Samantha Shannon

Shannon was born in Hammersmith, London in November 1991 and grew up in Ruislip.{{cite web|title=Samantha Shannon|url=https://sshannonauthor.tumblr.com/post/166874420783/samantha-i-just-saw-on-your-instagram-that-you|publisher=Tumblr|accessdate=19 August 2020|archive-date=19 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319152411/https://sshannonauthor.tumblr.com/post/166874420783/samantha-i-just-saw-on-your-instagram-that-you|url-status=live}} She first began writing at the age of fifteen, when she wrote her first novel, Aurora, which remains unpublished.{{cite news|last=Brooks|first=Richard|title=New JK Rowling in seventh heaven|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Arts/article1032453.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104020349/https://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Arts/article1032453.ece|archive-date=4 November 2016|url-status=dead|newspaper=The Sunday Times|date=6 May 2012}} Shannon studied English Language and Literature at St Anne's College, Oxford{{cite web|title=Student author sells film rights|date=20 October 2012|url=http://oxfordstudent.com/2012/10/20/student-author-sells-film-rights/|publisher=Oxford Student|accessdate=13 November 2012|archive-date=23 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023095726/http://oxfordstudent.com/2012/10/20/student-author-sells-film-rights/|url-status=live}} and graduated in 2013.Kate Kellaway [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/11/samantha-shannon-interview-bone-season "Samantha Shannon: 'Writing was a drug I couldn't stop taking'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319152410/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/11/samantha-shannon-interview-bone-season |date=19 March 2022 }}, The Observer, 11 August 2013 She is of Irish descent on her father's side, her ancestors emigrating to England from County Roscommon.{{Cite web |last=Shannon |first=Samantha |date=17 September 2020 |title=Samantha Shannon |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CFPDKzKgub1/ }}

In 2012 she signed a six-figure book deal with Bloomsbury Publishing, who bid following the London Book Fair, to publish the first three books in a seven-book series, beginning with The Bone Season.{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Charlotte|title=Seven-book fantasy series for Bloomsbury|url=http://www.thebookseller.com/news/seven-book-fantasy-series-bloomsbury.html|publisher=The Bookseller|accessdate=13 November 2012|archive-date=18 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718080017/http://www.thebookseller.com/news/seven-book-fantasy-series-bloomsbury.html|url-status=live}} Set in 2059, it follows Paige Mahoney, a "dreamwalker" resisting the Republic of Scion, which has led an oppressive campaign against clairvoyants for two centuries.{{Cite web |date=12 November 2022 |title=The Bone Season |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bone-season-9781408882528 |access-date=12 November 2022 |website=Bloomsbury Publishing |archive-date=5 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705211409/https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bone-season-9781408882528/ |url-status=dead }} Following its publication, Shannon was compared favorably to J. K. Rowling.{{Cite web|last=Hjelmgaard|first=Kim|title=Is Samantha Shannon the next J.K. Rowling?|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/08/19/samantha-shannon-bone-season/2607907/|access-date=2021-10-14|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US|archive-date=20 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520234219/https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/08/19/samantha-shannon-bone-season/2607907/|url-status=live}}

Film and TV rights to The Bone Season were first optioned by The Imaginarium Studios in November 2012, with Andy Serkis slated to produce, and by British production company Lunar Park in 2019.{{Cite news |last=Grater |first=Tom |date=15 April 2019 |title=Young adult novel 'The Bone Season' to become TV series with new UK outfit Lunar Park |work=Screen Daily |url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/young-adult-novel-the-bone-season-to-become-tv-series-with-new-uk-outfit-lunar-park-exclusive/5138557.article}}

The Priory of the Orange Tree, a standalone high fantasy by Shannon, was published in February 2019 by Bloomsbury Publishing.{{cite magazine|last1=Trombetta|first1=Sadie|date=27 February 2019|title='The Priory Of The Orange Tree' Is An Epic Feminist Fantasy Perfect For Fans Of 'Game Of Thrones'|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/the-priory-of-the-orange-tree-is-epic-feminist-fantasy-perfect-for-fans-of-game-of-thrones-16164155|magazine=Bustle|access-date=31 May 2019|archive-date=19 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319152402/https://www.bustle.com/p/the-priory-of-the-orange-tree-is-epic-feminist-fantasy-perfect-for-fans-of-game-of-thrones-16164155|url-status=live}} A reimagining of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon,{{Cite web |last=Shannon |first=Samantha |date=12 November 2022 |title=Damsels undistressed |url=https://unbound.com/boundless/2020/03/31/samantha-shannon-retellings |website=Boundless |access-date=12 November 2022 |archive-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117230219/https://unbound.com/boundless/2020/03/31/samantha-shannon-retellings/ |url-status=dead }} it was named by Collider as a sapphic book that should be turned into a show or movie.{{Cite web |date=2022-02-02 |title=8 Sapphic Books That Should Be Made Into Movies or TV Shows |url=https://collider.com/sapphic-books-should-be-made-into-movies-tv-shows/ |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=Collider |language=en-US |archive-date=7 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707091653/https://collider.com/sapphic-books-should-be-made-into-movies-tv-shows/ |url-status=live }} A prequel, A Day of Fallen Night, was published in February 2023. Shannon has called the series The Roots of Chaos, having originally planned to only write one book within the universe and later stating that there were more stories to tell.

In 2022, Shannon signed a contract for a third book in the Roots of Chaos cycle and a story inspired by the Greek goddess Iris.{{Cite news |last=Comerford |first=Ruth |date=27 September 2022 |title=Bloomsbury snaps up two 'dazzling' novels from Shannon |work=The Bookseller |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/bloomsbury-snaps-up-two-dazzling-novels-from-shannon |access-date=12 November 2022 |archive-date=12 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112124905/https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/bloomsbury-snaps-up-two-dazzling-novels-from-shannon |url-status=live }}

Shannon identifies as "sapphic".{{Cite web |last=Shannon |first=Samantha |date=7 June 2022 |title=Samantha Shannon |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CegKDncrjCz/ |access-date=12 November 2022 |archive-date=12 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112124904/https://www.instagram.com/p/CegKDncrjCz/ |url-status=live }}

• The Bone Season (2013){{cite web|title=See the cover, excerpt, and Q&A for potential big-deal debut 'The Bone Season' by Samantha Shannon -- EXCLUSIVE|url=http://shelf-life.ew.com/2013/01/31/bone-season-samantha-shannon-big-reveal/|publisher=Entertainment Weekly|accessdate=2 February 2013|archive-date=27 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527005532/http://shelf-life.ew.com/2013/01/31/bone-season-samantha-shannon-big-reveal/|url-status=live}}
• The Mime Order (2015)
• The Song Rising (2017)
• The Mask Falling (2021)
• The Dark Mirror (2025)

Related works

• On the Merits of Unnaturalness (companion) (2015)
• The Pale Dreamer (novella)(2016)
• The Dawn Chorus (novella) (2020)

• A Day of Fallen Night (prequel) (2023)
• Among the Burning Flowers (prequel) (2025)
• The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019){{Cite web|url=https://www.tor.com/2019/02/28/standalone-fantasy-short-on-complexity-the-priory-of-the-orange-tree-by-samantha-shannon/|title=Standalone Fantasy Short on Complexity: The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon|last=Bourke|first=Liz|date=2019-02-28|website=Tor.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-02|archive-date=19 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319152410/https://www.tor.com/2019/02/28/standalone-fantasy-short-on-complexity-the-priory-of-the-orange-tree-by-samantha-shannon/|url-status=live}}

• Amrita (2013)
• "Marigold" in Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy, edited by Amerie (2017)

{{reflist|2}}

• {{official website|https://www.samanthashannon.co.uk/|Samantha Shannon's website}}
• {{official website|http://www.boneseasonbooks.com/|Official site for The Bone Season series}}

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Category:Living people

Category:1991 births

Category:Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford

Category:British queer writers

Category:British women science fiction and fantasy writers

Category:English fantasy writers

Category:English LGBTQ novelists

Category:English LGBTQ writers

Category:English people of Irish descent

Category:English women novelists

Category:LGBTQ people from London

Category:People from Hammersmith

Category:People from Ruislip

Category:Queer novelists

Category:British queer women

Category:Writers from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

Category:Writers from the London Borough of Hillingdon

Category:21st-century English short story writers

Category:21st-century English novelists

Category:21st-century English women writers

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Category:British LGBTQ women

Category:Jewish LGBTQ women