Shen Tao

@dragons

USA Today and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Poet Empress

175 Following674 Followers119 Posts

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Shen Tao@dragons· 6d

word on the street (from the good folks at @gollancz.bsky.social ) that The Poet Empress is on sale in the UK for 99p! Please check it out if you've got a chance!

Shen Tao@dragons· Mar 11

Wow, 10k Poet Empress sold!! Thank you very much for your support, to all my brilliant readers!!!! #booksky

The Poet Empress sales chart showing 10,001 units sold since release

Shen Tao@dragons· Jan 21

My debut is officially out today!!! (I can’t believe I get to say that) Thank you to my publishing team, my writing friends, and all the wonderful ARC readers!! Thank you for taking a chance on a debut author!! #booksky

Shen Tao@dragons· Jan 19

My debut is coming out TOMORROW!!! :) #booksky

BookPage starred review of The Poet Empress

Shen Tao@dragons· Jan 6

2026 is our debut year!! Here are some of the SFF authors I have the honor of debuting with early this year. I am really excited about these books so please check them out when you have the chance! #booksky

Tidespeaker
A Barista’s Guide to Love & Larceny
A Vow in Vengeance
Into the Midnight Wood
The Book of Blood & Roses
The Poet Empress
Godstorm
Once Upon A Song

February🌷
Heart’s Gambit
Queen of Faces
The Forest on the Edge of Time
The Faithful Dark
All We Have Is Time
The Iron Garden Sutra
Weavingshaw
Saltswept

The Last Starborn Seer
Midnight on the Celestial
These Shattered Spires
Child of the Dragon
A Wish So Deadly
Prodigal Tiger
Honeysuckle
Aicha
The Geomagician
The Celestial Seas

Shen Tao@dragons· Nov 6

SO excited about a second starred review for The Poet Empress! A world of thank yous to Library Journal 🥰

DEBUT Famine spreads across the land of Tensha, and young Yin Wei does the only thing she can think of to save her family—become a concubine to Prince Guan Terren. Heir to the Azalea Throne, Terren is a cold man, with poetry magic that he uses for cruelty and death. As Wei navigates the inner machinations of the court, she realizes that she may have to become just as self-serving as Terren to survive. Not only do the other concubines battle each other to secure the spot as future Empress, but Terren deals with attacks on his succession from his honorable older brother, and both Wei and Terren face treachery from other court members. To achieve her goals, Wei must kill Terren—and with one forbidden poem, she can accomplish it. However, the only way to write this poem of death is with love, and she hates everything Terren is. The novel’s unique magic system and character-driven plot create an immersive tale.VERDICT Tao’s debut is an intricate study of court politics and what a young woman will do to survive. Hand to fans of The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang or She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan.

Shen Tao@dragons· Nov 4

I'm so happy to say that The Poet Empress got a starred review from @publisherswkly.bsky.social !

Starred review for The Poet Empress from Publishers Weekly with quote "Tao’s prose gleams with poetic precision, and climactic revelations strike with devastating inevitability."

The Poet Empress
Shen Tao. Bramble, $29.99 (480p) ISBN 978-1-250-40681-1
Tao’s haunting debut immerses readers in a famine-stricken empire where poetry is power. In the final years of the Azalea Dynasty, Yin Wei, a peasant girl desperate to save her starving family, volunteers as concubine to the notoriously cruel Prince Guan Terren. This act of survival pulls her into a labyrinth of palace intrigue and rebellion, where each written word contains magic that can shape a person’s destiny, but where female literacy is illegal. Against the lush backdrop of Tao’s lyrical worldbuilding, which draws from Chinese history and myth to craft a court defined by both beauty and brutality, Wei’s transformation from naive villager to calculating courtesan is expertly rendered. Meanwhile, Terren emerges as a monstrous yet profoundly human prince. Their uneasy bond anchors a story less about romance than the corruptive and redemptive powers of language and ambition. The many political threads become fascinatingly tangled, Tao’s prose gleams with poetic precision, and climactic revelations strike with devastating inevitability. Fans of R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War and Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun will be enthralled by this fierce meditation on love, power, and survival through art. Agent: Jennifer Azantian, Azantian Literary. (Jan.)
Reviewed on 10/31/2025

Shen Tao@dragons· Oct 20

They are giving away 50 copies of my debut, The Poet Empress, on goodreads! I hope you'll enter 🥰 #booksky #ThePoetEmpress

Shen Tao@dragons· Sep 30

My first signings 😊 Thank you PNBA and @torbooks.bsky.social for having me!

Shen Tao with ARCs of The Poet Empress at the Macmillan booth

Shen Tao signing ARCs of The Poet Empress

Shen Tao@dragons· Jul 7

Excited to share that advance copies of The Poet Empress are now available for request from @gollancz.bsky.social! ❤️🧡💙 www.netgalley.co.uk/catalog/book...

Graphic announcing The Poet Empress by Shen Tao is available for request on NetGalley

Shen Tao@dragons· May 28

I'm so blown away by the UK cover for my debut, The Poet Empress! ❤️ Thank you @gollancz.bsky.social and artist Yohey Horishita for the absolutely stunning design! #ThePoetEmpress #fantasy #booksky

Cover for the Gollancz edition of The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

Shen Tao@dragons· May 28

So excited to share the beautiful cover of my debut fantasy, #ThePoetEmpress, which I am absolutely floored by! 🥰 It's comes out from Bramble 01.20.26 next year! (Credits to artist Kelly Chong & designer Esther S. Kim!) bit.ly/ThePoetEmpress