80s-90s-00s✨High Fantasy✨by female authors
A list of First books in Fantasy series (or standalones) published in 1980s-2000s written by female authors. Many of these authors are/were prolific writers so most additions are limited to their debut book or most popular series. Go read more by these authors!
created by leanbot
last updated June, 2026
Comments
Okay hi just found this list and I love it! I have a question if you don't mind... I found a book in a second hand store, a german translation of a fantasy book and I'm on the hunt to find the original but I'm lost haha. Usually translations have the original title somewhere in the book, this one didn't so I thought I just try to google the author, but nothing. Her name is Catherine O'Donell, she was born 1964 in Ireland and if I directly translate the German Title it's "The Forbidden Lake - Trilogy of the Fighting Empires", translation is from 2002 so I thought maybe you know the author by chance. I looked everywhere, I'm desperate.
Hi! I have not heard of this series but you can try searching on Worldcat (https://search.worldcat.org/#advancedsearch) by possibly using the ISBN? In theory the ISBN can be traced to author and publisher (and any other languages). You also may want to reach out to a librarian as they have access to and are very proficient at using these kinds of book databases! Also this may be a long shot, but you could try emailing the publisher (assuming they are still around). I think I found an ebook bindup of it on Kindle store and it says it was published in 2019 which isn't too long ago for that bindup!
Good luck 🤞
Thank you so much! Will try!
I think it's the German author Michaela Link. She uses Catherine O'Donell as a pseudonym and one of her books fits your Forbidden Lake translation.
ohhh interesting because in the book she only stands as the translator
Fantastic list!!!
I don't know if you're open to someone co-authoring with a man, but Leigh Eddings has a special place in my heart for having written alongside David Eddings but having her name not listed as an author for around a decade or more (heck, even now her name is often dropped). Of particular interest, she developed the female characters and dialogue in their books, which was something we needed so much in the fantasy genre back then! (And still, obviously!!)
Thank the literary goddesses for all these pioneers!! 👏
leanbotOP
Thank you for the recommendation! I've added one of their books.
Fantastic, thank you!! ♡♡♡
Reading my first Patricia McKillip book and was looking for more. So happy to find this amazing list, thank you 🫶🏼
leanbotOP
Happy to help! Enjoy 🩷
Love this. Several of my favorites when I was growing up are on this list and I'm looking forward to reading more of them, especially now that I might be able to find more of them, rather than being limited to whatever is available at the thrift store.
leanbotOP
Let me know if you see any I have missed! I have a little personal project to read as many of these as I can too 😃
This list is everything I needed, I realize 🙂↕️ thanks for compiling and I’m sure my mother will love this (I realise now that I’m currently finding a lot of books for parts of my family here 😭)
leanbotOP
Yay, have fun!
Oh, the nostalgia! I haven't read a lot of the books on the list, but the ones I did read were pretty formative. I sure do miss those fully painted covers with elaborate swoopy lettering, too. What a vibe.
Thanks for putting this together!
leanbotOP
I am a big fan of the vintage covers too! Enjoy
