Sci-Fi & Fantasy Reading Suggestions for International Women’s Day

Much of Canadian writer Margaret Atwood’s fiction serves as a warning of what tomorrow might be if we can’t change our present day. She prefers the term “speculative fiction” to “science-fiction,” as she feels that the things she writes could very well happen. Her novel The Handmaid’s Tale is the story of a misogynistic future society where women are only valued for their reproductive abilities.

South Korean poet, musician, and novelist Han Kang’s The Vegetarian is a surreal novel about a woman who begins an unexpected transformation after deciding she will no longer eat meat.

The writings of Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor have earned the admiration of her peers and the loyalty of legions of readers for their seamless mix of African culture and western science-fiction concepts. Her novel Who Fears Death is the story of a woman who journeys across an apocalyptic Sudan to confront and defeat her sorcerer father.

Ecofeminist author Sheri S. Tepper wrote under a number of pen names, but none of her works became as famous as one that she published under her own: The Gate to Women’s Country is set in a far future matriarchal society where women and children live inside gated communities, while most men live outside in warrior camps.

Catherynne M. Valente has racked up dozens of awards for her novels, stories, poems, and works for adults and children. Drawing inspiration from mythology, and fairy tales, her spellbinding work sometimes borders on the surreal. Her novel Palimpsest is a great example of her literary power and imagination.