Great science fiction can transport us to faraway places full of bizarre creatures or transform our known world into the unknown. How far the transformation goes is up to the author. Sadly, many people seem to think science fiction is only written by men for men. I’m here to tell you those people are wrong. And you don’t have to go all the way back to 1818 when Mary Shelley first published Frankenstein for proof. Here are six great science fiction reads – including three of my all-time favorite books – all written by women.

These particular novels range from scientific explorations of the universe (Ancillary Justice; A Thousand Pieces of You), to alternate/post-apocalyptic versions of our future (The Handmaid’s Tale; Fledgling; The Gate to Women’s Country – my three favs!), to world building epics where everything has been reimagined (The Fifth Season). I remember the visceral reaction I had the first time I read Margaret Atwood’s classic, The Handmaid’s Tale. It is not a stretch to say that many of the feminist views I hold and cherish today I owe to reading Atwood and Sheri S. Tepper as a teenager. I also remember being devastated that Octavia Butler, who died just five months after Fledgling was published, would not continue to breathe life into such vivid characters.

But what makes me truly excited is to see the newer talents of Ann Leckie, Claudia Gray, and N. K. Jemison continuing the rich tradition of female writers in science fiction. Their works continue to break ground and explore the unknown – often with higher levels of science fact mixed in with the fiction. So choose a classic, or one of the newer hits on this list, and get ready to explore!