Top 20 Female Authors Chosen by IGN Women

As we celebrate Women's History Month in the US this March, IGN is proud to spotlight the talented women within our team. Last year, we shared our favorite games, movies, and TV shows. This year, we're shifting focus to another cherished pastime: reading. When we asked the women of IGN, "Who are your favorite women authors?" we received a diverse and vibrant list of recommendations. Let's dive into the authors and comic artists that have inspired our team, celebrating both the women of IGN and the incredible women authors they admire!

Sharon Creech

Her stories of love, grief, and understanding the flawed human existence are nothing short of excellent. –Marhyan Franzen

Notable works: Walk Two Moons, Chasing Redbird

Sharon Creech### Walk Two Moons

In her own singularly beautiful style, Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech intricately weaves together two tales, one funny, one bittersweet, to create a heartwarming, compelling, and utterly moving story of love, loss, and the complexity of human emotion.

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Kelly Sue DeConnick

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

Notable works: Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman Historia, Pretty Deadly, Bitch Planet, FML

Kelly Sue DeConnick### Captain Marvel

As Earth's Mightiest Hero, Captain Marvel is exactly where she's always deserved to be. But as she navigates this crossroads in her life, a dramatic decision sends her to the stars - right into the middle of an intergalactic war!

$125.00 save 46%$68.02 at Amazon

Sarah Rose Etter

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

Notable works: Ripe, The Book of X

Sarah Rose Etter### Ripe: A Novel

A surreal novel with “a dark, delicious edge” (Time) about a woman in Silicon Valley who must decide how much she’s willing to give up for success—from an award-winning writer whose work Roxane Gay calls “utterly unique and remarkable.”

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Isabel Greenberg

I am excited to see the film adaptation of this feminist medieval tale and to see Charli XCX portray Rosa! –Kelly Pham

Notable works: The 100 Nights of Hero

Isabel Greenberg### The One Hundred Nights of Hero

In the tradition of The Arabian Nights, a beautifully illustrated tapestry of folk tales and myths about the secret legacy of female storytellers in an imagined medieval world.

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N.K Jemisin

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

Notable works: The Broken Earth Trilogy (The Fifth Season), The City We Became

N.K Jemisin### The Broken Earth Trilogy: The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, The Stone Sky

This collectable boxed set edition includes all three books in N. K. Jemisin's incredible NYT bestselling and three-time Hugo award-winning Broken Earth Trilogy.

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T. Kingfisher

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

Notable works: Nettle & Bone, What Moves the Dead, Paladin's Grace

T. Kingfisher### What Moves the Dead

A gripping and atmospheric reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” from Hugo, Locus, & Nebula award-winning author T. Kingfisher

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Han Kang

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

Notable works: We Do Not Part, The Vegetarian, Human Acts, Greek Lessons

Han Kang### The Vegetarian

Celebrated by critics around the world, The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical, Kafka-esque tale of power, obsession, and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her.

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Yume Kitasei

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

Notable works: The Deep Sky, Stardust Grail

Yume Kitasei### The Deep Sky

Yume Kitasei's The Deep Sky is an enthralling sci-fi thriller debut about a mission into deep space that begins with a lethal explosion that leaves the survivors questioning the loyalty of the crew.

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Gail Carson Levine

Perfect for kids just getting started in fantasy. –MF

Notable works: Ella Enchanted

Gail Carson Levine### Ella Enchanted

This beloved Newbery Honor-winning story about a feisty heroine is sure to enchant readers new and old.

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Sarah J. Mass

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

Notable works: A Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass, Crescent City

Sarah J. Mass### A Court of Thorns and Roses

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas comes a seductive, breathtaking book that blends romance, adventure, and faerie lore into an unforgettable audiobook.

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Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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

Notable works: Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silver Nitrate

Silvia Moreno-Garcia### Mexican Gothic

From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes “a terrifying twist on classic gothic horror” (Kirkus Reviews) set in glamorous 1950s Mexico.

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