Think Saint George and the Dragon – it’s the ultimate tale of a damsel in distress. Then flip the script.
The myth of St George is the seed from which Samantha Shannon’s book, The Priory of the Orange Tree, grew. It went onto become a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, not to mention a firm favourite among book fans on TikTok.
Now it’s prequel, A Day of Fallen Night, has blossomed from the same tale.
But Samantha never wanted to write about damsels – she wanted to write about dragons, and the people who defeat them.
In the latest installment in her fantasy-filled Roots of Chaos series, the characters Tunuva, Queen Sabran the Ambitious, Glorian and Dumai must find the strength to protect mankind from terror, violence and devastation as the sleeping dragon-like creatures, wyrms, wake.
They all just so happen to be women.
Set to hit the shelves on February 28, it’s a tribute to the diverse and wonderful strengths of women – and it’s an ode to choice.
‘”Strong female character” is an interesting term,’ says Samantha as we chat over zoom on a cloudy Tuesday morning.
Her earlier novels – such as The Bone Season – were dystopian fiction, and she believes the dystopian genre often centres around protagonists such as Katniss Everdeen (in the Hunger Games) and Beatrice Prior (in Divergent), who became somewhat of a blueprint for ‘strong female characters’.
‘It was interesting because for a while we were just glorifying one kind of woman, who embodied traditionally masculine forms of strength, and we demonised what we might term as “traditional femininity”,’ Samantha says.
‘And it’s a great thing to see female characters who are good in battle, and who are emotionally stoic, but there is a risk of demonising other kinds of women if we put too much emphasis on that.’
‘I like to give roles to women who have different kinds of strength,’ she adds.
‘So there are various women in the Roots of Chaos books who can use swords and fight and they have more traditionally masculine traits in that way, but I also like to look at women who have power in other ways.
‘For example, they’re great politicians, or speaking is what they’re good at, or they can’t use swords at all.’
When it comes to discussions of strength within A Day of Fallen Night, motherhood, is at the forefront of each character’s journey.
‘It’s quite the opposite of weakness, being able to give birth is an incredible thing,’ says Samantha.
‘The whole theme of A Day of Fallen Night is about motherhood which is interesting, because I don’t want to have children. I always felt the pressure on me to do that, and the sense that people found it very unusual.
‘Even from a very young age I knew I didn’t want children, I’ve always been quite firm in that belief and I haven’t changed my mind despite being told that I would.’
Each leading lady in A Day of Fallen Night has a different relationship with motherhood.
Tanuva is a mother who has lost her child, but is now mother to a child that she treats as her own – and is hers in some ways.
Glorian is coerced into motherhood but doesn’t want to be a mother, while also having a complex relationship with her mother Sabran.
Then there’s Dumai, who doesn’t want children and does not end up having children.
‘I think it’s important to celebrate motherhood for those who want to do it, while also examining how the pressure to be a mother can be harmful. It’s about choice,’ says Samantha.
But A Day of Fallen night also represents a fantastical eutopia that’s queer and that’s free of ageism and patriarchy, while also openly confronting grief and loss.
‘I think it’s important that we celebrate people of all ages, so there’s two moments in the book where young women look at older women and feel that they are beautiful,’ Samantha says.
Dumai notices that the grand empress has white streaks in her hair and she says she can’t wait for her hair to look the same.
‘I think as women we are encouraged to try desperately to preserve our youth and it’s ultimately something we will fail in because nobody can. I think it’s important to challenge ideas about what beauty is and why we are all so afraid of becoming old,’ Samantha adds.
‘I think it’s important to establish bonds between women of different generations, because women together are very powerful, and I think the patriarchy encourages us to not have those intergenerational bonds.
‘Older women are expected to envy women for their looks and younger women are expected to fear getting older. I think that’s something the patriarchy asks of us.
‘I think that resisting that can be really powerful. I tried to have women of all generations working together to defeat a common threat.’
Samantha masterfully portrays these tender connections and heartfelt moments in a fiery landscape of devastation and warfare – it’s a book that will cleave your heart in two.
But despite all the grief and loss, the pain and betrayal, it’s somewhat of an fantastical world to enter into. It’s safe to say BookTok is already going crazy for this next instalment in The Roots of Chaos series.
Yes, the characters of The Priory of the Orange Tree are not yet born, but the cast of A Day of Fallen Night will have you never wanting to leave their side.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2023/02/01/a-day-of-fallen-night-samantha-shannon-on-her-new-roots-of-chaos-book-18046549/
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