SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Just wondering, are there any fantasy / action adventure / science fiction stories about two sisters? The two brothers theme is ubiquitous. Supernatural, Vampire Diaries (even the spin-off is about the two original brothers; they only have one sister), Cal and Nikko, Thor and Loki. Even Harry Dresden eventually finds out he has a brother.

There are some brother sister combos like Max/Isabel in Roswell. Buffy has Dawn but does that really even count? There are several examples in books I’ve read of male/female twins, but I’m really having a hard time of thinking of sisters. Most of the ‘heroes’ are only children male or female but when siblings are central to the story it is usually brothers. Frozen is a recent exception.

Running through my list of favorite female heroines, I can think of a few with a sister as a minor character but not one where the relationship is central to the story.

Can anyone give me some examples?

Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson is a really interesting novel, with a protagonist born a conjoined twin, that heavily features a sister relationship.

I'm surprised how tough it is for me to think of other examples!

Hillary wrote: "Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson is a really interesting novel, with a protagonist born a conjoined twin, that heavily features a sister relationship.

I'm surprised how tough it is fo..."

Someone else suggested this one so I am definitely going to give it a look. Never heard of it before.

The Mists of Avalon revolves around the 3 sisters- Igraine, Viviane, and Morgause, and their children and how they interact with each other. Their sister bonds/rivalries/power struggles are very central to the book.

Jen wrote: "The Mists of Avalon revolves around the 3 sisters- Igraine, Viviane, and Morgause, and their children and how they interact with each other. The..."

I read that about twenty years ago! Good one.

Does Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker count? Two sisters and the story revolves around their actions, among others. One goes off to marry the God King, and the other goes to rescue her, and then they both have their own different adventures until they manage to finally meet.

Lame description, I know, but you should really try it. Another gem from Sanderson.

Having read it with the group, I'd say Warbreaker def. counts.

Elizabeth, I had been hearing about Hopkinson for a while but only just read several of her novels (Sister Mine, Midnight Robber, and Brown Girl in the Ring). My fav was Midnight Robber, but that heroine is an only child. Hopkinson uses Caribbean cultures in really interesting ways, with strong world-building -- Sister Mine is set in Toronto but with a fantastic element of magic/religion -- and is particularly strong with family relationships and her characters' emotional lives. Her plots I feel are sometimes a bit lacking, but I've really enjoyed all three books.

Hadi wrote: "Does Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker count? Two sisters and the story revolves around their actions, among others. One goes off to marry the God King, and the other go..."

I'll have to try it! I loved Brandon Sanderson's mistborn series.

FROSTFLOWER AND THORN, by Phyllis Ann Karr. Not quite sisters, but definitely a buddy novel only it's gals.

sister are seriously underrepresented except as supporting cast

well written female characters are kinda scarce. best ones recently for me are: the girl with the dragon tattoo, that chick in wool and the woman in the mist born series.

This is really interesting. I had honestly never thought about the sisters thing, and it seems to me there's a vast, untapped market for that.

I wonder if Western culture doesn't have any iconic tales of sisters because of the patriarchy we've been under for so many thousands of years. There's no archetypal "Cain and Abel" story that I can immediately think of.

The Hunger Games has Katniss substituting herself for her sister, but that hardly counts since they don't interact much. It's not like they're fighting back to back.

Looking around I found Summer and Bird which is a Fantasy about two sisters searching for their missing parents.

Also, The Two Princesses of Bamarre is about a shy princess setting out to save her sister.

The Twelve Kingdoms: The Mark of the Tala seems to focus on a middle sister of three, but tells the story of all of them. It comes out next Tuesday (May 27th, 2014, for those of you reading this in the future) and the first two pages are tremendously well-written. Instant add to my to-read pile.

There is always Snow White and Rose Red...

Elizabeth wrote: "... Frozen is a recent exception..."

I just saw that movie last night, it was really good! :)

Jonathan wrote: "Don't forget the Mary Stewart Merlin series. ..."

I just started that yesterday! :p

Watched Frozen, then read the intro and first chapter of The Crystal Cave, both yesterday. heh, funny thread :D

Elizabeth wrote: "Just wondering, are there any fantasy / action adventure / science fiction stories about two sisters? The two brothers theme is ubiquitous. Supernatural, Vampire Diaries (even the spin-off is about..."

Oh! there was Charmed:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158552/?...

It isn't just sisters; fiction with strong female relationship arcs of any sort are rare. In the instances where there are women leads, they are presented with rivalries at best, and no significant female interaction at worst.

This is despite most readers being women.

The 'Exiles' series by Melanie Rawn might count. I read book one and the main characters are actually sisters but it's not all sisterly love.

The problem with this series is that the last book (book 3) hasn't been written and it probably might never be it seems.

I am writing a book about sisters, but this will not help you since it is still in draft.

Jonathan wrote: "
I think the author's recent death has inspired a lot of people to read or re-read it. It's some of the best fantasy ever written so I expect you'l..."

Appreciate the strong rec! One of my groups picked it for BOM, I've heard lots of good things about it. Looking forward to enjoying it. :)

Tender Morsels focuses on the relationship between two sisters and their mother, other character perspectives are thrown in, too, sometimes.

I can think of more examples of female partners/friends, for example Mercedes Lackey's "oathsisters" Tarma & Kethry (The Oathbound, Oathbreakers).

Oh, I just remembered one from a superhero book I was reading but misplaced: Black and White. Although I think the two women were friends rather than sisters. Perhaps it can be included with an asterisk.

MK wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Just wondering, are there any fantasy / action adventure / science fiction stories about two sisters? The two brothers theme is ubiquitous. Supernatural, Vampire Diaries (even the..."

I forgot Charmed! I loved that show and it is a perfect example of what is mostly missing. This is a show that really did the sister relationship perfectly. Complex and interesting.

I just saw a note in this author's status update, this debut fantasy novel about sisters will be free on Amazon tomorrow:

Sins of the Father by Thelonious Legend

http://www.amazon.com/Father-Ascensio...

Marion Zimmer Bradley's THE FALL OF ATLANTIS came out ages ago; originally, it was two novels--WEB OF LIGHT and WEB OF DARKNESS. These novels involve two sisters who choose different paths.

Also, there are her novels THE MISTS OF AVALON (I never read any of the sequels) involving sisters, aunts, nieces and FIREBRAND, which is about Kassandra of Troy. (Yes, the K is deliberate. As MZB explained in the background note, archaic Greek had no C, only the K, so it's Akhilles, Kassandra, Klytemnestra, Hektor, etc.)

CJ Cherryh's Merchanter universe, starting with DOWNBELOW STATION always has strong women; in CYTEEN and REGENERATION, instead of sisters, you have clones--the clone of a woman many perceived to be excessively powerful, if not evil. Is she really?

MK wrote: "I just saw a note in this author's status update, this debut fantasy novel about sisters will be free on Amazon tomorrow:

Sins of the Father..."

oops, they're not free today. Must have been an old note in the status update.

Ah! Practical Magic, too. Couldn't recall the name of it, just the storyline. This is a book and a movie.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

MK wrote: "MK wrote: "I just saw a note in this author's status update, this debut fantasy novel about sisters will be free on Amazon tomorrow:

[book:Sins of the Fathe..."

You can download the book for free on Goodreads. Go to the book's page and click on the download e-book option. If you have a Kindle, the book can be converted to .mobi with a conversion program such as Calibre.

Thx, Shomeret! :)

There are more books in which sisters and women in general figure prominently today than in the past and, no doubt, will be even more so as time goes on.

It is only in relatively recent times that American and most other countries' social structures were not sexist and dominated by the male gender. Men supported the family, fought the wars, and made the important decisions. Women, for the most part, were considered the silent partner or observer.

Even in my own time, when I was a young husband, I would sometimes put my foot down when discussing family matters. Of course, more often than not, my wife would step on it and follow her own game plan - but that's another subject entirely.

MK wrote: "Ah! Practical Magic, too. Couldn't recall the name of it, just the storyline. This is a book and a movie.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman"

Another awesome example!!! I saw the movie but didn't read the book.

My friend's World Book Night giveaway is about sisters: seven of them! It's Enchanted by Alethea Kontis .
My book wasn't about sisters, but friends, and is historical fiction set in WWII, instead of fantasy. It's Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein .

Jonathan wrote: "I think the author's recent death has inspired a lot of people to read or re-read it. It's some of the best fantasy ever written so I expect you'll enjoy it.

Some of the best ever ... yes, I agree, strongly - but my reasons are not the same as the subject of this thread. What I liked was the subtle use of magic. Merlin doesn't do flashed, bangs, and people turned into frogs - he has the 'gift' of prophecy and a few tricks with fire, very rarely used - but those are enough to justify his position and all the stories about him! Plus he is very human and sympathetic, which far too many powerful magic users in modern fantasy are not

I'm sitting here trying to think of other books. First, I'm amazed at how many fantasy series I think of that have male protagonists. Typically orphans. Then there are the orphan girls. As you said, it's hard to find siblings of any kind, but generally when you do find them, they're typically brothers. (I have a book out with fraternal twins, girl/boy, with the girl as the primary protagonist).

I think it was cool that Disney actually decided to have sisters as the protagonists in "Frozen"--I'd read that originally the older sister was supposed to be the villainess, but she was far too sympathetic, and they changed the plot because of that. There really is a dearth out there. (Note to writers--start writing!)

If we're including graphic novels, there's Takio. It's about a pair of sisters who get superpowers.

Carole Nelson Douglas always wrote very strong female characters - I always liked the Sword and Circlet series. Not a sister relationship, more like Master/student. And a talking cat that's female…does that count?

I found some fantastic female characters in a lot of fiction, but not nearly enough in Science Fiction. I suspect the genre has been a boy's club for a long time, and the best female examples to me come from Cosmos and I, Robot.

But this thread brings to light something stark that I missed as a male... while there are some examples of great female characters, what about a best friend or a sister? Where are those relationships?

In one of my novels I'm going to have to tackle this. I find female characters far more interesting to write, and sisters would be awesome.

Oh god.... I just remembered my Star Wars fan fiction from high school.... two sisters and their master is killed, and they both try and bring the killer to justice with one going light and one going dark.

OP, PLEASE change your opening post. I had NO CLUE that Harry Dresden (view spoiler)[has a brother (hide spoiler)] - I have not gotten that far in the series - so I just got a major spoiler.

:-(

Speaking of sisters, Andre Norton paired with two other authors to write the The Saga of the Trillium. It stars three sisters. They all have to go on separate quests in order to save their homeland.

1st book: Blood Trillium

Just ran across one:

Except the Queen by Jane Yolen


Except the Queen
by Jane Yolen, Midori Snyder
3.56 of 5 stars 3.56 · rating details · 622 ratings · 148 reviews
From award winning authors Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder comes a tale of two worlds-and one destiny...

Sisters Serena and Meteora were once proud members of the high court of the Fairy Queen- until they played a prank that angered her highness. Separated and banished to the mortal realm of Earth, they must find a way to survive in a strange world in which they have no power. But there is more to their new home than they first suspect...

A sympathetic Meteora bonds with a troubled young girl with an ornate tattoo on her neck. Meteora recognizes it as a magic symbol that will surely bring danger down on them all. Serena, meanwhile, takes in a tortured homeless boy whose mind is plagued by dark visions. The signs point to a rising power that threatens to tear asunder both fairy and human worlds.

And the sisters realize that perhaps the queen cast them from their homes not out of anger or spite- but because they were the only ones who could do what must be done...

(^^^ goodreads synopsis)