Steadman, A. F.

Annabel Steadman (born 1992), who writes as A. F. Steadman, is a British author. Steadman was educated at The King's School, Canterbury, from 2005, attending on music and academic scholarships, followed by languages and law at Selwyn College, Cambridge, in 2017, and a master's degree in creative writing at Cambridge. In 2020, Steadman received a "seven-figure" three-book contract for a fantasy series about "bloodthirsty unicorns". This is believed to be the largest ever advance deal for a debut children's writer. In the same week film rights were acquired by Sony Pictures. In 2022, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, the first book in the Skandar series, was published. The Sunday Times called it an "engrossing tale". In November 2022, it was announced that Simon & Schuster had acquired three more books from Steadman. This will bring the Skandar series to five books, plus one untitled novel. The second book in the series, Skandar and the Phantom Rider, was published on 2 May 2023. The third book in the series, Skandar and the Chaos Trials, was published on 25 April 2024. The fourth book in the series, Skandar and the Skeleton Curse, was published on 10 October 2024. The fifth book in the series will be published on 28th August 2025.