Night of the Living Queers by Shelly Page

“It was normalised during the Elizabethan era that you would share a bed with a person of the same sex for warmth and company. “I’m not suggesting it was queer but Elizabeth and her ladies-in-waiting had a very intimate relationship. “It is inspired by the court of 16th and 17th century England, and Queen Elizabeth I in particular,” Shannon explains. Fantastical though it sounds, Shannon says the novel was very much rooted in history. In Priory, we meet Ead Duryan, a member of ancient organisation The Priory, who secretly protects Queen Sabran the Ninth at court with forbidden magic as she fights to protect her realm from destruction. It is a genre for escapism and possibility.” Fantasy can be a great engine to explore these issues. But certainly as a queer woman it can also be quite comforting to read a book where characters don’t have to face systemic oppression.

“Because epic fantasy has always had quite a close relationship with history, you are more likely to be misogynistic or homophobic.

I asked myself, ‘why not?'” says Shannon. “You are free to write societal expectations as you please. Unlike the vast majority of stories in the fantasy genre which are dominated by male triumph and violent misogyny, Shannon’s world is one that unapologetically embraces everything from female-centric royal lineage to badass female dragon-tamers. Roots of Chaos (under which Priory and A Day of Fallen Night fall) is Shannon’s second major series, a collection of standalone epics all rooted within the same magical universe. “It is a legend I grew up with and I was always fascinated by the idea: ‘what if the princess slayed the dragon, not St George?” “The whole premise began as a reimagining of the legends of St George and the dragon,” Shannon tells PinkNews. Her journey started with The Bone Season, an ongoing dystopian series first published a decade ago, but it was the New York Times-bestselling Priory that became a smash hit sensation and cemented Shannon’s status as a frontrunner in the fantasy universe. Long before the bestseller lists came calling, however, Shannon was simply focused on creating a fantastical world that reinvented age-old legends. Following a tender romance between two women amidst tales of fire-breathing dragons, fierce battles and a Queendom in strife, the book immediately garnered a dedicated following of sapphic fantasy fans who saw themselves reflected in an ancient, magical realm. Back in 2019, Samantha Shannon’s sweeping fantasy epic The Priory of the Orange Tree made waves in the publishing world.

Night of the Living Queers by Shelly Page