The Fantasy Review‘s list of 13 Amazing Classic Science Fiction Books Written by Women.
Synners by Pat Cadigan
From the blurb:
Synners are synthesizers – not machines, but people. They take images from the brains of performers, and turn them into a form which can be packaged, sold and consumed. This book is set in a world where new technology spawns new crime before it hits the streets.
In SYNNERS the line between technology and humanity is hopelessly slim; the human mind and the external landscape have fused to the point where any encounter with reality is incidental.
Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh
From the blurb:
The Beyond started with the Stations orbiting the stars nearest Earth. The Great Circle the interstellar freighters traveled was long, but not unmanageable, and the early Stations were emotionally and politically dependent on Mother Earth. The Earth Company which ran this immense operation reaped incalculable profits and influenced the affairs of nations.
Then came Pell, the first station centered around a newly discovered living planet. The discovery of Pell’s World forever altered the power balance of the Beyond. Earth was no longer the anchor which kept this vast empire from coming adrift, the one living mote in a sterile universe….
Venus by Pamela Sargent
From the blurb:
Iris Angharads, a determined, independent woman, sets herself one massive goal: to make the poison-filled atmosphere of Venus hospitable to humans. She works day and night to realize her dream, with only one person sharing her passion, Liang Chen. It seems impossible to make Venus, with its intolerable air and waterless environment, into a paradise, but Iris succeeds. And in doing so, she also creates a powerful dynasty, beginning with her first born, Benzi Liangharad.…
Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta by Doris Lessing
From the blurb:
For eons, galactic empires have struggled against one another, and Shikasta is one of the main battlegrounds. Johar, an emissary from Canopus and the primary contributor to the archives, visits Shikasta over the millennia from the time of the giants and the biblical great flood up to the present.
With every visit he tries to distract Shikastans from the evil influences of the planet Shammat but notes with dismay the ever-growing chaos and destruction of Shikasta as its people hurl themselves towards World War III and annihilation.
Catseye by Andre Norton
From the blurb:
Exiled after his home planet was turned into a military outpost following an interstellar war, Troy Horan is relocated to the planet of Korwar. Under the watchful eye of the police state, he lives in the Dipple, a restricted area for subcitizens. He works as a day laborer in an interplanetary pet shop and has no idea why animals from Terra, a third-rate power, have been imported to Korwar—or why he has the ability to silently communicate with them, especially the kinkajou.…
Walk to the End of the World by Suzy McKee Charnas
From the blurb:
The men of the Holdfast had long treated with contempt the degenerated creatures known as “fems.” To give themselves the drive to survive and reconquer the world, the men needed a common enemy. Superstitious belief had ascribed to the fems the guilt for the terrible Wasting that had destroyed the world. They were the ideal scapegoat. The truth was lost in death and decay and buried in history. It was going to be a long journey back…
Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
From the blurb:
On an Earth scarred by nuclear war, Snake harnesses the power of venom to cure illnesses and vaccinate against disease. The healer can even ease patients into death with the power of her dreamsnake. But she is not respected and trusted by all, and when she tries to help a sick nomad child, the frightened clan kills her dreamsnake.…
Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin
From the blurb:
In 2205, the 19th Amendment has long been repealed and women are only valued for their utility. The Earth’s economy depends on an insular group of linguists who “breed” women to be perfect interstellar translators until they are sent to the Barren House to await death. But instead, these women are slowly creating a language of their own to make resistance possible. Ignorant to this brewing revolution, Nazareth, a brilliant linguist, and Michaela, a servant, both seek emancipation in their own ways. But their personal rebellions risk exposing the secret language, and threaten the possibility of freedom for all.
Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin
From the blurb:
Having survived ecological catastrophe brought on by relentless industrialization, the Kesh are a peaceful people who reject governance and the constriction of genders, limit population growth to prevent overcrowding and preserve resources, and maintain a healthy community in which everyone works to contribute to its well-being.…
The Shore of Women by Pamela Sargent
From the blurb:
After a nuclear holocaust, women rule the world. Using advanced technology, they’ve expelled men from their vast walled cities to roam the countryside in primitive bands, bringing them back only for the purpose of loveless reproduction under the guise of powerful goddesses.…
Dawn by Octavia Butler
From the blurb:
When Lilith lyapo wakes from a centuries-long sleep, she finds herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. She discovers that the Oankali—a seemingly benevolent alien race—intervened in the fate of the humanity hundreds of years ago, saving everyone who survived a nuclear war from a dying, ruined Earth and then putting them into a deep sleep. After learning all they could about Earth and its beings, the Oankali healed the planet, cured cancer, increased human strength, and they now want Lilith to lead her people back to Earth—but salvation comes at a price.…
The Wall Around Eden by Joan Slonczewski
From the blurb:
Post holocaust tale set on a ruined Earth where aliens have preserved a few towns and cites by means of force fields. “In tiny Gwynwood, Pennsylvania, the people go on with their lives, practicing a pacifist, ecologically sound lifestyle heavily influenced by the Quaker faith. But one young woman isn’t satisfied with things as they are, and vows to discover the aliens’ secrets.
The Earth Remembers by Susan Torian Olan
From the blurb:
From south of the post-apocalyptic border rides a lone seeker of truth, justice – and personal vengeance. Cimarron Langtry returns to the land of his youth and haunted dreams to rekindle the people’s uprising against the occupation regime and the dread army of the Clankers. His life is worth spit – until he joins forces with a ruthless mercenary, a mystic giant, and a beautiful, mysterious healer. They in turn forge an alliance with a race of subterranean mutants and the proud, fierce new Comanches.
