Why are there so many male protagonists in all cool books?

[gypolord]

Wow, way to be sexist. Asides from that being a massive over-generalisation and utterly incorrect stereotype, I think you'll find that female protagonists are mostly only written that way in teenage romances.

Which are more often than not piles of crap and a waste of perfectly good paper.

What an absolutely fantastic point.

However, I must now ask for a female protagonist who is not a waste of perfectly good paper.

Of course, My points before were utterly horrendous. I think a large part of my problem is the fact that I read fantasy which tend to avoid the female protagonist with the same fervour that it adheres to DWARVES must be there and be good with metal and ELVES must be there, Live in the forest and be archers and magicians. Which is an utterly appalling thing, (when did fantasy become tolkien?) but that's a different argument entirely.

[Schadenfreude]

However, I must now ask for a female protagonist who is not a waste of perfectly good paper.

Have a list;
Honor Harrington from the eponymous series by David Weber
Sabriel from the Old Kingdom trilogy by Garth Nix
Sasha from the Trial of Blood and Steel series by Joel Shepherd
Liesel Meminger from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Valkyrie Cain from Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
Elspeth Gordie from the Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobel Carmody.
Alanna of Trebond from the Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce

Actually, pretty much everything by Tamora Pierce has a badass female as the lead;
Daine Sarrasri from the Immortals
Keladry of Mindelan from Protector of the Small
Aly of Pirate's Swoop from Trickster's
Beka Cooper from, well, Beka Cooper.


...And that's just off the top of my head. Also, every one of those stories bar Honor Harrington and The Book Thief is fantasy.

[MadCatta]

Oh, and Hester from Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve. She's cool. Although she's not entirely a protagonist.. but so is Wren, so that's cool.

And Kitty Jones from Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathon Stroud

[Pedro-ologist]

And Kitty Jones from Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathon Stroud

Kitty is not a Protagonist. She is a 'sidekick' (that is just the word used to describe that sort of character) or a contagonist in the books. Natty plays the major part in those amazing, wonderful, bloody good books (Bartimaeus is also a Sidekick, but a major one at that).

Dilan Sharp from Leviathan is a great female protagonist (admittedly, she does spend nearly the entire trilogy pretending to be a boy...). I love those books...

[MadCatta]

She's got her own "voice" and comes into it properly by the second and third... She must have a third of the last two books to herself. Besides, it's defined (by google) as "The leading character or a major character in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text."
She leads some of it and is certainly a major character.

[DilanMelis]

Having just read Percy Jackson, I'm adding Annabeth. She's totally tough. And all the girls I've read so far in the Maria Snyder books seem to be too. Arya in Game of Thrones too. I'll agree with the Leviathan example too. Just because she pretends to be a boy doesn't mean she isn't tough! (+cool)

[Pedro-ologist]

Annabeth is not a protagonist. She too is a sidekick...

[DilanMelis]

I suppose. But she's integral to the story. And I suspect the next book is all about her.

[bingo]

I actually read this really cool article, recently, about the 'extraordinary' woman in literature - how, like, for a girl to be cool she has to be PERFECT. Of course she will be badass! Of course she will be tough! Of course she will be pretty! The example they used in that one was Ginny. But to be entirely fair, I think the best example of a well-rounded female protagonist right now would be Katniss, off the Hunger Games (we've all exhausted that argument), but since Dil brought up Game of Thrones - SO MANY.

Sansa, Arya, Daenarys are all FABULOUS female protagonists in Game of Thrones. And they're not perfect tomboys either (especially not Sansa!) but they're protagonists in cool books, so I suppose they count.

Schady, I'd also like to add Lirael from the Abhorsen Trilogy. She's not as badass as Sibrael but she was pretty good, too.

[DilanMelis]

Oh jeez, I don't like Ginny, but I do get the kickass thing. I much prefer Hermione. Sookie is pretty cool too (though she's super annoying in the series.) She manages to get everyone under control whilst still remaining a total girl. And I like that she isn't rich, or famous (well, not in the beginning), that she hasn't been to uni. But my favourites is when they aren't special in any way other than having a strong determination to do what's right (for this, I'd give Dylan Sharp or Trella in Inside Out as an example).

[Schadenfreude]

Schady, I'd also like to add Lirael from the Abhorsen Trilogy. She's not as badass as Sibrael but she was pretty good, too.

Yeah, I'll agree with this. Lirael was pretty damn awesome.

Oh jeez, I don't like Ginny, but I do get the kickass thing. I much prefer Hermione.

The problem with Ginny is that she was very much a peripheral character until JK decided that Harry needed a girlfriend. She was given the beginnings of a fleshed out and interesting character in Order of the Phoenix, and seemed to be heading in a pretty badass direction, but then she was kind of kicked to "easily identifiable female self-insert" zone in Half-Blood Prince.

We were told about how pretty and smart she was, but we were never really shown it, and when you're wanting a believable character, you really need to have the character do stuff that demonstrates their traits rather than just state that they have them.

[gypolord]

Ginny did things. She was involved in several fights, not to mention going one on one with belletrist. It self an achievement, since the equally talented and much more experienced Sirus had trouble with her, especially since she killed him.

I would say that Arya, is a wonderful female protagonist as is Daenarys. Sansa starts off pretty terrible, but I'll admit that as the series goes on she becomes much more interesting and complex.

Also totally forgot about Sabriel and Lirael. been a long time since I've seen Mr Nix's books on a bookshelf.

Might I add R'shiel, from Jennifer Fallon's Demon Child trilogy, or Mara Wolfblade from her Hythrun Chronicles. Although, neither could be considered an ordinary woman, they are impressively written. Particularly Marla, from spoiled princess to de facto ruler and loving mother. It's quite a transition.

[DilanMelis]

Schady, I'd also like to add Lirael from the Abhorsen Trilogy. She's not as badass as Sibrael but she was pretty good, too.

Yeah, I'll agree with this. Lirael was pretty damn awesome.

Oh jeez, I don't like Ginny, but I do get the kickass thing. I much prefer Hermione.

The problem with Ginny is that she was very much a peripheral character until JK decided that Harry needed a girlfriend. She was given the beginnings of a fleshed out and interesting character in Order of the Phoenix, and seemed to be heading in a pretty badass direction, but then she was kind of kicked to "easily identifiable female self-insert" zone in Half-Blood Prince.

We were told about how pretty and smart she was, but we were never really shown it, and when you're wanting a believable character, you really need to have the character do stuff that demonstrates their traits rather than just state that they have them.

I loved Ginny in the beginning. Especially when she was madly in love with Harry, who didn't reciprocate the feeling. She was funny then. Later, she just got annoying and all high and mighty. But then, Harry got pretty annoying too. As did Ron. And I loved Ron.

I need to continue with GoT, as I hear they just keep getting better? Sansa shows some bone towards the end of the first book.

I suppose we could also use Wheel of Time as a good example too - Nynaeve, Egwene, Elayne and Moiraine are all really strong female leads. While I get that technically Rand is the main protagonist, as the series progresses, that no longer is the case.

[gypolord]

I think that it's arguable.  That only Egwene has become a true protagonist but the others are still somewhat peripheral. But they have all had their own major arcs. So has Faile for that matter. Same with Tuon. Jordan has all these strong female characters, but they're just really stubborn. If they'd just talk to the men, so many issues would be solved. At least Rand, Matt and Perrin can't talk because they're in different countries most of the time.

Also, Rand, Mat, and Perrin are all equally important. They're so equal that they've all had a book that they're not in. (That may seem strange, but it makes complete sense.)

[DilanMelis]

Perhaps. Though you're right in stating their stubbornness. At times, it feels like I'm reading the same character but with a different name xP