Sara Douglass and Tad Williams

Almost a month has passed since I last posted here.  Life has been busy!  After making a big achievement in my life, I have spent the past week searching for a job.  What I need is a good job to support me for two years before I go to grad school.  I have also spent the a few days browsing through this website:

http://www.beyondacademe.com/

There will not be any author reviews this week, but as I considered it and looked at my books, I remembered something very strange I once read when I researched the suffrage movement.  A man was saying, "I would like to support women's suffrage, but my wife won't let me."  I forget where that source is or if I even have it printed.  The point is that women can be misogynistic and that men can be feminist.  Women can also be personally empowered while denying power to their gender; this has been the case throughout history where great female monarchs reigned over deep patriarchies.  At one point in Europe, the most sexist nation was governed by a woman - Queen Isabella of Spain in 1492.  But there has also been Eleanor of Aquitaine among others.

To make this a book-related post, I am reminded of my decision between two fantasy authors - Sara Douglass and Tad Williams.  I wanted to read books by female authors because I thought a woman writer would automatically have strong female characters.  The back of Sara Douglass's Starman has this description:

Axis is the StarMan of prophecy and legend, destined to lead the three races of his world to unite as one people.  The Prophecy foretold that Axis would defeat his half-brother, reclaim the land of Tencendor, and find a traitor in his camp.

So far, so good.  But then the summary reached a point where my opinion plummeted.

The Prophecy has also foretold of many a choice that Axis must make in order to fulfill his destiny... but neglected to mention that one of those choices would be to choose the love of either the beautiful and courageous Faraday or the feisty and hauntingly enchanting Azhure.
To Faraday he had pledged his love and a place by his side as ruler of Tencendor; to Azhure he had given his children, his time, and his devotion.

That there screamed out a big NO!  For one thing, it delves into the old stereotype of women as love interests when women should be more, much more than that.  The struggle of choosing two women merely compounds the problem.  Just about every fantasy involves a love interest, but it should never be central to the plot.  Making it central to the plot further establishes the concept of women as love interest and nothing else. 
I am fine with women being a love interest.  After all, Arwen was essentially there for Aragorn's romance, but Arwen was also a side (not main) character whose appearance helped make Aragorn a more 3-dimensional character.  Also, Lord of the Rings had its Eowyn and its Galadriel.  The problem comes when the love interest is a main character who does nothing except be a love interest or when women feature prominently in a love triangle.

So, I decided to read The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams.  Although no women were mentioned in the back summary, I knew Tad Williams could write female characters well.  I had previously read War of the Flowers in which  30-year-old Theo Vilmos - an aimless man in a state of pepetual adolesence and immaturity - finds himself in the dangerous land of the Faerie.  Theo meets Applecore, a fearless and no-nonsense woman whose quick wit saves him many times over.  Applecore is one of the best female characters I have read, and she becomes the role model and inspiration for Theo to immature and improve himself into a better character.

Because I enjoyed War of the Flowers and because I knew Tad Williams can write female characters pretty well, I decided to read The Dragonbone Chair.  I am not disappointed in his portrayal of female characters.  The hero of the story is an orphaned scullion named Simon (Seoman), but his mistress Rachel is powerful and demanding.  Also, there is the princess Miramiele who is assertive and clever.  Miramiele once had gorgeous blonde hair until she shaved it and dyed her hair brown to disguise herself and to investigate the evil changes in the land.  She turned her blonde hair into a wig for when she resumes her princess duties.  She is not afraid to place herself in danger.  When she thinks her uncle has refused to seek a province as an ally, Miramiele sets off on her own to obtain that province's support.  And that is currently were I am reading.