Samantha Shannon might be best known for her ongoing Bone Season fantasy series (at book three now, with four more books planned)—but she's giving her own Bone Season books a run for their money with her latest epic, The Priory of the Orange Tree.
And "epic" is the correct term here, not just hyperbole. The Priory of the Orange Season clocks in at 848 pages bursting with dragons, dueling religions, magic, and political intrigue. It landed at spot #11 on the New York Times Bestseller List for hardcover fiction, and we picked Priory earlier this month as one of the Best Books of March.
Shannon tells us below which books she's been reading and loving lately, in between writing her own books:
Samantha Shannon's Favorite Recent Reads
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In the Vanishers’ Palace by Aliette de Bodard
A surreal take on Beauty and the Beast that unfolds in a world left in ruin by an alien invasion, where people must prove their value to society and beautifully named diseases lie in wait at every turn. I always love a good re-imagining of my favourite fairy tale, and this one is exceptional—dark, ethereal, and enchanting.
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Mirage by Somaiya Daud
In this sprawling sci-fi that leaps between memorable settings, Somaiya Daud confronts imperialism and explores what it would mean to be a body double to someone you despise. The Morocco-inspired world of Mirage is vivid and layered, threaded with glittering details and poetry, and epic in its scope.
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Shadowscent: The Darkest Bloom by P M Freestone
This one has all the base notes of a classic quest fantasy, but it’s also not quite like anything you’ll have ever read before. Debut author P. M. Freestone has achieved a great feat of imagination in the empire of Aramtesh, where smell is queen of the five senses, perfume is worth more than gold, and scent is braided in to every aspect of life, from religion to language to trade. (Available November 19)
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