#sshannonauthor asks

[sshannonauthor]

What will the tenth anniversary of The Bone Season contain in it?

It's a complete rewrite. The course of events is essentially the same, but I've tried to revise the book with the skill I've (hopefully) accrued over the last ten years, with a particular focus on making the worldbuilding more accessible, working in more fine detail, clarifying the passage of time, and refining the relationship between Warden and Paige. It will also have a fresh cover design.

I don't yet know if it will have any bonus material. I'm very proud of the work I've done on it, and I hope it will be a stronger introduction to the series for new readers, and a new take on a familiar story for long-term fans.

#sshannonauthor asks #the bone season

[pia-writes-things]

2, 9 and 22 for the book ask thing? 🥰

2. Did you reread anything? What?

I did! This year was actually quite a big re-read year <3 I reread La Passe-Miroir, book 2, 3 and 4 (book 1 was at the end of 2022) by Christelle Dabos ; His Dark Materials, the whole first trilogy, by Philip Pullman and The priory of the orange tree by @sshannonauthor. They were all so good, and I enjoyed my re-read so so much 🥰🥰

9. Did you get into any new genres?

Ummmm, not really, unless you count latin-american literature as a genre. In that case, yes, I completely fell into latin-american literature and I love it, a LOT. I also tried to read more contemporary novels, and I like them, but it's still not a genre I like all that much, compared to fantasy or science-fiction.

22. What’s the longest book you read?

Hang on a second, I need to check some word counts ^^ Yeah, so, it's absolutely not a surprise but I had a doubt : A Day of Fallen Night by @sshannonauthor. It was the perfect length, perfectly paced and one of this year's instant favourites of mine. If you like high-fantasy, feminist and queer books, I highly recommend it!!

Thank you so much for the ask Nim! I had a blast answering <3

#ask #nimouette #(i love your new handle btw <3) #pia's oversharing #end-of-year book ask

[sshannonauthor]

Shannon - Your Priory of the Orange Tree was my introduction to High Fantasy (I have fallen madly in love with your writing) and I was wondering if you had any personal recommendations of High Fantasy novels that you would regard as in the same "league" as Priory/that has a similar vibe? I'm reading The Poppy War trilogy at the moment, and while I'm really enjoying it, it has a vastly different vibe to Priory. I would love to dive into another sweeping, delectable, diverse, enchanting tale, as Priory was (forgive me, I don't have the words to capture the scope of my love for it).

I loved The Poppy War so much – I highly recommend Rebecca's next book, Babel, which is out in August. It's a masterpiece.

I think you'd probably enjoy all these books:

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy

A Shiver of Snow and Sky by Lisa Lueddecke

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

The Girl King by Mimi Yu

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

Shadowscent by P. M. Freestone

State of Sorrow by Melinda Salisbury

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart

#sshannonauthor asks #book recommendation

[sshannonauthor]

Could you list the ages of the main characters of priory and ADOFN? Do their ages change within the storyline?

This might be weird to ask and feel free to ignore I’m just curious :-)

It takes place between the years CE 509 and CE 512, so yes, they all age. At the beginning of the book:

Glorian – 15

Dumai – 27

Tunuva – 50

Wulf – unknown, but he and his family think he’s around 17 or 18

#sshannonauthor asks #a day of fallen night #the priory of the orange tree

[sshannonauthor]

Hi 🤍

It seems you did focus more and more on projects outside of the Bone Season, since the cycles between each TBS book increased quite significantly.

I‘m a tiny bit anxious (maybe a lot 😅) that TBS will be left unfinished at some point, once you‘re moving on.

How realistic is this, not finishing the series within the next couple of years?

The Bone Season series will be finished. There is absolutely no way I would ever choose not to finish it. Paige means the world to me, and I’m so excited about continuing her journey over the next few years, and showing you how all the seeds I’ve planted since 2012 are going to blossom. I have so many plans for it and I still love it as much as I did when I was 19, if not more.

Having other projects lined up isn’t me ‘moving on’ from my first one – it’s never been about that. I like to have other things to work on while the Bone Season books are with my editor, and it’s also very important to me to keep challenging myself and improving my writing. I really believe that sticking to a single character’s voice for ten years would have caused my craft to stagnate, and that writing Priory was a good choice that had a positive effect on The Mask Falling.

When we signed Iris Book and Roots of Chaos #3, I made it clear to Bloomsbury that I wanted to prioritise TBS5-6 before I started work on ROC3. I’m working on TBS5 now and am aiming to finish the draft by end of December.

I may take a few years to make sure I get TBS7 exactly right, because I want it to be a brilliant conclusion that justifies the long wait – but please rest assured that I will be finishing it. It’s among the greatest privileges of my career that a publisher and a readership trusted me to deliver a story of this length and complexity, and there is no universe in which I’d take that trust for granted by abandoning it. I can’t wait to show you where Paige goes next.

#sshannonauthor asks #the bone season #samantha shannon

[sshannonauthor]

Will you ever do a romance between a Dragon and human?

I doubt it, but Dragonfall by L. R. Lam sounds like it might go down that road, if that's your cup of tea.

#sshannonauthor asks

[sshannonauthor]

Hello Sam! I’m so excited to be meeting you at your St. Louis signing in March! I’ll be driving from another state, and I was wondering if you could recap us on your signing policies. Is there a limit to how many books I can get signed and personalized by you? Is it okay if you personalize signed editions I already had? What’s your policy on photos? I remember you posted this on your last tour, but I just wanted to have a recap so I can remember!

I am a HUGE fan! Wanted to see if it’s okay to bring all the books I have by you!

My personal signing policy is:

Photos are fine. You don't need to mask, but you can request that I mask, if you like.

Yes, I can personalise books that are already signed

No firm limit on signing or personalisation, though I may have to adjust if we're running short of time (this usually only happens at festivals/conventions)

My only specific request is that you don't ask me to write messages that (1) I don’t have the context to understand, or (2) imply a personal relationship between us, e.g. ‘to my best friend’ or ‘to the love of my life’ – I've always found this a bit uncomfortable, as it feels inauthentic. But I'm very happy to write a message for a special occasion, e.g. Happy Birthday.

However, individual bookstores may have their own policy and I'll respect that over my own, so do check in with the booksellers if you're worried.

#sshannonauthor asks #samantha shannon #a day of fallen night

[sshannonauthor]

Hello, I was wondering if you have any aromantic characters, or plan on having any? I love all the representation in yours books and it has truly been amazing reading them. So I was hoping to see someone like me in any of your books.

I wrote Tané as aromantic.

#sshannonauthor asks #the priory of the orange tree #tané of ampiki

[sshannonauthor]

Do you think to write a short story or a story about Niclays and Jannart ?

And in your new book, will we learn more about the Berethnet queens ?

I love your work, and I find the manner that you build your worlds very complex and so interesting.

I would like to write a short story about their courtship, yes. I'm toying with the idea of doing a collection of love stories (celebrating all kinds of love, including platonic) after A Day of Fallen Night is published.

You will learn a lot more about the Berethnet queens in A Day of Fallen Night. Glorian III is one of the four main storytellers, and her mother, Sabran VI, is a supporting narrator.

And thank you, that's very kind.

#sshannonauthor asks #the priory of the orange tree #a day of fallen night

[sshannonauthor]

I need some book recommendations with slow burn romances like Paige and Arcturus!! I’m demisexual like Paige and I adore watching them get to know one another so well before/while falling for each other. Any genre will do. Can’t wait for book 5!

These are all fairly slow-burn, in comparison to other books I've read:

• A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft • The Circle by Sara B. Elfgren and Mats Strandberg (romance unfolds across three books) • The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi • Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran (one of the protagonists is demisexual)

#sshannonauthor asks #book recommendations

[sshannonauthor]

I just wanted to tell you how your book actually changed my life. I’m 17, and I’m lesbian. I was afraid to come out to my family for a very long time, but I saw my mom reading Priory, and on a hunch, I looked it up and saw it was LGBTQ, which I thought was a sign. This inspired me to come out to my mom because I knew she’d be accepting, and life is a lot better now. I’m midway through Priory and loving every second of it. Thank you for changing my life, and happy Pride!

That’s really lovely to hear, and I’m glad you can be yourself with your mum now. Happy Pride!

#sshannonauthor asks

[sshannonauthor]

just got the barnes and noble email about A Day of Fallen Night (which I am so excited to pre-order) but I was wondering if it will be sapphic? I loved the Priory and Ead and Sabrans relationship and I am hoping there will be a new sapphic relationship in the prequel.

Pre-ordering either way! The cover looks amazing!

There are two new sapphic relationships in the prequel …

#sshannonauthor asks #a day of fallen night

[sshannonauthor]

Hello! I love the Priory and am eagerly awaiting your second in this setting! I have a question that might come across as silly...but is there any chance ADOFN might be as thick as TPOTOT? I found that it was an extremely satisfying book to both read and finish because of it's size 😅 (I like big books and I cannot lie🤣). Either way, the cover art is gorgeous and I'm so excited for the release date to come! Best wishes!

It’s certainly longer than Priory (by a significant amount), though that doesn’t always translate to a thicker book, as Bloomsbury may have changed the type of paper they’re using.

#sshannonauthor asks #a day of fallen night

[sshannonauthor]

With the Broken Binding announcement have all the special editions for A Day of Fallen Night been announced?

There's definitely one more special edition to come, with another currently being discussed as a possibility.

#sshannonauthor asks #a day of fallen night

[sshannonauthor]

Are there any new book releases that you are looking forward to reading?

Yes, looking forward to all these 2022 releases:

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi

Her Dark Wings by Melinda Salisbury

The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper

Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

Neom by Lavie Tidhar

The Red Palace by June Hur

Strike the Zither by Joan He

When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

And some 2022 releases I've already read and enjoyed:

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

Babel by R. F. Kuang

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

Ordinary Monsters by J. M. Miro

#sshannonauthor asks #books

[sshannonauthor]

i apologize if this has already been asked or if you've already spoken about this, but i just read neverwhere by neil gaiman and part of the reason i loved it was because it reminded me so much of the bone season series and i was just wondering if it was one of your influences for the series. absolutely adore you and everything you make btw <3<3<3

I read Neverwhere after writing The Bone Season, so it wasn’t a direct influence, but it’s one of my favourite books and Neil is a big inspiration to me personally. He was very kind to me when I was a debut, and I’ll never forget his generosity when all my Amazon pre-orders for Priory were cancelled because of a technical error. I was absolutely devastated, because we had so little time left until the book was published and it was a huge blow to my sales figures, but Neil asked his (many) followers to help me recover the orders, and we got them all back virtually overnight, which I think would have been impossible without his boost. Lovely guy.

#sshannonauthor asks