I love fantasy and sci-fi books but I'm sick of reading really week female leads who are completely dependent or just fall apart without their male counterpart. I need a strong female who does not spend the whole time being helpless or crawling after whatever the male lead tells them. I can't read another book where the female after being completely screwed over and betrayed cry's a little throws a bit of tantrum and then gets over it in a couple pages because they're in love and were meant to be and blah blah blah. Please, anyone and everyone, I am looking for a book with a strong female lead. She doesn't have to be the center of the book but she needs to be independent and have some freaking self respect. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

Katniss everdeen (Hunger Games). If you haven't read the trilogy yet, you won't be disappointed.

Vampire Academy all the way!

[audeo]

Me too! These are all scifi with strong female leads and all great series!

Honor Harrington series - David Weber
Kris Longknife series - Mike Shepherd
A Galaxy Unknown series - Thomas Deprima
Vatta's War series - Elizabeth Moon
Gloria Vandeen series - CJ Ryan

I just started Venus Prime series by Paul Preuss and it looks to be another good one.

[bibliophile61]

If you are looking for kiss ass female characters then I suggest Urban Fantasy. Here are just a few that I love:

Kate Daniels in the Magic Series by Ilona Andrews
Dory Basarib in the Midnight Daughters series by Karen Chance
Cassie Palmer in the Pythia series by Karen Chance
Mercy the were-coyote series by Patricia Briggs
Kat the half-vamp Night Huntress by Jeanine Frost
Kitty Norville (she starts out wimpy but grows into a great strong character) by Carrie Vaughn
Alex Craft in the Grave Witch series by Kalayna Price

Good Luck!

[bibliophile61]

I forgot Eve Dallas by J.D. Robb (there's forty something books out in the series!)

I haven't read everything she has, but Tamora Pierce has strong females.
Song of the Lioness - Tamora Pierce
Circle of Magic - Tamora Pierce
The Immortals - Tamora Pierce

Graceling Realm (Graceling, Fire, Bitterblue)- Kristin Cashore
Damar series - Robin Mckinley
The Crown Duel books - Sherwood Smith
The Safe-Keeper series, Summers at Castle Auburn, Troubled Waters - Sharon Shinn
Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson

These should get you going, or you can try other books by those authors. They always have strong female characters.

Also, Janny Wurts, C.J. Cherryh, Lois McMaster Bujold, Patricia Mckillip, Rachel Neumeier all have strong females in all their books.

[mfgoviedo]

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldan (Time-Travel historical) Around 7 books at the moment and up. Great the fermale character Clare and her daugther Brianna.

[audeo]

Vatta's War series by Elizabeth Moon was just uploaded in ebooks - Fiction.
Pretty good deal to get the whole series at once!!

[womble]

Try Anita Blake & Merry Gentry series by Laurell K Hamilton,
Witches Knott & Cascadia Wolves & anything else by Lauren Dane
Guardians of Eternity series by Alexandra Ivy
Harper Connolly series by Charlaine Harris
Bloodhound Files series by D.D. Barant
Halle Shifters series by Dana Marie Bell
Allie Beckstrom by Devon Monk
Shadow World series by Dianne Sylvan
World of the Lupi series by Eileen Wilks
Big Bad Wolf series by Heather Killough-Walden
Denver Pack series by Jana Leigh
Dead World series by Jordan Summers
Otherworld seris by Kelley Armstrong
Riley Jensen series by Keri Arthur
Midnight Breed series by Lara Adrian
Sentinel Wars series by Shannon K Butcher
Pack & Pride series by Shelly Laurenston
Gillian keys seris by Talia Gryphon
Entwined Fates series by Trista Ann Michaels
anything by Tymber Dalton
The Queens of Merab series Violet Summers

I definitely recommend The Parasol Protectorate Series by Gail Carriger, the first book in the series is Soulless.
Feel free to check out my review of Soulless HERE. I've read the first two and is starting the 3rd soon and Alexia is a funny and awesome heroine.

Neuromancer and Mona Lisa Overdrive from William Gibson's Sprawl Triology. Molly Millions/Sally Shears is the greatest badass since the dawn of time.

[Bohica60]

Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter
Familias Regnant series by Elizabeth Moon (Heris Serrano/Esmay Suiza books)
Petaybee series (2 trilogies) by Anne McCaffrey
Crystal Singer series by Anne McCaffrey
Valor Confederation series by Tanya Huff
Planet Pirates series by Anne McCaffrey, Jody Lynn Nye, Elizabeth Moon
Sirantha Jax series by Ann Aquirre
Greywalker Series by Kat Richardson

Most, if not all, of these I mentioned are posted here. Just search for the author last name.

[Apathetic]

I want to second books by Tamora Pierce.
Also;
The Steerswoman series by Rosemary Kirstein;
The Dhampir series by Barb & J.C. Hendee;
Green Rider series by Kristen Britain;
Warrior & Witch by Marie Brennan;
More than any of those though, I'd recommend reading all the books that Robin Hobb has written. Her Liveship Traders series will interest you more than the others though.

^_^ Have fun. I've got a ton of books to find and read through in this thread now.

theres the guild hunter series by nalini singh and jez parks by jennifer rardin