Female Science Fiction Author Reading List

This post is in belated response to all the hoopla that comes up over and over again about female authors and awards, etc.  It goes along with the guest post I've done for Fantasy Cafe (which is now up, so go and check it out).  Unlike most of my reading lists, which are endcap displays at the store where I work, this was a list I put together for my blog, by walking through the aisles and writing down every female SF writer I could find.  I know I've missed a lot (as not all authors are still in print, some still use pseudonyms and so many authors are going the epublishing route nowadays), so feel free to mention other authors in the comments.

In the case of romantic SF, I'm linking to the list I did a few months ago and adding a few names here that aren't on that list.  And if you want Dystopian, check out the reading list I did for that.

I tried to categorized authors but apologize for any mistakes I might have made.  The only places I doubled names were to flesh out Time Travel and Alternate History and in one case Series (if an author wrote one of those as well as another category).

My hard SF list is purposefully small, as it's hard to judge the accuracy of the science and if the book revolves around a specific scientific idea without reading it.  So these are books that I'm pretty sure are hard SF, but I'm also pretty sure there will be hard SF books in my general SF category.

As you can see from this long yet incomplete list, there are a lot of women writing science fiction.  Seems a shame more of them aren't remembered come award time.

Hard SF

Nancy Kress - Probability Moon
Glynn Latner - Hurricane Moon

M. J. Locke - Up Against It

Syne Mitchell - Changeling Plague

Joan Slonczweski - Brain Plague

General SF

Ann Aguirre - Grimspace

C. L. Anderson - Bitter Angels

Margaret Ball - Disappearing Act

Elizabeth Bear - Dust

Lauren Beukes - Zoo City
Leigh Brackett - The Secret of Sinharat

M. M. Buckner - Watermind

C. J. Cherryh - Foreigner

Sara Creasy - Song of Scarabaeus

Julie Czerneda - A Thousand Words for Stranger

Marienne de Pierres - Dark Space

Diane Duane - Omnitopia Dawn

Jaine Fenn - Principles of Angels

J. M. Frey - Triptych

Nicola Griffith - Ammonite

Jane Jensen - Dante's Equation

Kay Kenyon - The Braided World 

Sharon Lee & Steve Miller - Fledgling

Ursula K. Le Guin - The Word for World is Forest

Doris Lessing - Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta

Karin Lowachee - Warchild

Anne McCaffrey - The Ship Who Sang

Maureen McHugh - China Mountain Zhang

Chris Moriarty - Spin State

Sheryl Nantus - Blaze of Glory

Andre Norton - Prison Ship

Diana Palmer - Morcai Batallion

Kit Reed - Thinner Than Thou

Justina Robson - Mappa Mundi

Joanna Russ - The Female Man

Melissa Scott - Trouble and Her Friends

Suzan Shwartz - Hostile Takeover

Kristine Smith - Code of Conduct

Wen Spencer - Tinker

Sheri Tepper - Grass

Karen Traviss - City of Pearl

Joan Vinge - Psion

Lynda Williams - The Courtesan Prince

Liz Williams - Banner of Souls

Phoebe Wray - Jemma 7729

Military SF

Lois McMaster Bujold - Cordelia's Honor

Tanya Huff - Valor's Choice

Jean Johnson - A Soldier's Duty

Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Moon - Sassinak

Sandra McDonald - The Outback Stars

Elizabeth Moon - Hunting Party

Romantic SF

Gini Koch - Touched by an Alien

Stephenie Meyer - The Host

Sharon Shinn - Jenna Starborn

Lisa Paitz Spindler - The Spiral Path

Time Travel

Kage Baker - In the Garden of Iden

Linda Evans & Robert Asprin - Time Scout

Kay Kenyon - Seeds of Time

Audrey Niffenegger - Time Traveler's Wife

Andre Norton - Echoes in Time
Marge Piercy - Woman on the Edge of Time

Connie Willis - Doomsday Book

Alternative History

Virginia DeMarce - 1635: The Tangled Web

Debbra Doyle - Land of Mist and Snow

Bernardine Evaristo - Blonde Roots

Sophia McDougall - Romanitas

Naomi Novik - His Majesty's Dragon

Ekaterina Sedia - Heart of Iron

Jo Walton - Farthing

Connie Willis - Blackout

Steampunk (part 1 and part 2)

Gail Carriger - Soulless

Phil & Kaja Foglio - Agatha H and the Airship City

Dru Pagliassotti - Clockwork Heart

Cherie Priest - Boneshaker

Ekaterina Sedia - The Alchemy Stone

Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic

Margaret Atwood - Oryx & Crake

Octavia Butler - Parable of the Sower

Suzanne Collins - Hunger Games

Nalo Hopkinson - Brown Girl in the Ring

P. D. James - Children of Men

Nnedi Okorafor - Who Fears Death

K. M. Ruiz - Mind Storm

Mary Shelley - The Last Man

Series Books

Karen Traviss - Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice, Halo: Grasslands, Gears of War: Anvil Gate

Diana Carey - Aliens: Cauldron, Star Trek TNG: Ship of the Line

Diana Dru Botsford - Stargate SG1: Four Dragons

Olivia Woods - Star Trek DS9: The Soul Key

Kristen Beyer - Star Trek Voyager: Children of the Storm

Christie Golden - Star Craft: The Dark Templar Saga

Authors mentioned in comments

Zoe Archer - Skies of Fire (steampunk)
Catherine Asaro - Primary Inversion (general, hard, military and romantic SF)
K. S. Augustin - In Enemy Hands (romantic SF with hard SF elements)
Jay Blakeney - The Goda War (general SF)
Marion Zimmer Bradley - The Colors of Space (general SF)
Meljean Brook - The Iron Duke (steampunk)
Pat Cadigan - Dervish is Digital (general SF)
Jayge Carr - Navigator's Sindrome (general SF)
Jo Clayton - Diadem From the Stars (general SF)
Michelle Shirey Crean - Dancer of the Sixth (general SF)
L. Timmel Duchamp - Alayna to Alayna (general SF)
Suzette Haden Elgin - The Communipaths (general SF)
Kelley Eskridge - Solitaire (general SF, short stories)
Sharon Lynn Fisher - Ghost Planet (romantic SF, out December 2012)
Eileen Gunn - Stable Strategies and Others (general SF, short stories)
Gwynith Jones - North Wind (general SF)
Shariann Lewitt - Momento Mori (apocalyptic/plague SF)
Louise Marley - Singer in the Snow (general SF)
Susan Matthews - Colony Fleet (general SF)
Judith Merill - Survival Ship and Other Stories (short stories)
Judith Moffett - "Surviving" (short stories)
C. L. Moore - Northwest of East (short stories)
Pat Murphy - There and Back Again (general SF)
Linda Nagata - The Bohr Maker (general SF)
Jane Palmer - The Planet Dweller (general SF)
Doris Piserchia - A Billion Days of Earth (general SF) 
Marta Randall - A City in the North (general SF)
Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Diving Into the Wreck (general SF)
Pamela Sargent - Starshadows (short stories)
Jody Scott - Passing For Human (general SF)
Tricia Sullivan - Someone To Watch Over Me (general SF)
Sue Thomas - Correspondence (general SF)
James Tiptree, Jr. - Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (general SF, short stories)
Kate Wilhem - Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (general SF)
Karen A. Wyle - Twin-Bred (general Sf)
Pamela Zoline - "The Heat Death of the Universe" (short stories)

Websites to check out:

The Galaxy Express
SF Mistressworks
Daughters of Prometheus