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Grand Mistresses of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge 2017
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2017-01-02 12:59 AM (#14870)
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It's lonely at the top, especially if you're a woman at the top of a field in which women are outnumbered two to one. These are the Queens of Speculative Fiction, the ones we all admire or aspire to! This challenge was suggested by Dlw28, with modifying suggestions from our fearless leader, Cap (er, I mean, Dave Post).

We will be reading the works of the women who have been honoured with the SFWA's Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award (for science fiction,) the World Horror Convention Grand Master Award, or the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement. This includes authors and editors; short stories, novellas, magazines and novels. In alphabetical order, this list includes (and is limited to):

SFWA Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award:

C. J. Cherryh
Ursula K. Le Guin
Anne McCaffrey
Andre Norton
Connie Willis
Jane Yolen

World Horror Convention Grand Master Award:

Tanith Lee
Anne Rice
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement:

Ellen Asher
Betty Ballantine
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Susan Cooper
Ellen Datlow
Carol Emshwiller
Anglica Gorodischer
Diana Wynne Jones
Madeleine L'Engle
Ursula K. Le Guin
Tanith Lee
Patricia A. McKillip
C. L. Moore
Andre Norton
Sheri S. Tepper
Evangeline Walton
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Jane Yolen
Diane Dillon has also received the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, but because she is an illustrator, I didn't think I should include her work in the challenge because it's about what we're reading. Still, I won't stop you if you want to include her work! I did include the editors because, as any writer who is honest will tell you, a published work is a collaboration between a writer with an idea and an editor who knows how to make that idea into something.
If you want to limit your selection to the Empresses of Speculative Fiction (who have won two out of the three awards) that list includes:

Empresses of Speculative Fiction:

Ursula K. Le Guin
Tanith Lee
Andre Norton
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Jane Yolen

The rules:

Re-reads must be at least five years old.

Only works by these women are elgible, but read as many books by the same author/editor as you like.

You are encouraged to overlap this challenge with other related challenges (such as Women of Genre Fiction, Author! Author! or 12 Awards in 12 Months.)

Please share! I'm distressed by how many avid readers seem to have never heard of these gifted ladies, and this must be remedied!

Happy reading!

Edited by Sable Aradia 2017-01-02 1:00 AM
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2017-01-03 6:25 PM (#14935 - in reply to #14870)
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Thanks to Slinkyboy for writing our first review of the year!
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Slinkyboy
Posted 2017-01-04 9:27 AM (#14942 - in reply to #14935)
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Sable Aradia - 2017-01-03 6:25 PM

Thanks to Slinkyboy for writing our first review of the year!




I'm really excited about this challenge. At first I thought 2017 was going to be the year of McKillip, but I really do have so much Tanith Lee on my shelf. Then I re-found my Chronicles of Mavin Manyshaped at the same time I lost my copy of The Mabinogion. Now I'm looking at some Cherryh too...

I'll probably end up raising my challenge level, but I'm trying to pace myself. So many great challenges out there.
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ScoLgo
Posted 2017-02-01 1:11 AM (#15202 - in reply to #14870)
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Thank you for creating this challenge. I just added my 12th book to it. I read one from the list in January so I'm on track to finish by December! Haha! Woefully lacking in my reading of CJ Cherryh so have quite a few of her novels slated here. Also a big fan of Le Guin so will be reading three of her titles. A Tanith Lee, a Sherry Tepper, and a couple of Connie Willis books will round out the 12. Looking forward to hearing other people's thoughts on what they read for this challenge!
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2017-02-03 2:06 AM (#15214 - in reply to #14870)
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Well, I'm expanding on my C.J. Cherryh with a vengeance, with a handful of Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Andre Norton, mostly. I think next year I'll have a more balanced list. I have some stuff by Tanith Lee I've been looking forward to reading, and I haven't read many of the Pern novels since Moreta (I know, woefully behind, but I'm ready to catch up!) I also have a couple of Vampire Chronicles books I haven't read yet, and one or two Chelsea Quinn Yarbro books on my shelf.
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JohnBem
Posted 2017-03-08 9:09 PM (#15432 - in reply to #14870)
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania		I just finished Forty Thousand in Gehenna by CJ Cherryh. This is only the second book of hers that I've read, the first being The Dreaming Tree. Based on these two books alone, I'm ready to conclude that Cherryh is an amazing talent. Whereas Tree is magnificent, magical, fantasy fare, Gehenna is thought-provoking sociological colonization first-contact sci-fi. It takes, I would think, great skill and imagination to write these two very different types of thoroughly entertaining books. Later on in the challenge I'll be reading the four books in Cherryh's Morgaine saga. I look forward to it.
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2017-03-16 4:52 AM (#15464 - in reply to #15432)
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JohnBem - 2017-03-08 7:09 PM

I just finished Forty Thousand in Gehenna by CJ Cherryh. This is only the second book of hers that I've read, the first being The Dreaming Tree. Based on these two books alone, I'm ready to conclude that Cherryh is an amazing talent. Whereas Tree is magnificent, magical, fantasy fare, Gehenna is thought-provoking sociological colonization first-contact sci-fi. It takes, I would think, great skill and imagination to write these two very different types of thoroughly entertaining books. Later on in the challenge I'll be reading the four books in Cherryh's Morgaine saga. I look forward to it.


Forty Thousand in Gehenna is on my list for this year too! I was going to read The Tree of Swords and Jewels, but I see that I need to read The Dreaming Tree before it will make a lot of sense, so I'm searching for a copy of that book. I share your opinion of Cherryh's talent, which is why I wanted to delve so deeply into her work this year. So far by her I have read Brothers of Earth and Voyager in Night, and between the two I just had to read more! Looking forward to Forty Thousand even more now . . .
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JohnBem
Posted 2017-05-31 11:32 PM (#15791 - in reply to #14870)
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania		Now that I've finished the High Fantasy reading challenge, it's time to move ahead with the Grand Mistresses challenge. Earlier today I finished Gate of Ivrel, CJ Cherryh's first published novel and the first as well in her four-book Morgaine Cycle. Cherryh's talents are evident even in this first published effort of hers. Her writing is not quite as polished as it would later become, but the tale is still a very good one, with the motivations of the protagonists being much richer than the standard "stop the bad things, save the world" fantasy trope. I look forward to continuing the challenge with the next book in the Morgaine Cycle.
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Slinkyboy
Posted 2017-06-15 9:12 AM (#15921 - in reply to #14942)
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Slinkyboy - 2017-01-04 9:27 AM

I'll probably end up raising my challenge level, but I'm trying to pace myself. So many great challenges out there.



So, as predicted I'm raising my challenge level.

Just finished "Lady of the Lake" (Yay!... first completed challenge of 2017), and I haven't even touched McKillip yet.

"Weyrwoman", here I come!
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JohnBem
Posted 2017-06-29 7:56 PM (#15950 - in reply to #14870)
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Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania		Earlier today I completed book two of Cherryh's "Morgaine Cycle." Good stuff. I'll have to pick up the pace if I'm going to complete the challenge by the end of the year. I blinked and half the year was gone.
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Weesam
Posted 2017-06-30 1:37 AM (#15951 - in reply to #14870)
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Location: New Zealand		Finished. I wanted to try and get the full range and flavour of this challenge, so chose to read a lot of different grandmistresses. Most of them I have read before but a couple where new to me.

I read:
Jane Yolen (new to me)
Anne McCaffrey
Ursula Le Guin
Sheri Tepper
Andre Norton
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (new to me)
Tanith Lee (x2)
Patricia McKillip
Angelica Gorodischer
C J Cherryh
Connie Willis
Anne Rice

Good challenge. I enjoyed it. And Sheri Tepper, as always, was my favourite.

Edited by Weesam 2017-06-30 1:40 AM
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2017-10-08 5:39 PM (#16335 - in reply to #14870)
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Hey guys, sorry I've been so quiet. I've been working really hard at writing in the later part of the year and thus have fallen behind on my reading challenges. I've had to pare quite a few back, as it turns out that my eyes were bigger than my stomach, but I'm intending to at least finish the challenges I started, and I think I should be able to.

That being said, I'm still well behind on my Grand Mistresses challenge, as I've been working to catch up on SF Masterworks. But I'm pretty much caught up now (actually reading the book intended for this month) so the Grand Mistresses were the next place I was going.

Pleased that you're liking Cherryh, @JohnBern! She was a recent discovery for me and a lot of the books I'm reading this year for the challenge are hers. But I'm not intending on the Morgaine Cycle this year, so I'm pleased to hear how you do! I'm going for the Fallen Sun trilogy because it doubles up for my Military Genre Fiction challenge, and Downbelow Station and related because I've been meaning to read them for years and they double up on the Space Opera challenge.

But don't worry, there's lots to read from these formidable ladies, so I think I'm going to make this an annual challenge for the foreseeable future; at least until I get tired of it. And I've got some Pern books to catch up on and a huge back catalogue of Andre Norton I've acquired, so I expect it will be some time before that happens!

@Weesam, I think your range there is in the best spirit of the challenge. Tepper is new to me, but she's on my list for next year. Tanith Lee is a personal favourite (adore her Flat Earth books) as is Anne McCaffrey. Ursula Le Guin is a rediscovery. I was not as taken with her as a child as I sure am as an adult! Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles were my favourite books as a teenager (so, needless to say, I found Twilight unimpressive) and I have read some Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, though she's not a favourite of mine. I've sampled a few of her St. Germaine books, but perhaps it was bad luck in that the ones I chose sounded like the same story to me, told in different historical periods. The historical periods were fascinating, but it did not make up for the repeat of the story in my opinion. I've read no Connie Willis or Patricia McKillip yet, but they're on my list too.
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Weesam
Posted 2017-10-10 12:15 AM (#16340 - in reply to #14870)
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Location: New Zealand		I tried to go for as many of the Grand Mistresses as possible. The only one I doubled up on was Tanith Lee, and that was because it was a duology, and I really wanted to finish them both to bring the story to a conclusion.

I love Patricia McKillip, and you can start anywhere with her, but I would suggest starting with the Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy. There is something very dream-like about McKillip's writing.

If reading Connie Willis, I suggest To Say Nothing of the Dog, and then Doomsday Book, or alternatively go for Bellweather. It is a short book, unrelated to her Oxford Time Travel series, but it is a wonderful little book if you can find it.

Sheri Tepper is also a massive favourite of mine. You should always start with Grass. It is magnificent.

I can thankfully say I have never read or seen any of the Twilight saga. From what I have heard about them, they sound awful, and I intend to go through the rest of my life never reading them. If you have to have brooding, angsty vampires, then Anne Rice is the way to go. I didn't really get into the Yarbro either. I remember devouring the first four Anne Rice books over 20 years ago and absolutely loving them. I haven't re-read any of them in such a long time that if felt like the first time again. It didn't have quite the same impact as when I first read it, but still enjoyable I am happy to say.
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ScoLgo
Posted 2017-12-31 1:26 PM (#16596 - in reply to #14870)
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Squeaking in under the wire to complete this challenge today with Words Are My Matter by Ursula Le Guin. Nice to finish the year with a 4-star read!
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2018-01-03 11:28 AM (#16650 - in reply to #14870)
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I failed catastrophically at this challenge last year. Never did get to reading all those Cherryh books I wanted to read. I'm going to remedy that this year. Who's joining me? Whatcha startin' with?
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Groovy Acolyte
Posted 2018-01-05 4:12 PM (#16665 - in reply to #16650)
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Location: Connecticut		I read my first Cherryh in the past year: Brothers of Earth as well as Hunter of Worlds. Although they're both among her earliest work, I enjoyed them and am definitely planning on reading more of her this year. Since I already have the three books in her Morgaine Saga I'll probably start with those, but I'm also planning on reading Downbelow Station for the Definitive 80s challenge as well. I kept to Cherryh, Norton and LeGuin for last year's challenge and I was hoping to explore other authors this year, but I've got plenty of unread novels already by those three sitting on my shelves that I don't know how well I'll do on that.
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ScoLgo
Posted 2018-01-08 5:41 PM (#16689 - in reply to #16650)
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I have not yet picked all my books for this challenge but am definitely planning to read more Cherryh this year. Serpent's Reach as a stand-alone and the Gene Wars duology are already on the list. Andre Norton is another author I have not read much of so I plan to focus on a few of her titles as well. Especially those available from Gutenberg.org. First up will probably be The Time Traders by Norton.
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Laffer
Posted 2018-01-29 2:29 AM (#16794 - in reply to #14870)
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Location: Wales		There's another woman grand mistress to add, Marina Warner is listed for 2017 under World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

I admit I have never heard of her, but she looks to have some interesting non-fiction works.
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