The best fantasy books led by brutal female characters

Jemisin has *absolutely deservedly* gotten a lot of attention in recent years for her Broken Earth Trilogy, even being called “the most celebrated science fiction and fantasy writer of her generation” by the New York Times, but my favorite book of hers is still her debut. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms tells the story of Yeine, a young woman trying to make her way in the confusing political landscape of Sky, who stumbles upon the plots of both gods and man.

Throughout the story, Yeine comes into her own, and in doing so, finds the sharp-edged brutality that she will need to survive. Mixing Game of Thrones level political weavings with Kushiel’s sexiness, Jemisin sets the pages on fire. Yeine is violent when she needs to be, brutal when she has to be, and this story can live in my head rent-free for an eternity, if it wants to. (I’d also recommend the other two books in the Inheritance Trilogy. Still spicy, still brutal, still totally awe-inspiring).

There is not a thing about this book that I don’t love. Marshall (a pseudonym for Jesse Bullington) tells the story of Zosia – Cold Cobalt, The Banshee with a Blade, First Villain – who is just a few steps past her prime. Twenty-some years have passed since she led her notorious band of generals – The Five Villains – in a war that put her on the throne. A throne she walked away from. She was done with it all, until fate and mistake shatter her retirement, drawing her back into the world and war. Marshall does some really cool things with gender norms, looks aging right in the face with an unvarnished mirror, and gives readers a cold religion, bug-drugs, and all the violence you could want. But he also gives readers the sort of anti-heroes that you can’t help but cheer for, a cast of minor and major characters that each have amazing story archs, and so many brutal women that I can’t begin to count them all. Every book in the trilogy only helps to build on the Legend of Cold Cobalt, and I will turn to these books time and again for a fix, much like Muroto tuns to the stinghouse.

Firmly in the YA camp, Graceling tells the story of Katsa, a young woman in a world where some people develop magical abilities, called Graces. The gracelings – those who have these gifts – have only one superpower, sometimes innocuous, like being able to count exactly how many of something there is in a heartbeat, and sometimes less so. Katsa is very firmly part of the less so group, graced with the ability to kill. Graceling is partly a story of discrimination and abuse, partly the story of a girl finding romance, and partly the story of resistance in the face of seemingly unbeatable odds. While Graceling features a mostly male cast of characters, Katsa shines as a violent, often angry, often scared female character. Cashore does a lot of really great things with female characters throughout her Graceling series, including addressing the always secretive menstruation in FIRE, but Katsa remains my favorite of her brutal women.

There is so much to love about this book. Necromancy! Humor! Death cult nuns! Enemies to Lovers to… well, no spoilers, but it’s got it all. Gideon has been raised in indentured servitude on the planet of the Ninth House, and she is really pretty sick of it. She makes a plan to take her sword and her dirty magazines and get the hell out of dodge, but Harrowhark Nonagesimus, heir to the Ninth House and Gideon’s least favorite person has different ideas. She needs Gideon to go with her to answer the Emperor’s call, to battle it out as her cavalier with the other houses in hopes of winning Harrow’s immortality as a Lychtor. Mayhem, mystery, and murder follow, along with Gideon’s trademark sexuality and humor, creating a fantastic, super-smart blend that will leave you wanting more. (And good news, there is more! Harrow The Ninth is available when your thirst for bloody violence isn’t yet quenched.)

It was really hard for me to choose which of Abercrombie’s books I’d suggest, since all of his female characters – scratch that – all of his characters in general, no matter their gender, are pretty brutal and violent. But Best Served Cold gives us the story of Monzcarro Murcatto, the Snake of Talins. I don’t know if I can sum it up any better than Sajaam does, when he says to Monza, “You were a hero round these parts. That’s what they call you when you kill so many people the word murderer falls short,” but I’ll try.

Monza wins the war for Grand Duke Orso, garnering herself acclaim and wealth, and Orso’s fear that she’s become more popular than he is. So, like all good leaders, he throws her down the side of a mountain… And like all great and brutal protagonists, Monza survives to come after him. Fueled by rage and her undying need for revenge, she destroys half the country to achieve her goals, and in doing so, puts together a band of unlikely comrades, all joined in their collective murder skills. It’s hard to like Monza. In fact, it’s hard to like most of Abercrombie’s characters. But the First Law World has me by the scruff like a terrier with a rat. I’ll read anything the man writes, because you can be sure it’ll be brutal, it’ll be bloody, it’ll have moments of sublime humor, and he knows how to write a philosophical barbarian like nobody else.