Sarah Rees Brennan

Sarah Rees Brennan
Born (1983-09-21) 21 September 1983
Ireland
Alma materKingston University London
OccupationWriter
Writing career
Period21st century
Genres
Notable works
Websitesarahreesbrennan.com

Sarah Rees Brennan (born 21 September 1983)[1] is an Irish fantasy novelist. Her books have been bestsellers in both the UK and USA.[2]

Rees Brennan's first novel, The Demon's Lexicon (2009), was longlisted for the 2010 Carnegie Medal.[3] Her fantasy novel In Other Lands was a finalist for the 2017 Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book.[4] Her adult fantasy novel Long Live Evil debuted on USA Today's bestseller list[2] and became a #1 Sunday Times bestseller on release in the UK,[5] and appeared on both The New York Times 2024 Best of Fantasy and Best of Romance lists.[6][7] Rees Brennan's work was listed twice in the 2024 Locus Recommended Reading List: her Hansel and Gretel retelling "Happily Ever After Comes Round" was recommended in the Short Stories category and Long Live Evil was recommended in the Fantasy Novels category.[8]

Life and career

Rees Brennan was born in Ireland. She obtained a Creative Writing MA from Kingston University in London[9] and worked in a library in Surrey, England,[10] before moving to Dublin where she currently lives.[11]

Rees Brennan has been writing since the age of five.[12] Her blog on LiveJournal has over 4000 subscribers.[13]

She wrote her first novel, The Demon's Lexicon, while studying for her Creative Writing MA.[9] The publishing house Simon & Schuster obtained a three-book contract deal with her which involved an undisclosed six-figure sum.[13] Since then she has written and collaborated on many bestselling and award-nominated works, including In Other Lands[14] and tie-in novels for Netflix shows.[15] Rees Brennan's novel Long Live Evil debuted on the USA Today bestseller list[2] and was a number one bestseller on the Sunday Times list in the UK.[5]

Rees Brennan is a cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma in 2017.[16]

In October 2025, Rees Brennan was a guest on the Off the Shelf podcast.[17]

Awards and honours

Three of Brennan's books have been Junior Library Guild books: Untold (2014),[18] Unmade (2014),[19] and In Other Lands (2017).[14]

The Demon's Lexicon received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews,[20] Bulletin,[21] and School Library Journal.[22]

In 2017, The New York Times included In Other Lands on their list of the fall's best young adult fantasy novels.[23]

Awards
Year Title Award Category Result Ref.
2009 The Demon's Lexicon Cybils Award Young Adult Speculative Finalist [24]
2010 Leeds Book Award Finalist [25]
ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Top 10 [26]
Carnegie Medal Longlisted [3]
2013 Unspoken ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection [27]
2014 Team Human Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Selection [28]
Unmade Andre Norton Award Finalist [19][29]
2017 In Other Lands Bisexual Book Award Teen/Young Adult Fiction Won [30]
Goodreads Choice Award Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction Nominee [31]
2018 European Science Fiction Society Award Best Work of Fiction Finalist [32]
Locus Award Best Young Adult Book Finalist [33]
Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book Finalist [34][35]
2019 ALA Rainbow Book List Selection [36]
Mythopoeic Award Adult Literature Finalist [37]
2025 Long Live Evil European SF Award Best Written Work of Fiction Won [38]


Publications

Novels

Demon's Lexicon Trilogy

Lynburn Legacy

  • Unspoken, June 2012
  • Untold, August 2013
  • Unmade, 2014
  • The Spring Before I Met You, September 2012 (novella)
  • The Summer Before I Met You, September 2012 (novella)
  • The Night After I Lost You (novella)

Shadowhunters Chronicles

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

  • Season of the Witch, July 2019
  • Daughter of Chaos, December 2019
  • Path of Night, May 2020

Fence novelisations

  • Fence: Striking Distance, September 2020
  • Fence: Disarmed, May 2021

Fate: The Winx Saga

  • The Fairies' Path (as Ava Corrigan), March 2021
  • Lighting the Fire, August 2022

Time of Iron

  • Long Live Evil, August 2024
  • All Hail Chaos, May 2026
  • Kill Your Darlings, forthcoming

Stand-alone novels

Short fiction

  • "Undead Is Very Hot Right Now" in The Eternal Kiss, ed. Trisha Telep
  • "The Spy Who Never Grew Up" in Kiss Me Deadly, ed. Trisha Telep
  • "Queen of Atlantis" in Subterranean Press Magazine Summer 2011, ed. Gwenda Bond
  • "Lets Get This Undead Show on the Road" in Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions, ed. Melissa Marr
  • "Faint Heart" in After, eds. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
  • "Treasure and Maidens" in Scheherazade's Facade, ed. Michael M. Jones
  • "I Gave You My Love by the Light of The Moon" in Defy the Dark, ed. Saundra Mitchell
  • "Beauty and the Chad" in Grim, ed. Christine Johnson
  • "Wings in the Morning" in Monstrous Affections, ed. Kelly Link
  • "Tears Waiting to Be Diamonds" in The Sunday Morning Transport[39][40]
  • "Happily Ever After Comes Round" in Uncanny Magazine May-June 2024, eds. Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas

Comics

Marvel Comics

  • "Witch House" in Women of Marvel 2024 (art by Arielle Jovellanos and colors by Brittany Peer)

References

  1. ↑ "sarahtales - Profile". LiveJournal. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Weekly Bestsellers, 9 September 2024". Locus Online. 9 September 2024.
  3. 1 2 "The CILIP Carnegie Medal Nominations for 2010". The CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010.
  4. ↑ "2018 Hugo Awards". 19 August 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Long Live Evil". Hachette.
  6. ↑ El-Mohtar, Amal (6 December 2024). "New York Times The Best Science Fiction Novels of 2024". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  7. ↑ Waite, Olivia (5 December 2024). "New York Times The Best Romance Fiction Novels of 2024". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  8. ↑ "Locus 2024 Recommended Reading List". Locus. 1 February 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  9. 1 2 "Creative Writing MA". Kingston University London. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  10. ↑ "Sarah Rees Brennan". Fantastic Fiction. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  11. ↑ O'Sullivan, Mary (17 April 2022). "My Favourite Room: Dragons, bees and sunny shades make fantasy author Sarah Rees Brennan's home magical". Irish Independent. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  12. ↑ Liu, Cynthea (1 June 2009). "Authors on the Verge: Meet Sarah Rees Brennan, young adult novelist". Writing for Children and Teens.
  13. 1 2 "Sarah's magic touch lands the writer a three-book deal". Independent.ie. 2 April 2008. Archived from the original on 2 November 2008.
  14. 1 2 "In Other Lands: A Novel by Sarah Rees Brennan". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  15. ↑ Tome, Maša (29 August 2020). "Q&A: Sarah Rees Brennan, Author of 'Fence: Striking Distance'". The Nerd Daily. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  16. ↑ Maher, Niamh (16 February 2020). "'People were complimenting my weight loss' Sarah Rees Brennan on battling cancer". Her.ie. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  17. ↑ "141. Sarah Rees Brennan, Author". Off the Shelf (Podcast). Pause Books. 10 October 2025.
  18. ↑ "Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  19. 1 2 "Unmade: The Lynburn Legacy, Book 3 by Sarah Rees Brennan". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  20. ↑ "THE DEMON'S LEXICON". Kirkus Reviews. 1 May 2009.
  21. ↑ McDowell, Kate (July–August 2009). "The Demon's Lexicon (review)". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 62 (11): 436. doi:10.1353/bcc.0.1058.
  22. ↑ Doyle, Anthony C. (1 July 2010). "The Demon's Covenant [Demon's Lexicon Trilogy]". School Library Journal.
  23. ↑ "Who's a Hero? Who's a Villain? It's Anyone's Guess in This Fall's Best Y.A. Fantasy". The New York Times. 9 November 2017. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  24. ↑ "2009 Cybils Finalists". Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  25. ↑ "Authors". Leeds Book Awards. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  26. ↑ "2010 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  27. ↑ "Unspoken: The Lynburn Legacy | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. 4 February 2013. Archived from the original on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  28. ↑ "Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 2014". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 30 January 2014. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  29. ↑ "2014 Nebula Awards Winners". Locus Online. 7 June 2015. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  30. ↑ "2017 Bisexual Book Awards Winners". Locus Online. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  31. ↑ "In Other Lands". Goodreads. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  32. ↑ "2018 ESFS Awards Winners". Locus Online. 23 July 2018. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  33. ↑ "2018 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Online. 23 June 2018. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  34. ↑ "2018 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. 15 March 2018. Archived from the original on 9 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  35. ↑ "2018 Hugo and Campbell Awards Winners". Locus Online. 20 August 2018. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  36. ↑ "The 2019 Rainbow Book List". Rainbow Book List. American Library Association. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  37. ↑ "2019 Mythopoeic Awards Winners". Locus Online. 5 August 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  38. ↑ "2025 ESFS Awards Winners". 2 July 2025. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  39. ↑ Rees Brennan, Sarah (8 January 2023). "Tears Waiting to Be Diamonds: Part One". The Sunday Morning Transport. Retrieved 16 February 2025 – via Medium.
  40. ↑ Rees Brennan, Sarah (29 January 2023). "Tears Waiting to Be Diamonds: Part Two". The Sunday Morning Transport. Retrieved 16 February 2025 – via Medium.
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