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Zen Cho is a Malaysian fantasy author based in Birmingham, United Kingdom.[1] She is known for her Sorcerer to the Crown series. She was the joint winner of the Crawford Award in 2015 for her short story collection Spirits Abroad.[2]

Biography

Cho has a law degree from University of Cambridge, and she works as a lawyer.[3][4]

Cho’s debut novel, Sorcerer to the Crown, was published in 2015.[4][5][6] It was a finalist for the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 2016,[7] and in the same year, Cho won the British Fantasy Award for Best Newcomer.[8] Her novelette “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again“, published by the B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog, won the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.[9]

Spirits Abroad: Stories (2021)[10] was awarded the Ray Bradbury Prize by the 2021 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.[11]

Awards

Year Title Award Category Result Ref
2015 Spirits Abroad Crawford Award — Won[a] [12]
Sorcerer to the Crown Otherwise Award[b] — Longlisted [13]
2016 British Fantasy Award Newcomer Won [14]
Fantasy Novel Shortlisted [14]
Locus Award First Novel Finalist [15]
2019 “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again“ Hugo Award Novelette Won [16]
2021 The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water British Fantasy Award Novella Shortlisted [17]
Lambda Literary Award Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror Finalist [18]
Locus Award Novella Finalist [19]
Black Water Sister Kitschies Red Tentacle (Novel) Finalist [20]
2022 Ignyte Award Adult Novel Finalist [21]
Locus Award Fantasy Novel Finalist [22]
RUSA CODES Reading List Fantasy Shortlisted [23]
World Fantasy Award Novel Nominated [24]
Spirits Abroad Locus Award Collection Finalist [22]

Bibliography

Sorcerer Royal series

  • —— (2015). Sorcerer to the Crown (hardcover 1st ed.). Ace. p. 371. ISBN 9780425283370.
  • —— (2019). The True Queen (paperback 1st ed.). Ace. p. 371. ISBN 9780425283417.

Standalone novels and long fiction

Collections

  • —— (2014). Spirits Abroad (paperback 1st ed.). FIXI Novo. p. 284. ISBN 9789670374987.
    • —— (2021). Spirits Abroad (paperback expanded ed.). Small Beer Press. p. 338. ISBN 9781618731869.

Notes

  1. ^ Tie with The Angel of Losses by Stephanie Feldman
  2. ^ Then known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award

References

  1. ^ “Zen Cho”. panmacmillan.com. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  2. ^ “Cho and Feldman Win Crawford Award”. Locus Online. Locus Publication. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  3. ^ “Malaysian author Zen Cho: Forget critics, focus on the story”. The Star. 2 January 2016. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  4. ^ a b “Malaysian author’s debut fantasy novel goes out to the world”. The Straits Times. 30 August 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  5. ^ Berlin, Marina (20 November 2015). “Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho”. Strange Horizons. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  6. ^ “Zen Cho: Tackling questions of race, gender and social justice in fantasy fiction”. The Independent. 12 September 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  7. ^ “2016 Locus Awards Winners”. Locus. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  8. ^ “Winners of the British Fantasy Awards 2016”. The British Fantasy Society. 25 September 2016. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  9. ^ “2019 Hugo Award & 1944 Retro Hugo Award Finalists”. World Science Fiction Society. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  10. ^ “Gary K. Wolfe Reviews Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho”. locusmag.com. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
  11. ^ “Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Winners Announced: 2021 Book Prizes Winners”. latimes.com. Retrieved 2026-05-02.
  12. ^ “Cho and Feldman Win Crawford Award”. Locus. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  13. ^ Debbie Notkin (1 April 2016). “2015 Winners, Honor List, and Long List Announced!”. Otherwise Award. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  14. ^ a b “2016 British Fantasy Awards Winners”. Locus. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  15. ^ “2016 Locus Awards Winners”. Locus. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  16. ^ “Announcing the 2019 Hugo Award Winners”. Reactor Magazine. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  17. ^ “2021 British Fantasy Awards Winners”. Locus. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  18. ^ Saka, Rasheeda (15 March 2021). “Here are the finalists for the 2021 Lambda Literary Award”. Literary Hub. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  19. ^ “2021 Locus Awards Winners”. Locus. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  20. ^ “2021 Kitschies Winners”. Locus. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  21. ^ Emmet Asher-Perrin (17 September 2022). “Announcing the Winners of the 2022 Ignyte Awards”. Reactor. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  22. ^ a b “2022 Locus Awards Winners”. Locus. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  23. ^ “The Reading List”. RUSA Update. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  24. ^ “2022 World Fantasy Awards Winners”. Locus. 6 November 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2025.