The Subtle Art of Folding Space -- John Chu, Hardcover

The Subtle Art of Folding Space is the exhilarating debut science fiction novel from Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author John Chu which channels unhinged physics, generational trauma, and the comfort of really good dim sum. This isn't your usual jaunt through quantum physics.

Most Ancipated Books of 2026--Esquire
Best New Science Fiction of 2026-- New Scientist
Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books to Look Forward To In 2026--Literary Hub
Most Anticipated Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of 2026--Book Riot
3 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of April--Polygon

Ellie's universe--and this one--is falling apart. Her ailing mother is in a coma; her sister, Chris, accuses her of being insufficiently Chinese between assassination attempts; and a shadowy cabal of engineers is trying to hijack the skunkworks, the machinery that keeps the physics of each universe working the way it's supposed to.

Daniel, Ellie's cousin, has found an illicit device in the skunkworks--one that keeps Ellie's comatose mother alive while also creating destabilizing bugs in the physics of this universe. It's not a good day.

If she can confront her mother's legacy and overcome her family's generational trauma, she just might find a way to preserve the skunkworks and reconcile with her sister...but digging into her family's past is thornier than it seems, and the secrets she uncovers will force Ellie to choose between her family and the universe itself.

Author: John Chu
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 04/07/2026
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.72lbs
Size: 8.43h x 5.80w x 0.91d
ISBN: 9781250425409

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 02/09/2026
Booklist 02/01/2026
Library Journal 12/01/2025 pg. 62

About the Author
John Chu is a microprocessor architect by day, a writer, translator, and podcast narrator by night. His fiction has appeared in Boston Review, Uncanny, Asimov's Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, and Tor.com among other venues. His translations have been published in Clarkesworld, The Big Book of SF and other venues. He has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Ignyte Awards, won the Best Short Story Hugo for "The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere." and won the Best Novelette Nebula for "If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You." The Subtle Art of Folding Space is his first novel.