20 Favorite Female Authors Picked by the Women at IGN
The women at IGN celebrate Women's History Month by highlighting their favorite female authors across genres and mediums.
As March marks Women’s History Month in the US, we wanted to highlight the women here at IGN. Last year, we highlighted some staff picks of games, movies, and TV. This year we switched gears to another favorite hobby: reading.
When the women of IGN were asked, “Who are your favorite women authors?” – no easy question for avid readers – a fascinating list sprung to life that spanned genres and styles. Let’s see which authors and comic artists were included as we celebrate both the women of IGN and their favorite women authors!
Sharon Creech
Her stories of love, grief, and understanding the flawed human existence are nothing short of excellent. –Marhyan Franzen Kelly Sue DeConnick has been battling in the trenches of the “boys club” of comics for years. When she wrote for Marvel, she was the one who brought the title of Captain Marvel to Carol Danvers, a legacy brought over into the MCU years later with her name in the credits as a consultant for the films. Outside of the Big Two, she's been an ever-present voice in indie comics with works like Pretty Deadly (if you're looking for a more mystical western theme) and Bitch Planet (if you want a more sci-fi, dystopian, feminist vibe). She continues with her current project, FML, from Dark Horse Comics for those looking for a more supernatural vibe in our stories. If you haven't read anything she's written yet, you're doing yourself a disservice: DeConnick is an incredible writer and an amazing human. –Chelsea Reed Sarah Rose Etter writes weird but clear-eyed books for weird people (like me). Though she’s only published two novels thus far, both have been among my favorite books of the year they came out. The Book of X, about a woman born to generational meat farmers and women with their stomach twisted into a knot, was surreal and painfully relatable; Ripe, about a young woman suffering through her job at a recognizably psychotic San Francisco startup and haunted by an ever-present void, swapped that formula (and also ends not unlike Rose Glass’ film Saint Maud). I hope she writes 100 more books like these in my lifetime. –Leanne Butkovic I am excited to see the film adaptation of this feminist medieval tale and to see Charli XCX portray Rosa! –Kelly Pham It's unlikely this is the first time you're being recommended N.K. Jemisin's incredible The Broken Earth Trilogy. Though her other fantasy novels deserve attention in their own right, Jemisin's captivating writing, characters, and creative magic system in The Broken Earth Trilogy (specifically in the second book, The Obelisk Gate) make it the easiest to recommend. Her surprising playfulness with storytelling in The Fifth Season may be confusing for some at first, but stick with it – the payoff is fantastic. It follows Essun, a woman trying to hunt down her husband who murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter while trying to survive a recurring cataclysmic event and hide that she has powers to manipulate the very earth around her. It's an incredible, Hugo Award-winning ride. –Miranda Sanchez It's astounding just how much T. Kingfisher publishes in a year but my adventure-loving heart appreciates the number of Kingfisher's consistently interesting retakes on classic fairy tales and horror stories. Kingfisher's stories tend to skew toward gothic horror and dark fantasy, but even still, her comedic pacing and thoughtfully written characters provide a sometimes needed balance for various novels' heavy themes. Whether it's the slow and creeping exploration of emotional abuse in "What Moves the Dead" or her exquisite Saint of Steel fantasy romance series that deals with personal identity and loss, I've come away with a full heart (and feeling a little creeped out). –MS Maybe it’s overly obvious to be recommending the most recent Nobel Prize winner for Literature – even members of BTS celebrated her accomplishment on Instagram – but all of the praise lauded on Han Kang is apparent when you crack open one of her novels. Like most people, I was introduced to her work through The Vegetarian when it was translated into English in 2015 and was immediately taken by its disturbingly mesmerizing plot about a housewife who stops eating meat, to the confusion and dismay of those around her, and eventually food altogether. (It’s even more aesthetically arresting knowing that it released in South Korea a full eight years prior.) I’ve followed her ever since, from the thematically similar Greek Lessons to the true-to-life South Korean political atrocities in Human Acts and We Do Not Part, and I cannot implore you enough to read Han Kang. She is a genius and absolute badass. –LB Newly published but already on her way to releasing a third novel, Yume Kitasei is an imaginative sci-fi writer with a promising career ahead of her. While many of my favorite sci-fi writers tend to have expansive series, Kitasei's one-off stories delightfully build their worlds quickly, and their engaging stories move even faster. Her debut, The Deep Sky, is a neat murder mystery aboard a tech-filled spaceship bound for the hopeful future home of humanity that was hard to put down. Her follow-up, The Stardust Grail, is an Indiana Jones-style adventure as its protagonist races her enemies to find an ancient alien artifact that is the key to her friend's survival but potentially the doom of her own. Both are lovely and imaginative, and I can't wait to read her next novel that's out later this fall. –MS Perfect for kids just getting started in fantasy. –MF Sarah J. Mass is a queen in the fantasy romance genre who constantly leaves me jaw-dropped with everything she has created. Her world-building and storytelling are so incredibly detailed, that she quickly became one of my favorite fantasy authors. She’s generally best known for the remarkable series A Court of Thorns and Roses – currently a five-book series with more releases coming – which dives into a story about a young woman who ends up living in a magical realm. In it, she finds her confidence and strength while battling through internal and external wars among the Fae – who are basically humans with super strength, magical powers, and immortality. Her first series was Throne of Glass, an amazing eight-book series that started her fantasy writing and world-building when she was only a teenager. Her latest series, Crescent City, has three books so far, with a fourth to come. All three of her series take place in the fantasy world of the Fae, so when readers are fans of one of her series, they tend to enjoy the others as well. Mass’ ability to develop strong characters and exciting twists leaves her stories equally entwined with the fantastical elements of the story and the romance side of things. For those looking for epic fantasy stories with romance and a bit of spice, jump into the Fae world with these books. –Jessie Wade There seemingly isn't a genre Silvia Moreno-Garcia won't tackle. Whether it's a historical romance with a touch of fantasy in The Beautiful Ones or a dark vampire adventure set in Mexico City in Certain Dark Things, Moreno-Garcia nails it every time. Some of her romance-forward stories feel a little similar in their dynamics if you read them back to back, but it's easy to make sure that doesn't happen if you're new to her small library of published works. The majority of her works tend to skew toward dark historical fantasy set throughout North America – and, more often than not, in Mexico, which is wonderfully refreshing. Anything she publishes has a guaranteed spot on my limited bookshelf space. –MS Erin Morganstern's two novels, The Night Circus and The Starless Sea, read like falling into a dream. Morganstern is another of the very few authors whose books I will not only buy in hardcover instantly but also grab multiple copies to collect the various editions. The Night Circus is a luscious, historical fantasy romance about two magicians trained since childhood for their inevitable battle against one another at a mysterious circus. It's guaranteed to break me out of a reading slump whenever I pick it up again and was the book that drew me back into regularly reading as an adult. (Sometimes you've gotta not look at a screen, as much as I love spending my time playing video games.) Her second novel, The Starless Sea, is a winding, enchanting story about stories. It begins in the world we know before protagonist Zachary finds his way into an underground realm that serves as the library of all stories and it's in danger. Like her debut, The Starless Sea is wonderfully written and best paired with a warm cup of tea. –MS I get a little giddy when I hear that a new Helen Oyeyemi book is on its way. A truly singular voice, Oyeyemi is hard to pin down in a way that’s like – stick with me here – trying to chase down a wispy ghost that’s purposefully messing with you but you’re still having a great time anyway. Her novels are fantastical, but aren’t really fantasy at all; a chunk of them are inspired by Hans Christian Anderson folktales, but the look and feel could not be further from their progenitors. (Gingerbread, for example, is vaguely Hansel and Gretel-ish put through a capitalist meat grinder.) Mostly they’re all fever dream adventures that nuke the rules of literary fiction. As another great writer Alexandra Kleeman said to The Nation, Oyeyemi’s work has “the discombobulating quality of walking through a moving vehicle while carrying a full-to-the-brim cup of very hot tea.” –LB Tummy Bugs is a collection of over a decade of work from Leomi Sadler and full of bright colors and dark humor. –KP For those of you who have been mourning the end of the Game of Thrones TV show and are waiting rather impatiently for George R.R. Martin to finally publish The Winds of Winter, Samantha Shannon is here to ease your suffering. The Roots of Chaos series, starting with The Priory of the Orange Tree, is exactly the kind of high fantasy series we all deserve. With rich characters, dragons, magic, suspense, tragedy, and a satisfying twist, this 845-page book will keep you on the edge of your seat and immersed in another world for as long as you let it. Another prequel, A Day of Fallen Night, was published only three years later, but excitement continues with yet another prequel, Among the Burning Flowers, which will be coming out later this year. If you've been itching to start a new series, this is the perfect time to jump in. –CR Gail has been writing comics (and other media) for a long time and has done amazing work in portraying the quiet but no less powerful moments in superheroes’ lives. She has won GLAAD awards and is the first female solo writer for Uncanny X-Men. She is more amazing than a short blurb can say. Check her out! –MF Sue Lynn Tan's debut, Daughter of the Moon Goddess, is a gorgeous reimagining and expansion of the Chinese legend of the moon goddess and continues with its follow-up, Heart of the Sun Warrior. Together, they are the most delicious romantic adventures I've read. The duology eloquently gives context to Chinese mythology for those unfamiliar with it while keeping the pace of the action steady. As the first book's title suggests, the hidden daughter of the exiled moon goddess, Xingyin, takes the role of protagonist when she's sent into hiding among the Celestial Kingdom while her mother must continue her imprisonment on the moon. Determined to set her mother free, Xingyin goes on an epic, inspiring adventure to set things right. Tan's complex characters and strong understanding of romantic pacing make these instant standouts among romantic fantasy novels. –MS Morgan's work is visceral and intelligent, beautifully drawn but also deeply unsettling. It captures the weight of being lost online, in the world, or within yourself. –KP Written for young adults, Jacqueline Wilson's works touch on hard-to-talk-about topics such as grief and loss, substance abuse, bullying, and abandonment. I grew up reading Wilson's books, and could often relate to her characters due to my own tough upbringing. I would often escape to my local library and bury myself in one of her books to feel less alone in what I was going through. She has won several awards for her work, including a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (basically the best award you can get!) by King Charles III for her "services to Literature." –Meg Koepp Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean series is a striking adult fantasy romance that follows a young woman’s experience going to a war college for dragon riders. If you can imagine humans working with dragons to prepare for war, you can guess (correctly) that it’s brutal right off the bat. Even though violence takes a prominent, integral role in the books, it doesn’t overtake the importance of the storyline itself, the characters, and the world-building. Yarros does a phenomenal job creating relatable characters who deal with serious challenges, both physical and mental, they need to learn to overcome, but there’s a theme of friendship and support throughout. The romance is woven into the story in an organic way that complements the plot well, while still keeping the excitement in the fantasy world. Even for those not interested in the romance side of it, you’ll likely end up adoring the characters’ experiences together and crave more of it the further you read. Yarros has this ability to create such complex storylines with so many unexpected twists and turns, leaving you constantly hyped. She reveals more of her worlds as she goes on through the books, and when I say she’ll crush your world and then rebuild it (hopefully), I mean it. You’ll be surprised how attached you get to dragons and think of them as real people. The Empyrean series is a five-book series and the third book was released on January 21, 2025, with two still to come. –JW This article features written contributions by: Chelsea Reed (Video Editor), Jessie Wade (Sr. Manager of Promotions and Events), Kelly Pham (IGN Store), Leanne Butkovic (Project Manager), Lindsey Salzer (Commerce Director), Marhyan Franzen (Supervising Technical Producer), Meg Koepp (Guides Editor, Trends) and Miranda Sanchez (Executive Editor, Guides).Kelly Sue DeConnick
Sarah Rose Etter
Isabel Greenberg
N.K Jemisin
T. Kingfisher
Han Kang
Yume Kitasei
Gail Carson Levine
Sarah J. Mass
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Erin Morgenstern
Helen Oyeyemi
Leomi Sadler
Samantha Shannon
Gail Simone
Sue Lynn Tan
Morgan Vogel
Jacqueline Wilson
Rebecca Yarros
