Women Over 30 in Sci-fi and Fantasy

A list of well-rated sci-fi and fantasy books featuring a woman who's 30 or older as the main character. I'm open to recommendations - I'd love this list to be long

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created by Squiggls

last updated September, 2026

29 books

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Hungerstone

Kat Dunn

Hunt the Stars (Starlight's Shadow, #1)

Jessie Mihalik

The Last Contract of Isako

Fonda Lee

The Blighted Stars

Megan E. O'Keefe

The Raven Scholar

Antonia Hodgson

The Witch's Heart

Genevieve Gornichec

Paladin of Souls (World of the Five Gods, #2)

Lois McMaster Bujold

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping

Sangu Mandanna

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Sangu Mandanna

The Girl With A Thousand Faces

Sunyi Dean

Brigands & Breadknives

Travis Baldree

The Shadow of the Gods

John Gwynne

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Heather Fawcett

The Rook

Daniel O'Malley

Circe

Madeline Miller

Swordheart

T. Kingfisher

The Sword of Kaigen

M.L. Wang

A Day of Fallen Night

Samantha Shannon

Best Served Cold

Joe Abercrombie

The Ninth Rain

Jen Williams

Tehanu (Earthsea Cycle, #4)

Ursula K. Le Guin

City of Stairs

Robert Jackson Bennett

Nettle & Bone

T. Kingfisher

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

Shannon Chakraborty

Hemlock & Silver

T. Kingfisher

Legends & Lattes

Travis Baldree

The Stone Sky

N.K. Jemisin

The Obelisk Gate

N.K. Jemisin

The Fifth Season

N.K. Jemisin

Comments

AussieAggie

Yo, you could add The Very Secret society of irregular witches and/or A witches guide to magical innkeeping, the main character in both of these is a woman of colour over 30

SquigglsOP

Ooh these sound perfect, I'll check them out - thanks! 😊

emma.thinks

Ooh, The Girl With a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean might fit. The main character, Mercy Chan, is in her 50s (though a lot of the book also happens in the past when she was younger, so it is up to you if you want to include it or not!) 😊

SquigglsOP

Ah that sounds like a good fit, I'll look into it - thank you! 😊

MomoSedai

The Raven Scholar's FMC is in her 30s :)

SquigglsOP

Great, thank you! 😊

MomoSedai

Also Megan E. O'Keefe's The Devoured Worlds series

SquigglsOP

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Edited

Ooh, thanks! This one's been on my tbr for a while but I had no idea it would fit this list - I'm making it my next read 😊