Want to read some fantasy heroines who aren’t love-sick teenagers? Here are eight fantasy heroines who break the YA and Romantasy mold.
Eowyn (J.R.R Tolkien)
This shield-maiden of Rohan determines to ride into battle with the men of The Lord of the Rings. And she kills the Witch King of Angmar in a delicious twist.
Anyanwu (Octavia E. Butler)
Hundreds of years old, Wild Seed‘s Anyanwu survives loss, violence and abuse to restore a kind of balance to the world. Morally gray, she still embodies compassion and a fierce protectiveness.
Taizu (C. J. Cherryh)
The protagonist of C. J. Cherryh’s The Paladin, Taizu is a headstrong, determined peasant girl who evolves from a vengeful survivor into a master swordswoman.
Sabriel (Garth Nix)
The protagonist of Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series, Sabriel is a courageous and capable young woman who matures from a disciplined schoolgirl into a necromancer who uses magic to send the dead back to death.
Vin (Brandon Sanderson)
Vin is the central protagonist of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Era 1 trilogy, evolving from a paranoid, abused street urchin into a powerful, world-saving Mistborn magician.
Morgaine (C. J. Cherryh)
Morgaine is the central character of The Chronicles of Morgaine. She is a dedicated, enigmatic agent on a seemingly doomed quest to travel between worlds and close ancient, dangerous trans-dimensional gates
Arwen (J.R.R Tolkien)
A symbol of sacrifice, hope, and the merging of two ancient bloodlines in The Lord of the Rings, Arwen is one of the Half-elven, with the right to choose between immortal life with the Elves or mortality with humankind.
Lythande (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
A woman disguised as a man to maintain her powerful magic, Lythande is wandering mercenary magician in the Thieves’ World series and beyond, who supports Law against Chaos.