S. L. Huang Explained

Shi Lian Huang
Pseudonym:	S. L. Huang
Occupation:	Writer
Nationality:	American
Education:	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS)

Shi Lian Huang, better known as S. L. Huang, is a Hugo-winning science fiction author, as well as the first woman to be a professional armorer in Hollywood.

Early life

Shi Lian Huang, known as Lisa, is from New Jersey. She completed a degree in mathematics at MIT before moving to Los Angeles.^{[1] [2]} She experienced Hodgkin lymphoma as a child.

Career

After moving to Hollywood to become a stuntwoman and weapons expert, Huang was diagnosed with breast cancer, which "derailed her physicality" for a time.^[3] She turned to writing when unable to actively work on sets.

She is known for her Cas Russell series, as well as her fantasy novella Burning Roses released in 2020. She began as a self-published author but was picked up by Tor Books.^[4] The characters in the Cas Russell books, and the superintelligent abilities that they actuate, reflect Huang's background in the mathematical sciences.

Huang also writes short fiction, which won her the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 2020 with "As the Last I May Know".^[5] She has been published in a number of anthologies and magazines including Strange Horizons and The Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy 2016.^{[6] [7]}

Her work in television includes Battlestar Galactica and Raising Hope, as well as reality shows Top Shot and Auction Hunters. She has trained actors such as Nathan Fillion, Sean Patrick Flanery, Jason Momoa, and Danny Glover.

Personal life

Huang identifies as genderqueer.^[8]

Awards

Year	Nominee	Award	Category	Result	Ref
2018	"Time Travel Is Only for the Poor"	Analog Readers Poll	Short Story
2020	"As the Last I May Know"	Hugo Award	Short Story
2022	"Murder by Pixel"	Nebula Award	Novelette		^[9]
2023		Hugo Award	Novelette		^[10]
		Ignyte Award	Novelette		^[11]
2023	The Water Outlaws	Nebula Award	Novel		^[12]
2024		Locus Award	Best Fantasy Novel		^[13]
		British Science Fiction Association	Novel	Longlist	^[14]
		Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction	Fiction	Longlist	^[15]

Bibliography

A summary bibliography was adapted from the isfdb.^[16]

Russell's Attic

• Book: Huang, S.L. . Zero Sum Game . self-published . 2014 . 978-0996070034 . paperback . 1–328 . 2.
• Book: Huang, S.L. . Half Life . self-published . 2014 . 978-0996070041 . ebook . 1–314 . 2.
• Book: Huang, S.L. . Root of Unity . self-published . 2015 . 978-0996070065 . ebook . 2.
• Book: Huang, S.L. . Plastic Smile . self-published . 2016 . kindle . 1–294 . B01GVPR39S . 2.
• Book: Huang, S.L. . Golden Mean . unpublished . 2016 . 2.

Cas Russell Series

• Book: Huang, S.L. . Zero Sum Game . . 2018 . 978-1250180254 . hardcover . 1–336 . 2. ^[17]
• Book: Huang, S.L. . Null Set . . 2019 . 978-1250180308 . hardcover . 1–320 . 2. ^[18]
• Book: Huang, S.L. . Critical Point . . 2020 . 978-1250180360 . hardcover . 1–368 . 2. ^[19]
• Stories:
  • "A Neurological Study on the Effects of Canine Appeal on Psychopathy, or Rio Adopts a Puppy" (2015)
  • "An Examination of Collegial Dynamics as Expressed Through Marksmanship, or Ladies' Day Out" (2015)

The Water Outlaws

• The River Judge (2024)
• The Water Outlaws (2023)

Novellas

• Book: Huang, S.L. . Burning Roses . . 2020 . 978-1250763990 . hardcover . 1–160 . 2.

Anthologies

• Up and Coming: Stories by the 2016 Campbell-Eligible Authors (2016) with Kurt Hunt

Short fiction

• "Hunting Monsters" (2014)
• "By Degrees and Dilatory Time" (2015)
• "My Grandmother's Bones" (2016)
• "The Documentarian" (2016)
• "The Little Homo Sapiens Scientist" (2016)
• "The Last Robot" (2017)
• "Split Shadow" (2017)
• "Time Travel Is Only for the Poor" (2017)
• "The Woman Who Destroyed Us" (2018)
• "Dulce et Decorum" (2018)
• "Devouring Tongues" (2018)
• "As the Last I May Know" (2019)
• "The Million-Mile Sniper" (2020)
• Murder by Pixel (2022)

Notes and References

1. Web site: How Working in the US Film Industry Helped Me Write a Criminal Underworld . Criminal Element . 2 October 2018.
2. Web site: S. L. Huang . MIT Technology Review . en.
3. Web site: Ford . Anne . Is There Anything S. L. Huang Can't Do? . Chicago magazine . en.
4. Web site: Interview: S. L. Huang, author of the Cas Russell series . en.
5. Web site: The Hugo Awards . The Hugo Awards.
6. Web site: S. L. Huang Authors Macmillan . US Macmillan.
7. Web site: Calculated combat . MIT Technology Review . en.
8. Web site: S. L. Huang's New Take on the Most Famous Chinese Novel You've Never Read in English: Announcing The Water Outlaws . Tor.com . 15 October 2020 . 7 November 2020 . but one of my favorite parts about my retelling is the genderflipping—or as a genderqueer person, perhaps I should say genderspinning. .
9. https://nebulas.sfwa.org/nominated-work/murder-by-pixel-crime-and-responsibility-in-the-digital-darkness/ 'Murder by Pixel: Crime and Responsibility in the Digital Darkness
10. https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2023-hugo-awards/ 2023 Hugo Awards
11. https://www.tor.com/2023/05/25/announcing-the-shortlist-for-the-2023-ignyte-awards/ Announcing the Shortlist for the 2023 Ignyte Awards
12. Web site: 2023 Nebula Awards . Nebula Awards . 27 June 2024.
13. Web site: 2024 Locus Awards Winners . Locus Magazine . Locus Magazine . 27 June 2024.
14. Web site: Mike . Glyer . Second Round of 2023 BSFA Awards Nominations Begins . File770 . 27 June 2024.
15. Web site: 2024 Winners . American Library Association . American Library Association . 27 June 2024.
16. Web site: Summary Bibliography: S. L. Huang . 7 September 2020 . isfdb.com.
17. previously self-published in 2014 in significantly different form
18. essentially a re-written Plastic Smile
19. finally a published version of Golden Mean