Reading List: Canadian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Authors

Most of these are Canadian authors living in Canada. A few of them live outside of Canada, and a few authors listed here (the ones with * next to their name) are not Canadian citizens but either live or lived - and write/wrote - in Canada long enough for us to claim them. A few of the authors listed only write in French and haven't been translated into English. In other cases I used one of their English titles.

Most of this list was compiled several years ago when I was still working at the World's Biggest Bookstore (back then I did an endcap with Ontario Speculative Fiction Authors, and posted a reading list). I did a few google searches to flesh out authors I didn't know about or had forgotten. While it's a long list, it's not comprehensive. I try to know a lot but I can't know every everything, so if you know someone who's been missed or someone who was added and shouldn't have been, please tell me in the comments.

Below the Line - Scott Albert

The Stoneholding - James Anderson and Mark Sebanc

The Masked Truth - Kelley Armstrong

vN - Madeline Ashby

Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

What We Salvage - David Baillie

The Night Inside - Nancy Baker

The White-Luck Warrior - R. Scott Bakker

The Binding Stone - Don Bassingthwaite

Deadwalk - Stephanie Bedwell-Grime

The Lake and the Library - Samantha Beiko

Destiny's Blood - Marie Bilodeau

Above - Leah Bobet

Nexus: Ascension - Robert Boyczuk
L'Oiseau de Feu - Jacques Brossard (French)

Small Magics - Erik Buchanan

Les crabes de Venus regardent vers le ciel - Alain Bergeron (French)

Pontypool Changes Everything - Tony Burgess

The Red Knight - Miles Cameron

Genesis - Paul Chafe

The Dragon’s Eye - Joel Champetier

The Good Brother - E. L. Chen

Appleseed - John Clute

The Summer is Ended and We Are Not Yet Saved - Joey Comeau 

Neptune’s Children - Michael Coney *

A Turn of Light - Julie Czerneda

Angel of Death - Karen Dales

Sarah Court - Craig Davidson (aka Nick Cutter/Patrick Lestewka)

Against a Darkening Sky - Lauren Davis
Under My Skin - Charles de Lint

Indigo Springs - A. M. Dellamonica 

The Bone Mother - David Demchuk

Maleficium - Martine Desjardins

The Dragon and the George - Gordon Dickson

Makers - Cory Doctorow *

Black Wine - Candas Jane Dorsey 

Alchemist’s Apprentice - Dave Duncan

The Honey Month - Amal El-Mohtar

Gardens of the Moon - Steve Erikson

Shrinking the Heroes - Minister Faust 

Book of Tongues - Gemma Files

Shadowplay - Nigel Findley *

Halcyon - Catherine Fitzsimmons

Triptych - J. M. Frey

Hunted - James Alan Gardner

Stuff of Legends - Ian Gibson

Spook Country - William Gibson

The Old Die Rich - H. L. Gold

Mindworld - Phillis Gotlieb

Hopeful Monsters - Hiromi Goto *

Sailing Time’s Ocean - Terence Green

Elminster Enraged - Ed Greenwood

Venus on Orbis - P. J. Haarsma

Lament for the Afterlife - Lisa Hannett

Filaria - Brent Hayward *

Gamification - Keith Hollihan

The New Moon's Arms - Nalo Hopkinson

The Wild Ways - Tanya Huff

Fools Errant - Matthew Hughes *
The Keeper of the Isis Light - Monica Hughes *

Spells of Blood and Kin - Claire Humphrey

Northern Frights - Don Hutchison

Blackdog - K. V. Johansen

Fall From Earth - Matthew Johnson

River of Stars - Guy Gavriel Kay

The Skids - Ian Donald Keeling

Ouroboros - Michael Kelly
The Snow Queen - Eileen Kernaghan

Revenge of the Vampire King - Nancy Kilpatrick

The Moon Goddess and the Son - Donald Kingsbury *

Alex and the Ironic Gentleman - Adrienne Kress

Objects of Worship - Claude Lalumiere

Once Every Never - Lesley Livingston

Gaslight Dogs - Karin Lowachee

Running on Instinct - Nicole Luiken (aka N.M. Luiken)

The Moon Under Her Feet - Derwin Mak

The Mirror Prince - Violette Malan (aka V. M. Escalada)

The Prince of the Golden Cage - Nathalie Mallet

Sporeville - Paul Marlowe

Hair Side, Flesh Side - Helen Marshall

Ninja Versus Pirate Featuring Zombies - James Marshall

Darwin’s Paradox - Nina Marteanu

The City Underground - Suzanne Martel

The Delphi Room - Melia McClure

Angels and Exiles - Yves Meynard

The Thirteen - Susie Moloney
Temps Mort - Charles Montpetit (French)

Resenting the Hero - Moira Moore

Certain Dark Things - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Everyone in Silico - Joe Munroe

Napier’s Bones - Derryl Murphy

Blaze of Glory - Sheryl Nantus

Eutopia - David Nickle

Technicolor Ultra Mall - Ryan Oakley

Janus - John Park *

The Silver Lake - Fiona Patton

Nelle de Vilveq - Francine Pelletier (French)

At the Edge of Waking - Holly Phillips

Sins of the Angels - Linda Poitevin

The Raven's Warrior - Vincent Pratchett

The Demonologist - Andrew Pyper

Dark Matter - Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Telempath - Spider Robinson *

The Shell - Esther Rochon

Every House is Haunted - Ian Rogers

The Mona Lisa Sacrifice - Peter Roman

Enter, Night - Michael Rowe

Paradise Tales - Geoff Ryman

Silence - Michelle Sagara (aka Michelle Sagara West)

Red Planet Blues - Robert J. Sawyer

Virga: Cities of the Air - Karl Schroeder
Chronoreg - Daniel Sernine (French)

Sacrifice of the Widow - Lisa Smedman

Chimerascope - Douglas Smith

Moonfall - Heather Spears

Bloodlight Chronicles: Reconciliation - Steve Stanton

The Prince of Outcasts - S. M. Stirling *

Dead Girls Don’t - Mags Storey
Nobody's Son - Sean Stewart

The Angels of our Better Beers - Jerome Stueart

Ink - Amanda Sun

Frozen Blood - Joel A. Sutherland

The Pattern Scars - Caitlin Sweet

Take Us To Your Chief and Other Stories - Drew Hayden Taylor

Run With the Wolves: The Pack - T. C. Tombs

Defining Diana - Hayden Trenholm

Night Runner - Max Turner

Battle Dragon - Edo van Belkon

Slan - A. E. Van Vogt

In the Mother’s Land - Elisabeth Vonarburg *

Among Others - Jo Walton *

Meatheads - Noah Wareness

Blind Sight - Peter Watts

Station Gehenna - Andrew Weiner *

The World More Full of Weeping - Robert Wiersema

Lost in Translation - Edward Willett

The Courtesan Prince - Lynda Williams

Spin - Robert Charles Wilson

Westlake Soul - Rio Youers

Major Karnage - Gord Zajac

If You Like... Try... (x4)

This is my 4th year doing an "If you like... try..." endcap at the store, which makes it my 4th such reading list here as well.  I'm not sure if I'll be doing one next year, since there won't be an endcap for it to go on.

Remember, this isn't meant to be a 'best of' list.  I tried to pick a mix of titles, some by smaller presses, some that didn't get much publicity/recognition when they came out.  A lot of titles I loved this year didn't make this list simply because they're on other displays at the store.  Oh, and I purposely make up categories for this display so as to catch what's hot at the moment.

I've typed up the books below in the order they appear on the display.

And this has been up for a month already, so if you come to the store to check it out, don't be surprised if there are a few changes (since there won't be much time for restocking I'll be modifying the display as things sell out).

Robin Hood: Knight of Shadows by Toby Venables
Thieves: A Dance of Cloaks by David Dalglish
Traditional Fantasy: The Scroll of Years by Chris Willrich
Epic Fantasy: Children of Fire by Drew Karpyshyn
Medical Fantasy: Elisha Barber by E. C. Ambrose
Gritty Fantasy: Gallow: Crimson Shield by Nathan Hawke
Medieval Fantasy: The Raven's Warrior by Vincent Pratchett
Poetic Fantasy: A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar
Military Fantasy: Mage's Blood by David Hair
Vampires: A Taste of Blood Wine by Freda Warrington
Monster Hunters: Charming by Elliott James
Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Silks by Emma Jane Holloway
Apocalyptic Fiction: The Cusanus Game by Wolfgang Jeschke
Cyber Noir: Ghost Spin by Chris Moriarty
SF Noir: Red Planet Blues by Robert Sawyer
Secret Societies: The Incrementalists by Steven Brust and Skyler White
Hive Consciousness: Nexus by Ramez Naam
Alternate History: Quintessence by David Walton
Alien Encounters: The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
Post-Apocalyptic Fiction: Three by Jay Posey
Steampunk: Doktor Glass by Thomas Brennan
Circuses: Goldenland Past Dark by Chandler Klang Smith
Witches: Witch Hunt by Syd Moore
Horrific Experiments: The Sleep Room by F. R. Tallis
Poltergeists: The 'Geisters by David Nickle
Traditional Horror: I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Ghost Stories: This House is Haunted by John Boyne
Zombies: Zombies: A Hunter's Guide by Joseph McCullough

Ontario Speculative Fiction Author Reading List Revised

This is a revised list thanks to the comments I got on the original post.  I went through Chizine Publication's Imaginarium and pulled out the Ontario authors.  I also went through the list of panelists for this year's Ad Astra, a local convention, which has greatly beefed up the list.  So, there are now short fiction and poetry categories, as well as novelists.

A few of the newly added authors I've met/read, so I'm embarrassed that I missed them on my original list.  Having said that, I encountered a lot of authors I've not heard of, which is exciting. :)  And I discovered that Steven Erikson is Canadian, though based in Winnipeg.

I also discovered that Dennis Lee is still writing poetry.  If you're not Canadian you might not have heard of him, but kids of my generation all grew up reading his books of poetry for kids, Alligator Pie and Garbage Delight.  The books have recently come back into print, ready for a new generation.  I'll have to look up some of his adult stuff and see if it's as bizarre and fun as his kids stuff.

I'm sure the list is still incomplete, so if you know any authors missing, please mention them in the comment section.  Oh, and in a few cases I couldn't figure out if they are based in Ontario or not so I apologize for any errors on the list.

Books On the Display:

Book of Tongues - Gemma Files

Eutopia, 'Geisters, Rasputin's Bastards, Monstrous Affections - David Nickle

Indigo Springs - A. M. Dellamonica (her bio says Vancouver, but she just moved to Toronto)

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

A Turn of Light - Julie Czerneda

The New Moon's Arms - Nalo Hopkinson

Silence - Michelle Sagara

The Wild Ways - Tanya Huff

The Mirror Prince, Shadowlands - Violette Malan,

The Silver Lake - Fiona Patton

River of Stars - Guy Gavriel Kay

Sins of the Angels, Sins of the Son - Linda Poitevin

Technicolor Ultra Mall - Ryan Oakley

Spin - Robert Charles Wilson

Red Planet Blues - Robert J. Sawyer

vN, iD - Madeline Ashby

Enter, Night - Michael Rowe

Chimerascope - Douglas Smith

Virga: Cities of the Air - Karl Schroeder

The Pattern Scars - Caitlin Sweet

Blind Sight - Peter Watts

Unrepresented Novelists:

Once Every Never - Lesley Livingston
Above - Leah Bobet
The Moon Under Her Feet - Derwin Mak
Run With the Wolves: The Pack - T. C. Tombs
Below the Line - Scott Albert
Deadwalk - Stephanie Bedwell-Grime
Destiny's Blood - Marie Bilodeau
Nexus: Ascension - Robert Boyczuk
Small Magics - Erik Buchanan
Pontypool Changes Everything - Tony Burgess
Halcyon - Catherine Fitzsimmons
Triptych - J. M. Frey
Blaze of Glory - Sheryl Nantus
Elminster Enraged - Ed Greenwood
Fall From Earth - Matthew Johnson
Alex and the Ironic Gentleman - Adrienne Kress
The Raven's Warrior - Vincent Pratchett
The Demonologist - Andrew Pyper
Ink - Amanda Sun
Frozen Blood - Joel A. Sutherland
Defining Diana - Hayden Trenholm
Night Runner - Max Turner
Angel of Death - Karen Dales
Every House is Haunted - Ian Rogers

Short Fiction Authors:

"Dig for Fire" - James Bambury
"The Son of Heaven" - Eric Choi
"The God Thieves" - Derek Kunsken
"The Many Lives of the Xun Long" - Michael Matheson
"Delta Pi" - Matt Moore
"Remains of the Witch" - Tony Pi
"Night Shift at the Tim Hornets" - Mike Rimar
"The Machine is Perfect, the Engineer is Nobody" - Brett Alexander Savory
"Jade Angel" - Dena Bain Taylor
"A Trip to the Northern Elves" - Pippa Wysong
"Mama Fish" - Rio Youers
"When the Zombies Win" - Karina Sumner-Smith
"Cooking For the Dead" - Peter Chiykowski
"Hide" - Rebecca M. Senese
"10 Things to Know About Staplers" - Carolyn Clink
"Centipede Girl" - Ada Hoffmann
"Laikas I" - Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer
"Hawkwood's Folly" - Tim Reynolds
"Razor Voices" - Kelly Rose Pfug-Back
"One Quarter Gorgon" - Helen Marshall
"Nothing But Sky Overhead" - David Livingstone Clink

Poets:

"Falling" - David Clink
The Animal Bridegroom - Sandra Katsuri
Alligator Pie - Dennis Lee
Catalysts and Catastrophes: Feline Poems - Susan Ioannou
"Selected Haiku" - George Swede

Ontario Speculative Fiction Author Reading List

*I've done an updated list with a LOT more authors, which you can find here.*

I did this endcap about a month ago (it's still up at the World's Biggest Bookstore) because several local authors had new books coming out.  It's hard to believe how many speculative fiction authors live in Ontario.  Oh, and for those of you who aren't Canadian, "Yours to Discover" is Ontario's license plate saying.

As with all my reading lists, this isn't a comprehensive list.  I know I'm missing people on the display, and list (authors I don't know, authors we don't carry, out of print books, etc.).  So if you know an author who's missing, mention them in the comment section and I'll add them to the list.

Books On the Display:

Book of Tongues - Gemma Files

Eutopia, 'Geisters, Rasputin's Bastards, Monstrous Affections - David Nickle

Indigo Springs - A. M. Dellamonica (her bio says Vancouver, but she just moved to Toronto)

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

A Turn of Light - Julie Czerneda

The New Moon's Arms - Nalo Hopkinson

Silence - Michelle Sagara

The Wild Ways - Tanya Huff

The Mirror Prince, Shadowlands - Violette Malan,

The Silver Lake - Fiona Patton

River of Stars - Guy Gavriel Kay

Sins of the Angels, Sins of the Son - Linda Poitevin

Technicolor Ultra Mall - Ryan Oakley

Spin - Robert Charles Wilson

Red Planet Blues - Robert J. Sawyer

vN, iD - Madeline Ashby

Enter, Night - Michael Rowe

Chimerascope - Douglas Smith

Virga: Cities of the Air - Karl Schroeder

The Pattern Scars - Caitlin Sweet

Blind Sight - Peter Watts

Unrepresented Authors:

Once Every Never - Lesley Livingston
Above - Leah Bobet
The Moon Under Her Feet - Derwin Mak
Run With the Wolves: The Pack - T. C. Tombs

Weird West Reading List

This is a fairly new subcategory of fantasy and so doesn't have a large number of books yet, but I figured for those of you looking for more, a list might be useful.  This list is made up from books in stock at the bookstore where I work, plus any I heard about from internet sources.  If you know others that should be on this list, please mention them in the comment section and I'll add them in.

This particular list is a mix of horror and SF/fantasy books.  I tried to keep it to books with cowboy like figures or with a western feel to the story, so no civil war or depression era stuff.

 The Six-Gun Tarot – R. S. Belcher

Territory – Emma Bull

Bloodlands – Christine Cody

The Dead of Winter – Lee Collins

Portlandtown – Rob DeBorde

A Book of Tongues – Gemma Files

West Ward Weird – Martin Greenberg & Kerrie Hughes, Ed.

The Gunslinger – Stephen King

Buntline Special – Mike Resnick

Alloy of Law – Brandon Sanderson
American Vampire - Scott Snyder + (graphic novel)

Blood Riders – Michael P. Spradlin

Six-Gun Snow White – Cahterynne M. Valente

Cowboys and Aliens – Joan Vinge

From the comments:
Red Country - Joe Abercrombie
The Half-Made World - Felix Gilman
The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl - Tim Pratt

If You Like... Try... Reading List (x3)

This is my third year doing this reading list.  It's based on an endcap display I do for the bookstore where I work.  Basically I pick books (mostly) from this year that fit specific SF/F/H categories.  These aren't 'best of', they're more 'you may not have seen these', titles, including several smaller press books.  Similarly, some categories that I would have added (like Western Fantasy) aren't here as I've done separate displays for them.  Not all of them fit on the endcap at the same time, but I need extras for when books start selling out.  That's why you'll notice the written list has more books than the picture shows.  Oh, and I've increased the number of horror titles on the list.

Psychological SF - Janus by John Park

Apocalyptic Fiction - After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress

Alien Encounters - Ghost Planet by Sharon Lynn Fisher

Steampunk - Dead Iron by Devon Monk
Military SF - Bloodstar by Ian Douglas

Alternate History - Himmler's War by Robert Conroy

Terrorism - Genocidal Organ by Project Itoh

Biological Terrorism - Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers

Alternate Realities - Bullettime by Nick Mamatas

Robots - vN by Madeline Ashby

Crime Fiction With an SF Twist - The Man From Primrose Lane by James Renner

Energy Crisis - Energized by Edward Lerner

Thrillers - Blades of Winter by R. T. Almasi

Elizabethan Fantasy - Alchemist of Souls by Anne Lyle

Epic Fantasy - Besieged by Rowena Cory Daniells

Persian Inspired Fantasy - The Emperor's Knife by Mazarkis Williams

Medieval Fantasy - Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

Secrets - House of Shadows by Rachel Neumeier

Gritty Fantasy - Seven Princes by John Fultz

Immortality - Enma the Immortal by Fumi Nakamura

Animal Stories - At the Mouth of the River of Bees by Kij Johnson

Scary Angels - Blood and Feathers by Lou Morgan

Werewolves - Silver by Rhiannon Held

Shapeshifters - In a Fix by Linda Grimes

Demon Law School - Dark Light of Day by Jill Archer

Native American Myths - Zadayi Red by Caleb Fox

Norse Gods - Thunder Road by Chadwick Ginther

Zombies - Devil's Wake by Steven Barnes & Tanarive Due

Witches - Thirteenth Sacrifice by Debbie Viguie

Classic Horror - Hell Train by Christopher Fowler

Scary Short Stories - The Monster's Corner edited by Christopher Golden

Horror Houses - Deadfall Hotel by Steve Rasnic Tem

Superpowers Reading List

A few years ago I did a Superheroes Reading List, with some literary and SF books.  Since books featuring people with superpowers, not just heroes in capes, have become very popular lately, consider this a revamp of that previous list (though I didn't add the books I've listed previously).  For ebooks, I've only added Carina's, because I happened to be on their site doing my 'upcoming books' post and noticed them, and Stephen Henning's A Class Apart, because I've read it and therefore know about it. Generally searching for ebooks is tough and I haven't figured out a good way of doing it yet, especially since there are so many platforms where ebooks can be published.

As with my other lists, this isn't meant to be comprehensive.  It's just to suggest books you might not have heard of.  Having said that, feel free to leave titles and authors in the comments of books you'd like to see added.

Masked - Lou Anders, Ed.

Only Superhuman - Christopher Bennett
Broken - Susan James Bigelow

Seven Wonders, Empire State - Adam Christopher

Shadow Ops: Control Point - Myke Cole

Soon I Will Be Invincible - Austin Grossman

The Damned Busters, Costume Not Included - Matthew Hughes

Firestarter - Stephen King

A Once Crowded Sky - Tom King

Wild Cards, Fort Freak, Aces High - George R. R. Martin, Ed.

Trance, Changeling - Kelly Meding

Crossfire - Miyuki Miyabe

Heroics - Brian Moll, Ed.

Watchmen - Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

Blaze of Glory - Sheryl Nantus

The Rook - Daniel O'Malley

Mind Storm, Terminal Point - K. M. Ruiz

Prepare to Die! - Paul Tobin

After the Golden Age - Carrie Vaughn

Ebooks

The Superheroes Union: Dynama - Ruth Dias

How to Date a Henchman - Mari Fee 

A Class Apart - Stephen Henning 

Yesterdays Heroes - Heather Long

* And as with my other lists, this list was the basis for an endcap currently on display at the World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto, Canada.  Adam Christopher is one of my interviewees for the month, so his books are displayed with his interview at the top.

Special Needs In Strange Worlds Reading List

Last month Bookworm Blues (Sarah Chorn) posted a series of guest blogs on a very important - and under discussed  - topic: disabilities in science fiction and fantasy.  I'd started a reading list on this topic months ago, but couldn't figure out a way of displaying it without seeming condescending.  So I put my incomplete list aside and went on to do other displays.

Then Elspeth Cooper did this post on disability in fantasy, and Bookworm Blues decided to do her amazing blog series.  And Dan Goodman suggested the amazing, and respectful, title: Special Needs in Strange Worlds.  If you haven't read her posts, they start here and end here.  She also did a half way point round up with links, here, if you don't want to scroll through all the posts.  With the suggestions offered in the posts and a wonderful title, my endcap/reading list was back in business.

A few notes on this list.  First, it's incomplete.  This is a topic that to a large extent requires having read the book in order to know if the book fits the topic.  And it's impossible to read everything.  I've tried to categorize the books I had listed into general categories and then subdivided issues that had several books each.  Even then some books fit several categories, and some categories are flexible.  I tried to leave off the 'magical cure' books, but left the books with blind characters who have second sight as a compensation for losing their physical sight.  I also recognize that some of the books deal with disability in more detail than others.

I wasn't looking for mystery books, which is why there are only two (+ one from the comments), and only mentioned general fiction books I - and those I spoke to (at work and at home) - knew.

If you have a suggestion, please leave the title of the book, author and which category it fits.  I'll try to add them to the list.  If I get too many suggestions I may just let people read the comments to find more.

I'd meant to post this list at the end of May to somewhat co-incide with the Bookworm Blues posts, but I wanted an endcap, and that takes a month (from ordering the books until it's up).  This is an important issue and I wanted to bring it to the attention of more people.

I wanted to credit those who helped bring this endcap to life, so I've mentioned them with shelf talkers on the display (at the World's Biggest Bookstore, Toronto).

SFX did a list, with several characters I missed and subsequently added, here.

Sarah Chorn (Bookworm Blues) did a post on SF Signal where she mentions several books on this topic.

Ada Hoffman has an excellent list of books containing autistic characters, many of which she has reviewed.  Do to the size of her list I've chosen not to add the titles here.

*List updated April 3, 2014.

For some 2014 books, SF Signal has a reading list for you.

Essays:

Disability in Science Fiction: Representations of Technology as Cure - Kathryn Allan, Ed.

Physical Issues:

The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie

Song of the Beast - Carol Berg
Rogue Moon - Algis Budrys (amputee)

Young Miles - Lois McMaster Bujold

Songs of the Earth - Elspeth Cooper
Mind Games - Carolyn Crane (hypochondriac)
Silent Dances - A. C. Crispin & Kathleen O'Malley

The Scar - Sergey & Marina Dyachenko
Talus and the Frozen King - Graham Edwards (damaged arm)
Earth Girl - Janet Edwards
Angel Fall - Susan Ee
Ether - Ben Ehrenreich

Miserere - Teresa Frohock
Handbook for Dragon Slayers - Merrie Haskell
Silver - Rhiannon Held (+ mental)
Spark - Brigid Kemmerer

Wolfsangel - M. D. Lachlan (mute)
Brood of Bones - A. E. Marling (sleeping sickness)

Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin
The Ship Who Sang - Anne McCaffrey

Elric: Stealer of Souls - Michael Moorcock
Mister Monday - Garth Nix (asthma)

Galatea 2.2 - Richard Powers

Enclave - Kit Reed (epilepsy)

Scourge of the Betrayer - Jeff Salyards
15 Miles - Rob Scott
The Dream-Maker's Magic - Sharon Shinn
Hollow World - Michael J. Sullivan (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis)
Sideshow - Sheri Tepper

Quarantine: The Loners - Lex Thomas (epilepsy) 

Among Others - Jo Walton
Blindsight - Peter Watts (epilepsy)

Beyond the Shadows - Brent Weeks

Shadowmarch - Tad Williams

Amped - Daniel Wilson (has technological implant that prevents seizures)

One-Armed Queen - Jane Yolen

Westlake Soul - Rio Youers (vegetative state)
Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny

Wheelchair:

Memory of Earth - Orson Scott Card 

Immobility - Brian Evenson
Heaven's Shadow - David Goyer

Dune - Frank Herbert

The Rapture - Liz Jensen

The Drawing of the Three - Stephen King

Fenrir - M. D. Lachlan

Last Hero - Terry Pratchett
Apollo's Outcasts - Allen Steele

Blindness:

The Daemon Prism - Carol Berg 

Eyes to See - Joseph Nassise 

WWW.Wake - Robert J. Sawyer 

Sojourn - R. A. Salvatore
Persistence of Vision - John Varley
Mind Games - Kiersten White

The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham 

Mental Issues:

Debris - Jo Anderton

Xenocide - Orson Scott Card (OCD)
A Turn of Light - Julie Czerneda
Alien Shore - C. S. Friedman (also has an autistic character)
The Diamond in the Window - Jane Langton (children's book)

Dragonsinger - Anne McCaffrey
Swans & Klons - Nora Olsen
Bleeding Violet - Dia Reeves (bipolar)
Dying Inside - Robert Silverberg (ability to read minds destroys life)
Eight Million Gods - Wen Spencer (OCD)

Dracula - Bram Stoker (insanity)
More Than Human - Theodore Sturgis
Lost & Found - J. Sheehan (synesthesia)

Red Thunder - John Varley

Dyslexia:

Spellwrignt - Blake Charlton
God's War - Kameron Hurley 

Of Blood and Honey - Stina Leicht
The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

Autistic:
[Ada Hoffman has an excellent list of books containing characters with autism here.]

World House - Guy Adams
Winds of Khalakovo - Bradley Beaulieu
A Wizard Alone - Diane Duane

Speed of Dark - Elizabeth Moon
Silence - Michelle Sagara
The Real Boy - Anne Ursu (middle grade SF)

Depression:

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K. Dick

Lord Foul's Bane - Stephen Donaldson
The Magicians - Lev Grossman

The Fionavar Tapestry - Guy Gavriel Kay

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien 

Problems With Magic: 

A Spell for Chameleon - Piers Anthony

Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb

Forging the Darksword - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Graphic Novels:

Birds of Prey / Batman (Oracle - wheelchair)

Daredevil (blindness)
Hawkeye (hard of hearing)

Iron Man (heart problems)

With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child - Keiko Tobe (autism)

X-Men (Professor X - wheelchair, Destiny - blindness)

Movies/TV:

Alphas (autism)
Avatar (paraplegic)

Bionic Woman (bionic parts)

Cube (mental)

Dark Angel (paraplegic)

Defendor (mental)

Dr. Who (Davros - quadriplegic)
Guild (Venom is paraplegic)
How to Train a Dragon (Toothless's damaged wing)
Human Race (amputee, deafness - Note: this is a horror movie with lots of gore)

Lawnmower Man (mental issues)

Mantis (paralysis)

Memento (memory loss)

6 Million Dollar Man (bionic parts after accident)

Star Trek (Commander Pike - quadriplegic)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (Geordi La Forge - blindness)

Star Wars (breathing apparatus, dismemberment)
Twin Peaks (chief Gordon Cole was deaf, mental issues)

Unbreakable (brittle bone syndrome)

Wizard of Oz (fear, no heart, etc.)

General Fiction: 

Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner

Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon (autism)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo (partial blindness and deafness)

Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes (mental)

Last Snow - Eric Van Lustbader (dyslexia)

Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Blindness - Jose Saramago

Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (mental)

Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo 

Before I Go To Sleep - S. J. Watson (memory loss)

Mystery:

Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse - Lee Goldberg (OCD)

Divine Sacrifice - Tony Hays
You Die Today! - Baynard Kendrick

Female Science Fiction Author Reading List

This post is in belated response to all the hoopla that comes up over and over again about female authors and awards, etc.  It goes along with the guest post I've done for Fantasy Cafe (which is now up, so go and check it out).  Unlike most of my reading lists, which are endcap displays at the store where I work, this was a list I put together for my blog, by walking through the aisles and writing down every female SF writer I could find.  I know I've missed a lot (as not all authors are still in print, some still use pseudonyms and so many authors are going the epublishing route nowadays), so feel free to mention other authors in the comments.

In the case of romantic SF, I'm linking to the list I did a few months ago and adding a few names here that aren't on that list.  And if you want Dystopian, check out the reading list I did for that.

I tried to categorized authors but apologize for any mistakes I might have made.  The only places I doubled names were to flesh out Time Travel and Alternate History and in one case Series (if an author wrote one of those as well as another category).

My hard SF list is purposefully small, as it's hard to judge the accuracy of the science and if the book revolves around a specific scientific idea without reading it.  So these are books that I'm pretty sure are hard SF, but I'm also pretty sure there will be hard SF books in my general SF category.

As you can see from this long yet incomplete list, there are a lot of women writing science fiction.  Seems a shame more of them aren't remembered come award time.

Hard SF

Nancy Kress - Probability Moon
Glynn Latner - Hurricane Moon

M. J. Locke - Up Against It

Syne Mitchell - Changeling Plague

Joan Slonczweski - Brain Plague

General SF

Ann Aguirre - Grimspace

C. L. Anderson - Bitter Angels

Margaret Ball - Disappearing Act

Elizabeth Bear - Dust

Lauren Beukes - Zoo City
Leigh Brackett - The Secret of Sinharat

M. M. Buckner - Watermind

C. J. Cherryh - Foreigner

Sara Creasy - Song of Scarabaeus

Julie Czerneda - A Thousand Words for Stranger

Marienne de Pierres - Dark Space

Diane Duane - Omnitopia Dawn

Jaine Fenn - Principles of Angels

J. M. Frey - Triptych

Nicola Griffith - Ammonite

Jane Jensen - Dante's Equation

Kay Kenyon - The Braided World 

Sharon Lee & Steve Miller - Fledgling

Ursula K. Le Guin - The Word for World is Forest

Doris Lessing - Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta

Karin Lowachee - Warchild

Anne McCaffrey - The Ship Who Sang

Maureen McHugh - China Mountain Zhang

Chris Moriarty - Spin State

Sheryl Nantus - Blaze of Glory

Andre Norton - Prison Ship

Diana Palmer - Morcai Batallion

Kit Reed - Thinner Than Thou

Justina Robson - Mappa Mundi

Joanna Russ - The Female Man

Melissa Scott - Trouble and Her Friends

Suzan Shwartz - Hostile Takeover

Kristine Smith - Code of Conduct

Wen Spencer - Tinker

Sheri Tepper - Grass

Karen Traviss - City of Pearl

Joan Vinge - Psion

Lynda Williams - The Courtesan Prince

Liz Williams - Banner of Souls

Phoebe Wray - Jemma 7729

Military SF

Lois McMaster Bujold - Cordelia's Honor

Tanya Huff - Valor's Choice

Jean Johnson - A Soldier's Duty

Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Moon - Sassinak

Sandra McDonald - The Outback Stars

Elizabeth Moon - Hunting Party

Romantic SF

Gini Koch - Touched by an Alien

Stephenie Meyer - The Host

Sharon Shinn - Jenna Starborn

Lisa Paitz Spindler - The Spiral Path

Time Travel

Kage Baker - In the Garden of Iden

Linda Evans & Robert Asprin - Time Scout

Kay Kenyon - Seeds of Time

Audrey Niffenegger - Time Traveler's Wife

Andre Norton - Echoes in Time
Marge Piercy - Woman on the Edge of Time

Connie Willis - Doomsday Book

Alternative History

Secrets of Jin Shei - Alma Alexander

Virginia DeMarce - 1635: The Tangled Web

Debbra Doyle - Land of Mist and Snow

Bernardine Evaristo - Blonde Roots

Sophia McDougall - Romanitas

Naomi Novik - His Majesty's Dragon

Ekaterina Sedia - Heart of Iron

Jo Walton - Farthing

Connie Willis - Blackout

Steampunk (part 1 and part 2)

Gail Carriger - Soulless

Phil & Kaja Foglio - Agatha H and the Airship City

Dru Pagliassotti - Clockwork Heart

Cherie Priest - Boneshaker

Ekaterina Sedia - The Alchemy Stone

Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic

Margaret Atwood - Oryx & Crake

Octavia Butler - Parable of the Sower

Suzanne Collins - Hunger Games

Nalo Hopkinson - Brown Girl in the Ring

P. D. James - Children of Men

Nnedi Okorafor - Who Fears Death

K. M. Ruiz - Mind Storm

Mary Shelley - The Last Man

Series Books

Karen Traviss - Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice, Halo: Grasslands, Gears of War: Anvil Gate

Diana Carey - Aliens: Cauldron, Star Trek TNG: Ship of the Line

Diana Dru Botsford - Stargate SG1: Four Dragons

Olivia Woods - Star Trek DS9: The Soul Key

Kristen Beyer - Star Trek Voyager: Children of the Storm

Christie Golden - Star Craft: The Dark Templar Saga

Authors mentioned in comments

Alma Alexander - Secrets of Jin Shei (alternate history), Random (YA)
Zoe Archer - Skies of Fire (steampunk)
Catherine Asaro - Primary Inversion (general, hard, military and romantic SF)
K. S. Augustin - In Enemy Hands (romantic SF with hard SF elements)
Jay Blakeney - The Goda War (general SF)
Marion Zimmer Bradley - The Colors of Space (general SF)
Meljean Brook - The Iron Duke (steampunk)
Pat Cadigan - Dervish is Digital (general SF)
Jayge Carr - Navigator's Sindrome (general SF)
Jo Clayton - Diadem From the Stars (general SF)
Michelle Shirey Crean - Dancer of the Sixth (general SF)
L. Timmel Duchamp - Alayna to Alayna (general SF)
Suzette Haden Elgin - The Communipaths (general SF)
Kelley Eskridge - Solitaire (general SF, short stories)
Sharon Lynn Fisher - Ghost Planet (romantic SF, out December 2012)
Eileen Gunn - Stable Strategies and Others (general SF, short stories)
Gwynith Jones - North Wind (general SF)
Shariann Lewitt - Momento Mori (apocalyptic/plague SF)
Louise Marley - Singer in the Snow (general SF)
Susan Matthews - Colony Fleet (general SF)
Judith Merill - Survival Ship and Other Stories (short stories)
Judith Moffett - "Surviving" (short stories)
C. L. Moore - Northwest of East (short stories)
Pat Murphy - There and Back Again (general SF)
Linda Nagata - The Bohr Maker (general SF)
Jane Palmer - The Planet Dweller (general SF)
Doris Piserchia - A Billion Days of Earth (general SF) 
Marta Randall - A City in the North (general SF)
Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Diving Into the Wreck (general SF)
Pamela Sargent - Starshadows (short stories)
Jody Scott - Passing For Human (general SF)
Tricia Sullivan - Someone To Watch Over Me (general SF)
Sue Thomas - Correspondence (general SF)
James Tiptree, Jr. - Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (general SF, short stories)
Kate Wilhem - Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (general SF)
Karen A. Wyle - Twin-Bred (general Sf)
Pamela Zoline - "The Heat Death of the Universe" (short stories)

Websites to check out:

The Galaxy Express
SF Mistressworks
Daughters of Prometheus

Dystopian Reading List

I've tried to pick books that are actual dystopias, rather than post-apocalyptic, etc.  Meaning, books wherein the governments (or other entities) tried to create a utopic society but failed, creating instead a society that limits freedoms in some way or another, or is simply controlling society.  I've bent my own rules at the end of the fiction section by adding some books that don't quite fit this definition, but which may interest readers who like this type of fiction.  And I'll admit that in a few instances I had to guess if they fit my definition, as I haven't had the chance to read all of these - they're set off from the rest of the fiction list.  I got a few of the books listed here from the book of essays by Erika Gottlieb.

I know this list isn't complete, so if there's a book you know of that should be on it, mention it in the comments.

With one exception, the links go to the Indigo website, where you can learn more about the books.

I've put asterisks next to books I thought were especially good for one reason or another.  And as usual with my reading lists, this is also a display at the World's Biggest Bookstore.

Essays:

Dystopian Fiction East and West: Universe of Terror and Trial - Erika Gottlieb

Fiction:

Brave New Worlds - John Joseph Adams, Ed.

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

We - Yevgeny Zamyatin

1984 - George Orwell

* This Perfect Day - Ira Levin

Feihrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

* Battle Royale - Koushun Takami

* Metropolis - Thea Von Harbou

Stand on Zanzibar - John Brenner

The Sleeper Wakes - H. G. Wells

Player Piano - Kurt Vonnegut

* V for Vendetta - Alan Moore and David Lloyd

* The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

* Veracity - Laura Bynum

* When She Woke - Hilary Jordan

He, She and It - Marge Piercy

Woman on the Edge of Time - Marge Piercy
Logan's Run - William Nolan and George Clayton Johnson

Inverted World - Christopher Priest

The World Inside - Robert Silverberg

Jennifer Government - Max Barry

Pure - Julianna Baggott
The Long Walk - Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)

The Bradbury Report - Steven Polensky
* The Third - Abel Keogh

The Foundation Pit - Andrey Platonov

The Trial - Franz Kafka

The Running Man - Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)

The Games - Ted Kosmatka

Space Merchants - Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth

Technicolor Ultra Mall - Ryan Oakley

Everyone in Silico - Jim Munroe

The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick

* Postmortal - Drew Magary

* Eutopia - David Nickle

Seed - Rob Ziegler

YA:

The Giver - Lois Lowry

* The Unidentified - Rae Mariz

Uglies - Scott Westerfield

Matched - Megan McCafferty,

Divergent - Veronica Roth

* Unwind - Neal Shusterman

* The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Delirium - Lauren Oliver

* The Declaration - Gemma Malley

* Legend - Marie Lu

Article 5 - Kristen Simmons

* Shatter Me - Tehreh Mafi

Feed - M. L. Anderson

The Pledge - Kimberly Derting

XVI - Julia Karr

The Blending Time - Michael Kinch

Inside Out - Maria Snyder

Water Wars - Cameron Stracher

Incarceron - Catherine Fisher
Eve - Anna Carey

Swipe - Evan Angler (forthcoming)

Reader Suggestions:

Swastika Night - Katharine Burdekin (writing as Murray Constantine)
Benefits - Zoe Fairbairns
The Carhullan Army - Sarah Hall
> Wither - Lauren DeStefano
> Birthmarked - Caragh O'Brien
> Anthem - Ayn Rand
> The Line - Teri Hall
> The Gate to Women's Country - Sheri Tepper
The Vaults - Toby Ball
The Fifth Sacred Thing - Starhawk
# Among The Hidden - Margaret Peterson Haddix
# The House of the Scorpion - Nancy Farmer
# Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card (I consider this more pure SF, but there is a birth cap and little adult presence among the chosen teens, so I can see how it made their list.)
# Partials - Dan Wells (I didn't add this to my list as I wasn't sure how much of a government presence exists, and it sounds more post-apocalyptic to me)
^ A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess (I REALLY don't know how I missed this one)
^ A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick
^ Akira - Katsuhiro Otomo
^ Ghost in the Shell - Shirow Masamune
^ Children of Men - P. D. James
^ Neuromancer - William Gibson

(books marked with > come from the fantastic Tor.com article Dystopian Birth Control by Caragh O'Brien and its comments.  Which reminded me that Tor.com had a dystopia week, so I looked up some of those articles.  John Joseph Adams, who edited the Brave New Worlds anthology, as a fantastic definition of dystopian fiction here.  You can read some of the stories from the anthology on its website.  Adams also hosted a round table talking about favourite examples of dystopian fiction, which lists several books I don't.

books marked with # are from this Flavorwire article.

and marked with ^ are from this article.)

Lee & Low Books has come up with a list where the protagonists/authors are from diverse backgrounds (people of colour, LGTB, etc.).  You can see their list here.