We had a fascinating chat with the amazing Ann Sei Lin this week on the podcast, where we got an insight into the stories that have been shaping her since her earliest days. Ann's fantastic debut, Rebel Skies, is an amazing story about what makes a human, all told through the fabulous surrounds of a Japanese-folklore inspired fantasy world complete with skyships, dragons, and living origami. It's a truly memorable debut and we were so pleased to get a chance to discuss it with Ann, and to find out more about the stories that helped her to become an author and create such a rich, immersive story world. We hope you're not afraid of heights...

Books mentioned this week include Ann's own:

Rebel Skies (Walker Books)

Rebel Fire (Walker Books)

And the stories which have shaped her include:

The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd

The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux

The work of JRR Tolkien

The work of Terry Pratchett

The work of Robin Hobb

The work of Robert Jordan

The work of Julie Kagawa

The Twelve Kingdoms (manga), by Fuyumi Ono

His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman

Orihima and Hikoboshi - a Japanese folktale

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Immortal Rain (manga), by Kaori Ozaki

The Shadow Skye trilogy, by Joseph Elliott

Lonely Castle in the Mirror, by Mizuki Tsujimura

Yellowface, by RF Kuang

Babel, by RF Kuang

Sixteen Souls, by Rosie Talbot

Catfish Rolling, by Clara Kumagai

Our podcast bookshop in Ireland is Halfway Up the Stairs: www.halfwayupthestairs.ie

In the UK, check out our storefront on: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/Storyshaped. Disclaimer: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.

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