Kick-butt Woman in Fantasy

You yelled; I answered! So turn up your Flyleaf/Paramore CDs and get a load of my all time favorite Kick-butt Women (in Fantasy-literature)! [Note: this excludes the obviously well-known women in LOTR, HP, and Terry Goodkind novels]

Starting out this action-packed hype for all you lovers of strong leading ladies, Sara Douglass fleshes out not one, but several amazing women in her 6 book series, The Wayfarer Redemption (the first 3 novels are also known as The Axis Trilogy).

Faraday:

Despite being ruled by the uncaring prophesy of the Destroyer, Faraday is a strong-willed, young woman coming of age for marriage at the demands of her father. Alongside the unappealing prospect of marrying the brother of the man she loves, Faraday undergoes the treatment of an overlooked martyr of Tencendor as well. But all of these dreaded features give her the status of being God-like (a woman Jesus, if you will). As powers go, Faraday is your ultimate “Mother Earth” lady that possesses the power to plant an enchanted forest (Minstrelsea) and command an entire race, called the Avar. She not only bears the king of the Avar, but is the key companion to the collection’s ending savior, DragonStar. Her unrelenting compassion and kindness strikes deep sympathy in the reader and it is her who most can relate with (the end of innocent youth with the revelation of a cruel reality).

Azhure:

Although Faraday becomes the Queen of the land in many aspects, it is Azhure who is of the 9 Circle of Star Gods of Tencendor. She displays a dark past of abuse, neglect, and entrapment, and the fact that she overcomes these universally understood sufferings to become the most alluring woman to any Icariian man has us all rooting for her. Not only does her mysterious attractive nature with a troubled past keep us turning the pages on her debut, but she portrays the most physical kick-butt fighting scenes of any woman in the series. For instance, she is on the front line of killing Gorgrael’s ghost-like monsters with the leading character, Axis. Also, she acquires a powerful bow and arrow weapon and a pack of blood-thirsty hounds within the battles to help all her action-packed adventures onto the enemy lands. Because of her ultimate relation with the dark sorcerer-like WolfStar, and thus ability to control dark magic on top of all her already gained powers, she deserves a top spot on the list of Sara Douglass’ kick-butt women!

Other women worth mentioning in the series:

Niah:

Although she is thought to play a small part in the earlier books by birthing Azhure, the fact that she comes back as an evil, body-possessing villain gives her rank among the other kick-butt women.

Zenith:

Not only does she have to deal with her body being possessed by Niah, but she is the object of many Icariian men and thus must undergo many struggles of finding herself with relation to others. Also, Zenith is the sister of Caelum StarSun and crosses him in many ways for the sake of family. Because she helps Draco the most beside Faraday, she earns her rightful place at being a kick-butt lady.

Goodwife Renkin:

She is the sole helper of Faraday throughout her sacrifices of planting the burdensome forest. Not only does she represent the powerful Mother of the Sacred Groves, but she represents the goodness of even the unmagical race that oppressed both Avar and Icarii.

The next Kick-butt woman illustrated in fantasy-literature is Talyn in the novel Talyn: A Novel of Korre by Holly Lisle.

Talyn:

She is part of the Tonk Confederacy of Korre as a “Shielder” possessing magical abilities. But Talyn is different from the typical “job on

ly” persona of soldiers because of her persistence in questioning the Eastil Republic Treaty. Once relooking at what becomes the Feegash Conquest, she uses her power to save her homeland. Sarcastic, strong-willed, exceptionally trained fighter, Talyn must overcome bizarre sexual dominance along with magical overbearing by these new people. Thus, Talyn is like a Lora Croft (Angelina Jolie) in sex appeal and fierceness, earning her a spot on fantasy’s

Kick-butt women list.

Highly popular for the open sexuality of the series, Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series ranks within my personal list of Kick-butt women characters in Fantasy.

Phe’dre Delaunay:

Phedre serves as a spy through half the novel to help uncover a conspiracy involving the houses of Terre d’A

nge but swiftly turns into an object of sexual intrigue when it is revealed of her power to sustain and even crave sexual harshness. She clearly makes it to the Kick-butt list because of her ability to exploit her sensual powers to the reader. I will make note that because Phedre undergoes an adventure centering on her sexual abilities (amongst other things), she is a powerful fantasy character in the sense that she embraces what many will blush to read. If that’s not empowering, than I’m not sure what else can possibly make my list.

Recruiting from young adult fantasy, the next Kick-butt leading lady is Lirael in Garth Nix’s The Abhorsen Trilogy.

Lirael:

Isolated by not receiving the “sight” of the Clayr, Lirael soon finds that she is the missing element in the fight

against the evil Necromancer, Hedge. What makes her a kick-butt youth is that she becomes the Abhorsen that controls a panel of bells, plunging the dead back into the afterlife. Not only are her adventures on the poisoned land of the living, but she must also climb into the man

y (Dante-like) layers of death to defeat the enemy as well. The ability to venture into Death and back again definitely earns a shy but strong-minded Lirael to the list.

The next Kick-butt leading woman character I have picked is a mix between a

female version of “ARebel without a Cause” and Odysseus in The Odyssey. The woman I’m referring to is Karigan in Green Rider by Kristen Britain.

Karigan:

An expelled student swiftly gets swindled into her destiny as a Green Rider by a promise she makes to a dying messenger. But before she realizes she has undiscovered magic within her, she is being chased by people determined to end the reign of King Zachary. Thus, she begins a journey to get to the King before the henchmen claim her as their prisoner. Young, stubborn, and extremely likeable, Karigan makes the list because she is easily identifiable in many readers as the relatable "undiscovered talent" and pure brave-at-heart woman that brings humor to the pages.

The next is a mildly popular fantasy character from Michelle Sagara’s The Chronicles of Elantra series.

Kaylin:

She is the main character and is the center of all the problems. Because she takes pride in being grimy and a good soldier of the Hawks, Kaylin wins Kick-butt appeal for her apparent ease at exploiting her foot-soldiery. Not only can she cut down an enemy with a flick of her sword, but she possess healing powers that transform this bottom-dweller of the social class into the Dragon Lord’s favorite. Also, her sarcastic and stubborn nature adds to the humor of how she ends up in the middle of most of the book drama. Not only are the readers guaranteed a good fight scene, but she is compelled to solve many mysteries within the land throughout the series, so expect a game of clue!

Alas, I have named but a scratch of all the Kick-butt women in Fantasy-literature. I hope I have inspired you as readers to pick up a few of these books by authors you haven’t heard of, and hopefully with your comments I can learn new titles and authors that portray powerful women.

*And as always, thanks for reading!