Zen Cho is a delightful writer and the short stories collected in Spirits Abroad beautifully displays both the skills and charm I have come to expect from Cho’s writing. I’m ordinarily not a fan of short stories, for me they always leave me wanting, however in the limited pages Cho brings to life rich characters, colours and Chinese culture and Malaysian myth, ranging from magical koi, vampires, dragons, terracotta brides and bickering families, this is so diverse it has something for everyone.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review and thank you Zen Cho for converting me to short stories.

Gorgeous insight into Malaysian mythology, definitely not one I'm familiar with but Spirits Abroad has made me want to learn more for definite!

This was a really strong selection of short stories. Comparing it to A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic which I reviewed earlier in the year, I think they're both really strong, really interesting anthologies of Malaysian fantasy. I feel like Spoonful was easier to relax into and just read. Spirits Abroad, I found I had to look up more though. It was nice because I learnt more Malay and Hokkien words, so I think it really depends what you're in the mood for.

I enjoyed many stories from this book, but some of my particular favourites were Rising Lion - The Lion Bows, Prudence and the Dragon, The Perserverance of Angela's Past Life, Monkey King, Faerie Queen, Liyana and Four Generations of Chang E.

I really liked the ones that had British culture as well as Malaysian because I think it highlights the dual nationality of the author really well and gives a nice mix to the two cultures. It gave me a familiar touchstone and let me see my own culture entwined with that of Malaysia.

Zen Cho is an amazing writer and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her book that provided an insight into Malaysian mythology. Although there were times when the story made me feel angry or sad, it would turn a corner and bring me happiness. I appreciate it when authors incorporate different languages or relevant words from another language in their books, as it adds to the character and atmosphere of the story.

Zen Cho is one of my favourite authors and I always look out for her work, which all have a strong flavour of Malaysia and South East Asian culture and this collection of short stories follows this pattern.
The stories are deeply embedded with the culture and mythos found in Malaysia, a country which embraces a wide diaspora - indigenous Malay, Chinese, Indian and also colonial influences.
The varied stories are often linked by one small detail and my particular favourites were, The House of Aunts (non-traditional vampiric tale), Prudence and the Dragon (fun tale set in London), and Monkey King, Faerie Queen. All the tales provide deeper cultural insight into the traditions around death, spirits, gods and reverence to ancestors. There is the juxtaposition of even in the most modern and sophisticated of lives the small rituals, superstitions and rites are practised- because you never know!
As short stories it is a book that can be dipped into and there is the joy of never knowing what you might find with a random selection.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this ARC - although sometime after publication it is a good time for a fresh prompt to say how good these stories are - especially if you want something a little different than the traditional European mythos. All views are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and of course the author for gifting me this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Zen Cho is such an amazing writer and I really enjoyed this insight into malaysian mythology. I loved reading this book even though there were times when I felt angry or sad but then it would turn a corner and make me feel happy. I love when authors switch between different languages in books or add words in another language relevant to the book as I feel it really adds character and makes it more atmospheric for me.

So, I fell in love with Zen Cho’s writing back when Sorcerer To The Crown was released and I’ve been so excited to get my hands on this short story collection!

The collection is split into 3 sections with stories from Malaysia, stories set in the U.K. and stories from everywhere else. All of them, however, bring to life South East Asian and East Asian folklore and myth!

There’s a really good mix between slightly darker, chilling and more creepy stories and stories that are more lighthearted and humorous. There’s also a myriad of themes and deeper meanings to every single tale including feminism, family dynamics, diaspora and the experience surrounding being an international student.

Each story is told with Cho’s authentic voice and clearly depicts authentic experiences and I was also happy to see the LGBTQIA+ representation in a couple of the stories!

Ultimately, this book is brimming with mythology and the supernatural, and each story is written so engagingly that you can’t help but keep reading!

I have to say, my absolute favourites were Rising Lion, Seven Star Drum and Prudence and the Dragon! While the Imugi’s tale caught my eye because I recently began to rewatch Tale of the Nine-Tailed!

This is a lovely collection short stories, a reissue of an earlier collection with a few additional stories. It shows an interesting development in her writing, but at the heart of the collection is a very humanist take of Malay and Chinese folk superstitions, and artful blending of the mundane with the fantastical. The stories are split into three groupings, Here - largely set in Malaysia, There - set in the UK, and Elsewhere - which is what it suggests (though elsewhen too, as there are far future and very dislocated tales here too). The stories tend to take a queerish angle in places, though it is refreshingly bi for the current scene, and of course with her subject matter its just as likely to be a dragon and a girl, or a vampire with a boy.

What I particularly liked about this collection is that while its in English and pitched at a global audience, she explains the rules and foibles of her traditional folklore lightly. Probably my favourite here - The House Of Aunts - is a good example of this. It is a story of a family of female vampires (or to be more precise Pontianak's - though they don't like that word), the youngest of which is going to school. She makes friends with a boy, which causes complications, and as the story unfolds we see the rules of Pontianak's, how they differ from Western vampires, but that our subject prefers vampires because they are sexy. So whilst it is a ghost story, its really a story about love, sacrifice, family and difference which works really well.

There is a lot of humour in here too. The two linked Dragon stories about a dragon dating a Malay medical student in London is full of well drawn absurdities. There's even a Monkey King story in here, where he gets blown to fairytland, and there is a culture clash between European folk tales and his own myth. This is a strong, but fun, collection of light fantastical short stories, and I must admit I smiled my way through it as she nails her slightly disaffected lead characters' interactions with the fantastic.

Spirits Abroad is a book full of short stories of magic and the supernatural, based on stories from Asian mythology and legends. Whilst some stories appealed to me more than others, I really liked that there seemed to be a story for everyone in there because lots of different themes were covered. I liked having lots of separate stories as each one was nicely laid out and well-written, and felt like jumping into lots of different worlds. I enjoyed this book!

A generally strong and inventive collection based in Asian folklore. The darker twists and themes in some stories make this stand out, in the way that better folklore-based stories and novels do. An edge and element of the unexpected.

I liked this anthology very much. It collects Cho's short fiction, which is Malaysian inspired fantasy, both historical and contemporary. The only thing I had a hard time with was the Malay language/dialect; it took a bit of getting used to the cadence and the Malay slang (a glossary might have helped; it seems other editions had this).

The stories themselves reminded me of Roald Dahl, bittersweet, often with a sting in the tail, but great fun. 2 stories I'd encountered before, If At First You Don't Succeed, Try Again, and The Terracotta Bride, but the other stories I'd not read before.

Recommended (although best read in a more traditional format - PDF doesn't play nicely with ereaders).

I love the work of Zen Cho so this short story collection was an absolute treat! Full of real escapism, it's a collection of work that allows the author and her imagination to run riot, and have fun with it!

There's 19 stories in total that take you on a really mad journey! There's stories of dragons, ghosts, witches, talking animals and the afterlife and they all flow effortlessly between that 'fantasy' world alongside that of reality and things we all face everyday. Not an easy task to pull off!

It's a book full of different emotions too - there are stories that will bring a smile to your face, and those that are a bit more emotional and darker and there's always something within each story that strikes a chord, be it the characters or the setting, or the message! A fabulous collection!

An enchanting collection of stories showcasing Zen Cho's stunning literary craft with the traditions that she knows so well. Highly recommended!!

I love Zen Cho's writing and have had my eye on this for ages. I read this book slowly, devouring one story a night and it was an absolute delight. Some of my favourite stories include:

- If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again (winner of the Hugo and with good reason - one of my favourite short stories ever)
- The Terra Cotta Bride
-Odette
-The House of Aunts

Highly recommended for fans of contemporary fantasy!

This gorgeous book contains 19 very different, but equally magical, imaginative, quirky and heartfelt short stories that made the perfect snack size reads. Swipe to see the blurb and the other tour hosts.

Each story seamlessly blends reality with the supernatural. Common themes of family, grief, love, immigration, inclusion and culture are woven with Asian folklore and legends, vampires, sci fi and the supernatural! I enjoyed learning about the folklore, much of which was new to me, and the stories were very insightful culturally.

The writing is beautiful and full of humour, love and loss. And although the stories are short, Cho effortlessly creates realistic, diverse characters with real depth and feeling.

Spirits Abroad is whimsical, humorous and utterly brilliant!

Spirits Abroad is a fascinating collection of short stories with an utterly charming whimsical nature. Split into three acts, the stories traverse a myriad of different settings and characters with Fable-like and fanciful feel to each story, and even dips it’s toes into horror on occasion. As with all short story collections, I think it is very important that this collection be given a few stories to determine if the book is for you; I rarely find a short story collection where I like every story, and I personally found my enjoyment growing the further I got into this collection! Some personal highlights for me include Odette, a story from Part I with clever horror undertones, and TravelCard for Fairyland, the opening story in Part II that features a battle against fairies in a quaint English boarding school.

What I loved the most about the collection is the eye-opening insight it provides into how death is viewed entirely differently in Malay culture, a topic I confess to know very little about. Most stories in Spirits Abroad feature death in some way, and often in the opening few sentences! The rich and engaging relationship that the characters have with the deceased (and the deceased to the living) was incredibly heartwarming to me, and opened my eyes to how topics like grief and loss are handled completely differently elsewhere in the world.

As always with short story collections, there are ones that I liked more than others but this is overall a wonderful collection. There are different settings and they run the full range of speculative, fantasy, SF but it feels like a very cohesive collection that sticks to the theme, which I appreciate! A fair few stories also have a horror element to them but it's more of a psychological or existential horror - I particularly loved The Fish Bowl and Odette for those,

Zen Cho's writing style is hit or miss for me in their novels (sometimes short and abrupt, lean on explaining things) but I think it lends itself very well to a short story format. She pushes the reader to read between the lines, to infer the things not being said but it feels like part of the stories when that happens because there's usually something everyone in the room is not talking about - and therefore neither is the narration.

Cho intermingles Chinese and Malay words and phrases in without explaining them for the reader to pick up without context and also has dialogue in Malay grammar, which I really enjoy and find enriches the reading experience for me, but YMMV.

Thank you netgalley for the eARC to review!
I found this one difficult to read and ended up DNFing it quite early on.
I hate putting a book in the DNF pile because I like to finish what I started. I especially hate it that it’s an ARC that’s being DNFing.
I wasn’t pulled in, I didn’t feel the need to continue reading to find out more. The story telling just wasn’t my cup of tea. It’s a shame because I enjoy stories based on myths/legends from other cultures.

I really enjoyed this selection of short stories, it’s a massively eclectic range of themes from the natural to the supernatural, but they still all feel from the same world. There are 19 stories abd I would rate the majority as 5 star reads, the rest were definitely 4 stars full of humour, tension, emotion, I would love some of these to be expanded on, so many would be great novels.

Some of my favourite stories were The First Witch of Damansara, The House of Aunts, Balik Kampung, One Day Travel Card For Fairyland, If at First You Don’t Succeed and The Earth Spirit’s Favourite Anecdote. These are just some of my absolute favourites but they were all so entertaining and great reads, full of humour, subtlety, complexity, horror, tension, drama and all completely absorbing. A thoroughly recommended collection.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was amazing. There are no words to describe the utter delight, wonder, and love I felt when reading these stories. Zen Cho is truly an inspiration