I never got past the first one for the reasons Typo mentions. (I started reading it literally days after learning the term Mary Sue, and the telepathic cat was just too much for me to get past.)
I want James Alan Gardner to write more Festina Ramos books. Speaking of kickass military SF female characters.
So I'm looking for another series of books to devour.
Kate Elliott's "Crossroads" series, starting with Spirit Gate.
Sherwood Smith's Inda series.
Tanya Huff's "Valor" series, if you like kickass military women.
I really liked a lot of Elizabeth Moon's "Familias Regnant" novels, although I'm less excited about the most recent series (which is unrelated, I think). Oh, and I hear Moon has revived the Paksennarion series, although I haven't read them.
Martha Wells' The Wizard Hunters series is good, and I hear good things about the new series, starting with Cloud Roads, although I haven't read it yet.
Ooh I like the Valor series! I haven't read the recent one though, I may see if I can get it through interlibrary loan.
Yeah, I loved early Elizabeth Moon, and then got burnt out on it.
A series I read recently that I really loved was Kristine Smith's five Jani Killian novels.
LOVE. LOVE. Own them all, wish she'd written more stuff. They're complex and interesting and unusual.
George R.R. Martin says that there were 180 copies of ADWD shipped out by Amazon.de before the mistake was figured out.
If you are looking for good military fiction Lois McMaster s Bujold Miles series is good stuff. Although she has lots of kick ass women, only a few of her books in that series feature women. Shards of Honor, and Barrayar for a kickass women hero. Barryar also gives a whole new meaning to the term "shopping" that is full of awesome.
LOVE. LOVE. Own them all, wish she'd written more stuff. They're complex and interesting and unusual.
Aren't they amazing? Tsecha is one of the great alien characters. While I was reading the series, I found myself worrying about him at odd times when I was doing something else. "Tsecha! They'll never let you do that. Tsecha! You should at least talk to Jani." The books build to the point that when she says, "I am what I am; I do what I do," it's one of those fiction moments that send a shiver down my spine and stay with me for days.
If you haven't read all of Bujold's books, you should stop what you're doing and start reading.
GRRM mentioned the next Dunk and Egg novella which will appear in the anthology tentatively titled Dangerous Women:
And yes, DANGEROUS WOMEN will include the fourth Dunk & Egg novella, the long-promised tale of their visit to the North, where they encounter the She-Wolves of Winterfell. I could tell you more than that, but then I'd need to kill you.
I tore through all the Vorkosigan books and I own Cordelia's Honor, the omnibus of Shards of Honor and Barryar. I so adore Cordelia.
I tried re-reading some of them a bit ago, though, and unfortunately I wanted to smack Miles so very, very hard. Maybe I'll try the one with the royal wedding again, that was hysterical watching all those cunning plans interfere with each other.
I can't wait for that installation of the Dunk & Egg saga. . perhaps we'll find out if
Hodor really is Dunk's grandson
as some have suggested.