Sirens is about the remarkable, diverse women in fantasy literature, and what better way to celebrate the achievements of women in fantasy literature than to read, read, read? The following list, which focuses on our 2019 theme of heroes, is only a starting point for reading fantasy literature by and about women—but if you’re looking for works by our guests of honor, our Sirens Studio faculty, or fantasy works focused on our 2019 theme, we suggest you start here. (If you’re instead looking for a bit of a challenge, you might try our 2019 Sirens Reading Challenge.)
As with all great reading lists, some of these books were chosen for their influence, some for their controversy, and some simply because they’re great reads! To discuss these and other books, we invite you to visit the Sirens Goodreads group, where Sirens co-founder Amy Tenbrink posts monthly reviews.
If you buy from Amazon and you’d like to purchase these books, please use the links below. We are a member of the Amazon Associates program, and if you use these links to purchase these books, Amazon will provide us with a referral fee.
Guests of Honor and Faculty - Theme Books
2019 Sirens Guests of Honor
Mishell Baker
- The Arcadia Project Series (Borderline, Phantom Pains, and Imposter Syndrome)
Ausma Zehanat Khan
- The Khorasan Archives (The Bloodprint and The Black Khan)
- Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak Novels (The Unquiet Dead, The Language of Secrets, Among the Ruins, A Dangerous Crossing, A Death in Sarajevo, and A Deadly Divide)
Rebecca Roanhorse
- The Sixth World Series (Trail of Lightning and Storm of Locusts)
Suzanne Scott
2019 Sirens Studio Guest of Honor
Roshani Chokshi
- The Gilded Wolves
- Pandava Series (Aru Shah and the End of Time and Aru Shah and the Song of Death (forthcoming April 2019))
- Star-Touched Series (The Star-Touched Queen, A Crown of Wishes, and Star-Touched Stories)
- A Thousand Beginnings and Endings
- The Vishakanya’s Choice
2019 Sirens Studio Faculty
(who have published work)
Mishell Baker
- The Arcadia Project Series (Borderline, Phantom Pains, and Imposter Syndrome)
Nia Davenport
- A Born Hunter Series (Born in Blood)
- Assassin at Court Series (Two-Faced and Chaos)
Juliet Grames
- The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna (forthcoming May 2019)
Nilah Magruder
- How to Find a Fox
- M.F.K.
- Dactyl Hill Squad (illustrated) (Dactyl Hill Squad and Freedom Fire (forthcoming May 2019))
Rebecca Roanhorse
- The Sixth World Series (Trail of Lightning and Storm of Locusts)
Guests of Honor and Faculty - Theme Books
Theme Books
Tomi Adeyemi
Katherine Arden
Kelly Barnhill & Iacopo Bruno
Tracey Baptiste
Lauren Beukes
Leah Bobet
Lila Bowen
Traci Chee
Zen Cho
Zoraida Córdova
Somaiya Daud
Kelly Sue DeConnick & Valentine De Landro
Lara Elena Donnelly
Nicky Drayden
Meg Elison
Kate Elliott
Heather Fawcett
Sarah Gailey
Jessica Day George
Isabel Greenberg
Shannon Hale & Dean Hale
Frances Hardinge
Jody Houser, Francis Portela & Marguerite Sauvage
Justina Ireland
Alaya Dawn Johnson
Kay Kenyon
Aditi Khorana
Mary Robinette Kowal
Robin LaFevers
Grace Lin
Katherine Locke
Karen Lord
Rachita Madani
Tahereh Mafi
Nilah Magruder
Melina Marchetta
Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Amy Reeder, Brandon Montclare & Natacha Bustos
Nnedi Okorafor
Cherie Priest & Kali Ciesemier
K Arsenault Rivera
Nisi Shawl
Rivers Solomon
Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters & Brooke A. Allen
Molly Tanzer
Anne Ursu & Eric Fortune
K.B. Wagers
G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona
F. C. Yee
Lidia Yuknavitch