Lee, Yoon Ha
Entry updated 23 October 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1979- ) US author whose Korean background is reflected in some of his story-shapes. He began to publish work of genre interest with "The Hundredth Question" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction for February 1999, and has published many stories since, in an increasingly wide range of venues; a selection of his best earlier work has been assembled as Conservation of Shadows (coll 2013). His first novel, Ninefox Gambit (2016), initiates the projected Machineries of Empire sequence comprising an array of complex Military SF stories in a Space Opera frame, with Equipoisal interpositions of figures – like the undead master strategist who indirectly masterminds the action in volume one – from action fantasy. A Videogame complicatedness foreshortens some of the action to a point where readers unused to that operational angle on the depiction of Galactic Empires may become disoriented by Lee's instruction-heavy prose, though this is counteracted by the general fluidity and grace of his style. This novel won a Locus Award as best first novel. The sequels are Raven Stratagem (2017) and Revenant Gun (2018).
The Thousand Worlds sequence of Young Adult Space Operas, beginning with Dragon Pearl (2019), plunges its young protagonist into a taxingly full of adventures, a coming-of-age saga that takes her far from her backward home planet; it won a Locus Award as best YA novel; the sequel, Tiger Honor (2022), increasingly evokes Korean mythology in its narrative patterning. [JC]
Yoon Ha Lee
born Houston, Texas: 26 January 1979
works
series
Machineries of Empire
- Ninefox Gambit (Oxford, Oxfordshire: Rebellion Publishing/Solaris, 2016) [Machineries of Empire: pb/Chris Moore]
- Raven Stratagem (Oxford, Oxfordshire: Rebellion Publishing/Solaris, 2017) [Machineries of Empire: pb/Chris Moore]
- Revenant Gun (Oxford, Oxfordshire: Rebellion Publishing/Solaris, 2018) [Machineries of Empire: pb/Chris Moore]
Thousand Worlds
- Dragon Pearl (New York: Disney/Hyperion, 2019) [Thousand Worlds: hb/Vivienne To]
- Tiger Honor (New York: Disney/Hyperion, 2022) [Thousand Worlds: hb/Vivienne To]
- Fox Snare (New York: Disney/Hyperion, 2023) [Thousand Worlds: hb/Vivienne To]
individual titles
- Phoenix Extravagant (Oxford, Oxfordshire: Rebellion Publishing/Solaris, 2020) [hb/]
collections
- Conservation of Shadows (Rockville, Maryland: Prime Books, 2013) [coll: pb/Sherin Nicole]
- Hexarchate Stories (Oxford, Oxfordshire: Rebellion Publishing/Solaris, 2019) [coll: pb/Chris Moore]
- The Fox's Tower and Other Tales (Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel, 2021) [coll: hb/]
links
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