Samantha Shannon (born 8 November 1991) is a British author of dystopian and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

fiction. Her debut novel, '' The Bone Season'', was published in 2013 and is the first of a seven-book series.

Life and career

Shannon was born in

Hammersmith, London Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

in November 1991 and grew up in

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London, and in the historic county of Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

. She first began writing at the age of fifteen, when she wrote her first novel, ''Aurora'', which remains unpublished. Shannon studied English Language and Literature at St Anne's College, Oxford and graduated in 2013.Kate Kellawa
"Samantha Shannon: 'Writing was a drug I couldn't stop taking'"
''The Observer'', 11 August 2013 She is of Irish descent on her father's side, her ancestors emigrating to England from County Roscommon. In 2012 she signed a six-figure book deal with Bloomsbury Publishing, who bid following the

London Book Fair The London Book Fair (LBF) is a large book-publishing trade fair held annually, usually in April, in London, England. LBF is a global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and di ...

, to publish the first three books in a seven-book series, beginning with '' The Bone Season''. Set in 2059, it follows Paige Mahoney, a 'dreamwalker' resisting the Republic of Scion, which has led an oppressive campaign against

clairvoyants Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...

for two centuries. Following its publication, Shannon was compared favorably to

J.K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

. Film and TV rights to ''The Bone Season'' were first optioned by The Imaginarium Studios in November 2012, with

Andy Serkis Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation, and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Go ...

slated to produce, and by British production company Lunar Park in 2019. ''The Priory of the Orange Tree'', a standalone

high fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, ...

by Shannon, was published in February 2019 by Bloomsbury Publishing. A reimagining of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon, it was named by ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particl ...

'' as a sapphic book that should be turned into a show or movie. A prequel, ''A Day of Fallen Night,'' will be 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 Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

Personal life

Shannon identifies as " sapphic". She lives in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Bibliography

''The Bone Season'' series

*'' The Bone Season'' (2013) *'' The Mime Order'' (2015) *'' The Song Rising'' (2017) *'' The Mask Falling'' (2021) Related works *''On the Merits of Unnaturalness'' (2015) *'' The Pale Dreamer'' (2016) *''The Dawn Chorus'' (2020)

Roots of Chaos

*'' The Priory of the Orange Tree'' (2019) *''A Day of Fallen Night'' (2023)

Short stories

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

Amerie Amerie Mi Marie Nicholson ( Rogers; born January 12, 1980) is an American singer. Born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, she gained an appreciation of the classical arts from her mother Mi Suk Rogers and of music from her father Charles Rogers, and ...

(2017)

References

External links

* * Living people 1991 births People from Hammersmith Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford English women novelists English fantasy writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers Queer women Queer writers English LGBT writers {{UK-writer-stub