Lucky Seed: A Novel by Justinian Huang (Hardcover) (PREORDER)

Fiction - Literary - Family Life  - Siblings - Humorous - Romance - Romantic Comedy - Asian American and Pacific Islander

RELEASE DATE: 11/11/2025  (WILL SHIP DIRECTLY FROM OUR SUPPLIER'S WAREHOUSE)

Succession meets Crazy Rich Asians in this chaotic, darkly funny romp about the lengths a wealthy family will take to ensure the birth of a male heir from the gay black sheep of their clan.

The billionaire Sun Clan of Greater Los Angeles is your typical American family, with power-struggling aunties, emasculated uncles, scheming cousins, scandalous secrets and a fortune teller on retainer. But at the end of each combative day, the Suns are chained together with golden handcuffs, whether they like it or not.

Yet strange storms are a-brewing. Their matriarch, Roses Sun, is grappling with an existential crisis: she must produce a male heir that bears the clan's surname. She fears that if her generation is the one in which their esteemed lineage ends, they will be punished as "hungry ghosts" in the afterlife—an ancient but very real Asian superstition.

Faced with this terrifying fate, Roses summons her favorite nephew, Wayward. Believing him to possess the "lucky seed," Roses presents Wayward with a mandatory suggestion: to father a baby boy who will inherit everything. When the other members of the Sun Clan catch wind of Roses's plot, all hells break loose. Wayward's family will now clash like never before in an epic war over the future of the Suns…if there is a future at all.

Yet through the chaos, Wayward sees opportunity. What if he can leverage all the conflict into a solution for his problematic family? What if he can reunite the Sun Clan by healing them? And what if the tumultuous Suns can finally learn how to love each other for the first time?

AUTHOR BIO: 

JUSTINIAN HUANG's debut novel, The Emperor and the Endless Palace, was an Indie Next Pick and a 2025 Stonewall Honor Book. It was hailed by Booklist as "a sweeping triumph," and as "page-turning and deeply thoughtful," in a starred review by Publishers Weekly. He lives in Los Angeles, where he also works as a film executive, most recently on KPop Demon Hunters. Lucky Seed is Justinian's second novel.

Review Quotes:
For Lucky Seed
" Lucky Seed is a family saga, a romance, a bodice ripper--a crotch ripper too--a diasporic Asian American family novel, and a thriller. A family story for a family like this could never have just one genre and Huang knows it and has fun with it. The result is thrilling to read, addictive, and full of heart and hijinks. Reader, I cackled." --Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

" Lucky Seed is a delicious layer cake of drama and lore, a family story glittering with humor, heart, intrigue and the winning talent of an author I'll follow anywhere. I was horrified by its villains, cheering for its heroes, and utterly absorbed by the dynamics of the Sun cousins. Even the pets in this novel have a story to tell."--John Glynn, author of Out East

"You'll gasp, you'll laugh, but most of all you'll keep asking yourself-- how did he do it?--because Justinian Huang's latest is an uproarious, jaw-droppingly audacious ride. Huang navigates the intertwining branches of this outrageous family tree with sizzling panache, managing to both skewer and elicit deep affection for its characters. Lucky Seed is a riveting comedy of (bad) manners, told the way only Huang could tell it." --Elaine U. Cho, author of Ocean's Godori

"An incredibly fun yet sharply observed, wild and original ride of a novel that will keep you laughing into the night with all of the hijinks and twists that the Sun family find themselves in, yet unravel you with its deeply felt emotion." --Nayantara Roy, author of The Magnificent Ruins

"Equal parts irreverent, thrilling and poignant, Justinian Huang's Lucky Seed is a riotous romp about (quite literally) breaking generational curses that left me gasping for breath, laughing out loud, and occasionally tearing up. A masterpiece unlike anything you've ever read and perfect for fans of Knives Out and Crazy Rich Asians. The twist ending had me screaming!" --Shirlene Obuobi, author of Between Friends & Lovers

"A sexy romp with bite. Justinian Huang crafts unforgettable characters who linger in your mind long after the final page. Smart, stylish, and wickedly entertaining." --Lauren Ho, bestselling author of Last Tang Standing

"Fortune favors the chaotic in this charming familial romp. Full of thrills and even more heart, I was on the edge of my seat. Huang does it again!" --Carolyn Huynh, author of The Family Recipe