To say we’re excited about this anthology is a bit of an understatement… Women are never represented quite right in fantasy and, sadly, there’s an argument to be had as to whether the community treats them quite right or gives them the kudos they deserve when it comes to ‘best of lists’ and even convention spots, however this anthology certainly gives a big ‘v’ sign to those who think a woman’s place in fantasy is simply to be rescued by the hero. That said, I guess you could argue that ‘warrior women’ are becoming a bit cliche, so hopefully this anthology puts some new spins on things and with the amazing array of authors who have submitted to it – we’re pretty sure that’s what we’re gonna see. Here’s the blurb followed by the Cover Art:
All new and original to this volume, the 21 stories in Dangerous Women include work by twelve New York Times bestsellers, and seven stories set in the authors’ bestselling continuities—including a new “Outlander” story by Diana Gabaldon, a tale of Harry Dresden’s world by Jim Butcher, a story from Lev Grossman set in the world of The Magicians, and a 35,000-word novella by George R. R. Martin about the Dance of the Dragons, the vast civil war that tore Westeros apart nearly two centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones.
Also included are original stories of dangerous women–heroines and villains alike–by Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Sherilynn Kenyon, Lawrence Block, Carrie Vaughn, S. M. Stirling, Sharon Kay Penman, and many others.
Writes Gardner Dozois in his Introduction, “Here you’ll find no hapless victims who stand by whimpering in dread while the male hero fights the monster or clashes swords with the villain, and if you want to tie these women to the railroad tracks, you’ll find you have a real fight on your hands. Instead, you will find sword-wielding women warriors, intrepid women fighter pilots and far-ranging spacewomen, deadly female serial killers, formidable female superheroes, sly and seductive femmes fatale, female wizards, hard-living Bad Girls, female bandits and rebels, embattled survivors in Post-Apocalyptic futures, female Private Investigators, stern female hanging judges, haughty queens who rule nations and whose jealousies and ambitions send thousands to grisly deaths, daring dragonriders, and many more.”
UK COVER ART
The book is released early December (3rd I believe in both UK and US) and is available on both Amazon UK and Amazon US
Jennie Ivins
I’ve been waiting for this for ages. Should be some good study material on a variety of different female characters, My reading material is rather lacking.
I feel mixed about this, while I’m excited to read about some dangerous women, I’m much less enthusiastic that George RR Martin is the editor (because a dude is DEFINITELY the best editor for a book about women), his name is bigger than the title and there are twice the number of men on the ‘big name’ author list as women. Upon investigation it seems that it’s about half and half contributing. Which at least it’s not all dudes writing it but it would have meant so much more to have a book about dangerous women, written and edited BY women.
Ooh, this is definitely a collection that I want to get my hands on! Thanks for the info; I’ll have to keep an eye out and get it when it’s released next month. 😀