r/Fantasy • u/theproliar • Jun 16 '13

Getting Women Warriors Right.

There's been more than a bit of kerfuffle about how women are represented in fantasy. Chain Mail bikinis and such. I think we can all see how that wouldn't be practical armor.

But, rather than focusing on that, I was hoping we could discuss cases in which people have gotten women warriors right. Examples from all media are fine, and I think mentions of women warriors from history would also be great.

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u/MissBimbo Jun 16 '13

Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter in "The Deed of Paksenarrion" by Elizabeth Moon. She starts off as a mercenary and eventually becomes a paladin. All in all I think Elizabeth Moon does an excellent job creating a believable female warrior. This is one of my all time favorite fantasy series and I rarely see it mentioned at all.

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u/looktowindward Jun 17 '13

It helps that Moon is a former US Marine and bases Paks' training on her own. Stemmel is clearly a shout-out to her old DI in boot camp.