Fantasy author Samantha Shannon says debuting at a young age had its downfalls
The Straits Times|April 30, 2023
Aspiring authors dream of debuting with a seven-book deal, but fantasy author Samantha Shannon knows the price of such early success.
Charmaine Lim
Fantasy author Samantha Shannon says debuting at a young age had its downfalls

The London-born author was a student at St Anne's College in Oxford in 2011 when she was signed by Bloomsbury Publishing for her debut fantasy The Bone Season (2013) and its six sequels. News outlets began calling the then-20-year-old "the next J.K. Rowling".

Shannon, now 31 and in town for a signing at Books Kinokuniya in Ngee Ann City on Wednesday, says: "We were both British, published by Bloomsbury and had a seven-book series. It was a fairly shallow comparison, but it really took off. Suddenly there was this label being attached to me all the time. It was difficult because I knew nobody had read the book at this time and there was a lot of intense focus on me."

This story is from the April 30, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.

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This story is from the April 30, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.

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