![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
This post was not only prompted by a remarkably stupid NY Times review of the "Game of Thrones" TV series, in which the reviewer thought the story was a polemic against global warming, claimed that women don't like fantasy, and further claimed that women do love sex, so the sex was gratuitously crammed in to please them.
It was also prompted by curious fact that while many of the most successful, and by successful I mean bestselling, writers of YA fantasy and sf are women writing under clearly female names, and most of the bestselling writers of urban fantasy are women writing under female names, most of the bestselling writers of epic/high fantasy are men or women writing under male or ambiguous names.
To quickly define terms, by "urban fantasy" I mean "Set in contemporary world much like ours, but in which magic and/or magical creatures exist. Typically involves romance, fighting evil, and/or detecting." By "epic fantasy," I mean "Set in non-contemporary world which is not just our world plus magic or an alternate history of our world, big sprawling stories, typically a series of fat volumes, typically involves a huge cast of characters, war, battles, monarchies, and politics. Typically set in a vaguely medieval period."
I have some questions for you all.
1. Am I correct that the bestselling writers of epic fantasy are typically male or writing under possibly-male names? I'm thinking of Robin Hobb (woman writing under possibly-male name), Patrick Rothfuss, George R. R. Martin, Robert Jordan, Brian Sanderson, Tad Williams, Terry Goodkind, Terry Brooks, etc.
I am under the impression that the female authors writing under clearly female names, like Kate Elliott, Katherine Kerr, are midlist or at least not hugely bestselling authors.
Anomalies: Jacqueline Carey - bestselling, I think, but clearly female. Gender of names may not be clear to readers: Sherwood Smith, Mercedes Lackey. I think Sherwood is considered a midlist writer, while Lackey is maybe in between midlist and bestseller?
2. Is epic fantasy really read more by men than by women? In general, women read far more than men do. Is epic fantasy an exception? I would love to see some actual figures here, because I honestly have no idea.
3. Do male or male-seeming epic fantasy authors get a bigger marketing push from the publishers? Are readers more willing to buy their books? Why is this different from urban fantasy and YA fantasy? (Maybe the latter are considered "less serious," because of the association with romance and teenagers, and so the proper province of women?)
(I don't even ask, "Is epic fantasy by women reviewed less?" because we already know that answer. All fiction by women is reviewed less than fiction by men. One of many statistical breakdowns to that effect here.)
ETA: A brief reading list of non-bestselling female writers of epic fantasy:
Sherwood Smith: Overview: Yo, epic fantasy authors. I'm real happy for you, and I'mma let you finish (uh, sorry, George R. R. Martin, I swear that was not a dig) but Sherwood Smith has already written one of the best epic fantasies of all time. OF ALL TIME.
Buy on Amazon: Inda
Kate Elliott: Cold Magic (The Spiritwalker Trilogy)
Mary Gentle: A Secret History: The Book Of Ash, #1
Michelle Sagara: Cast in Shadow (The Chronicles of Elantra, Book 1)
P. C. Hodgell: The God Stalker Chronicles
Judith Tarr: The Hound and the Falcon: The Isle of Glass, The Golden Horn, and The Hounds of God
Barbara Hambly: Dragonsbane: The Winterlands Series (Book One)
(Note: This book stands on its own, and is a perfect work of art on its own. For the love of God, AVOID THE SEQUELS.)
Laurie Marks: Fire Logic (Fire Logic)
N. K. Jemisin: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy)
Katherine Kerr: Daggerspell (Deverry Series, Book One)
It was also prompted by curious fact that while many of the most successful, and by successful I mean bestselling, writers of YA fantasy and sf are women writing under clearly female names, and most of the bestselling writers of urban fantasy are women writing under female names, most of the bestselling writers of epic/high fantasy are men or women writing under male or ambiguous names.
To quickly define terms, by "urban fantasy" I mean "Set in contemporary world much like ours, but in which magic and/or magical creatures exist. Typically involves romance, fighting evil, and/or detecting." By "epic fantasy," I mean "Set in non-contemporary world which is not just our world plus magic or an alternate history of our world, big sprawling stories, typically a series of fat volumes, typically involves a huge cast of characters, war, battles, monarchies, and politics. Typically set in a vaguely medieval period."
I have some questions for you all.
1. Am I correct that the bestselling writers of epic fantasy are typically male or writing under possibly-male names? I'm thinking of Robin Hobb (woman writing under possibly-male name), Patrick Rothfuss, George R. R. Martin, Robert Jordan, Brian Sanderson, Tad Williams, Terry Goodkind, Terry Brooks, etc.
I am under the impression that the female authors writing under clearly female names, like Kate Elliott, Katherine Kerr, are midlist or at least not hugely bestselling authors.
Anomalies: Jacqueline Carey - bestselling, I think, but clearly female. Gender of names may not be clear to readers: Sherwood Smith, Mercedes Lackey. I think Sherwood is considered a midlist writer, while Lackey is maybe in between midlist and bestseller?
2. Is epic fantasy really read more by men than by women? In general, women read far more than men do. Is epic fantasy an exception? I would love to see some actual figures here, because I honestly have no idea.
3. Do male or male-seeming epic fantasy authors get a bigger marketing push from the publishers? Are readers more willing to buy their books? Why is this different from urban fantasy and YA fantasy? (Maybe the latter are considered "less serious," because of the association with romance and teenagers, and so the proper province of women?)
(I don't even ask, "Is epic fantasy by women reviewed less?" because we already know that answer. All fiction by women is reviewed less than fiction by men. One of many statistical breakdowns to that effect here.)
ETA: A brief reading list of non-bestselling female writers of epic fantasy:
Sherwood Smith: Overview: Yo, epic fantasy authors. I'm real happy for you, and I'mma let you finish (uh, sorry, George R. R. Martin, I swear that was not a dig) but Sherwood Smith has already written one of the best epic fantasies of all time. OF ALL TIME.
Buy on Amazon: Inda
Kate Elliott: Cold Magic (The Spiritwalker Trilogy)
Mary Gentle: A Secret History: The Book Of Ash, #1
Michelle Sagara: Cast in Shadow (The Chronicles of Elantra, Book 1)
P. C. Hodgell: The God Stalker Chronicles
Judith Tarr: The Hound and the Falcon: The Isle of Glass, The Golden Horn, and The Hounds of God
Barbara Hambly: Dragonsbane: The Winterlands Series (Book One)
(Note: This book stands on its own, and is a perfect work of art on its own. For the love of God, AVOID THE SEQUELS.)Laurie Marks: Fire Logic (Fire Logic)
N. K. Jemisin: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy)
Katherine Kerr: Daggerspell (Deverry Series, Book One)
From:
no subject
I am happy to run other stats if I missed someone obvious of interest.
From:
no subject
So, latest fantasies by C. J. Cherryh, P. C. Hodgell, Steven Brust, Robin McKinley, Kristin Cashore, P. C. Cast, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Tamora Pierce, Carrie Vaughn, Michael Grant, Garth Nix, Patricia McKillip, Jim Butcher, Marjorie Liu, Nalini Singh, Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris, Diane Duane.
From:
no subject
Books I am ignoring: anything too recent for four weeks of sales data, books published in paperback only (not a fair comparison), and collections of short fiction (ditto). I added an older Elizabeth Moon because I felt bad about only giving her three weeks of sales data before.
Charlaine Harris -- Dead in the Family -- May 2010 -- 322,779 copies
P.C. Cast -- Awakened -- January 2011 -- 170,492 copies
Jim Butcher -- Changes -- April 2010 -- 84,968 copies
Jim Butcher -- First Lord's Fury -- November 2009 -- 38,445 copies (in case you wanted the high fantasy)
Kim Harrison -- Pale Demon -- February 2011 -- 33,112 copies
Tamora Pierce -- Bloodhound -- April 2009 -- 22,950 copies
Garth Nix -- Lord Sunday -- March 2010 -- 13,202 copies
Kristin Cashore -- Fire -- October 2009 -- 12,996 copies
Michael Grant -- Lies -- May 2010 -- 12,529 copies
Steven Brust -- Iorich -- January 2010 -- 5,767
Robin McKinley -- Pegasus -- November 2010 -- 5,613 copies
Elizabeth Moon -- Oath of Fealty -- March 2010 -- 4,085 copies
C.J. Cherryh -- Deceiver -- May 2010 -- 3,790 copies (sci-fi, just included to indicate it sells better than her fantasy)
Holly Black -- White Cat -- May 2010 -- 3,127 copies
Diane Duane -- A Wizard of Mars -- April 2010 -- 1,898 copies
C.J. Cherryh -- Fortress of Ice -- October 2006 -- 1,590 copies (newest fantasy I could find)
Carrie Vaughn -- Steel -- March 2011 -- 1,459 copies
Sarah Rees Brennan -- Demon's Covenant -- May 2010 -- 1,197 copies
Patricia McKillip -- Bards of Bone Plain -- December 2010 -- 860 copies
P.C. Hodgell -- To Ride a Rathorn -- September 2006 -- 776 copies
Marjorie Liu -- doesn't appear to have published in hardcover
Nalini Singh -- doesn't appear to have published in hardcover
From:
no subject