Neon Yang

Neon Yang, formerly JY Yang, is a Singaporean writer of English-language speculative fiction. They are best known for the Tensorate series of novellas published by Tor.com, whose entries have been finalists for the Hugo Award, They have a master's degree in creative writing from the University of East Anglia and were a member of the 2013 class of the Clarion West Writers Workshop. They legally changed their name to "Neon" in 2020. Their novelette, "Waiting on a Bright Moon" was a top ten finalist for the 2018 Locus Award for Best Novelette.

Yang's debut novel, The Genesis of Misery, the first in The Nullvoid Chronicles trilogy, was announced by Tor Books in 2020. It was published in September 2022 and has been described as a retelling of the story of Joan of Arc as a mecha space opera.

Themes

Yang's work revolves around "the human body as a vessel for storytelling", and is based on their background as a molecular biologist, journalist and science communicator. They have described themself as "a deep pessimist about human nature," saying that "the best we can do is to recognize this and mitigate that assholic nature when we can. I think, ultimately, that’s what most of my stories end up being about." The series has been described as "silkpunk" by reviewers.

Awards and nominations

+ Awards and honors Year Work Award Category Result Ref. 2017 Kitschies Award Debut Novel Nebula Award Novella Tiptree Award — Tiptree Award — Locus Award Novella World Fantasy Award Novella Locus Award Novella Locus Award Novella 2020 British Fantasy Award Novella Locus Award Novella Time Magazine 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time Ignyte Award Novelette 2021 Locus Award Novelette 2022 Goodreads Choice Award Science Fiction Lambda Literary Award Speculative Fiction 2023 Compton Crook Award — Locus Award First Novel