He’s smooth, economical style is the perfect vehicle for this gripping political fantasy, marrying cat-and-mouse intrigue with a tenderness and emotional depth that heightens the stakes of every new reveal. “Strike the Zither is a page-turner, full of unexpected twists, with an expansive, intricate world of sisterhood and subterfuge.

How this novel differs from her previous novels, The Ones We’re Meant to Find and Descendant of the Crane.

Her intentions of writing a feminist version of the story.Her inspiration from Chinese fantasy dramas she watched as a kid.Reimagining classic Chinese history for an audience who is unfamiliar with the original story.Her next novel, Strike the Zither, is the first in a duology and will be published on October 25, 2022. Descendant of the Crane is her debut young adult fantasy. She studied Psychology and East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Pennsylvania and currently writes from a desk overlooking the Delaware River. At a young age, she received classical instruction in oil painting before discovering that storytelling was her favorite form of expression. JOAN HE was born and raised in Philadelphia but still will, on occasion, lose her way. But in a war in which one must betray to survive, there are more enemies than one – and not all of them are human.įilled with found family, adventure, and political intrigue, readers will be exported to another world where loyalty and betrayal come hand in hand. When Zephyr is forced to infiltrate an enemy camp she encounters the enigmatic Crow, an opposing strategist who is finally her match. Zephyr (a female reimagining of Chinese statesman Zhuge Liang) took control of her fate by becoming the realm’s most cunning strategists, serving under warlordess Xin Ren, whose loyalty to the empress is double-edged. STRIKE THE ZITHER opens to a world of chaos in the year 414 of the Xin Dynasty, with a puppet empress on the throne and three warlordesses hoping to claim the continent for themselves.

He is diversifying a YA market saturated by Eurocentric fantasy and Western canon by exploring a classic based on one of China’s most tumultuous eras in a way that is captivating for unfamiliar readers, and thrilling for lovers of the original tale. Now she returns with a masterful, genderswapped reimagining of China’s most famous historical epic, Three Kingdoms, in her new novel STRIKE THE ZITHER (October 25, 2022, Roaring Brook Press). Philadelphia, PA – New York Times and Indie bestselling author Joan He shocked readers with the rich Chinese-inspired fantasy Descendant of the Crane, and stunned with the “cli-fi” (climate sci-fi) twists of The Ones We’re Meant to Find.

Descendant of the crane joan he