Great women writers - as recommended by the readers who love their work

In the latest #InklingsChat from the Inklings Press team on Twitter, the call went out for followers to name women writers that they loved - with quite the response. Here, then, is the round-up of some great suggestions to add to your reading list if you haven't already gobbled up every word. 

@InklingsPress A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula Le Guin - fell in love with it as a kid, still adore it as an adult.

— Stephen Hunt (@chippychatty) March 7, 2016

@InklingsPress Just finished reading V.E. Schwab's "A Darker Shade Of Magic". It. Is. Awesome.

— Jessica Holmes (@scribblingjess) March 7, 2016

@InklingsPress I like Queen of the Damned by Ann Rice & loved I Am of Irelaunde: A Novel of Patrick and Osian by Juilene Osborne-McKnight

— WingedLion (@Winged_Leo) March 7, 2016

@InklingsPress Anything by Ursula K. LeGuin, but more recently I read Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler and it was amazing.

— Maria Haskins (@MariaHaskins) March 7, 2016

@InklingsPress KINDRED by Octavia Butler.

— Nikki Vogel (@NikkiVogel1) March 7, 2016

@chippychatty @InklingsPress I just started reading her last year, and Wild Seed just blew me away.

— Maria Haskins (@MariaHaskins) March 7, 2016

@InklingsPress Um do you like/print/publish Sci-Fi too? What about @MargaretAtwood also?

— Sarika (@SMCADMAN) March 7, 2016

@InklingsPress How about @LKHamilton and @sethanikeem

— Fyre Dancer (@JRFyreDancer) March 7, 2016

Going with a classic: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The queen of Sci Fi. https://t.co/tCKZKriMdM

— Brent A Harris (@BrentAHarris1) March 8, 2016

@BrentAHarris1 @InklingsPress Excellent choice! So much more satisfying than any of the movies.

— Professor O (@iswpw) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress Graceling by Kristin Cashore

— Audrey T. Carroll (@AudreyTCarroll) March 8, 2016

My choice is very Canadian, @InklingsPress -- @MargaretAtwood and 'The Handmaid's Tale' -- dystopian feminism. oh yeah.

— dm gillis (@dmgillis) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress Anne McCaffrey. Her Pern series is epic and made me a Sci-Fi/Fantasy #reader! #WomensDay #WomenAuthors #AwesomeAuthors!

— CS Literary Jewelry (@CSLJewelry) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress Easy. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle. That, with Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (Judy Blume), inspired me to write.

— Matthew Apple (@manzano0627) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress ditto for L'engle and LeGuin, and I would add Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy and Catherynne Valente's fairyland series.

— Rogue Librarian (@CassandraDasher) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress OH and of course Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, possibly the best fantasy novel of this generation.

— Rogue Librarian (@CassandraDasher) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress Stewart's is the definitive version of the Arthur legend in my mind. :)

— Rogue Librarian (@CassandraDasher) March 8, 2016

@CassandraDasher @InklingsPress oh oh, I should add Carolyn Ives Gilman's 'Dark Orbit' - pub'd last year and a great scifi story.

— Maria Haskins (@MariaHaskins) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress SO many good titles!

— Maria Haskins (@MariaHaskins) March 8, 2016

Author I.E.Ramesses also pitched in with Anne Rice and Patricia Cornwell, hailing them as "Bad Assed!"

@InklingsPress What about Marian Zimmer Bradley?

— Fyre Dancer (@JRFyreDancer) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress Mists of Avalon. I grew up with as almost religious writ. *grins*

— Fyre Dancer (@JRFyreDancer) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress Anything by @AnneRiceAuthor, @LKHamilton, @sethanikeem

— Fyre Dancer (@JRFyreDancer) March 8, 2016

One of the authors recommended in that last tweet also pitched in with a suggestion:

@JRFyreDancer @InklingsPress @AnneRiceAuthor @LKHamilton
pleased to be in such august company. I'd add Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

— Michelle Belanger (@sethanikeem) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress My beloved introduced me to the worlds of @robinhobb - another woman writer who comes highly recommended.

— Michelle Belanger (@sethanikeem) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress @robinhobb We read aloud to one another. It's a great way to share stories & give favorite characters voice.

— Michelle Belanger (@sethanikeem) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress The Crown of Stars series, by Kate Elliott
The only high fantasy epic comparable to Games of Thrones, imo

— Brent Collins (@crowguye) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress @Kelly Armstrong the entire Women of the Otherworld series

— Fyre Dancer (@JRFyreDancer) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress I am a huge fan of @JCareyAuthor. Love her Kushiel's Legacy series!

— CS Literary Jewelry (@CSLJewelry) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress @kellannetta The series is 'Chronicles of Lorrek' the 1st bk is 'Someday I'll Be Redeemed' the 2nd is 'I Still Have a Soul'

— Fyre Dancer (@JRFyreDancer) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress I still love visiting Pern and saying hello to my favorite characters every once in a while. *Waves hi to Master Robinton!

— CS Literary Jewelry (@CSLJewelry) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress I know I go on about the Vorkosigan series too much, but Lois McMaster Bujold deserves a mention.

— Rob Edwards (@StorycastRob) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress I'd have to add Robin Hobb (Megan Lindholm). Love books she has published under both names

— Matthew Harvey (@TetsunariHarvey) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress Crossroads series by @KateElliottSFF The Fifth Season by @nkjemisin Blood and Iron by @matociquala (Elizabeth Bear)

— Kat Terrell (@KatGentian) March 8, 2016

@InklingsPress oh, yes! "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. Le Guin #InternationalWomensDay #amwriting #writing

— dm gillis (@dmgillis) March 8, 2016

@dmgillis @InklingsPress That one was mind-blowing... Especially because I was expecting fantasy and found good old, pure sci-fi

— Alei Kotdaishura (@AleiKotdaishura) March 9, 2016

@InklingsPress The Left Hand of Darkness (LeGuin), the Harry Potter series (Rowling), Reckless (Funke), Agatha Christie's Poirot cases...

— Alei Kotdaishura (@AleiKotdaishura) March 9, 2016

@InklingsPress @scribblingjess @Winged_Leo @MariaHaskins I should add Toni Morrison to that list. BELOVED blew my mind. Genius.

— Nikki Vogel (@NikkiVogel1) March 9, 2016

Ursula K Le Guin is good, but my heart goes to Diana Wynne Jones, Madeleine L'Engle, @jk_rowling & Mary Shelley @InklingsPress

— VoxVorago (@VoxVorago) March 9, 2016

.@InklingsPress Sounds odd but Agatha Christie. Good writer but she also overcame so much, most people don't know she was also Dyslexic :)

— Sarika (@SMCADMAN) March 9, 2016

Some fantastic recommendations there - look forward to the next #InklingsChat on @InklingsPress. If you are on Goodreads, the above have all been compiled into a Goodreads list here.