Nora *fucking* Jemisin has won, so far, *three* Hugo Best Novel awards, two of them back to back, one for each book in the Broken Earth trilogy.

Ann Leckie's creations are universally regarded as top-notch sf.

Elizabeth Moon, with hard sf in usually military settings.

Octavia Butler was basically a god.

Martha Wells is big these days cuz of the MurderBot books, but her backlist is fantastic.

Ursula Leguin, who I think might have been the first female sf/f author I ever read whose name made it clear she was female, is, of course, *legendary*.

Arkady Martine has done some truly impressive work, esp. _A Desolation Called Peace_.

There are also writers who don't specialize in sf/f, but who have written there:

Margaret Atwood's _Oryx and Crake_ stands out.

As does Mary Doria Russell's *stunning* _Sparrow_ duology. (Be prepared to feel sad.)

The list goes on and on and on:

Charlie Jane Anders,
Tamsyn Muir,
Connie Willis,
Mira Grant,
Mary Robinette Kowal,
Lois McMaster Bujold,
Joan Vinge,
Nancy Kress

I am *certainly* forgetting many names I should not, but I am old and tired and working from memory.

Women have written some of the best sf/f of all time.

@GeePawHill

I've read a lot of the authors you mention.

Anne McCaffrey introduced me to "good" dragons, and it took me decades to get over the awe of her and write dragon tales of my own.

I love Valdemar as a setting, and Black Gryphon is a masterpiece. (The other gryphon books less so.)

But can we look at contemporary authors, too?

I love Lindsay Buroker for her snark (and her dragons). She does great steampunk and urban fantasy.

Well... and I have a handful of books, too. Pretty please?

@Firlefanz @GeePawHill

Samantha Shannon's "Priory of the Orange Tree" trilogy (which is *awesome*) has both good and bad dragons, and a very cool magic system quite unlike anything I'd seen elsewhere. Lovely books, beautiful to read.