There exists a particular magic in stories that weave the threads of history with the extraordinary—tales where the past becomes a canvas upon which remarkable women chart their own impossible courses. We have spent countless hours wandering through such pages, and we can tell you with certainty: the golden age of historical fantasy with strong female protagonists has well and truly arrived.
Whether you adored Madeline Miller’s Circe, found yourself breathless through The Priory of the Orange Tree, or wept alongside Sorcha in Daughter of the Forest, this collection shall prove a treasure map to your next obsession. These are not merely books with women in them—these are stories in which women are the story, wielding swords and spells and wit against the constraints of their worlds.
1. Circe by Madeline Miller
In the halls of the gods, where cruelty is sport and power the only currency, there lives an odd daughter of Helios who discovers she possesses something her divine family cannot comprehend: the gift of transformation. Banished to a remote island for the crime of witchcraft, Circe crafts a life entirely her own, encountering mortals and monsters alike across the centuries.
Miller’s prose reads like poetry carved from marble—luminous, precise, and deeply affecting. This is Greek mythology as it has never been told: through the eyes of a woman long dismissed as a mere obstacle in Odysseus’s journey. Here, she claims her story back. The novel won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, achievements richly deserved. For readers who wish to see a woman take her power in both hands and refuse to apologize for it, Circe is nothing short of essential.
2. The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky & Steven Brown
In 1780s England, an orphan named Wendy Darling dares to dream of the one thing society insists she cannot have: a ship of her own. While other young women learn needlework and domestic arts, Wendy secretly trains in navigation, swordplay, and seamanship, determined to prove that gender is no barrier to greatness. When she discovers England’s Home Office recruits women to fight magical threats, she seizes her chance—only to find herself entangled with the enigmatic and dangerous Peter Pan.
This Peter Pan retelling transforms the beloved tale into a rollicking historical adventure in which Wendy is no mere passenger to Neverland but the captain of her own destiny. The witty, omniscient narration recalls the great storytellers of old, and USA Today bestselling novelist Lydia Sherrer praised the novel as having “all the markings of a classic.” The complete Tales of the Wendy trilogy is now available for those who cannot bear to leave her company.
3. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
Amina al-Sirafi was once the most notorious pirate captain of the Indian Ocean—a legend whispered in every port from Aden to Mombasa. Now she is something altogether more terrifying: a middle-aged mother trying to keep her daughter safe from the demons (quite literal ones) of her past. When a kidnapping draws her back to the sea, she must assemble her old crew for one final, impossible voyage.
Chakraborty has given us something precious and rare: a heroine who is neither young nor beautiful by conventional standards, who has stretch marks and regrets and a fierce, protective love for her child. Set in the medieval Arab world with its rich tapestry of cultures and languages, this novel proves that swashbuckling adventure need not belong exclusively to the young. Kirkus called it “sheer joy, with quirky characters, spooky monsters, sprightly banter, and swashbuckling that puts Sindbad to shame.” A masterpiece of historical fantasy adventure.
4. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
A queen who must produce an heir to keep ancient evil at bay. A mage sworn to a secret sisterhood that guards forbidden magic. A dragonrider trained from childhood for a destiny she cannot escape. In this standalone epic fantasy, Shannon weaves together multiple perspectives across a world of queendoms, dragons, and political intrigue.
What sets this novel apart is its unapologetic feminism—this is a world where women rule, fight, scheme, and love without the constant reminder that such behavior is unusual for their sex. The worldbuilding sprawls magnificently across continents and cultures, and the representation of LGBTQ+ relationships is handled with refreshing normality. At over 800 pages, it demands commitment, but the rewards are substantial. Those who loved Tolkien but wished for more women would do well to begin here.
5. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
In ninth-century Ireland, Sorcha of Sevenwaters is the seventh child and only daughter, beloved by her six brothers and at home in the wild magic of her forest realm. When her father brings home a new wife whose cruelty knows no bounds, Sorcha’s brothers are cursed to live as swans. Only she can save them—but the price is terrible: years of silence and hands bloodied by nettles.
Marillier’s retelling of the Six Swans fairy tale is devastating in its beauty and its pain. Sorcha’s strength is not the sword-wielding kind but something far more difficult: endurance, sacrifice, and love that refuses to surrender. “Juliet Marillier is a highly gifted storyteller,” one reviewer noted, “perfectly combining history and fantasy to create a rich world full of mystery, magic and darkness, but also filled with hope, love and resilience.” This is the novel that launched one of fantasy’s most beloved series.
6. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
In a village at the edge of the Russian wilderness, where winter lasts half the year and the old spirits still linger, young Vasya Petrovna can see what others cannot: the domovoi protecting the hearth, the vazila watching the horses, the rusalka in the frozen river. When a new priest arrives, determined to stamp out these ancient beliefs, and a frost demon stirs from his long slumber, only Vasya stands between her people and destruction.
Arden’s debut novel is atmospheric perfection—one can practically feel the cold seeping through the pages. Vasya is “a clever, stalwart young woman determined to forge her own path in a time when women had few choices,” and her refusal to be anything other than herself drives this enchanting narrative. The prose is “beautiful and deft,” and the Russian folklore woven throughout provides a welcome departure from the well-trodden paths of Western European fantasy.
7. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
In the frozen kingdom of Lithvas, three women’s fates intertwine: Miryem, a moneylender’s daughter who boasts she can turn silver to gold; Wanda, who labors to protect her siblings from their brutal father; and Irina, a duke’s daughter adorned in dangerous Staryk silver to catch a demon-possessed tsar’s eye. When the fairy king of winter demands Miryem make good on her boast, all three must outwit forces far beyond mortal power.
Novik’s reimagining of Rumpelstiltskin through an Eastern European lens tackles antisemitism and gender discrimination with unflinching honesty while never sacrificing the wonder of fairy tale. The three heroines complement each other magnificently—Miryem’s ruthless practicality, Wanda’s quiet courage, Irina’s cold calculation—and watching them maneuver against impossible odds is deeply satisfying. A Nebula Award finalist that proves fairy tales can be both escapist and profoundly relevant.
8. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Every ten years, the Dragon—a cold and distant wizard—chooses a young woman from the villages near the corrupted Wood to serve him. Everyone expects him to take the beautiful, talented Kasia. Instead, he chooses her best friend: the perpetually disheveled Agnieszka, who promptly proves to be the most troublesome apprentice he has ever endured.
Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, Uprooted is influenced by Polish folklore and reads like a fairy tale told by someone who truly understands the form. Agnieszka is “a wonderful protagonist, far from perfect but tough and charming,” and her voice is “pitch-perfect.” The friendship between Agnieszka and Kasia forms the emotional heart of the story, a rare and precious thing in fantasy. For those who love tales of young women discovering they are far more powerful than anyone believed, this is the book.
9. The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Rin, a war orphan from the south, aces the Empire-wide examination and earns a place at the most elite military academy in Nikan. There she discovers she is a shaman—one who can call down the fire of the gods. But the Second Poppy War is coming, and Rin will learn that the power to save her people may demand becoming something monstrous.
Inspired by the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese history, Kuang’s debut is not for the faint of heart. It deals unflinchingly with genocide, colonization, and the corruption of power, transforming Rin from underdog to something far more complicated. The magic system, rooted in Chinese folklore and shamanism, is inventive and terrifying. This is grimdark fantasy at its finest, with a protagonist whose journey leaves one breathless and unsettled in equal measure.
10. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
In 1899 New York, two magical beings find each other amid the teeming immigrant communities of the Lower East Side. Chava is a golem, a creature of clay brought to life by forbidden magic, now masterless and adrift. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire trapped in human form, chafing against the restrictions of mortal existence. Their unlikely friendship becomes a meditation on free will, faith, and what it truly means to be human.
Wecker’s debut blends Jewish and Arab folklore into historical fiction that feels both timeless and immediate. Chava navigates her world with the double burden of her supernatural nature and her gender—a woman alone in nineteenth-century New York must always be careful, but a golem who can hear the thoughts of every person nearby faces unique challenges. The novel won the Mythopoeic Award and its sequel, The Hidden Palace, proves Wecker’s talent is no mere flash in the pan.
11. The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
In 1893, in the city of New Salem, women’s magic and women’s suffrage are both outlawed. The three Eastwood sisters—estranged by tragedy and their father’s cruelty—reunite to fight for both. Their weapons are spells hidden in nursery rhymes and the dangerous, radical act of women speaking to each other.
Harrow has described this novel as “suffragists, but witches,” and the description is apt. Each chapter opens with a spell disguised as a nursery rhyme, building a mythology of women’s magic passed down through generations in secret. The three sisters embody the Maiden, Mother, and Crone archetypes while subverting them magnificently. NPR’s review declared, “I unabashedly, unreservedly adore The Once and Future Witches.” We find ourselves in complete agreement.
12. The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk
In a world of Regency balls and magical bargains, Beatrice Clayborn practices sorcery in secret—for married women are locked into collars that suppress their magic to protect their unborn children. Beatrice dreams of becoming a Magus like the men, but her family needs her to secure a wealthy husband. When she meets a man who might be both ally and romantic interest, she must choose between love and freedom.
Polk’s novel takes the trappings of Regency romance and interrogates them through a feminist lens. The result is a story about bodily autonomy, sisterhood, and the radical possibilities that emerge when women refuse to accept the bargains society offers them. Kirkus praised its “penetrating social critique and deeply felt depiction of one woman’s struggle for self-determination.” The prose is gorgeously elegant, perfectly suited to its setting.
13. The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
Imprisoned in a decaying temple by her tyrant brother, Princess Malini waits for death—or rescue. Her maidservant Priya hides dangerous secrets and forbidden magic. When circumstance reveals their true natures to each other, they forge an alliance that will shake an empire built on the ashes of conquered peoples.
Suri’s epic fantasy, inspired by the history and mythology of India, won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Its exploration of colonialism, empire, and resistance is nuanced and unflinching. The slow-burn romance between Malini and Priya develops alongside the political machinations with devastating effect. “Suri’s incandescent feminist masterpiece hits like a steel fist inside a velvet glove,” praised one reviewer—a description that captures the novel’s combination of beautiful prose and sharp edges.
14. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
Elisabeth was raised in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, where magical grimoires whisper on shelves and transform into monsters if provoked. When sabotage releases the most dangerous grimoire of all, Elisabeth must ally with her sworn enemy—the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn—to uncover a centuries-old conspiracy.
Rogerson’s novel is a love letter to books and those who would die for them. Elisabeth is praised as “a winning protagonist who believably transitions from naive ingenue to determined heroine without sacrificing her earnest, bookish nature.” The magical libraries, with their living books and bookish guardians, provide a setting that bibliophiles will find irresistible. Kirkus gave it a starred review, comparing Rogerson to Diana Wynne Jones—high praise indeed, and well deserved.
15. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
In an alternate Regency England where magic has returned after centuries of absence, two very different magicians vie for supremacy: the reclusive Mr Norrell, who hoards his magical knowledge jealously, and the charismatic Jonathan Strange, who believes magic should be wild and free. Their rivalry will reshape England—and awaken powers best left sleeping.
Clarke’s doorstopper debut won the Hugo Award and reads like a lost nineteenth-century novel, complete with footnotes referencing imaginary scholarly works. While the titular magicians are male, the novel’s exploration of those silenced by society—particularly the women trapped by magical bargains not of their making—gives it a feminist undercurrent. Neil Gaiman called it “the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years.” It is certainly among the most ambitious.
Finding Your Next Great Read
The fifteen novels gathered here span centuries and continents, from ancient Greece to nineteenth-century New York, from medieval Russia to fantasy worlds inspired by India and China. What unites them is their celebration of women who refuse to be diminished—who claim their power, their stories, their destinies.
For those seeking adventure on the high seas, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi and The Wendy deliver swashbuckling heroines aplenty. For fairy tale retellings, Daughter of the Forest, Spinning Silver, and Uprooted transform familiar tales into something new and wondrous. For epic political fantasy, The Priory of the Orange Tree and The Jasmine Throne offer worlds where women rule and fight and love without apology.
Whatever your preference, we trust you shall find something magnificent within these pages. After all, the best stories have always belonged to those brave enough to claim them.
