Shelley Parker-Chan is an Asian-Australian former diplomat and international development adviser who spent nearly a decade working on human rights, gender equality and LGBT rights in Southeast Asia. Named after the Romantic poet, she was raised on a steady diet of Greek myths, Arthurian legend and Chinese tales of suffering and tragic romance. Her debut novel She Who Became the Sun owes more than a little to all three. In 2017 she was awarded an Otherwise (Tiptree) Fellowship for a work of speculative narrative that expands our understanding of gender. She currently lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her family.
A Song to Drown Rivers (2024) Ann Liang "Nobody does yearning and sacrifice better than the Chinese classics, and Liang has given us a new classic that achingly captures the will of kings, the intelligence of women, and the heartbreak of war. Exquisite and devastating. It won't fail to move you."
Divine Mortals (2024) Amanda M Helander "Mona's unique voice - by turns bratty, guilt-stricken, horny, doubting, determined, but always that of a survivor - make her a dazzling and oh-so-relatable protagonist for this wildly inventive debut. Helander has divined a story that's twisty, addictive, and sharp as a slap. I absolutely inhaled it!"
Lady Macbeth (2024) Ava Reid "A novel etched with a scalpel, flawlessly delivering the darkest depths of human relationships as well as the emotional brilliance of catharsis - a triumph of a retelling."
The Woods All Black (2024) Lee Mandelo "Mandelo doesn't pull any punches, including in his delivery of PEAK queer revenge. If you don't absolutely howl with schadenfreude at the ending, I don't know what to do with you."
Orphia and Eurydicius (2024) Elyse John "Elyse John's deft language lays bare the exquisite intimacies of human connection, from the brutal - yet seductive - exercise of power over another, to the moments of tenderness and vulnerability between lovers."
The City of Stardust (2024) Georgia Summers "A story as darkly wondrous as midnight. Summers brilliantly takes our yearning to open doors to magical new worlds, and twists it into a seductively vicious dream of darkness, blood, and winged horrors. When monsters must be satiated, there is no escaping the choices between love and betrayal; survival and sacrifice. Enthralling to the last page."
The Witchwood Knot (2023) (Victorian Faerie Tales, book 1) Olivia Atwater "The Witchwood Knot delivers the best kind of comfort - the kind that doesn't shy away from the world's injustices, but faces them with indignation, wit, courage and compassion. It will charm and affirm you in equal measure."
The Death I Gave Him (2023) Em X Liu "Liu's exquisite prose perfectly marries physicality and emotionality, the visceral and the sterile. This is Hamlet reflected in a fractured mirror. Every angle on the familiar comes as a surprise; every new edge cuts with razor intelligence. And oh, the tension! It will murder you."
The Court of Shadows (2023) (Vampyria Saga, book 1) Victor Dixen "Gory, twisty, heart-stopping fun of the best kind - I couldn't stop reading!"
The Jasad Heir (2023) (Scorched Throne, book 1) Sara Hashem "The Jasad Heir takes familiar fantasy plot elements-a destroyed kingdom; a hidden heir to the lost throne-and gives them a thrilling extra layer of political complexity. The slow burn between protagonist and antagonist will have you turning pages in a frenzy. Sara Hashem is a talent to watch!"
Lucky Red (2023) Claudia Cravens "I dare anyone not to thrill to this book! Lucky Red takes the western genre and shakes the life back into it. Explosive and intimate, dense with human connection, and above all seized with the need for freedom of the queer self: this is storytelling that grinds its characters in its grip, then throws them into the air to take wondrous flight. I loved it to bits."
Bitterthorn (2023) Kat Dunn "A haunting, atmospheric tale of two lost souls finding each other, and a love that will remake the world. Exquisite."
Wrath Goddess Sing (2022) Maya Deane "A magnificently wild ride from beginning to end. As fierce in friendship as it is in love and war, this is the Iliad taken into the stratosphere - no longer merely epic, but cosmic. I can't stop thinking about it!"
The Stardust Thief (2022) (Sandsea Trilogy, book 1) Chelsea Abdullah "Abdullah has created a sumptuous feast of richly layered classic tales, and characters who will have you hungering to unravel their mysteries. The Stardust Thief will transport you, enchant you, and revive your belief in the magic of storytelling."
Daughter of the Moon Goddess (2022) (Celestial Kingdom, book 1) Sue Lynn Tan "This vivid, unputdownable debut effortlessly whisks us into the celestial realms of Chinese high fantasy. Tan magnificently conjures the romantic yet dangerous dazzle of this immortal world, but never loses track of the shining human heart of her tale. A captivating treat for lovers of Chinese fantasy dramas and newcomers alike."
A Marvellous Light (2021) (Last Binding, book 1) Freya Marske "A magical world of exquisite refinement, where peril skims beneath manners, interiors bespeak both faultless taste and deadly secrets, and the sexual tension crescendos until it literally makes sparks fly. A dazzling debut."
