Feature: Of Sorcery and Science by Mike Chen

Feature: Of Sorcery and Science by Mike Chen

One thing we love learning about is how authors come to write in the genre(s) they land in. Mike Chen’s niche, which he found after two rejected novels and fifteen years of balancing tech writing with a dream of being a novelist, is blending science fiction elements with grounded, emotionally tied stories. He grew up on Star Wars and eventually came around to Star Trek, which his dad loved…and naturally meant he hated it until Next Generation won him over. Mike wrote fan fiction before he knew what fan fiction was. He has said that writing Star Wars officially does not feel that different from writing fan fiction as a kid. Family, friendship, humor, and then somewhere in there a time machine or a galactic civil war. Oh, and maybe a little magic. Clearly influenced by the speculative stories that raised him.

Of Sorcery and Science is Mike’s first YA novel (wild, right?), with its cheeky speculative title. Check out why Of Sorcery and Science is the perfect pick for curious readers on fantasy and science fiction lines – and a few more recs along the same vein!

Of Sorcery and Science

by Mike Chen
Published by: Running Press Kids
on September 8, 2026
Genres: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Young Adult
Bookshop
Goodreads

A teen who is The Chosen One in a fantasy realms finds himself a nobody back home—that is, until magic appears in the real world and he must re-enter the portal to save a doomed realm.

Months after entering a portal, becoming a powerful mage, and saving a distant realm, disgruntled Asian American high schooler Andy Lao returns home to find that absolutely no one believes what happened to him. In fact, things are worse than ever before as his subpar science and math grades make him a target of his parents' disappointment. But how do you think about tests and college applications when you’re The Chosen One of a magical land?

One day, at the portal's location, Andy sees a glowing bit of mana on the ground. And with that, magic is possible again. But when a mysterious, surly teen girl comes through the portal, she claims to be the Chosen One . . . and that Andy’s the one who doomed the realm. Together, they’ll save magic—because the answer lies in modern science.

Science Fiction? Fantasy? Why Not Both?

Andy Lao is an Asian American teenager who stumbled through a portal, became the Chosen One, saved a realm, and came home to find his parents are still disappointed about his math grades. Then magic starts appearing in the real world.

Booklist says Of Sorcery and Science has enough experiments and magic spells to speak to both sci-fi and fantasy-loving teen. Mike has said he was raised on middle grade and YA speculative fiction. If you have lived exclusively on one side of the speculative shelf, this is a good way through. And Mike Chen has always been good at engaging readers emotionally, regardless of the world. What is the scifi/speculative version of contemporary fantasy? Mike writes it.

A few other speculative stories worth your time:

• The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas: Aztec mythology dropped inside a competition structure that reads as dystopian thriller, but with a little magic!
• The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline: near future Canada where Indigenous people are hunted for their bone marrow, the dystopian sci-fi and the Indigenous spiritual elements are thoroughly braided.
• The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman: an AI controlled afterlife where the technology functions like dark magic. The sci-fi setup opens into something that operates like fantasy, and the series never lets you forget that.

Of Sorcery and Science is out now!