Guest Post: 5 SF/F Books That Obliterate the Bechdel Test, by Stacey Berg

Shattered Chain, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Saga of the Renunciates collects Marion Zimmer Bradley’s three novels about the Free Amazons of Darkover into one omnibus version. The first in the series, The Shattered Chain, tells the intertwined stories of Magda Lorne, a Terran agent who grew up on Darkover, and Jaelle N’ha Melora, a Free Amazon, member of a sisterhood of women who have renounced their society’s male-dominated customs to live apart from, and on equal terms with, men. It’s hard to remember now how uncommon female protagonists used to be in science fiction, and this book is full of them. On the one hand an action packed fantasy full of sword fights, mistaken identities, and desperate flights through mountain storms, the Shattered Chain is also a thoughtful exploration of the role of women in the world, and with each other, conducted by the women themselves. If you like feminist philosophy mixed with your sword and sorcery, this is the book for you.

The Northern Girl, by Elizabeth Lynn
The third in the Dancers of Arun trilogy, The Northern Girl is the coming of age story of Sorren, bondservant to the powerful councilor Arré Med, and lover of Arré guard commander, Paxe. Sorren hides a secret, the gift of far-travelling, seeing distant places in her mind; the gift springs from the foreign home she longs to find. Before she can go on that journey, though, insurrection threatens the city, and Sorren must find the inner strength to confront both the rebels and her heritage. But she’s no lone hero: the women around her are companions and guides: a truth-teller from the witches’ guild; the drunk ex-messenger Kadra; and most of all, Arré and Paxe, both of whom love Sorren enough to let her go in the end. The plot is full of turns and the prose glitters like the sea Sorren watches, but it’s the relationships among these women that give The Northern Girl its heart.

Slow River, by Nicola Griffith
Slow River tells the story of Lore, discarded heir to a rich family that controls waste remediation in a not too distant future. The story is told in three intricately woven threads that include a sordid childhood mystery, a long struggle to rebuild identity, and a barely averted environmental disaster. But after the plot is resolved, what sticks are the tangled webs that bind the characters, especially the one tying Lore to Spanner, a thief, drug dealer, and prostitute. Their partnership arises out of need and loneliness, and disintegrates with Lore’s gradual development of independence. There is little romantic and nothing of true love about it; in the end, for Lore to survive, she must leave it behind. But like a river, it carries Lore where she needs to go for a time, and it stays with the reader long after the journey is over.

Santa Olivia, by Jacqueline Carey
Santa Olivia is an odd and entertaining novel from Jacqueline Carey, better known for the Kushiel’s Legacy fantasy series. Loup Garron is an orphan girl with mysterious powers, growing up in an occupied border town with a mystery of its own. Born without fear, Loup becomes leader of the santitos, child vigilantes who right small wrongs, often with comic effect. As Loup gets older, though, the confrontations with authority become more serious, until she finally takes on the conspirators enslaving the town. A bit young adult, a bit western, a bit meta—the other orphans immediately recognize what Loup is because they’ve read Wolverine comics—and mostly a really great boxing tale, Santa Olivia captures the heat of romance between two young women who have to decide whether personal happiness is more important than the fight for justice. And justice, of course, leads straight to…

Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie
Ancillary Justice doesn’t so much pass the Bechdel test as leave it behind. The protagonist Breq and the rest of the Radchaii empire don’t care much about gender, and their language does not make distinctions between male and female. The confusion this causes Breq outside Radch space, and Leckie’s brilliant and now famous choice to use the feminine as the default in Breq’s narration, make characters’ biologic gender both a source of intrigue and an afterthought. For me the relationship between Breq/One Esk and Lieutenant Awn was the central romance of the book, and I read both characters as women. More importantly, though, Breq—at least during her time as a ship—has thousands of bodies, all part of one whole. This may make Ancillary Justice the first book in which the narrator passes the Bechdel test all by herselves.
Stacey Berg is a medical researcher who writes speculative fiction. Her work as a physician-scientist provides the inspiration for many of her stories. She lives with her wife in Houston and is a member of the Writers’ League of Texas. Her latest book is Dissension: An Echo Hunter 367 Novel, available now.