Writing characters of the opposite sex is one of the biggest challenges writers face. It is too easy to fall into stereotypes. I was never able to get more than 100 pages into the first Wheel of Time book because Jordan’s female characters just bugged me too much.

So I want to give a shout out to three male authors who manage to write women I like, or can at least relate to. L.E. Modesitt Jr, in his Recluse series, Steven Brust in the Vlad novels, and David Drake, both in his sci-fi Lt Leary books and his fantasy novels.