Old Women in SF—the List
by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
When we think about women in speculative fiction, it seems to be fantasy figures that quickly come to mind: Lady Olenna, the Queen of Thorns, Professor McGonnagal and Sir Terry Pratchett’s wonderful witches. When it comes to science fiction, however, the landscape seems to change. The traditional roles for old women in fiction, the wise old crone, the meddling mother, the crazy cat lady, and the retired sleuth don’t appear in our science fiction novels in the same way. I have spent the last year searching for old women in major roles in science fiction novels and I can tell you, it isn’t as easy as it seems. So far I have discovered just thirty-six examples over a period spanning one hundred years.
I wrote an article for Nature Magazine about the project, Space Aging: Why Sci-fi Novels Shun the Badass Older Woman, which talks a bit about my findings and lists just a few of the thirty-six books.
Since then, I’ve been inundated with messages pointing out that the article does not mention Remnant Population nor The Expanse series, both of which have wonderful old women in major roles… and both of which are on my list. I’m very excited that the SFWA has offered to published my list of the thirty-six books to highlight those fantastic old women who steal the show in science fiction novels.
| Atherton, Gertrude | (1923) | Black Oxen |
| Banks, Iain M | (1994) | Feersum Endjinn |
| Bear, Elizabeth | (2004) | Hammered |
| Bryant, Samantha | (2019) | Going Through the Change |
| Bujold, Lois McMaster | (2015) | Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen |
| Chambers, Becky | (2018) | Record of a Spaceborn Few |
| Cherryh, CJ | (1981) | Downbelow Station |
| Corey, James | (2013) | Caliban’s War |
| Elgin, Suzette Haden | (1984) | Native Tongue |
| Gloss, Molly | (1997) | Dazzle of Day |
| Hamilton, Peter F | (2004) | Pandora’s Star |
| Hamilton, Peter F | (2004) | The Reality Dysfunction |
| Heinlein, Robert A | (1952) | The Rolling Stones |
| Holmqvist, Ninni | (2009) | The Unit |
| Howey, Hugh | (2014) | Wool |
| King, Stephen | (1978) | The Stand |
| Liu Cixin | (2006) | Three Body Problem |
| Marley, Louise | (1999) | The Terrorists of Irustan |
| McDonald, Ian | (2015) | Luna: New Moon |
| Miller, Sam J | (2018) | Blackfish City |
| Mitchison, Naomi | (1962) | Memoirs of a Space Woman |
| Moon, Elizabeth | (1996) | Remnant Population |
| Nagata, Linda | (2017) | The Last Good Man |
| Newitz, Annalee | (2017) | Autonomous |
| Newman, Emma | (2015) | Planetfall |
| Pratchett, Terry | (1981) | Strata |
| Reynolds, Alastair | (2005) | Pushing Ice |
| Russell, Mary Doria | (1996) | The Sparrow |
| Sawyer, Robert J | (2007) | Rollback |
| Scalzi, John | (2005) | Old Man’s War |
| Starhawk | (1993) | The Fifth Sacred Thing |
| Sterling, Bruce | (1997) | Holy Fire |
| Tchaikovsky, Adrian | (2015) | The Children of Time |
| Tepper, Sheri | (1996) | Gibbon’s Decline and Fall |
| Wright, Helen | (1990) | A Matter of Oaths |
| Yuknavitch, Lidia | (2017) | The Book of Joan |
When I started this, I didn’t realize I was starting on a journey. I just wanted to see if old women existed, let alone had an impact on the story. The result has been an adventure. The resulting eclectic collection of books to read has been eye-opening, treating me to a broad range of themes and subgenres. There are many, many books here that I would never have picked up if it weren’t for this project. And it’s also re-introduced me to the pleasure of talking about books, something I hadn’t even realized has been missing from my life.
I’d love to hear about books you think should be included. You can sign up for my mailing list at https://intrigue.co.uk for the most up-to-date version of the list and maybes or just mail me at oldwoman@intrigue.co.uk to mention science fiction novels (in English) that you think I should look at.
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Sylvia Spruck Wrigley was born in Germany and spent her childhood in Los Angeles. She emigrated to Scotland where she guided German tourists around the Trossachs and searched for the supernatural. She now lives in Tallinn where she writes about plane crashes and Estonian air maidens, which have more in common than most people might imagine. Her fiction was nominated for a Nebula in 2014 and her short stories have been translated into over a dozen languages. Her first novella, The Borrowed Child, was published in 2015 by Tor.com and is available now at all good book stores. You can find out more about her at http://www.intrigue.co.uk/
What about Susan Calvin in Isaac Asimov’s I Robot? She starts off young, but she ages over the course of the stories.
Susan Calvin is a personal favorite but I don’t think you can claim her as the main character of a novel. Short stories seem to present differently. I do think it is noteable that Calvin as a logical and competent old scientist showed up so early and yet that kind of character remains so rare.
Thanks for that lovely list!
A search through the juvenile literature lists might be fruitful. Here’s a few possibilities I can think of.
The Miss Pickerell series, started by Ellen MacGregor, features an elderly female protagonist and centers on science; some of the titles are science fiction.
https://pellack.public.iastate.edu/MissPickerellseries.htm
Old women appear in a number of Madeleine L’Engle’s novels, most notably “A Wrinkle in Time.”
https://www.madeleinelengle.com/books/
I’m not sure whether it counts as major roles, but old women have recurring roles in the Freddy the Pig series; some of the later novels in the series are science fiction.
https://www.tor.com/tag/freddy-the-pig/
I haven’t read many of her novels, but would Andre Norton be a possibility?
I love A Wrinkle in Time but Dr Kate Murray isn’t really old; she is described as creamy skin with violet eyes — having reread, I don’t think she can be much over 40.
I don’t know of any Andre Norton books that star an old woman but I will have another look! Freddy the Pig is new to me!
And Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars certainly looks like a likely candidate! Thank you!
“I love A Wrinkle in Time but Dr Kate Murray isn’t really old”
I was thinking of Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. 🙂
Ah hah! Sorry for my assumption! I’m not sure they qualify as representing human aging but I will take another look. Thanks for the clarification!
Hi there. I’ve got a mixed science fiction and fantasy bibliography of older women in sf and f that I’ve been working on for the past couple of years that might be of interest to both you and other readers of this article.
There’s a 2 part list on my blog that includes short fiction (updates coming very soon) – https://catherineldf.dreamwidth.org/261709.html?thread=862541 and a Goodreads list that includes inputs from multiple people: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/114723.Old_er_Women_in_SF_F_
Hi Catherine! I know your Goodreads list and was very glad to have found it. Unfortunately, most of it is fantasy.
I hate to say it, but the problem with allowing multiple people access is that it can become a bit of a mess. For those that are SF, the age range is pretty broad, with women as young as late 20s included (Kill Process). I got excited when I found Up Against It by MJ Locke, which I had forgotten about and was eager to reread, but although she’s cited as mid-80s, the text also makes it clear she is middle-aged. Another character is described as 100 years old and on the cusp of old age. It’s pretty sure that 85 is the new 40 in our world.
I have been asked a lot about short fiction, though, and would happily point people to the list that you are maintaining it. If you are working on an update, have you considered a specific short fiction list? There seems to be a lot of interest.
Tricia Sullivan’s ‘Sweet Dreams’ has at least one old woman in a central role (not the viewpoint character, but certain,y an important one.
Interesting! I will take a closer look at this one. Thank you for the help!
I’m so sorry, I was sure I’d responded to this and I now don’t see the reply. Thank you very much for pointing this one out to me. I wasn’t sure if it was SF or fantasy but I will take a better look!
For your consideration: Teela Brown (as a Protector) in Larry Niven’s “Ringworld Engineers”?
Meina Gladstone in Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos?
Thank you! I’ve been out of town all week and just catching up but I’ve added these to check against my spreadsheets.
Thanks for this and sorry for the late reply, I thought I had responded. Both look interesting and I’ve added them to my to-read list!
Hi Sylvia:
Great list. I don’t know where you would put the cut off for “old” –that in itself would be a pretty “hot topic”, I think! Particularly since TV/Film has (historically, at least) been a profound excluder in that regard.
I also don’t know how far down in the weeds you wish to go, or if you are thinking works that “everyone knows.”
Let me know, because I actually have a pretty long list.
Start, for instance with Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s seminal “Herland” (1915) since billed (reductively, I think) as a gynotopia, in which the toughest (mind and body) characters were the women oligarchs of that society.
I’ve got a *lot* more. Give me some of the limits you might wish to impose (best-sellers, award winners/nominees, etc.) I will trim accordingly!
Best,
Chuck Gannon
Lovely to hear from you Chuck. Old is clearly any woman older than I am! It is a hot topic and I’ve struggled with this, especially in a SNnal context. But realistically, we are looking for grandmothers, not mothers, so women with long-term experience who are aware that most of their life is behind them. It can be hard to describe exactly but I’ve not seen many borderline characters (Jack Chen, Autonomous is an example of this).
The key thing here, I think, is “major character” which is where Herland fails; the main characters are all men and the women with the most screentime are not old.
I am certainly interested in hearing about more! Limitations are novels only, main or major character, must be human, and must be end of lifespan even if extended (thus Honor Harrington doesn’t qualify, for example). Hit me! 🙂
Would it be at all amiss to mention the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam from Dune?
It would not be amiss and I do have her listed, but on my secondary character list. I don’t think she can be considered a main or even major character in Dune, although she is without a doubt important.
Here’s a grab bag from my experience:
Mirelly-Lyra from Niven’s “A World out of Time” (1975)
Martha Timberlane from Aldiss’ “Greybeard” (1964)
Rose Thompson (‘Queen Elizabeth’) in “The Queen’s Own FBI” series of three books (1959-1962), by “Mark Phillips”, really Randall Garrett and Laurence Janifer
All of the female characters in Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Mars Trilogy” (at least by the second book).
Oh thank you! I will look into those! Very useful.
The Mars Trilogy is on my maybe list — it is hard to consider an ensemble cast and when recommended the series, no one seems to mention any specific women, just that there are a lot of them. That said, I’m definitely reading the set this year to revisit this, as the series has come up a lot.
You definitely don’t want to miss this one because there are too MANY old women in it 🙂
Here are some names:
Maya Toitovna — “The Protagonist”
Nadia Chernyshevski — “The Engineer”
Ann Clayborne — “The Red”
Hiroko Ai — “The Dryad”
Phyllis Boyle — “The Green”
They comprise five out of the important twelve of the first one hundred (and one) colonists.