Samantha Shannon on adapting her work: "I imagine The Bone Season as a video game"

It's always inspiring to speak to someone who has a clear vision of the world and who's also willing to talk about it with passion. Samantha Shannon is undoubtedly one such person, although the worlds she most enjoys talking about are those that have escaped from her imagination to the tip of her pen and onto the page in her novels.

A precocious writer, she published The Bone Season when she was just 19, and since then she has continued that series whilst also beginning to build another set in The Priory of the Orange Tree, an epic fantasy that has recently been expanded with prequels: first with A Day of Fallen Night, and earlier last year with Among the Burning Flowers. We had the opportunity to speak to her face-to-face about all these works and much more during the 15th Celsius Festival in Avilés (Asturias, Spain), in a full interview which is subtitled below.

When reading Shannon's novels, a recurring thought arises from the very first pages and descriptions, when, as a reader, you think it would be 'simple' to bring these stories to the screen. To clear up any doubts, we asked her directly whether she'd thought about it, and if she had a favourite story she'd like to see adapted. This is what she told us:

"I would like Priory of the Orange Tree to be adapted. I don't think it will be. The reason for that is because I think Game of Thrones happened really recently. That's dragons. And then Fourth Wing is happening as well. So I think there will probably be a slight oversaturation of dragons by that point. I mean, maybe it will be made in the future.

"I also think it would be very, very expensive. Like if you think about the number of dragons in Game of Thrones, there were like three. Priory of the Orange Tree has a ton of dragons."

Although the budget would be a significant barrier to entry, Shannon believes that, in reality, the biggest stumbling block to her work being adapted for the big screen is more ideological.

Also, cynically, I say this as a gay woman. I think Hollywood is maybe not ready to risk that much money on a movie with gay leads. I'm just not convinced it's that progressive at this point. So again, maybe in the future.

"I'm not saying that I never think it would get made, but I think at the moment the climate is a bit difficult, I think, for LGBTQ forward representation. Again, maybe in TV, but definitely not film, I don't think, at this point."

On the other hand, she does see potential for bringing her stories to life in another format: video games, and she admits to being an avid gamer.

"I've played games ever since I used to sit on my dad's knee when I was a kid and watch him play Tomb Raider, and I've always loved games. And I can picture the Bone Season as a video game. I have ideas for how the magic system would show up in a game and all the different mechanics that you could use. So I think that would be very cool."

You can find the full interview with Samantha Shannon above, where she also talks about revisiting her own work, her relationship with her fans, and The Moth Reborn, her new book, due out in 2027.