#READERS SHARE: Books with muscle/athletic woman

[timer]

British fbb Lisa Cross recently published a novel, "Devil and Disciple", that is the first of a series. Didn't get a chance to read it yet but the book description looks tempting enough:

"What would you sacrifice to make your dreams a reality? Devil and Disciple is a tale of obsessive lust and spine chilling passion that provokes, inflames and most definitely inspires. Female body builder, Amanda Hearst, was a muscle fibre away from attaining greatness when Russian oligarch, Alexander Sokolenko, presents her with a Faustian proposal that demands much soul searching and much sacrifice, maybe more sacrifice than Amanda is willing to give. As Amanda delves the deepest darkest depths of obsession she realizes that some obsessions are far more dangerous than others. What happens when she realizes that "Manuscripts don't burn?""

For more information: http://www.devilanddisciple.com

[gwhh]

She lived in the novel.  Just like Sharon stone who played the character (with out muscle) in the movie version, she lived there also! 

Sphere by Michael Crichton does feature a strong and muscular woman character. Her name is Alice Flecthcer, but sadly she is killed in the novel.

[gwhh]

Stories about real life amazons:

In her groundbreaking book, Adrienne Mayor has gone above and beyond all past works in making the Amazon women of legend real. The stories of who the Amazons were, how they really lived, and why they loved their lives with such timeless vivacity make the reader of this sensational work want to stand up and raise her sword to the sky to cheer! Never before has one author so seamlessly merged the iconic lives and lore of the Amazons with genuine images, facts, and research. With the depth of a textbook and the easy conversational style of a good friend, Mayor rapidly dispels myths about one of the strongest female cultures in history while uplifting the hearts of readers with dreams of strength and adventure. The Amazons is an absolute must-have for any person who yearns to learn about how women in the ancient world really lived and for those modern heroes and heroines who will surely be inspired by the rich, vibrant history of our world's cultures."—Virginia Hankins, actress-stuntwoman

 "The Amazons is a stupendous achievement—a long-anticipated centerpiece in the great puzzle of humankind. The story of these forbidden women, silenced for so long by the rigidity of traditional scholarship, is as exciting and surprising as a bestselling murder mystery; I simply couldn't put it down. Through scholarly brilliance and passion, Adrienne Mayor has opened the door to a forgotten world of gender equality, and her book ought to be required reading in every college history course."—Anne Fortier, author of The Lost Sisterhood: A Novel

 "Nobody brings ancient history and archaeology to life like Adrienne Mayor. From the Russian steppes to China, and from Roman Egypt and Arabia to the Etruscans, she leads the reader on a breathtaking quest for the real ancient warrior women reflected in myths—their daring, archery, tattoos, fine horses, and independence from male control. The book's rich erudition, communicated in sparkling prose and beautiful illustrations, makes it a riveting read."—Edith Hall, author of Introducing the Ancient Greeks: From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind

 "Adrienne Mayor's inquiry into the myth—and surprising reality—of Amazon women begins with the fierce Greek huntress Atalanta, but takes us deep into the past and as far afield as the Great Wall of China. With the restless curiosity and meticulous scholarship that have become her hallmark, the author once again has found a gap in my bookshelf and filled it, admirably."—Steven Saylor, author of Raiders of the Nile: A Novel of the Ancient World

 "Adrienne Mayor excels at demonstrating the truth that lies behind what seems simply storytelling, and there is no more exciting confrontation of myth and history than in the story of the Amazons. This is a great book—at once exhaustive, scholarly, thrilling, and imaginative, spanning the history, art, and imagination of ancient peoples from Italy to China."—John Boardman, University of Oxford

 "One can only wonder at the courage and conviction of the ancient warrior women who dared to defy their peers, and who became such powerful inspirations that their memory lives on for millennia. We owe it to them to remember their stories. Adrienne Mayor's fabulous book illuminates a complex picture of ancient lives. It gives us the chance to understand these amazing female fighters, and to recognize their daughters in our midst, those who fight with courage and conviction for what they know is a better world."—Samantha "Swords" Catto-Mott, medieval long-sword champion and creator of special effects in film

 "In this fascinating book, which combines flowing prose, a lively and engaging presentation, and wonderful illustrations, Adrienne Mayor brings the reader into the excitement of discovering the truth about the Amazons. She demonstrates quite convincingly that the Amazon traditions largely derive from the undeniable historical fact that nomadic, armed horsewomen existed on the fringes of the ancient Greek world. Mayor is the first to examine the evidence systematically and in detail and she makes a concrete and persuasive case."—William Hansen, author of Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans

 "In this comprehensive account of the Amazons, Adrienne Mayor examines the subject in a way that no one else has done and presents overwhelming evidence that they were not entirely fictitious. Only Mayor has looked at the evidence from all the relevant fields to show how, together, they can solve what to each of them separately are complete mysteries. This will be the classic book on the subject for a very long time."—Elizabeth Wayland Barber, author of The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance

PDF of book:

https://www.sendspace.com/file/shadmo

[gwhh]

Max Tucker in his 1 or 2nd book he wrote.  Talks about a friend of his banging a FBB from Canadian who could bench press more than he could. 

[gwhh]

On the old TV series Alien Nation.  The human detective neighbor is an alien and one day she talking to him about someone who broke into his apartment (she could spell the cigar smoke in the air) and he asked if she wanted her to check out her place in case someone broke into that apartment also (she worked for the police also as a coroner).  And she says almost matter as fact that she is stronger than him and he looks at her like way cool babe!!  They do date later in the series!    Very cool! 

[gwhh]

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/achilles-choice-larry-niven/1000360936?ean=9780812510836


Anyone have this in pdf or epub format?

[gwhh]

In the novel version of the General Daughter (movie) they talk about how fit the general daughter is!   

[Nixon74]

Has anyone mentioned Dan Simmons' Hyperion Canto's? It's a bit pretentious but still one of my all time favourite SF-series. One of the main characters is Brawne Lamia who kicks ass:

Brawne Lamia is the sole female pilgrim on the voyage to Hyperion. It's a little hard to picture her. She's from Lusus, a world that has gravity 1.3 times stronger than that of Earth. Because of that, she's shorter than many others, but has "heavy layers of muscle". She also has "black curls [that] reached to her shoulders" and a mouth "wide and expressive to the point of being sensuous, curled slightly at the corners in a slight smile which might be cruel or merely playful".  According to the narrator, she "might well be considered beautiful".

 

[bobsaget]

I still love Frank Herburts description "Professional muscle fanatic". I was so young when I read that and loved it at the time

[gwhh]

Can you expand upon what you said here and what it means?   

I still love Frank Herburts description "Professional muscle fanatic". I was so young when I read that and loved it at the time

[bobsaget]

http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Nayla

Nayla is a soldier with the Fish Speakers and is basically a bodybuilder and his description is clumsy but tells enough so that you know she is  Ms Olympia sized

[From Scratch]

Has anyone mentioned Dan Simmons' Hyperion Canto's? It's a bit pretentious but still one of my all time favourite SF-series. One of the main characters is Brawne Lamia who kicks ass:

Brawne Lamia is the sole female pilgrim on the voyage to Hyperion. It's a little hard to picture her. She's from Lusus, a world that has gravity 1.3 times stronger than that of Earth. Because of that, she's shorter than many others, but has "heavy layers of muscle". She also has "black curls [that] reached to her shoulders" and a mouth "wide and expressive to the point of being sensuous, curled slightly at the corners in a slight smile which might be cruel or merely playful".  According to the narrator, she "might well be considered beautiful".

She also has a good fight scene, and showcases her strength a few times. It was a pretty good series, and I recommend it to fans of the genre. 

[John Dee]

Here are my recommendations:
Jeremy Robinson
Not wishing to totally disagree with one of the earlier posts, the Pulse series does indeed feature a well-muscled woman, however to describe her as a heavyweight bodybuilder is a bit of an exaggeration.  However, I would recommend another Jeremy Robinson series, Project Nemesis. The first book, Project Nemesis, introduces the character, Sheriff Ashley Collins, who turns into the love interest of the main character.  In this book, she is portrayed as very fit (i.e. fitter than the main character in terms of running etc) with a strong curvy body.  However, in the second book Project Maigo, there are more references to her being large muscled and strong.  A few examples:
1.   the main characters jokes with her about being more buff than him which she replies “that’s the way you like it”.
2.   She carries an unconscious man over her shoulder in a time of crisis
3.   Another character needs her help, and begins with the request “this is where you come in, Muscles”
You need to read them in order.  When my wife got to the 2nd book, she knows about my interest in large muscled women, she said “I know why you liked this book!!!”.  A very good read even without the muscle woman.

Modern Ranch Living – by Mark Poirier
Features a 17 year old female bodybuilder as one of the main characters.  An unusual read but good all the same.

The Realm of Ashenclaw Series – by Gary Vanucci
A Lord of the Rings type read which features a beautiful female barbarian who is one of four main characters.  She is portrayed as hugely muscled.  There is chapter where she is challenged to an arm-wrestle in a tavern whereby the “big man” is put down by her enormous bicep which is larger than his.  There are four books in the series.  A good read but sometimes hard to follow (author’s writing style).

The Daniel Series – by David Rory O’Neill
Saved the best till last.  There are a large number of books in this series which basically chronicles the life of the three main characters from their early 20s to later in life.  The books are mixture of espionage, thriller and love/relations.  The books are quite erotic in places, which is something I don’t tend to go for, but when one of the main characters, Lauren, is a beautiful blonde large muscled amazon, then I don’t mind at all.  The descriptions of Lauren’s large muscled strong body feature numerous times throughout each book and is clearly written by an author who is attracted to this type of body shape.  Many mentions of her strength are also mentioned (i.e. there is a scene where Lauren is working on an old vehicle, in shorts, sports bra and baseball cap.  Another character walks in and marvels at Lauren’s huge tanned muscles whilst she is working.  The other character offers help and they realise that they need to raise the vehicle.  The other character states that they haven’t got a jack to life it and Lauren replies that you are looking at the jack and promptly lifts the heavy vehicle easily – with big descriptions of her huge thighs bulging etc).  As a side note, there is an interesting new book that this author is working on, I can see from his blog, which is called Rachel’s Walk.  The description of this book is:
This follows Christopher who lets crushing shyness stop him pursuing the nextdoor school girl of his dreams. Later as adults they meet again. She has transformed herself from the overweight schoolgirl he knew into a powerful woman, a serious bodybuilder with a dangerous career in the military. Another look at sexual roles and role reversal.
Anyway, David Rory O’Neill is highly recommended.

Happy reading....

Thanks for the suggestions.

I read the Rachel's walk. I did not like the beginning and last phases of the story, but in middle it had great moments and it held me there to follow the story for a while. Altogether I am happy that I came to know David Rory, But I wish he spend more time and energy to deepen his novellas.

[gwhh]

She pops a biceps later in the book that according to the author would make Arnold jealous! 

Running Mates by John Feinstein, author of a lot of Sports Non Fiction books, penned this one about a ex college hoop star turned author who gets involved in murder at the Maryland Legislature.  There is character Jamelle Touretta who is a classic amazon.  described as a Victoria's Secret model on Steroids (something like that) there are several instances where she uses her strength including 2 fight scenes with men.   I always hoped they would make it into a move, but I'm sure like many of the books into movies here they would have minimized or excluded the Amazon character.   




anyone have this book in pdf or epub form??  Please, post it if you do!

[hwillish]

In Harlen Coben's latest book "The Stranger" there is a bodybuilding teacher who is a friend and fellow teacher of the main character's wife.  Her name is Kristin Hoy and unlike most books, she plays significant  role in the plot and appears quite often throughout the book.  I also think Harlen Coben is attracted to fit women as many of his books have reference to his female characters "muscular calves".

But in this particular book, he has a very funny take on the female physique.  His son and his son's best friend who is Kristin Hoy's son refer to her a "butterface" which translates to But Her Face...lol

Interesting to see how Hollywood would treat this if they were to make the movie.