by Annette Gisby
I have a mixture of both male and female authors on my website, I don't prefer one over the other, but I do find myself veering towards these female authors all the time. Il've just highlighted a few of their books here. For more on each author and her books, see their website or Goodreads pages.
1) Lynn Flewelling - Fantasy
I'd never heard of Lynn Flewelling until I was in our local library and saw a copy of The Bone Doll's Twin. The premise sounded interesting, so I took that one out and asked the librarian if she had any others by that author. No, they hadn't, and they wouldn't be able to get any more as they were from US publishers. The librarian wasn't sure how they'd managed to get hold of The Bone Doll's Twin! So, back home and a quick Internet search for the other books. I've bought every book she's ever brought out.
Her fantasy worlds are so imaginative and her characters are amazing. I adore Seregil and Alec from her Nightrunner series and I re-read those so often they are looking a bit ragged now. The Nightrunner series is one of the first set of mainstream books I ever read where gay and bisexual characters were the lead protagonists.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/42110.Lynn_Flewelling
When young Alec of Kerry is taken prisoner for a crime he didn’t commit, he is certain that his life is at an end. But one thing he never expected was his cellmate. Spy, rogue, thief, and noble, Seregil of Rhiminee is many things–none of them predictable. And when he offers to take on Alec as his apprentice, things may never be the same for either of them.
Soon Alec is traveling roads he never knew existed, toward a war he never suspected was brewing. Before long he and Seregil are embroiled in a sinister plot that runs deeper than either can imagine, and that may cost them far more than their lives if they fail. But fortune is as unpredictable as Alec’s new mentor, and this time there just might be…Luck in the Shadows.
2) Elizabeth Chadwick - Historical
There are two authors with that name on Amazon. I mean the English author who writes historical novels set in the medieval period. Her books are just amazing. Well-researched with a good level of detail and plot. Although they are historical novels, at no point do you feel you are being given a history lesson, it's all very subtle. You might pick up some new nugget of history as you read but everything flows well within the book. Well-drawn characters who fit well with the time and place they are written with. These are not modern people with history just as a backdrop. These are history.
Two very different women are linked by destiny and the struggle for the English crown.
Matilda, daughter of Henry I, is determined to win back her crown from Stephen, the usurper king. Adeliza, Henry's widowed queen and Matilda's stepmother, is now married to William D'Albini, a warrior of the opposition. Both women are strong and prepared to stand firm for what they know is right. But in a world where a man's word is law, how can Adeliza obey her husband while supporting Matilda, the rightful queen? And for Matilda pride comes before a fall ...What price for a crown? What does it cost to be 'Lady of the English'?
http://elizabethchadwick.com/
3) Carol Berg - Fantasy
Again, I have every book by this author. Her fantasy worlds are so awe-inspiring and the characters seem so real. Her stand-alone fantasy, Song of the Beast is one of the most original fantasy books I've ever read. The plot was so unique and imaginative.
Brutal imprisonment has broken Aidan McAllister. His music is destroyed, and with it the visions he once gave a kingdom ravaged by dragon war.
Now, he risks his hard-bought freedom to uncover the truth behind his incarceration-and to meet his enemy face-to-face...
http://www.sff.net/people/carolberg/
4) Glenda Larke - Fantasy
I have quite a few Glenda Larke books on my shelves. Although all her books are fantasy, each world she has created has its own different customs, religions and magic systems. In the Stormlord series, it is set in a mostly desert world where the currency is water and if you are poor you are known as 'waterless. Her books are so vivid and imaginative I have a hard time putting them down.
Saker appears to be a simple priest, but in truth he's a spy for the head of his faith. Wounded in the line of duty by a Lascar sailor's blade, the weapon seems to follow him home. Unable to discard it, nor the sense of responsibility it brings, Saker can only follow its lead.
The dagger puts Saker on a journey to distant shores, on a path that will reveal terrible secrets about the empire, about the people he serves, and destroy the life he knows. The Lascar's dagger demands a price, and that price will be paid in blood.
http://glendalarke.com/
5) Sarah Rayne - Thrillers/Gothic/Horror/Fantasy
I have read every book by Sarah Rayne except for her new one, but that is on my TBR list to get too soon. Years ago she used to write horror under the pen name Frances Gordon and fantasy under the name Bridget Wood. I had all of Frances Gordon and Bridget Wood's books long before I knew it was the same author, that's how much I like her writing style. She has a series of stand-alone thrillers which almost have a gothic/ghost story feel to them, but there aren't necessarily any ghosts.
Most of them take place in our time with scenes from characters in the past, but both flow very well. She has a connected series which does tend to have more of a supernatural bent, the Nell West and Michael Flint series of books. They are real page-turners and more than once I've stayed up half the night just to see what happens next. She has an interesting style of writing, with sometimes lyrical and poetic prose blended well with down-to-earth characters and gripping storylines.
Selina March has lived in the remote Scottish hamlet of Inchcape for nearly 50 years. When she reluctantly takes in a paying guest, her secluded life changes forever.
Crime writer Joanna Savile has come to interview the inmates at nearby Moy, the asylum for the criminally insane. Her secret aim is to question former child murderer, Mary Maskelyne, Moy’s most infamous patient. Joanna’s prying will yield unexpected results, for although they have never met, Selina March and Mary Maskelyne are connected by a shared family tragedy—an act of unspeakable cruelty that took place in India 50 years earlier.
http://www.sarahrayne.co.uk/
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