Also, while I’m in a garbage mood, let’s not retroactively attack people for loving Harry Potter because of JK Rowling’s Unfortunate Choices long after the series was published.
Since I’ve been doing a lot of JK Rowling discourse on my blog recently it seems worth sharing this and saying that I have absolutely nothing against fans of Harry Potter! I am a fan of Harry Potter!! Harry Potter meant a lot to so many people, it wasn’t and isn’t perfect but that doesn’t change the fact that without it I wouldn’t have fallen in love with magic and I wouldn’t be here writing the queer fantasy stories that I am now.
My post was only ever intended to mean that a). stop attacking people who don’t like JK and b). here are some of the valid reasons why we don’t like JK.
Also, while I can no longer support what JK does (by which I mean the bad decisions she keeps making in the present), I don’t think turning to old white men for your fantasy is any better. So here is a list of some awesome ladies in fantasy who you could read if you wanna:
- Tomi Adeyemi
- NK Jimisin
- Rin Chupeco
- Zoraida Cordova
- VE Schwab
- Leigh Bardugo
Those are just a few off the top of my head (and some write own voices characters of colour, queer characters or both too!) Happy reading folks ❤
BLESS YOU because people keep telling us to go read Tolkien and I’m just like “You mean the Grandfather of Racism and Misogyny in Fantasy?” If you simply must read white man fantasy, go read Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman.
To your most excellent list, I’d love to add:
- Renée Ahdieh
- Lana Popović
- Naomi Novik
- Erin Morgenstern
- Traci Chee
- Kendare Blake
- Madeline Miller
- Marie Brennan
- Melissa Albert
- Carmen Machado
- Rae Carson
- Gail Carson Levine
- Kristin Cashore
These are the ones I skimmed off of a couple of bookshelves. I’d also love to add Tamora Pierce and Maggie Stiefvater to this list, but I thought I heard something about them being problematic somehow?
I’ve already reblogged with my list of women writers, and Stiefvater is on it. People have issues with her because she depicts teenaged boys in a way that includes all the casual homophobic comments, and some think the depiction of Henry Cheng was racist. And people are miffed at her for not addressing sexuality by name, but still having characters make homophobic comments. I do think Maggie is a self-aware writer and has said she intends to do better in her future writing, which is more than can be said about JK Rowling, tbh.
Oooh great list, I’ll have to check some more of these authors out, I think a fair analysis of Maggie too (she’s not perfect by any means but who is, and she definitely appears to take criticism into account). Also loving the Gaiman and Pratchett comment, the only straight white men of fantasy I’ll stan.
I think Rick Riordan is a good edition for the white male fantasy author but GOSH LOOK AT ALL THESE NEW AUTHORS TO CHECK OUT I am AMPED
Because my list has gotten lost in the shuffle, here it is:
- E.J. Swift
- Laini Taylor
- Samantha Shannon
- Libba Bray
- Madeleine L’Engle
- Ursula LeGuin
- Alexandra Bracken
- Tessa Gratton
- Maggie Stiefvater
- Anna-Marie McLemore
- Kiersten White
- Kerri Maniscalco
- Melinda Salisbury
- Lauren James
Oooh yes Rick is a good example of a white guy fantasy author, especially the way he’s uplifting marginalised authors work through his press.
And I love this list too, definitely some I’ve read and adored on there but lots of new names too.
Please read Diana Wynne Jones! Her Chronicles of Chrestomanci series is great, and of course Howl’s Moving Castle is amazing (its sequel House of Many Ways is great too, though I can’t speak for the 2nd in the series, which is in between those two. They’re all to do with different characters, so you can read them in any order).
Published
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