Below is a collection of reading lists with descriptions to help you determine which you'd like your story to be featured in.

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The Wandering Immortal

This Reading List is reserved for General Fantasy & Science Fiction stories that incorporate Asian and/or Pacific Islander mythology and fairytales. Take your readers to other realms and introduce unique magic systems, all for the sake of restoring peace to the world. Who will be your hero?

Recommended Tags: #APIFantasy #AsianFantasy #PacificIslanderFantasy #EpicFantasy #AsianSciFi #PacificIslanderSciFi

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Fated Lovers

No matter how hard fate tries, nothing will tear fated lovers apart. This Reading List is reserved for Romantic Fantasy & Science Fiction stories with romance as a main focus. Stories may contain tropes like love at first sight, reincarnated lovers, immortal x mortal, demon x human, royalty x commoner pairings, second male lead syndrome, childhood friends to lovers, and enemies/rivals to lovers. This also includes classic retellings of popular Asian myths and fairytales such as The White Snake or the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in Chinese mythology or a Pacific Islander twist on classic fairytales likeThe Little Mermaid or Snow White.

Common tropes in this genre include, but are not limited to:

✿ Reincarnation / Rebirth: Couples may experience misfortune in a past lifetime, but meet again for the final test of the strength of their love in a later lifetime (usually modern times).

✿ Revenge: The main character has been killed off in the most brutal way or betrayed and humiliated by their first love. They usually return a few years in the past to prevent the horrible events from happening the same way. Or, they encounter a new love interest who is willing to help her exact her revenge and reclaim her position in society. Characters are usually strong-willed women with martial arts background and high intelligence or a weak-looking woman who learns to stand up for herself.

✿ Rivals/Enemies to Lovers

✿ Villains Deserve Happy Endings Too: The main character is a villain/villainess who gets to fight for their right for a happy ending and change their fate.

Recommended Tags: #AsianFantasyRomance #PIFantasyRomance #RomanticFantasy #Reincarnation #Revenge #RivalstoLovers #EnemiestoLovers #VillainRetelling

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The Netherworld

Who says heroes only get happy endings? Demons, ghosts, and supernatural creatures of all kind deserve their story to be told too. This Reading List is reserved for spooky and thrilling horror and paranormal/supernatural stories that incorporate Asian and/or Pacific Islander folkloric legends. This form of Asian & Pacific Islander Fantasy explores the land of the dead and/or may revolve around a protagonist with supernatural qualities or abilities (i.e., vampires, werewolves, demons, fox spirits, ghosts, etc.). For a list of creatures from Asian & Pacific Islander folklore, check out our anthology, Mythology and Folklore >>>

A common element in paranormal fantasy include demons from Asian & Pacific Islander folklore. They may be malicious for the sake of being evil or they might seek something the main character has (divinity/immortality/greater power, an artifact, etc.). Every culture has their own interpretation of demons, so it's up to you to determine which path you decide to go on.

We also accept retellings of urban legends as well as original works featuring supernatural creatures from Asian folklore. Perhaps you have a retelling of Mae Nak or Krasue from Thai mythology? Or maybe The Sweet Girl of Ancol Bridge from Indonesian mythology?

Recommended Tags: #PacificIslanderLegends #AsianLegends #AsianHorrorStories #PIHorrorStories #PIParanormalFantasy #AsianParanormalFantasy #ParanormalFantasy

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From the Dust of Time

You can either rewrite history or change it completely. This Reading List is reserved for Historical & Urban Fantasy & Science Fiction stories that incorporate transmigration (in which a character is transported into a different body in a different time) or isekai (in which a character is transported to another world) themes. These include retellings of the Sanskrit epics Rāmāyana and Mahabharata, stories set in Ancient Asia or the Pacific Islands, or stories retold from the perspective of prominent figures of Asian & Pacific Islander history.

Recommended Tags: #Transmigration #Isekai #PIUrbanFantasy #AsianUrbanFantasy #PIHistoricalFantasy #AsianHistoricalFantasy #HistoricalFantasy

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The Master's Disciple

This reading list is reserved for Action & Adventure and Low Fantasy stories that incorporate martial arts, alchemy, mysticism, traditional Asian medicine, and immortal cultivators. These stories may be deeply rooted in Taoism and Buddhism.

We also accept stories with xianxia, xuanhuan, and wuxia elements. For those unfamiliar with xianxia novels, Xianxia (仙俠) is a subgenre of Chinese fantasy that directly translates to "immortal heroes." It is influenced by Chinese mythology, Taoism, Buddhism, traditional Chinese medicine, etc. The central figure of these works are cultivators who train in martial or mystic arts to obtain immortality/increase longevity or achieve higher ranks of divinity.

Xuanhuan (玄幻) is another subgenre of Chinese fantasy that directly translates to "mysterious fantasy." It is often Chinese mythology and folklore rewritten into a foreign setting. Taoist elements, such as cultivation/immortals and yin/yang, are not usually the main focus of xuanhuan novels.

Wuxia (武俠) is a subgenre of Chinese fantasy that directly translates to "martial heroes." It is influenced by martial arts, sorcery, and chivalry. Characters live by the code of xia and usually resolve problems through duels. This would be considered "low fantasy."

Recommended Tags: #Xianxia #Xuanhuan #Wuxia #MartialArts #lowfantasy #ActionFantasy #FantasyAdventure

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Beyond the Horizon, Through the Clouds

This Reading List is reserved for serialized API Fantasy stories. If you have a multiple-book series you would like featured, consider submitting all of the books for featuring. We update this list once a month to give every author an opportunity to be featured.

Recommended Tags: #SerializedAPIFantasy #APISeries

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Special Reading Lists

Cultivation Month: Every season, we will ask you to help us put together a reading list that fits the theme we are looking for. Show us your skills, mighty cultivators!

Heritage or Awareness Months: For relevant heritage or diversity awareness months, we will search and ask you to help us put together a reading list that fits those themes.

Overall, API Fantasy isn't limited to Asian countries. You can have characters and elements from other Asian countries and the Pacific Island nations included in your novel. Don't be afraid to explore everything the API community has to offer!