Zen Cho

Zen Cho
Zen Cho
Occupation	Author
Language	English
Education	University of Cambridge
Period	2015–Present
Genre	Speculative fiction ; Romance ;
Notable works	Spirits Abroad; Sorcerer to the Crown; Black Water Sister ;
Notable awards	Crawford Award (2015); BFA–Newcomer (2016); Hugo–Novelette (2019);
Website
	zencho.org

Last updated October 17, 2025

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]

Awards

Source:^[10]

Year	Title	Award	Category	Result
2015	Spirits Abroad	Crawford Award	—	Won
2015	Sorcerer to the Crown	Otherwise Award	—	Honorable Mention
2016		British Fantasy Award	Newcomer	Won
		British Fantasy Award	Fantasy Novel	Shortlisted
		Hugo Award	Novel	Longlisted
		Locus Award	First Novel	Nominated—2nd
2018	"If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again"	Hugo Award	Novelette	Won
2018	"If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again"	Locus Award	Novelette	Nominated—11th
2019	The True Queen	Locus Award	Fantasy Novel	Nominated—14th
2021	The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water	British Fantasy Award	Novella	Shortlisted
		Hugo Award	Novella	Longlisted
		Lambda Literary Award	Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror	Shortlisted
		Locus Award	Novella	Nominated—6th
2022	Black Water Sister	Ignyte Award	Novel (Adult)	Shortlisted
		Kitschies	Red Tentacle (Novel)	Shortlisted
		Locus Award	Fantasy Novel	Nominated—2nd
		World Fantasy Award	Novel	Shortlisted
	Spirits Abroad	Locus Award	Collection	Nominated—2nd

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

—— (2012). The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo (ebook ed.). Smashwords. p. 81. ISBN 9781476177670.
—— (2020). The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water (hardcover 1st ed.). Tor. p. 160. ISBN 9781250269256.
—— (2021). Black Water Sister (paperback 1st ed.). Ace. p. 384. ISBN 9780425283431.

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.

References

↑ "Zen Cho". panmacmillan.com. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
↑ "Cho and Feldman Win Crawford Award". Locus Online . Locus Publication. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
↑ "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.
1 2 "Malaysian author's debut fantasy novel goes out to the world". The Straits Times . 30 August 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
↑ 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.
↑ "Zen Cho: Tackling questions of race, gender and social justice in fantasy fiction". The Independent . 12 September 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
↑ "2016 Locus Awards Winners". Locus . 25 June 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
↑ "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.
↑ "2019 Hugo Award & 1944 Retro Hugo Award Finalists". World Science Fiction Society. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
↑ "Award Bibliography: Zen Cho". isfdb.org. Retrieved 13 August 2022.

External links

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[1] "Zen Cho". panmacmillan.com. Retrieved 25 May 2021.

[locus-2] "Cho and Feldman Win Crawford Award". Locus Online . Locus Publication. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.

[thestar-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.

[straitstimes-4] 1 2 "Malaysian author's debut fantasy novel goes out to the world". The Straits Times . 30 August 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.

[strangehorizons-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.

[independent-6] "Zen Cho: Tackling questions of race, gender and social justice in fantasy fiction". The Independent . 12 September 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.

[locusawards-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.

[hugoawards-9] "2019 Hugo Award & 1944 Retro Hugo Award Finalists". World Science Fiction Society. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.

[10] "Award Bibliography: Zen Cho". isfdb.org. Retrieved 13 August 2022.

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v t e Hugo Award for Best Novelette
Retro Hugos	"Rule 18" by Clifford D. Simak (1939) "The Roads Must Roll" by Robert A. Heinlein (1941) "Foundation" by Isaac Asimov (1943) "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett (1944) "First Contact" by Murray Leinster (1946) "The Little Black Bag" by Cyril M. Kornbluth (1951) "Earthman, Come Home" by James Blish (1954)
1955–1960	"The Darfsteller" by Walter M. Miller Jr. (1955) "Exploration Team" by Murray Leinster (1956) "The Big Time" by Fritz Leiber (1958) "The Big Front Yard" by Clifford D. Simak (1959)
1967–1980	"The Last Castle" by Jack Vance (1967) "Gonna Roll the Bones" by Fritz Leiber (1968) "The Sharing of Flesh" by Poul Anderson (1969) "Goat Song" by Poul Anderson (1973) "The Deathbird" by Harlan Ellison (1974) "Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W" by Harlan Ellison (1975) "The Borderland of Sol" by Larry Niven (1976) "The Bicentennial Man" by Isaac Asimov (1977) "Eyes of Amber" by Joan D. Vinge (1978) "Hunter's Moon" by Poul Anderson (1979) "Sandkings" by George R. R. Martin (1980)
1981–1990	"The Cloak and the Staff" by Gordon R. Dickson (1981) "Unicorn Variation" by Roger Zelazny (1982) "Fire Watch" by Connie Willis (1983) "Blood Music" by Greg Bear (1984) "Bloodchild" by Octavia E. Butler (1985) "Paladin of the Lost Hour" by Harlan Ellison (1986) "Permafrost" by Roger Zelazny (1987) "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1988) "Schrödinger's Kitten" by George Alec Effinger (1989) "Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another" by Robert Silverberg (1990)
1991–2000	"The Manamouki" by Mike Resnick (1991) "Gold" by Isaac Asimov (1992) "The Nutcracker Coup" by Janet Kagan (1993) "Georgia on My Mind" by Charles Sheffield (1994) "The Martian Child" by David Gerrold (1995) "Think Like a Dinosaur" by James Patrick Kelly (1996) "Bicycle Repairman" by Bruce Sterling (1997) "We Will Drink a Fish Together..." by Bill Johnson (1998) "Taklamakan" by Bruce Sterling (1999) "10¹⁶ to 1" by James Patrick Kelly (2000)
2001–2010	"Millennium Babies" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (2001) "Hell Is the Absence of God" by Ted Chiang (2002) "Slow Life" by Michael Swanwick (2003) "Legions in Time" by Michael Swanwick (2004) "The Faery Handbag" by Kelly Link (2005) "Two Hearts" by Peter S. Beagle (2006) "The Djinn's Wife" by Ian McDonald (2007) "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang (2008) "Shoggoths in Bloom" by Elizabeth Bear (2009) "The Island" by Peter Watts (2010)
2011–2020	"The Emperor of Mars" by Allen Steele (2011) "Six Months, Three Days" by Charlie Jane Anders (2012) "The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi" by Pat Cadigan (2013) "The Lady Astronaut of Mars", by Mary Robinette Kowal (2014) "The Day the World Turned Upside Down" by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, translated by Lia Belt (2015) "Folding Beijing" by Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu (2016) "The Tomato Thief" by Ursula Vernon (2017) "The Secret Life of Bots" by Suzanne Palmer (2018) "If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again" by Zen Cho (2019) "Emergency Skin" by N. K. Jemisin (2020)
2021–present	"Two Truths and a Lie" by Sarah Pinsker (2021) "Bots of the Lost Ark" by Suzanne Palmer (2022) "The Space-Time Painter" by Hai Ya (2023) "The Year Without Sunshine" by Naomi Kritzer (2024) "The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea" by Naomi Kritzer (2025)

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