The Nebula-winning novel has been optioned by Bill Mechanic (executive producer of The New World) and Pandemonium Films (Coraline). It is in pre-production with plans to begin filming in Spring 2012.

"Inspired by tales of ancient sea-monsters, McIntyre spins a marvelous alternative-history fable about greed and goodness, power and pathos set at the 17th century court of Louis XIV, France's glittering Sun King.... McIntyre vividly re-creates a Versailles poised on the cusp between alchemy and modern science. Her imaginings enliven her history with wonder, but, as in the best fantasy, they serve less to dazzle by their inventiveness than to illuminate brilliantly real-world truths - here, humanity's responses, base and noble, when confronting the unknown." —Roger Zelazny