Happy 5th Birthday Women in SFF!

That’s right – it’s July, so of course Women in SFF is back for our fifth year of celebrating women writing and working in SFF genres! As in previous years, we have a month packed full of glorious content for you.

We would absolutely love you all to take part; from reviews, recommendation lists, articles – however you decide to join in, let us know by using #WomenInSFF and/or tagging @TheFantasyHive

Before we have a look at what’s coming up this month, we thought this year we’d give you a proper introduction to our team, and give them the chance to share with you their recommendations of introductions to SFF for new readers…

Beth

Hello I’m Beth! I’m Editor-in-Chief of the Fantasy Hive, and in my day job I’m a Waterstones Bookseller. My reading habits vary wildly, but in the realms of SFF, I’m a fantasy gal. Historic/Folkloric Fantasy is my absolute jam, but my reading habits are starting to shift into more Cosy and Light Academia. 

As an introduction into fantasy, I always recommend Jen Williams to people. She’s a huge fantasy fan herself, so her books, whilst being excellent in their own right, are love letters to the genre. They’re the perfect mix of classic fantasy tropes, because they’re what Jen loves, mixed with her own new ideas for the genre, in an accessible easy-to-read writing style that you’ll love. 

Nils

Hi I’m Nils and I’m Assistant Editor and social media goddess to The Fantasy Hive! I mostly read SFF but the genre has a huge spectrum from dark to light, epic to cosy and a whole host of sub genres and genre blends so I’ve always got a great selection to choose from.

If I was to recommend one female author to start your fantasy journey with I’d recommend Shannon Chakraborty and I’d suggest starting with The Daevabad trilogy as it has a bit of everything. There’s magic, Middle Eastern mythology, a dash of romance, friendship, heartbreak and lots of mythical monsters. You could also start with The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi which features an amazing middle-aged female pirate and has a historical fantasy feel to it with an added sprinkling of fun. Oh and a sex obsessed demon!

Jonathan

Hi, I’m Jonathan. I work with insects in a lab, and I’m studying for a PhD in science fiction, looking at the portrayal of insects in speculative fiction. I do reviews and interviews for the Hive. I also write for other genre publications like Reactor and Gingernuts Of Horror, music publications like The Quietus, and I’m the Books Reviews editor for Foundation magazine. I love speculative fiction, the Weird, horror, any blending of the literary with the SFnal or Fantastic, and works in translation.

If I had to introduce a reader to speculative fiction, I would recommend Nina Allan’s masterful The Race, the first of a number of books she’s written that challenge the rules of literary fiction and science fiction, melding mind-bending ideas with gorgeous writing and thoughtfully observed characters. For horror, I suggest jumping right into the deep end of literary body horror with Kathe Koja’s The Cipher. If you want to get a sense of the history of Fantasy, try Hope Mirlees’ wonderful faerie novel Lud-In-the-Myst, which pre-dates Tolkien. For science fiction Octavia Butler’s incredible and complex Xenogenesis trilogy. I could go on, but I’ll stop there.

Theo

Hi, I’m Theo – I have just finished a PhD in Creative Writing which examined climate change fiction – which is not so much a sub-genre or genre as a theme which can be approached through every genre [which Theo has written about in his series of Unseen Academic features]. It does however lend itself well to speculative fiction as authors strive not just to tell a good story but say something to contemporary society. I write speculative fiction and have  a self-published trilogy that begins with Lady of the Helm. I used to work in secondary education but I’m now retired and instead teach creative writing in undergraduate workshops and open learning evening classes. 

As a starting point in speculative fiction I’d recommend Martha Wells All Systems Red. It’s a short (novella length) story about a sassy rogue AI sec-unit (semi-organic Robot bodyguard) – pacey action, sharp prose and – as the series develops – some relevant observations on the profit motive vs humanity. If you want to go with fantasy you could try Emily Thiede’s This Vicious Grace which, in entwining some traditional fantasy elements (magic, monsters, mayhem) with an engaging romantic thread exemplifies the fast growing sub-genre/cross-genre of Romantasy. 

Kat

Hi, I’m Kat, I’m the offspring of two giant SFF nerds and so naturally I consume any and all forms of SFF whenever I can. I work in education and have managed to indoctrinate many a child into the world of SFF books (and Dungeons & Dragons) as a result.

My go-to female-authored fantasy picks for teenagers & young adults would have to be anything by Holly Black if you fancy a frolic through the faerie courts, or The Graceling Series by Kristin Cashore if you want a world where a smattering of people are graced with special powers. For something aimed at adults, I would recommend Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Apprentice for a brilliant medieval-style fantasy world with opulent world-building and characters you would kill for. It’s the start of a trilogy but if you fall in love with it there are fifteen other books after the first 3 set in the same world for you to marinate in. If you just want to dip your toe into the SFF world then try Kingdoms of Elfin, an anthology of fantasy short stories by Sylvia Townsend Warner, published by Handheld Press.

Cat

Hi! Is this thing on? OK… what to say… I’m Cat and I’m a lifelong shameless book-addict! I was always the weird kid with her nose stuck into a chunky tome, and imaginative fiction has kept me sane-ish for most of my life. I’m a Pagan Priest/chaplain, author and speaker in my day job, so I even found a way to integrate magic into my ‘proper’ work! Reviewing now is me wanting to share 40+ years of book love.

Looking back, I think my introduction to fantasy was Tolkien, but my love of it blossomed with Tamora Pierce and her Song of the Lioness books. A real heroine with actual relatable problems in a fantasy world. I was a big Trekky in my teens, but have been delighted to find a good deal of women-centred and queer scifi appearing nowadays that plays with the traditional tropes – most recently, Redsight by Meredith Mooring and Voyage of the Damned by Frances White. Also Stephen King messed me up nicely as a young’un with Firestarter and Salem’s Lot, and while my love of Anne Rice will endure throughout time, I’m currently enjoying the brilliance that is Rachel Harrison’s very contemporary horror (witches, vampires or werewolves, she does the lot!) and Christine Morgan for the more messed-up B-movie carnival rides. Every month brings new bookish delights, and I’m so glad to be here for it!

So, what does this amazing team have lined up for you?

The Photo Challenge

We are of course bringing back our photo challenge, as it’s always super popular on Instagram. We found the smaller scale worked really well last year, so we’ve adopted that again, with hopefully plenty of opportunities for you all to feature your favourite female authors!

You can join in on either Twitter or Instagram using #WomenInSFF, and we can’t wait to see all your responses.

Guest Posts and Interviews

The best part of Women in SFF is always the amazing publicists and authors who get behind the feature! You’re all fantastic and we’re so grateful for your support year on year. This year, we’ve gone big on interviews – you can expect genre-themed roundtable interviews, and we’ve created a spin on our Christmas Eve post!

We also have some very exciting and exclusive excerpts coming up!

Reviews and Recommendations

And of course we’ll still be bringing you plenty of reviews to bump up your TBR, as well recommendation posts from the team focused on popular SFF tropes!

As you can see, it’s going to be a busy month on the Hive, and we can’t wait to share all this with you!