Marie Lu (born 11 July 1984; birthname: Xiwei Lu, Chinese: 陸希未) is an American young adult science fiction and fantasy author. She is best known for the Legend series, novels set in a dystopian and militarized future, as well as the Young Elites series, the Warcross series, and Batman: Nightwalker in the DC Icons series.[1]
Marie Lu | |
---|---|
Born | Xiwei Lu July 11, 1984 Wuxi, Jiangsu, China |
Pen name | Marie Lu |
Occupation | Novelist |
Alma mater | University of Southern California |
Period | 2011–present |
Genre | Young adult fiction, Dystopian fiction |
Notable works |
|
Spouse | Primo Gallanosa |
Children | 1 |
Early life
editLu was born in 1984 in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China, and later moved to Beijing.[2][3] In 1989, she and her family moved to the United States in Texas when she was five years old,[4] during the Tiananmen Square Protest.[5] She grew up between Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Houston, learning English by writing stories.[6] She attended the University of Southern California, where she studied political science and biology, and interned as an artist at Disney Interactive Studios.[6][7][8]
Lu currently lives in the Arts District of Los Angeles with her husband, their son (born 2019) and three dogs.[6][9]
Career
editLu's debut novel, Legend, was published November 29, 2011 as the first of a young adult science fiction trilogy. Lu has said that she was inspired by the movie Les Miserables and sought to recreate the conflict between Valjean and Javert in a teenage version.[10] Two other books in the planned trilogy, Prodigy and Champion, were published in 2013.[11]
Lu's first fantasy series began with publication of The Young Elites on October 7, 2014.[12] It was followed by The Rose Society on October 13, 2015, and The Midnight Star on October 16, 2016.
Works
editLegend series
edit- Legend (November 29, 2011)
- Prodigy (January 8, 2013)
- Champion (November 5, 2013)
- Life Before Legend (Novella #0.5) (January 5, 2013)
- Life After Legend (Novella #3.5) (2017)
- Life After Legend II (Novella #3.6) (2018)
- Rebel (October 1, 2019)[13]
The Young Elites series
edit- The Young Elites (October 7, 2014)
- The Rose Society (October 13, 2015)
- The Midnight Star (October 16, 2016)
Warcross series
editSkyhunter series
edit- Skyhunter (September 29, 2020)[15]
- Steelstriker (September 28, 2021)
Stars and Smoke series
edit- Stars and Smoke (March 28, 2023)[16]
- Icon and Inferno (June 11, 2024)
DC Icons series
edit- Batman: Nightwalker (DC Icons, Book 2) (January 2, 2018)
Spirit Animals series
edit- The Evertree (Spirit Animals, Book 7) (March 31, 2015)
Standalone novels
edit- The Kingdom of Back (March 3, 2020)[17]
Short stories
edit- "The Journey" in A Tyranny of Petticoats, edited by Jessica Spotswood (March 8, 2017)
- "Surviving"
References
edit- ^ "Marie Lu". Penguin Random House. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
- ^ Lu, Marie. "Marie Lu (Author of Legend)". Goodreads. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
- ^ "Prodigy: A Legend Novel Audiobook". The Audiobook Store. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
- ^ "Marie Lu - About". Retrieved February 19, 2014.
- ^ "Novelist Marie Lu". PBS.org. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
- ^ a b c del Barco, Mandalit (8 September 2017). "'Young People Who Do Extraordinary Things' Are The Norm In Marie Lu's YA World". NPR.
- ^ De Groot, Kate (December 19, 2011). "Fall 2011 Flying Starts: Marie Lu". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
- ^ "Artist Profile: The Defiantly Optimistic Storytelling of Marie Lu | Arts | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
- ^ "Marie Lu - About". marielu.org. Archived from the original on 2010-12-30. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
- ^ Wilkinson, Amy (29 November 2011). "Marie Lu Imagines A Teenage, Dystopian 'Les Miserables' In 'Legend'". Hollywood Crush. MTV. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015.
- ^ "Legend the Series". Retrieved 27 September 2013.
- ^ "The Young Elites". Marie Lu Books. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ^ Lu, Marie. "Rebel (Legend, #4) by Marie Lu". Goodreads. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
- ^ Canfield, David (May 14, 2018). "Wildcard: Preview Marie Lu's hotly anticipated Warcross sequel". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
- ^ "Skyhunter". Goodreads. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ "Exclusive: Marie Lu's 'Stars and Smoke' Brings the Sparks in This Special Excerpt". Cosmopolitan. 2023-01-17. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
- ^ "The Kingdom of Back". Goodreads. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
External links
edit- Author's Website
- Ridley Pearson in The New York Times Book Review on Legend
- The Los Angeles Times on Prodigy
- Marie Lu at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Interview with WGBH-TV