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Author: Cho, Zen

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 6 June 2024 by PAN MACMILLAN (Tor) in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 352 pages
130 x 198 x 23 | 242g

Journey through enchanted realms inhabited by dragons, vampires and incorrigible grandmothers, drawn from East Asian and Malaysian myth and folklore, in Zen Cho’s magical Spirits Abroad . . .

‘A joy to read’ – Veronica Roth, author of DivergentWe meet an elderly ex-member of parliament who recalls her youthful romance with an orang bunian, forbidden not because her lover was an invisible jungle spirit, but because she was Muslim and he was not. A teenage vampire struggles to balance homework, bossy aunts, first love . . . and eating people. A mischievous matriarch returns from the dead to disrupt her own funeral rites, pitting granddaughter against granddaughter. An earth spirit becomes entangled in protracted negotiations with an annoying landlord. And Chang E, the Chinese moon goddess, spins off into outer space – the ultimate metaphor for diaspora.

Spirits Abroad won the LA Times Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction, and contains the Hugo Award winner ‘If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again’‘Absolutely fantastic . . . A wonderfully satisfying and immersive reading experience. Get it, stat’ – KJ Charles, author of The Magpie Lord‘This collection is a delight . . . Just as I’d decided on a favourite, along came ANOTHER FAVOURITE, and ANOTHER’ – Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light