Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 7, 2026

Zen Cho

Zen Cho is a Malaysian fantasy author based in Birmingham, United Kingdom. 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.

Last revised
Jul 7, 2026
Read time
≈ 4 min
Length
828 w
Citations
29
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Zen Cho
At MCM London Comic Con, 24 October 2025
At MCM London Comic Con, 24 October 2025
OccupationAuthor
LanguageEnglish
EducationUniversity of Cambridge
Period2015–Present
Genre
Notable works
Notable awards
Website
zencho.org

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.34

Cho's debut novel, Sorcerer to the Crown, was published in 2015.456 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

Spirits Abroad: Stories (2021)10 was awarded the Ray Bradbury Prize by the 2021 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.11

Awards

Year Title Award Category Result Ref
2015 Spirits Abroad Crawford Award — Wona 12
Sorcerer to the Crown Otherwise Awardb — Longlisted 13
2016 British Fantasy Award Newcomer Won 14
Fantasy Novel Shortlisted 14
Locus Award First Novel Finalist 15
2019 "If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again" Hugo Award Novelette Won 16
2021 The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water British Fantasy Award Novella Shortlisted 17
Lambda Literary Award Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror Finalist 18
Locus Award Novella Finalist 19
Black Water Sister Kitschies Red Tentacle (Novel) Finalist 20
2022 Ignyte Award Adult Novel Finalist 21
Locus Award Fantasy Novel Finalist 22
RUSA CODES Reading List Fantasy Shortlisted 23
World Fantasy Award Novel Nominated 24
Spirits Abroad Locus Award Collection Finalist 22
Bibliography

Bibliography

Sorcerer Royal series

Standalone novels and long fiction

Collections

Notes

Notes

  1. Tie with The Angel of Losses by Stephanie Feldman
  2. Then known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award
References

References

  1. "Zen Cho". panmacmillan.com. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  2. "Cho and Feldman Win Crawford Award". Locus Online. Locus Publication. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  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.
  4. "Malaysian author's debut fantasy novel goes out to the world". The Straits Times. 30 August 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  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.
  6. "Zen Cho: Tackling questions of race, gender and social justice in fantasy fiction". The Independent. 12 September 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  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.
  9. "2019 Hugo Award & 1944 Retro Hugo Award Finalists". World Science Fiction Society. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  10. "Gary K. Wolfe Reviews Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho". locusmag.com. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
  11. "Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Winners Announced: 2021 Book Prizes Winners". latimes.com. Retrieved 2026-05-02.
  12. "Cho and Feldman Win Crawford Award". Locus. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  13. Debbie Notkin (1 April 2016). "2015 Winners, Honor List, and Long List Announced!". Otherwise Award. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  14. "2016 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  15. "2016 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  16. "Announcing the 2019 Hugo Award Winners". Reactor Magazine. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  17. "2021 British Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  18. Saka, Rasheeda (15 March 2021). "Here are the finalists for the 2021 Lambda Literary Award". Literary Hub. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  19. "2021 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  20. "2021 Kitschies Winners". Locus. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  21. Emmet Asher-Perrin (17 September 2022). "Announcing the Winners of the 2022 Ignyte Awards". Reactor. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  22. "2022 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  23. "The Reading List". RUSA Update. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  24. "2022 World Fantasy Awards Winners". Locus. 6 November 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
External links