“My aim has always been to be the first Samantha Shannon, not the next anyone else”: The author on feminism, female leads and more...

Most authors are thrilled when their debut work is well-received, but what happens when an Oxford undergraduate is directly compared with J.K. Rowling for landing herself not just a debut release, but a series of seven books?

All of 27, Samantha Shannon has taken the world of fantasy fiction by storm with The Bone Season series. Her latest, The Priory of the Orange Tree, is a feminist reimagining of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon. “That legend is a well-known example of the ‘damsel in distress’ archetype, which I wanted to dismantle,” she says. “Throughout history, women have been portrayed as passive, silent trophies, waiting for rescue. I wanted to write a novel that challenged that and explored all kinds of female strength,” she explains.

The first Shannon, not the next anything

After being touted as the “next J.K. Rowling”, Shannon was compared to George R.R. Martin of Game of Thrones fame. Too much pressure? “I don’t take it seriously,” Shannon says. “This is very common in the publishing industry because people naturally compare the new to the familiar,” she says.

It does put a lot of pressure on a new author though, Shannon admits. “Comparisons can be useful touchstones, directing readers to books they might enjoy, but they shouldn’t be taken too literally. It can be a little misleading too,” she says. “While I’m a huge fan of both Rowling and George R.R. Martin, my books are quite different from theirs. My aim has always been to be the first Samantha Shannon, not the next anyone else.”

Heroes of the books

As a child who grew up devouring fantasy fiction, it wasn’t until Harry Potter that Shannon realised that women are out there creating imaginary worlds too. “My favourite childhood book was Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. My love of fantasy books really began with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Hearing about J.K. Rowling made me want to be a published author,” she says

Most people believe fantasy still is a male-dominated genre, though Shannon disagrees. “Young Adult fantasy isn’t male-dominated any more – there are many bestselling female authors and female protagonists in that category. But you still see lists of ‘Best Fantasy Books’ that feature no women. Unfortunately, fantasy’s been intertwined with patriarchy for a very long time – that was never going to disappear overnight. It’s an ongoing battle,” she says.

Defining the F-word

A book doesn’t have to mention feminism to be a feminist book, Shannon says. The focus has to be on characters that aren’t required to end up in a relationship. “Female characters are becoming normalised across a range of genres. There’s still a great deal of work to do, but there’s been a sea change,” she says.

But even feminism needs to be more than the way it appears in books. “Representation doesn’t just mean representation of characters – it means writers from all backgrounds getting deals, it means publishers throwing concrete support behind their books and diversity within publishing itself.”

And how much has feminist writing changed? “The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton explores body politics and the pressure on women to be sweet and beautiful. The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven tackles slut shaming and the recently published We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia explores the way women are socialised to fulfil male desires, often at the expense of their own,” Shannon points out. “The fact that so many of these books exist shows how far we’ve come.”

Not so sexist, boy!

The one vice of fantasy fiction, says Shannon, is its not-so-evident gender equality. She believes this is because the novelists draw so much inspiration from history. “Many fantasy novels take place in deeply misogynistic settings, with the female characters at risk of belittlement, abuse and death because of their gender,” she says. “It’s got to the point where sexism is expected in fantasy, and where people are surprised – even angry – if it isn’t there. ”

In her own books, the Queendom of Inys has been under female rule for 1,000 years, but was founded by a man who stole his glory and reputation from a woman. Shannon calls it a matriarchy with patriarchal foundations, which both men and women help to uphold. “Once you start to look, you see evidence of patriarchy everywhere – yet many people believe we no longer need feminism!”

Axing the “strong woman” character

Shannon makes a strong point when she says the “strong female character” is an outdated expression. “Let’s just not shove female characters into boxes at all,” she says. “It’s a tired expression. There are many ways for a character to be complicated and interesting. In fact, we could also use more female background characters. People are surprised that my protagonist fights a female police officer in The Mime Order, since the ‘default’ for background characters is usually white, cishet and male.”

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From HT Brunch, September 1, 2019

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