Great science fiction books by and about women

I have always liked science fiction and fantasy. When I was a kid, I was really into Doctor Who, Harry Potter and any stories about magic and the future. I loved how these stories imagined what was possible. 

As I grew older, I started to feel that science fiction wasn't for me. I wasn't interested in space battles, and it seemed like most science fiction was written by men. It wasn't until I discovered science fiction written by women and with female protagonists, that I truly discovered my love for the genre. 

So without further ado, here is a list of my favourite science fiction novels written by women and non-binary people: 

• The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula Le Guin. Published in the 1960s, this book was one of the first to imagine a society without a strict gender binary. 
• The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood. Made popular by the tv series, this book imagines a near-future dystopia where women are only valued for their ability to reproduce. 
• Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler. Set in California in a state of economic and social collapse, this is a story of a girl who sows the seeds of a new religion whilst trying to survive. It's my favourite book! 
• Kindred - Octavia Butler. Written by the same author, this book is about a woman who travels back in time and encounters her ancestors who are slaves held violently captive on a plantation. 
• The Power - Naomi Alderman. This book imagines what would happen if one day, all women suddenly had to the power to  instantly hurt or kill someone with an electric shock.  
• The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - Becky Chambers. This is a comfort read, about a bunch of space travellers who become friends. It's so nice and I recommend it to everyone! 
• A Closed and Common Orbit - Becky Chambers. Similarly comforting and fascinating, this book is about identity and finding your place in the world / universe. 
• An Unkindness of Ghosts - Rivers Solomon. Abstract and imaginative, this story is set on a futuristic space craft whose power structures mimic those of America in the era of slavery. 
• Ancillary Justice - Anne Leckie. This book is mind-blowing. It's about the AI of a warship who suddenly becomes confined to a human body. 
• Paul takes the form of a Mortal Girl - Andrea Lawlor. This book is more speculative fiction than science fiction, but it's so great! It's about a young person who has the ability to shape-shift, and uses it to explore his gender and sexuality. 
• Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel. I have already written a whole blog post about this book! It's about a group of artists who have survived a brutal global pandemic. 
• The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemisin. My latest read. This captivating story is set on a planet where every few hundred years, apocalyptic disasters occur, wiping out most people. 

And some honorary mentions go to these excellent books which are written by men but have female protagonists:

• Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro. This surreal story is set in a society almost identical to our own, but in which people are cloned to produce organs for transplants. 
• Leila - Prayaag Akbar. The story of a woman who is on a quest to find her daughter many years after being separated by a futuristic caste system.