Sarah Rees Brennan

Sarah Rees Brennan
Born	(1983-09-21) 21 September 1983 (age 42) Ireland
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	Irish
Alma mater	Kingston University London
Period	21st century
Genre	fantasy, young adult fiction
Notable works	The Demon's Lexicon In Other Lands Long Live Evil
Website
sarahreesbrennan.com

Sarah Rees Brennan (born 21 September 1983) ^[1] is an Irish fantasy novelist. Her books are bestsellers in both the UK and USA. ^[2]

Rees Brennan's first novel, The Demon's Lexicon (2009), was longlisted for the 2010 Carnegie Medal. ^[3] Her fantasy novel In Other Lands was a finalist for the 2017 Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book. ^[4] Her adult fantasy novel Long Live Evil debuted on the USA Today's best seller list ^[2] and became a #1 Sunday Times bestseller on release in the UK, ^[5] and appeared on both The New York Times 2024 Best of Fantasy list and The New York Times Best of Romance list. ^{[6] [7]} Rees Brennan's work was listed twice in the 2024 Locus Recommended Reading List - her Hansel and Gretel retelling "Happily Ever After Comes Round" was recommended in the Short Stories category and Long Live Evil was recommended in Novels - Fantasy. ^[8]

Life and career

Rees Brennan was born in Ireland. She obtained a Creative Writing MA from Kingston University in London ^[9] and worked as a librarian in Surrey, England ^[10] before moving to Dublin where she currently lives.

Rees Brennan has been writing since the age of five. ^[11] She has a blog on LiveJournal which has over 4000 subscribers. ^[12]

She wrote her first novel, The Demon's Lexicon , while studying for her Creative Writing MA. The publishing house Simon & Schuster obtained a three-book contract deal with her which involved an undisclosed six-figure sum. Since then she has written and collaborated on many bestselling and award-nominated works including In Other Lands and her tie-in work with Netflix.^{[ citation needed ]} Rees Brennan's most recent novel is Long Live Evil which debuted on the USA Today's best seller list ^[2] and was a number one best seller on the Sunday Times in the UK. ^[13]

Rees Brennan is a cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2017. ^[14]

In October 2025, Rees Brennan was a guest on the Off the Shelf podcast ^[15] .

Awards and honors

Three of Brennan's books are Junior Library Guild books: Untold (2014), ^[16] Unmade (2014), ^[17] and In Other Lands (2017). ^[18]

The Demon's Lexicon received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews , ^[19] Bulletin, ^[20] and School Library Journal . ^[21]

In 2017, The New York Times included In Other Lands on their list of the fall's best young adult fantasy novels. ^[22]

Awards for Brennan's writing

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
	The Demon's Lexicon	Leeds Book Award	Finalist	[ citation needed ]
2009		Cybils Award for Young Adult Speculative	Finalist	[23]
2010		ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults	Top 10	[24]
		Carnegie Medal	Longlisted	[3]
2013	Unspoken	ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults	Selection	[25]
2014	Team Human	Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults	Selection	[26]
	Unmade	Andre Norton Award	Finalist	[17] [27]
2017	In Other Lands	Bisexual Book Award for Teen/Young Adult Fiction	Won	[28]
		Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction	Nominee	[29]
2018		European Science Fiction Society Award for Best Work of Fiction	Finalist	[30]
		Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book	Finalist	[31]
		Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book	Finalist	[32] [33]
2019		ALA Rainbow Book List	Selection	[34]
		Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature	Finalist	[35]
2025	Long Live Evil	ESFS Award for Best Written Work of Fiction	Won	[36]

Publications

Novels

Demon's Lexicon Trilogy

• The Demon's Lexicon , June 2009
• The Demon's Covenant , May 2010
• The Demon's Surrender, June 2011

Lynburn Legacy

• Unspoken, June 2012 (Book 1)
• Untold, August 2013 (Book 2)
• Unmade, 2014 (Book 3)
• The Spring Before I Met You, September 2012 (Book 0.25)
• The Summer Before I Met You, September 2012 (Book 0.5)
• The Night After I Lost You (Book 1.5)

Shadowhunters Universe

• The Bane Chronicles , co-authored with Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson
• Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy , co-authored with Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson and Robin Wasserman
• Ghosts of the Shadow Market, co-authored with Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, Kelly Link and Robin Wasserman

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

• Season of the Witch (Book 1), July 2019
• Daughter of Chaos (Book 2), December 2019
• Path of Night (Book 3), May 2020

C.S. Pacat's Fence novelisations

• Fence: Striking Distance, September 2020
• Fence: Disarmed, May 2021

Fate: The Winx Saga

• The Fairies' Path, as Ava Corrigan, March 2021
• Lighting the Fire, August 2022

Time of Iron

• Long Live Evil, August 2024
• All Hail Chaos, forthcoming from Orbit Books

Stand-alone novels

• Team Human , co-authored with Justine Larbalestier, July 2012
• Tell the Wind and Fire, April 2016
• In Other Lands , August 2017

Short fiction

• "Undead Is Very Hot Right Now" in The Eternal Kiss, ed. Trisha Telep
• "The Spy Who Never Grew Up" in Kiss Me Deadly, ed. Trisha Telep
• "Queen of Atlantis" in Subterranean Press Magazine: Summer 2011, ed. Gwenda Bond
• "Lets Get This Undead Show on the Road" in Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions, ed. Melissa Marr
• "Faint Heart" in After, ed. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
• "Treasure and Maidens" in Scheherazade's Facade, ed. Michael M. Jones
• "I Gave You My Love by the Light of The Moon" in Defy the Dark, ed. Saundra Mitchell
• "Beauty and the Chad" in Grim, ed. Christine Johnson
• "Wings in the Morning" in Monstrous Affections, ed. Kelly Link
• "Tears Waiting to Be Diamonds" Part One and Part Two in The Sunday Morning Transport ^{[37] [38]}
• "Happily Ever After Comes Round" in Uncanny Magazine May-June 2024, ed. Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas

References

1. "sarahtales - Profile". LiveJournal . Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
2. "Weekly Bestsellers, 9 September 2024". Locus Online. 9 September 2024.
3. "The CILIP Carnegie Medal Nominations for 2010". Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
4. "2018 Hugo Awards". 19 August 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
5. "Long Live Evil". 17 January 2024.
6. "New York Times The Best Science Fiction Novels of 2024". 6 December 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
7. "New York Times The Best Romance Fiction Novels of 2024". 5 December 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
8. "Locus 2024 Recommended Reading List". 1 February 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
9. Sarah Rees Brennan Archived 7 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine - After you Graduate, Kingston University London.
10. "Sarah Rees Brennan". Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
11. [Back of first novel, Interview with Sarah Rees Brennan, author of The Demon's Lexicon] ^{[ full citation needed ]}
12. "Sarah's magic touch lands the writer a three-book deal". Archived from the original on 2 November 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
13. "Long Live Evil". 17 January 2024.
14. Press Association (16 February 2020). "'People were complimenting my weight loss' Sarah Rees Brennan on battling cancer". Her.ie . Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
15. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6GoEmsgmlEVwCFM3GuIEev?si=5fa93d4bea494ae3
16. "Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan". Junior Library Guild . Retrieved 5 April 2023.
17. "Unmade: The Lynburn Legacy, Book 3 by Sarah Rees Brennan". Junior Library Guild . Retrieved 5 April 2023.
18. "In Other Lands: A Novel by Sarah Rees Brennan". Junior Library Guild . Retrieved 5 April 2023.
19. "THE DEMON'S LEXICON". Kirkus Reviews.
20. McDowell, Kate (July 2009). "The Demon's Lexicon (review)". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 62 (11): 436–436. doi:10.1353/bcc.0.1058.
21. Rees, Brennan, Sarah. "The Demon". School Library Journal.
22. "Who's a Hero? Who's a Villain? It's Anyone's Guess in This Fall's Best Y.A. Fantasy". The New York Times . 9 November 2017. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
23. "2009 Cybils Finalists". Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
24. "2010 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults". American Library Association . Archived from the original on 17 January 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
25. "Unspoken: The Lynburn Legacy | Awards & Grants". American Library Association . 4 February 2013. Archived from the original on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
26. "Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 2014". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 30 January 2014. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
27. "2014 Nebula Awards Winners". Locus Online . 7 June 2015. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
28. "2017 Bisexual Book Awards Winners". Locus Online . 4 June 2018. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
29. "In Other Lands". Goodreads . Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
30. "2018 ESFS Awards Winners". Locus Online . 23 July 2018. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
31. "2018 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Online . 23 June 2018. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
32. "2018 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. 15 March 2018. Archived from the original on 9 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
33. "2018 Hugo and Campbell Awards Winners". Locus Online . 20 August 2018. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
34. "The 2019 Rainbow Book List". Rainbow Book List. American Library Association. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
35. "2019 Mythopoeic Awards Winners". Locus Online . 5 August 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
36. "2025 ESFS Awards Winners". 2 July 2025. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
37. Transport, The Sunday Morning. "Tears Waiting to Be Diamonds: Part One". www.sundaymorningtransport.com. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
38. Transport, The Sunday Morning. "Tears Waiting to Be Diamonds: Part Two". www.sundaymorningtransport.com. Retrieved 16 February 2025.

External links

• Official website
• Queen of Atlantis - Subterranean Press Magazine Summer 2011 Archived 17 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine
• Blog at Live Journal
• Cover art and more at Fantastic Fiction
• Author profile at Simon & Schuster
• Sarah Rees Brennan at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Sarah Rees Brennan at Library of Congress , with 7library catalog records