There is a strong female character in the Battlfield Earth series by L. Ron Hubbard

Haven't read it, but I've heard it's not a terrible book..."Body" by Harry Crews.  If you get it, let us know how it is.

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You should try to read Liza Cody. I think she is Irish. She wrote som books some years ago - one of them is called Monkey wrench I think. It is about a female wrestler with more muscles than brain .
It was okay.

I've always noticed that Michael Crichton has athletic and muscular women in his books, I think it might be a secret (not so secret?) fetish of his.  In Sphere he had an actual female bodybuilder as one of the characters; the rest were mostly fitness types, but he clearly has a thing for the more athletic female.  Conclusion; if a man as brilliant as he can conclude there are good enough qualities in the more muscular gals, enough to include them in most of his books as prominent characters, then clearly we are all onto something that will only become more normal as time passes. 

The character Melanie in "Pandora's Star" and "Judas Unchained" by Peter Hamilton is very, very buff and kicks the shit out of a guy.  There is also a freakishly muscled female bodyguard with a great description of her enormous neck and shoulders, but her part is far too brief (just a couple of mentions).

Also, one of the supporting characters in "Ascendant" by James Alan Gardner is an enormously muscled girl.  She is an alien, but most of the women in his books tend to be pretty athletic and ass-kicking in general.

This is a great thread!  Thanks to everyone who shared the books they've read.   

David Eddings wrote the Tamuli and the Elenium series which together are six books, if I remember correctly.  There is a character Mirtai who is from a race of people who are taller and larger than average, and she is described as a giantess.  I can't remember which books she is in, but she is a central character and a warrior, and gets to kick some ass in a few battle scenes.  In one she picks up a man and throws him down a flight of stairs!

Larry Niven wrote Achilles Choice which has a female lead who is a sort of futuristic Olympian who has to choose whether or not to take some special drug which will enable her to become fast and strong enough to compete but which will cause her premature death.  (Basically, I think.  It's been a while since I read it.)  Boris Vallejo did the cover art.

Timothy Zahn wrote some Star Wars books and Mara Jade is a muscular Jedi-woman.  I think she's in The Last Command.

Jack Vance wrote several amazon-types into some of his stories.  There's a couple minor large, strong women in one of the books in the Cadwal Chronicles (can't remember which one).  In Ports of Call there are two tall women "built like bulls" who stick around in the narrative for a while.  And in City of the Chasch there is a religious cult of priestesses who hate men and their leader is a truly formidable specimen who gets is a fight with the main character.  Unfortunately for female muscle fans, Jack Vance's depiction of these women is generally not a flattering one, and they are all minor antagonists in the stories.

I'll probably remember a few more later, and I'll post those.  In the meantime I've got some new books to acquire!

I've always noticed that Michael Crichton has athletic and muscular women in his books, I think it might be a secret (not so secret?) fetish of his.  In Sphere he had an actual female bodybuilder as one of the characters; the rest were mostly fitness types, but he clearly has a thing for the more athletic female.  Conclusion; if a man as brilliant as he can conclude there are good enough qualities in the more muscular gals, enough to include them in most of his books as prominent characters, then clearly we are all onto something that will only become more normal as time passes. 

Very true. I remember the 2nd Jurassic Park book had a musuclar fit woman as one of the main characters who even carried a guy at one point (when the trailer was about to fall from the cliff if i remember).

 A character named Nikaetomaas plays a small but important and memorable role in Clive Barker's most complex novel, Imajica. She's described as follows:

'The woman was half as big again as her companion, her body a glorious machine, her head - shaved but for a ponytail - set on a neck wider than her cranium and, like her arms and belly, so elaborately muscled the merest twitch was a spectacle.'
 
 Imajica is a formidable read, but well worth the effort. Plus, this character, however brief her time in the novel, is actually an original and intelligent one, not simple or stereotypical as other, lesser writers would most likely portray her.

I'd thought I'd revive this thread and hope some other forum members have read and post about books with muscular/strong female characters.

Celestial Matters by Richard Garfinkle has a female bodyguard named Yellow Hare who is a main character and does what bodyguards do.

Anybody else?

There is a book called Iguana Love by Vicki Hendricks who's main character is a steroid abusing female bodybuilder. I haven't read the book, I've only seen a review for it, but it sounds like an interesting story.

Here's a copy of the back cover

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You should try to read Liza Cody. I think she is Irish. She wrote som books some years ago - one of them is called Monkey wrench I think. It is about a female wrestler with more muscles than brain .
It was okay.

Quote from the book:
Eva Wylie, the heavyweight wrestler heroine of "Bucket Nut", returns. She has a big mouth and large biceps, but meets her match in tiny, tenacious Crystal, a street companion from the past. Crystal's prostitute sister has been beaten to death and she's seeking revenge.

The woman that gave us TRUE BLOOD&Sookie Sackhouse also gave us Lily Bard a female bodybuilder living in a rural Arkansas town
Shakespeare's Landlord (1996)[16]
Shakespeare's Champion (1997)[17]
Shakespeare's Christmas (1998)[18]
Shakespeare's Trollop (2000)[19]
Shakespeare's Counselor (2001)

Also this particular thread shows me that FBBers will never get any press when the book gets made into a movie

The novels by Dan Brown involve generally athletic woman with are portreited in heroic acts to save theirs loved ones

I read a book called Reka's Jewel a few years ago, which was set in a sort of pre-Christian era and told the story of a young woman who stows away on a ship in search of adventure. There are two muscular characters in the book, one of whom I remember was called Pia, a brunette who protects Reka from Ingrid (I think her name was), a heavily muscled warrior leader who seduces Reka with her muscles. I can't seem to find my copy, so I'm going to try and find it again as it was a really good, erotic read, and the writer brilliantly captured how female muscle can inspire lust.

This was mentioned earlier, but if your looking for some "comedy" built around the fbb scene, try Harry Crews novel, BODY. I think Harry, very much a non-bodybuilder, was married to a FBB in real life. The book was published circa 1992...

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Take Care!