I can think of several Asian-American writers who do YA fantasy, but what about in adult fantasy and science fiction?
I’d like to make an effort here. Maybe it’s a visibility issue and I don’t follow the right channels. I’d like to discover that there are more writers of Asian heritage that are published in English speaking markets than I believe. I put out a call on Twitter and here’s the initial list that came back, but I’d like your help too!
Fantasy Novels
- THE GASLIGHT DOGS by Karin Lowachee – Canada
- SALT FISH GIRL by Larissa Lai – Canada
- THE BOOKS OF THE SUNDERED (series) by Michelle Sagara / Michelle West – Canada
- LEGENDS OF THE RED SUN (series) by Mark Charan Newton – UK
- DIRK AND STEELE (series) by Marjorie M. Liu – USA
- PSI CHANGLING (series) by Nalini Singh – New Zealand
- NORSE CODE by Greg Van Eekhout – USA
- OBSIDIAN AND BLOOD (series) by Aliette de Bodard – France
- GAMEWORLD (series) by Samit Basu – India
- RAMAYAMA (series) by Ashok Banker – India
- SHIVA TRIOLGY by Amish Tripathi – India
Science Fiction Novels
- THE LIVES OF TAO by Wesley Chu – USA
- HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE by Charles Yu – USA
SF/F Novellas
- ALL THE FLAVORS: A Tale of Guan Yu, the Chinese God of War, in America by Ken Liu – USA
For YA and MG check out a list via Malinda Lo and diversity reading list via Elen Oh.
I’d like your suggestions, but please hold off on self-published books for now (that may be another list). And thank you!
Wouldn’t Ken Liu count, or is he disqualified for writing largely novelettes? He’s got an amazing track record in SF/F. Funny as it is, his WIkipedia bio is the easiest way of listing his works: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Liu
Well, I’m clearly too tired to be reading blogs after all today’s bloodwork. This is obviously asking for novels, while Liu isn’t a big novelist.
I can add in novelettes 😉 I love Liu’s writing. I hope he’s working on a novel!
If I may add Charles Yu, who wrote the excellent How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. And you can’t forget the incredible Ted Chiang. Ted writes short stories and has a very small body of work but he is a writing god.
Ahh perfect thank you! I Googled the wrong Charles and couldn’t remember his last name. I agree about Ted. I wish he wrote more…
And last time I spoke with Ken, he is working on a novel. He just had a baby though and has a pretty busy day job. Here’s hoping he gets some time to finish the book. In the meanwhile, he’ll just keep accumulating hugos and nebulas =p
Does he ever write anything bad? *shakes fist* I will however check out your novel when I get a chance. Looking forward to it. 🙂
Oh, I bet his novel will make the kind of splash that will transform the landscape of fiction. Mixed metaphor, much? I love me some Ken Liu.
No rec’s you can think of for me, Harry?
I wish I could send you more recs other than the ones you’ve listed. I’m so far behind on my reading list that it will be a long time before many/any of these pop up on my reading list. That said, I’m familiar with (and enjoy) Ken Liu’s short stories.
Ahh the never ending reading list. I hear you there. I’m a lot slower than I used to be too.
Yeah. This year I hope to catch up on a few things on my backlog, though I’ve no immediate plans for how to do so. Whereas I’d rather buy books that I want to read, I’m probably going to have to settle for some library trips this year (and hope my local library is well-stocked with the sort of Epic Fantasy I’ve been meaning to read). Anything really stand-out I may want to buy anyway.
Copying this from a Reddit commenter:
“Fantasy seems to be gaining some steam among Indian Authors
Samit Basu has The Gameworld Trilogy
Ashok Banker has done a version of the historic epic The Ramayan and is working on another reworking of The Mahabharata written in a modern idiom. He has a lot of other books novels based on Indian Mythology.
I havent read Amish Tripathis Shiva Trilogy but it is ridiculously popular in India these days to the point where they released a musical soundtrack for the last book -Oath of the Vayuputras. I have heard crazy numbers in terms of sales, according to wikipedia over a million copies. Its tough to overstate how big a deal Amish Tripathi is right now.”
Updated! And thank you!