Thursday, December 10, 2015

Five go-to fantasy novels with gender equal societies

Kelley Grant's latest novel is Desert Rising. At Tor.com she tagged five epic fantasies with gender equal societies, including:
Hawk Haven/Bright Bay—Jane Lindskold’s Through Wolf’s Eyes

The society Lindskold created in Hawk Haven is not egalitarian, but it is gender equal. There are distinct class differences, but both women and men inherit and both sexes compete to see who will become heir to the throne. Men and women of the upper class ally in marriage to consolidate power in the political sphere. In the lower classes, husbands and wives are equal partners in business and life. This works well with the character of Firekeeper, raised by wolves and confused by society’s restrictions. Adding gender restrictions would have created another burden on the character. This is an excellent example of a fat, juicy, epic fantasy series creating depth with unrestricted gender roles.
Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue