Production companies Kronicle Media, Amyale and Rebel Maverick have partnered to develop the YA fantasy novel “Empire of Sand” by Tasha Suri as a TV series, Variety has learned exclusively.
The novel by first-time author Suri is centers on Mehr, the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother–a member of a race of nomads persecuted for the magic in their blood. Mehr finds herself at the center of a deadly struggle for power after the Emperor and his mystics discover she has inherited her mother’s abilities to compel the dreams of sleeping gods. She must use every ounce of heart, will, and power she possesses to overcome their tyranny and save her people from extinction.
Suri–a London-based librarian and fan of Bollywood film, history, and mythology–sold the rights to the novel to Hachette Book Group in a six-figure deal. The novel was released in the U.S. and the U.K. in November of last year. Suri is currently at work on a companion novel that is set to debut later this year.
Sadia Ash will write the pilot for the potential series. Ash previously wrote the book “Juniper Smoke,” which is currently being adapted into a film. “Empire of Sand” will mark her first foray into writing for television.
Kronicle Media’s Korin Williams and Monique Nash will executive produce along with Amyale’s Manaal Khan and Rebel Maverick’s Matt Nicholas.
Williams and Nash are repped by Fox Rothschild. Khan and Nicholas are repped by Hirsch, Wallerstein, Hayum, Matlof, and Fishman. Suri is repped by Traida U.S. Literary Agency.