anyone hurts Maia she’ll duel them and gut them. Like!
I’m gonna have to look at loads of posts on this one, because stories with good heroines are definitely of interest to me!
Ooh, Tenar. Yeah, I can relate to that! 🙂 My favourite from that series was The Other Wind, however, it seemed more lyrical or something, I can’t quite put it into words.
My ttt: http://ofdragonsandhearts.com/?p=1430
I did like that one the most of the post-Tombs of Atuan books; I wasn’t a great fan of The Farthest Shore or Tehanu, but The Other Wind picked right back up again.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms has been on my to-read list for so long! After seeing your description of Yeine though, I need to move this up on the priority list.
Great list!
Oh, it’s amazing! I ended up reading it all in one go, and I’ve reread it since.
Aww, all of these are great! :’) When I’m looking at my favourite heroines, not only do I look at my favourite fairly badass and awesome girl-power ones, -like Tris whom I adore -one that can be brave, emotionally as well. Hazel Grace didn’t defeat an army, and yet she’s one of the closest to my hearts <3
Yeah, I like emotional bravery too — Caitrin, from my list, is one of those!
Ooh, I may have to get to Heart’s Blood!
Yay! I love that one.
I’m not familiar with any of your choices but that’s not really a surprise when I don’t read fantasy! It’s still fun to read other people’s choices though.
It is, I do love browsing through them!