Best Strong Female Heroine Fantasy Books

Whenever friends lament that there are no strong, realistic female leads in fantasy literature; I am astounded. Not that I'm surprised that there is a prolific amount of novels in which women are solely there to seduce, be saved, or be stupid; I've definitely seen my fair share of that. To me, that's not just a mark of sexism, but of poor writing.

Characters in any book worth its salt are diverse and complicated, regardless of gender. The great thing about well-written fiction is that even a children's book can be enjoyable and full of meaning to adults when the author crafts something that draws you in and shows you the world in a whole new way with rich language and characters.

I have been lucky enough to read a ton of great books from childhood on that feature interesting, intelligent, powerful women of all ages. I'm talking about books where the main character is a kickass woman who drives the action and doesn't need to be saved, doesn't need help from someone who pees standing up to save the world. This isn't literature "for women," these books are fantastic stories period. So here is a list of some of the best out there.