Hullo! I’m quite fond of the typical tolkien-inspired fantasy but I get annoyed with how male-dominated it is. I find that the more popular female-centric high fantasy also includes more romance than I care for — I don’t mind it in the background, but I dislike it when it begins to influence the plot. I also like characters that have humble origins — No surprise nobility please — and end up becoming powerful in their own right. Get as trope-y as you want — No such thing as over-done for me! Tbh, the ideal would be a gender-swapped Inheritance Cycle.
by Blue-Jay27
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Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Doesn’t include all of the high fantasy elements, but has dragons and other magical creatures, and is very well written and has 4 POV characters, 2 being women. Shannon describes her book as “feminist retelling of Saint George and the Dragon”.
I wouldn’t call it make dominant. I think it’s more of men having a monopoly on violence. Even female authors write male characters. One of the greatest fantasy Epics, Dragonlance Chronicles had male characters. Janet Morris wrote one of my faves. Male characters.
If you can handle modern fantasy, that is fantasy set in modern world, Seanan McGuire and Kim Harrison are awesome. Both female magic. Some romance but it’s not the main theme