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Revealing the UK cover of The Water Outlaws by S. L. Huang!

This International Women’s Day we’re beyond excited to reveal the gorgeous UK cover of S. L. Huang’s forthcoming queer wuxia fantasy, The Water Outlaws!

Inspired by the Chinese classic Water Margin, The Water Outlaws is a rich epic fantasy for fans of Shelley Parker-Chan, Ken Liu and Fonda Lee. It’s out in the UK this August and will be available to pre-order very soon!

In the jianghu, you break the law to make it your own.

Lin Chong is an expert arms instructor, training the Emperor’s soldiers in sword and truncheon, battle axe and spear, lance and crossbow. Unlike bolder friends who flirt with challenging the unequal hierarchies and values of Imperial society, she believes in keeping her head down and doing her job.

Until a powerful man with a vendetta rips that carefully-built life away.

Disgraced, tattooed as a criminal, and on the run from an Imperial Marshall who will stop at nothing to see her dead, Lin Chong is recruited by the Bandits of Liangshan. Mountain outlaws on the margins of society, the Liangshan Bandits proclaim a belief in justice―for women, for the downtrodden, for progressive thinkers a corrupt Empire would imprison or destroy. They’re also murderers, thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats.

Apart, they love like demons and fight like tigers. Together, they could bring down an empire.

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Solaris to publish S.L. Huang’s The Water Outlaws for the UK

Solaris has triumphed at auction for The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang, a queer wuxia fantasy epic inspired by the Chinese classic, Water Margin.

Lin Chong is an expert arms instructor who believes in keeping her head down and doing her job—until a powerful man with a vendetta rips her carefully-built life away. Disgraced, tattooed as a criminal and on the run, she’s recruited by the Bandits of Liangshin who proclaim a belief in justice for women and the downtrodden. Together, they could bring down an empire.

The Water Outlaws will be published in August 2023.

UK/BC Rights were acquired by Michael Rowley from Danny Baror at Baror International Inc.

Author S.L. Huang on the acquisition:

“I could not be more thrilled that The Water Outlaws landed with Solaris, who have published some of my favorite books in science fiction and fantasy. The enthusiasm of Solaris’s team is just amazing, and I can’t wait for them to bring my queer, feminist martial arts bandits to the United Kingdom!”

Acquiring Editor Michael Rowley:

“As an editor, finding a book like The Water Outlaws hitting your desk is like a dream come true. A wonderful concept brilliantly realised. This gender-flipped retelling of a great, perhaps the great, Chinese epic that is a joy to read. Compassionate, thrilling and at times heartbreaking, then joyous, I am beyond excited to welcome S. L. Huang and The Water Outlaws to Solaris.”

S.L. Huang is a Hugo-winning and Amazon-bestselling author who justifies an MIT degree by using it to write eccentric mathematical superhero fiction. Huang is the author of the Cas Russell novels from Tor Books, including Zero Sum Game, Null Set, and Critical Point, as well as the new fantasies Burning Roses and The Water Outlaws. In short fiction, Huang’s stories have appeared in Analog, F&SF, Nature, and more, including numerous best-of anthologies. Huang is also a Hollywood stunt performer and firearms expert, with credits including “Battlestar Galactica” and “Top Shot.” Find SL Huang online at www.slhuang.com or on Twitter as @sl_huang.

For press enquiries please contact Jess Gofton, PR & Marketing Manager: jess.gofton@rebellion.co.uk.