The best speculative fiction novels that crackle with feminist themes

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a science fiction writer who loves my chosen genre for the promises it makes for the worlds that we can have—and the warnings that it offers for the worlds that might be ours if we don’t take care. I’ve picked books for people who like their thinking to be challenged, and who also long for the world to be a much better place. These are the kinds of books I love to readand the kinds of books I try to write. 


I wrote...

Star Trek: Picard: Second Self

By Una Mccormack,

Book cover of Star Trek: Picard: Second Self

What is my book about?

An all-new adventure based on the acclaimed TV series Star Trek: Picard. Following the explosive events seen in season one, Raffi Musiker finds herself torn between returning to her old life as a Starfleet Intelligence officer or something a little more tame—teaching at the Academy, perhaps. The decision is made for her though when a message from an old contact—a Romulan spy—is received, asking for immediate aid. 

With the help of Elnor and assistance from Jean-Luc Picard, Raffi decides to take on this critical mission—and quickly learns that past sins never stay buried. Finding the truth will be complicated, and deadly…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Bannerless

Una Mccormack Why did I love this book?

How do you investigate crimes when the police no longer exist? Bannerless is the first of Carrie Vaughn’s novels set in a future America, where big government is gone, and the right to have a child—to earn your ‘banner’—is the new form of currency. A clever mixing of two genres: crime and science fiction.  

By Carrie Vaughn,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Bannerless as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE PHILIP K. DICK AWARD

A mysterious murder in a dystopian future leads a novice investigator to question what she’s learned about the foundation of her population-controlled society

Decades after economic and environmental collapse destroys much of civilization in the United States, the Coast Road region isn’t just surviving but thriving by some accounts, building something new on the ruins of what came before. A culture of population control has developed in which people, organized into households, must earn the children they bear by proving they can take care of them and are awarded symbolic banners to demonstrate…


Book cover of Red Clocks

Una Mccormack Why did I love this book?

America, not long from now. Abortion is banned, so is in vitro fertilization, and a new Amendment to the Constitution grants the right to life—to every embryo, that is. Red Clocks follows the impact of this new regime upon the lives of five women, all living in a small town on the Oregon Coast. The focus is on the personal—but then the personal is always political. 

By Leni Zumas,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Red Clocks as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INAUGURAL ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION

'Intense, beautifully crafted . . . Her talent is electric. Get ready for a shock' Guardian

FIVE WOMEN. ONE QUESTION: What is a woman for?

In this ferociously imaginative novel, abortion is once again illegal in America, in-vitro fertilization is banned, and the Personhood Amendment grants rights of life, liberty, and property to every embryo. In a small Oregon fishing town, five very different women navigate these new barriers.

Ro, a single high-school teacher, is trying to have a baby on her own, while also writing a biography of Eivor, a…


Book cover of The Swimmers

Una Mccormack Why did I love this book?

Earth has suffered devastating environmental collapse and is now a world of jungles and monsters. The last remnants of humanity are split between those clinging to the surface, and those who have removed themselves to the upper atmosphere. We follow Pearl, living in an isolated forest region, suddenly taken to the stars. A vivid and luscious reimagining of Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea

By Marian Womack,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Swimmers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"A richly imagined eco-gothic tale." - The Guardian

"Exquisitely realised." - The Times

After the ravages of the Green Winter, Earth is a place of deep jungles and monstrous animals. The last of the human race is divided into surface dwellers and the people who live in the Upper Settlement, a ring perched at the edge of the Earth s atmosphere.

Bearing witness to this divided planet is Pearl, a young techie with a thread of shuvani blood, who lives in the isolated forests of Gobari, navigating her mad mother and the strange blue light in the sky. But Pearl…


Book cover of Eve

Una Mccormack Why did I love this book?

England, in the near future, walking blindly into totalitarianism, everything falling apart. Eve has grown up in a happy family, with loving parents, but not even they can protect her from the world collapsing around them. Eve sets out on a journey, alone, across the wild Yorkshire moors, in search of new ways of living. This is a powerful, beautiful graphic novel from Una. 

By Una,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Eve as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A powerful novel of mothers and daughters, and how we imagine our future, from acclaimed author of BECOMING UNBECOMING

'A disturbing and necessary book for our times ... Una has held up a chilling mirror for us, and leaves us with a choice - what kind of world will we make for ourselves?' JACKY FLEMING

In the near future, in a world that seems just like our own, Eve grows up in a loving family that is increasingly threatened by a society which seems to be sleepwalking into totalitarianism. After a catastrophe that changes everything, Eve must set off on…


Book cover of Cwen

Una Mccormack Why did I love this book?

Imagine an island off the coast of Britain, where a miracle has happened. A community run entirely by womenbusinesses, education, government. But now disaster has struckthe founder, Eva Levi, has disappeared, and forces are gathering that want to dismantle her life’s work. But someone else is watching, someone who has been there longer than anyone can remember, and Cwen will not let any harm come to the people of her islands… A subtle and intelligent novel, inclusive and wise. 

By Alice Albinia,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cwen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Fantastic - a wonderful book' Lily Cole
'Magical, rich and magnificent' Maxine Peake
'A wild ride! She sees Graves' White Goddess and raises 50 with female magic and transformations' Margaret Atwood
'A rare book, bold and powerful' Xiaolu Guo
'Wild, original...a beautiful work' Neel Mukherjee

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2022
NOMINATED FOR THE OTHERWISE AWARD 2022

A storm, a disappearance, a band of women and a remote island where anything is possible.

On an unnamed archipelago off the east coast of Britain, Eva Levi has made it her life's work to build a community truly run…


You might also like...

Book cover of Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink

Ethan Chorin Author Of Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Story-lover Middle East expert Curious Iconoclast Optimist

Ethan's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Benghazi: A New History is a look back at the enigmatic 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, its long-tail causes, and devastating (and largely unexamined) consequences for US domestic politics and foreign policy. It contains information not found elsewhere, and is backed up by 40 pages of citations and interviews with more than 250 key protagonists, experts, and witnesses.

So far, the book is the main -- and only -- antidote to a slew of early partisan “Benghazi” polemics, and the first to put the attack in its longer term historical, political, and social context. If you want to understand some of the events that have shaped present-day America, from political polarization and the election of Donald Trump, to January 6, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russian expansionism, and the current Israel-Hamas war, I argue, you need to understand some of the twists and turns of America's most infamous "non-scandal, scandal.”

I was in Benghazi well before, during, and after the attack as a US diplomat and co-director of a medical NGO. I have written three books, and have been a contributor to The NYT, Foreign Affairs, Forbes, Salon, The Financial Times, Newsweek, and others.

By Ethan Chorin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On September 11, 2012, Al Qaeda proxies attacked and set fire to the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, killing a US Ambassador and three other Americans.  The attack launched one of the longest and most consequential 'scandals' in US history, only to disappear from public view once its political value was spent. 

Written in a highly engaging narrative style by one of a few Western experts on Libya, and decidely non-partisan, Benghazi!: A New History is the first to provide the full context for an event that divided, incited, and baffled most of America for more than three years, while silently reshaping…


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