A magical new phenomenon from the New York Times bestselling author and executive producer of the Loveboat, Taipei series (adapted to the Netflix film Love in Taipei).
Thirteen-year-old Bran Joseph Lee has spent half his life building the Vale, an immersive, AI-generated, virtual-reality environment using technology created by his inventor parents. It's a lush fantasy world complete with a Blue Forest, a Castle, and adventures with his mushroom-obsessed Elf named Gnomly—a much better place to spend his days compared to his real life, where his parents have suffered through the failed launches of one invention after another.
Bran wants nothing more than to see his Elves come fully to life, a hope that seems on the brink of reality when he enters the Vale in a multi-million-dollar competition to fund its further development. But instead, things in the Vale begin to go The sunlight is fading. A beautiful girl appears from nowhere. A wizard is stealing from the Vale’s inhabitants. And the strangest part of all is that none of this is the young inventor’s doing.
Can Bran and Gnomly uncover the truth of what is happening before both their worlds are destroyed?
Look out for The Vale—Origins, the short film prequel to The Vale starring three-time Tony Award winner Lea Salonga, coming to film festivals and screenings near you!
Abigail Hing Wen is an author, film producer and director, as well as former tech executive. She is the New York Times best selling author of multiple novels for young people, including Loveboat, Taipei, which has been adapted as the movie Love in Taipei, now on Netflix. Abigail served as an executive producer and on set during production. Her novel Kisses, Codes and Conspiracies, a thriller and romantic comedy novel featuring three teens on the run through the Bay Area, is an instant national bestseller, USA Today bestseller and Amazon Editor’s Pick for YA Book of the Month. Abigail is directing her first short film starring Lea Salonga, a prequel to her middle grade debut The Vale, coming September 2025, and featuring an inventor family that builds an AI generated virtual world. She serves on the board of Harvardwood and is a member of Dan Lin’s Rideback Rise Circle. In 2025, she served as a judge for the Golden Trailer Awards, recognizing the industry’s most outstanding film trailers.
Abigail is a frequent keynote speaker for young people, including Y’Allfest, US Presidential Scholars, and the Los Altos High Writer's Week, as well as libraries, colleges, high schools and bookstores around the country. She’s also given keynotes and fireside chats for the National Conference of State Legislatures, Meta, Google, Paramount, Paypal and other tech and entertainment companies, and spoken on panels at venues such as SDCC, LACC, LA Times Festival of Books and ALA. For more, visit AbigailHingWen.com.
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After writing a successful YA series, what motivated you to
write a middle grade story?
The very first novel I
wrote in 2007 was a middle grade fantasy, and in many ways middle grade is my
first love. I grew up on Narnia and A Wrinkle in Time, and read The Mysterious Benedict Society with my
kids, and I love the innocence, adventure and wonder that comes with this
genre.
As for The Vale, I actually wrote it in 2015 as my creative thesis for my MFA, before I wrote the Loveboat, Taipei series and Kisses, Codes and Conspiracies. But as a story about an AI generated VR world, it was too early for its time, so I had to shelve it for a decade. I’m thrilled now that the stars have aligned and I can finally share it with the world.
Your cast of characters is quite diverse. Why was it important
for you to diversify the characters and their representations?
I want kids of all
backgrounds to see themselves in books and movies and to know that they can be,
and are, the heroes of their own stories. We need diverse, ethical people
involved in building the powerful technologies explored in The Vale, tech that
impacts and should serve all peoples. I hope more kids will be inspired by Bran
and Piper’s adventures to consider working in tech themselves.
How does The Vale
make the complex topic of AI engaging, clear and empowering for a younger
audience, and what key ethical questions does it invite them to consider?
The Vale allows readers to experience AI generation for themselves in an easily recognizable — and fun — form. Bran’s virtual world of The Vale is trained on his own drawings and interactions with the Vale, as well as familiar folktales, fairy tales and classics such as Hansel & Gretel and The Iliad. These familiar stories are woven into the Vale’s fabric, a unique world created by Bran at the speed of imagination. By coming alongside Bran’s adventures and experiences, readers can develop an intuitive understanding of how AI generation works, as well as witness the promise, power and pitfalls of AI.
The novel also invites readers to consider the open ethical questions surrounding AI. Copyright is a consideration — the Lees have created “Clean AI” and are careful to only train the Vale on their own materials or materials no longer under copyright. This puts them on a slower track than their competitors, who may not have shared their commitment to protecting their fellow artists and creators.
Another question is safety.
As the AI of the storyworld grows more sentient and powerful, safety features
are overridden by the system. Bran believes he can’t be hurt in the Vale,
physically — until he is. And then there’s the emotional and psychological
impact on Bran. He’s spent more than half his life living and working in the
Vale. His parents trained it on him, a fun family experience, but now his
father regrets its impact on Bran’s ability to connect with and trust people in
the real world, except for Uncle Roy, who has always been there. The novel asks
readers to consider the risks as AI nears human level intelligence, but also
equips them with a foundation to identify them for themselves and put
guardrails into place.
Alongside your book’s release, you’ll also be releasing a short
film, The Vale–Origins. This is
incredible! Why did you choose to make a companion film?
For me, writing is about putting the images in my head onto a page for others to see as well. I’ve always loved watching behind the scenes footage and interviews that came with my favorite movies and TV shows, and I learned the movie making process from start to finish through the adaptation of Loveboat, Taipei into Love in Taipei.
I was eager to take my work in films to the next stage as a director. A short film was a bite-sized way to begin, and the prequel to The Vale jumped out at me. It was a complete story, with a beginning, middle and end. And it would set up The Vale novel with all the most important parts: the hybrid live action and animated worlds, and the stakes of why the Vale is so important to Bran, and how much a part of him it is.
I loved the creative
challenge of bridging live action and animation. I have learned so much from
the cast and crew and am honored to work with such talented people.
What does The Vale teach
about creativity?
How creativity comes from both within us and the world around us. Bran’s virtual world is a mirror of his real life — the clover fields, the castle inspired by his childhood building blocks, even his elf friend was born from a garden gnome and memories of his lost sibling. Through his imagination, he transforms familiar pieces into something fantastical and new.
As the story explores the
edges of AI and virtual reality, it also raises a deeper question: what makes
us uniquely human? At the heart of it, The
Vale celebrates the kind of creativity that no machine can replicate.
What’s the most important thing you want kids and parents to
take away from The Vale?
At its core, The Vale is about empowerment. I want kids — and their parents — to know that they author their own dreams. Girls can be hackers. Kids can be heroes. Neurodiversity isn’t a limitation — it’s another instrument in the grand symphony of life.
Most of all, technology can be magical, but it’s the people behind it who give it purpose. The future needs ethical, creative minds to shape it.
I hope The Vale sparks conversation. This story is deeply personal to me, and I can’t wait to hear what it means to readers.
The short film (if I understood this right) is a type of prequel to the book. It shows how the family came up with The Vale program and why. This little movie does include a famous, Broadway actress, Lea Salonga, and the small sections I've seen (very small) look interesting.
The only place I could find this one, so far, is HERE, but it should be at various showings to raise excitement about the release as the book is toured.