December 17
Lucy Holland
About Lucy
Lucy Hounsom - also writing as Lucy Holland - is the author of The Worldmaker Trilogy. Her first book, STARBORN, was shortlisted in the 2016 Gemmell Awards for Best Fantasy Debut. Her fourth book, SISTERSONG, a reimagining of the folk tale ‘The Twa Sisters’ is set in Devon and will be published by Pan Macmillan in 2021. She works for Waterstones and co-hosts the intersectional feminist podcast ‘Breaking the Glass Slipper’, which won Best Audio in the 2019 British Fantasy Awards. Lucy lives in Devon.
For our #CymeraAdvent calendar, Lucy Holland shares her top 3 feminist reads in SFF.
Long Light by Paige L. Christie (2019)
Latest in Christie’s Legacies of Arnan series, Long Light actually follows a male lead. Raised almost exclusively by women (who are also dragons), Kilras is forced to adjust to life in the hostile, patriarchal world beyond the secretive valleys of his youth. Female education as a source of power and societal good drives this series, and it’s heartbreaking to watch Kilras, a true feminist, realise the enormity of the injustice baked into the fabric of his world. Full of wonderful, gentle, bold, uncompromising female characters, I hope more readers will discover Christie’s books.
The Beauty by Aliya Whiteley (2014)
With its body horror and unflinching exploration of gendered norms, Whiteley’s The Beauty can almost be read in one impactful sitting. The novel follows a group of men struggling to survive in a world without women – mentally, physically and emotionally. Cleverly reversing sexual and reproductive roles, Whiteley urges us to ask who and what women actually are – and whether the roles society has unequivocally assigned them can just as readily be assigned to men. Be warned: you will never look at mushrooms the same way again.
Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente (2011)
Gorgeously written, Deathless is a multi-layered exploration of womanhood, marriage and the fragile nature of trust. Valente takes the story of Koschei the Deathless and Marya Morevna and sets it against the backdrop of the Russian communist revolutions. The horror of poverty in St Petersburg is greater than any horror Marya encounters in the realm of her husband, the Tsar of Life. We follow her from green girl to mature woman – both sexually and emotionally – as she strives to find meaning in a story that has played out again and again for millennia. Deathless perfectly demonstrates the power of myth as a lens through which to view both history and the human condition.
Find out more about Lucy:
Getting excited?
Pre-order Lucy’s Sistersong - out on 15 April 2021 - from Pan Macmillan or support our local bookshop Transreal Fiction - Scotland’s leading SciFi and Fantasy bookstore - in Edinburgh.