Electric Monkey snares Tesia Tsai's YA fantasy debut Deathly Fates in two-book pre-empt

Electric Monkey has pre-empted Deathly Fates by debut author Tesia Tsai, a “dazzling and romantic” YA fantasy drawing on her Taiwanese heritage.

Asmaa Isse, fiction commissioning editor, signed the deal for UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, for Deathly Fates and a second book with Laura Crockett, senior literary agent at Triada US Literary Agency. Publication is scheduled for April 2026, with the second book to follow in 2027. Wednesday Books pre-empted the title in the US. 

Its synopsis reads: “Siying, a priestess who reanimates the dead to shepherd them home, accepts a risky job guiding a prince from a battlefield where he lost his life – only to find that he awakens with more soul than anyone Siying has met before. As they work together to strengthen and preserve what life he has left, the truth of his death becomes a threat to the fate of the entire kingdom – and his very being a threat to Siying’s heart.”

Isse said: “A lethal combination of sharp storytelling, properly pulse-racing action, political intrigue and an adorable romance. Tesia’s dazzling debut is about a daughter trying to save her father by any means necessary – and the boy she rescues from behind enemy lines. We were all totally smitten with Deathly Fates from the very first chapter and are so delighted to welcome Tesia to the Electric Monkey list.”

Tsai said: “Deathly Fates is a story that contains so many pieces of my heart – familial relationships, self-discovery, a dash of spookiness and romance. I’m thrilled to be working with Electric Monkey; Asmaa and the team have been so welcoming and enthusiastic, I couldn’t feel luckier as an author. I hope readers will love the characters and story as much as we do once the book is out.”