Yoon Ha Lee (born 1979 in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

) is an American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

writer, known for his '' Machineries of Empire''

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...

novels and his short fiction. His first novel, '' Ninefox Gambit'', received the 2017 Locus Award for Best First Novel.

Life

Lee attended high school at Seoul Foreign School, an English-language international school, as his

Korean American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

family lived in both Texas and South Korea. He went to college at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, majored in mathematics, and earned a master's degree in secondary mathematics education at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He has worked as an analyst for an energy market intelligence company, done web design, and taught mathematics.Interview with Yoon Ha Lee
at Locus Online, excerpt posted Sunday 7 September 2014 Lee is a

trans man A trans man or transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identi ...

Career

Since his first sale in 1999, Lee has published short fiction in ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiv ...

'', ''

Clarkesworld ''Clarkesworld Magazine'' is an American Online magazine, online Fantasy magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine edited by Neil Clarke (editor), Neil Clarke. It released its first issue October 1, 2006, and has maintained a regular monthl ...

'', ''Lightspeed'' and elsewhere. Three of his stories have been reprinted in

Gardner Dozois Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the founding editor of '' The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of '' Asimov's Science Fict ...

's ''

The Year's Best Science Fiction ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' was a series of science fiction anthologies edited by American Gardner Dozois until his death in 2018. The series, which is unrelated to the similarly titled and themed '' Year's Best SF'', was published by St ...

'' anthologies. Dozois wrote that Lee is "one of those helping to move science fiction into the twenty-first century". In 2012, Lee wrote ''Winterstrike'', a browser-based text adventure game, for Failbetter Games.

Aliette de Bodard Aliette de Bodard (born November 10, 1982) is a French-American speculative fiction writer. She has received accolades including the British Fantasy Award, BSFA Award, Ignyte Award, Locus Award, and Nebula Award. Writing De Bodard published he ...

wrote the introduction for ''Conservation of Shadows'' and has twice recommended one of Lee's stories in her best of year-round-ups: she selected " Ghostweight" as a favorite of 2011 and "The Knight of Chains, the Deuce of Stars" was chosen in her 2013 eligibility and recommendations post as "the one that most blew me away this year". "Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain" and "Ghostweight" were both nominated for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award and

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. Originally a poll ...

and were both reprinted in two "Year's Best" anthologies. "The Pirate Captain's Daughter" was nominated for the WSFA Small Press Award. His debut novel, ''Ninefox Gambit,'' received the 2017 Locus Award for Best First Novel. It was also nominated for the 2016

Nebula A nebula (; or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as in the Pillars of Creation in ...

and Hugo Awards for Best Novel and the 2017 Clarke award. ''Revenant Gun'', the third novel in the '' Machineries of Empire'' series, was nominated for a 2019

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

. ''Dragon Pearl'', the first book of the middle grade ''Thousand Worlds'' series, was released on January 15, 2019, and published by Disney Hyperion under the " Rick Riordan Presents" publishing imprint and became a ''New York Times'' bestseller. ''Dragon Pearl'' won the 2020 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book and the 2020 Mythopoeic Award for Children's Literature. It was a finalist for the 2020 Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book and the 2019 Andre Norton Award. Lee announced on his website that a third book in the middle grade ''Thousand Worlds'' series and ''Lancers'', a new

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

space opera series, are forthcoming. In 2021, Lee's short story "The Mermaid Astronaut" was nominated for a Hugo Award.

Bibliography

Novels

'' Machineries of Empire'' trilogy

# # #

''Thousand Worlds'' series ( middle grade)

# # #

Standalone novels

* *

Collections

* * * ** *

Short stories

'' Machineries of Empire'' stories

Other short fiction

References

External links

* *
Interview
at

, May 2013
Review of ''Conservation of Shadows''
at

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online magazine, online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and non-fiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in S ...

Review of ''Ninefox Gambit''
by N.K. Jemisin at ''NY Times''
Short stories available free online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Yoon Ha 1979 births Living people American science fiction writers American short story writers American writers of Korean descent Cornell University alumni American LGBTQ people of Asian descent LGBTQ people from Texas The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people Stanford University alumni Transgender male writers Transgender science fiction writers American queer men American queer writers Interactive fiction writers American transgender writers American transgender men