Samantha Shannon

Lose yourself in the breathtaking worlds of Samantha Shannon, the British author whose sweeping, intricately crafted fantasy novels have established her as one of the most celebrated and important voices in modern epic fantasy. Shannon burst onto the literary scene at just twenty-one with The Bone Season (2013), the first in a series set in a dystopian future Oxford where clairvoyants are hunted and enslaved, which was hailed as a major debut and sold in a major deal before publication. But it was her standalone epic The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019) — a magnificent, 800-page dragon fantasy set in a richly imagined matriarchal world, featuring queer heroines, ancient magic, and a story of queens, dragons, and the women who shape the fate of civilisations — that cemented her reputation as a titan of the genre and became a beloved favourite of fantasy readers worldwide. Its companion novel A Day of Fallen Night (2023) expanded the world further with equal ambition and beauty. Shannon’s work is celebrated for its extraordinary world-building, its queer-inclusive storytelling, its complex female characters, and its ability to create fantasy worlds that feel as real and lived-in as history. Essential reading for fans of epic fantasy, dragon fiction, and stories where women hold the power.