 Show
Open Preview See a Problem?We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. Thanks for telling us about the problem.
Friend ReviewsTo see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Reader Q&APopular Answered Questions
Samantha Shannon PRIORY is a self-contained story and absolutely works on its own, but this world has more tales to tell . . . I'd love to return to it. …morePRIORY is a self-contained story and absolutely works on its own, but this world has more tales to tell . . . I'd love to return to it. (less) Community Reviews· 112,288 ratings · 19,572 reviews Start your review of The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
I feel like a thread of my heart had snagged in The Priory of The Orange Tree and is still trying to tug me back in. I barely felt time passing, and when I finished reading, I had the strange experience of looking up from the pages, feeling dreamy and obscure and so keenly aware of the world around me, almost to an abject degree. The same experience of waking up just as the last vestiges of some
delightful nocturnal adventure are disappearing. This, I've come to realize, is the hallmark of a gre I feel like a thread of my heart had snagged in The Priory of The Orange Tree and is still trying to tug me back in. I barely felt time passing, and when I finished reading, I had the strange experience of looking up from the pages, feeling dreamy and obscure and so keenly aware of the world around me, almost to an abject degree. The same
experience of waking up just as the last vestiges of some delightful nocturnal adventure are disappearing. This, I've come to realize, is the hallmark of a great book. Without surrendering any spoilers, the story goes like this: After a millennium of peace, rumors of the Nameless One’s return—gliding vulture-like in the skies above—had finally descended and sunk in their claws for good. Legend goes that Galian Berethnet, wielding the mythical sword Ascalon, succeeded in drawing
borders around the Nameless One’s power and consigning him to the Abyss, but whatever he did is melting away and the fire-breathing dragon will surge back with a vengeance, doling death in his wake. In this world, there are three empires at the brink of war—with one another, and within themselves. In the countries of the West, House Berethnet are lost in the details of their own legend, rolling words like boulders about their queen, Sabran the Ninth, being the sacred
source of the monster’s bindings. Here, dragons had only to be mentioned and hatred sang bright in the people, like a defensive reaction to their name. Sabran is their last hope, but it’s difficult to see where that hope could possibly bear fruit when the lies about her ancestry are wearing thin, unveiling the truth beneath: that the legend of Galian Berethnet is merely a phantasm—a scrap of useless myth dancing on a string. In the South, a secret order of female mages called the Priory
venerates the Mother. Pledged to this society is Ead Duryan who is sent undercover as a lady-in-waiting in Sabran’s court to protect the queen’s life, in case she is revealed to be the key to thwarting the monster after all. But when the breadth of the Priory’s instruction expands, the line of Ead’s responsibility is trying to draw her back, and the current of her growing, unsuitable affection is pulling her towards Sabran. In the East, where the more benevolent
water-dragons are revered as gods, young Tané, a dragon-rider in training, dithers between pitiless ambition and necessary caution when she happens upon a Western seafarer on the borders, and in the end, unable to measure the perils one way and the other, it’s her nature that wins out: Tané decides not to report him to the authorities and risk being suspected of carrying the plague, and in doing so, unknowingly sets into motion a plot of abysmal proportions. Although the
knowing of the Nameless One’s return and how to defeat him is a blurry, shadowed thing, the three empires feel the horror of it like the weight of an uninvited body. Like trains on a single-track rushing inexorably toward each other, Tané, Ead and Sabran are hurled along their respective storylines until they inevitably crash in a tangle of strife and fatality. Overwhelmed by a sense of their own destinies, their differences become lightweight. This is a danger, a disaster,
a calamity—and they alone can stop it. As you've probably already garnered from the above summary, the scope of The Priory of The Orange Tree is majestic, brimming with detail and ideas and
teeming with characters, languages, and perspectives. Though this is a single novel, it feels rather like several books meticulously stitched together. In lesser hands, it would be a bewildering welter. Fortunately for us, Shannon possesses the inerrant skills to make it all come together so splendidly. And therein lies the book's greatest triumph for me: that despite so many moving parts, what beams through is the author’s concern with language, the supple twisting of the narrative
spine, the minute turnings of characters and their choices, the web of moving relationships and how all those ripples affect players continents away. Shannon gathers myriad old tales and turns them into something all kinds of vibrant and new. She makes sure the readers are always thinking about and learning about the various nations, cultures, and histories that make up this vast, sweeping world. And she does so in writing so suffused with love and enthusiasm for storytelling, with sentences
coiling around like the serpentine tail of a dragon itself, enshrouding the reader in a conspiracy which had begun a millennium before and ends exactly where it must. Shannon also employs multiple narrative voices in The Priory of the Orange Tree. The cast is sprawling, but the novel is deft at braiding their lives together, which is an incredible feat as the characters are separated by continents and disparate systems of beliefs. It would be a mistake to believe that dragons
are this book's beating heart. Their formidable shadows never once overwhelm the vividly drawn and gloriously complicated characters. Rather, the bulk of the book is about the characters as they grow, learn, and face the insidious and inexorable threat of the Nameless One. I am in love with every single woman in this book, where they are queens, warriors, scientists, and pirates—strong and powerful and brilliant and hungry. And I want to talk about each of them: Queen
Sabran the Ninth carries herself like a woman used to having her words listened to and acted upon instantly. She built around herself a camouflage, and learned how to hold a world of incertitude within her without a single crack in her exterior calm. And that was only half the price. Sabran's duty was whittled down to begetting heirs, and though her exhaustion and looming mortality were wearing her down, and her humanity slowly chipped away with rumors of divinity, she refused to exist
like a bird bred inside a gilded cage. Sabran's character is so heartbreakingly flesh and blood, human in all the ways she was flawed. As she learns more about the world beyond her queendom, narrative grows threaded with a series of uncomfortable truths and brutal observations. The stories Sabran had been taught are at so many removes they bear only the most tangential relation to the truth, and it’s not until she accepts it that a crack opens in the wall of ice in her mind. Sabran wants to save
her people, but to do, she must smooth feathers ruffled by the winds of change, and try to lead them out of fear of the South and East. We don’t get Sabran’s POV in this book and so her mind remains half in shadow until the right confidante appears—Ead Duryan. Sabran and Ead were each other’s person, each other’s place. Their moments together put so much heart in me. But Ead and Sabran are two separate planets, each with its own gravitational pull and orbit, and the weight
of their duties piled like mountains atop their shoulders. Shannon’s insistence on their agency never quells, but I love how she also doesn’t disallow them the ineffable and aching experience of love and affection. Next, Tané! Tané’s childish dreams dwindled to one: being a dragon rider. She fed that ambition with any scrap she could lay her hands on, and when there was nothing to feed it, she nourished it with some stubborn faith of her own making. I really liked Tané’s character and I hoarded her interactions with the great Nayimathun like a touch-starved dragon. In many ways, Tané is as aloof and competent as Sabran,
just as tough-minded and solitary in her habits, and in many ways, just as fragile too. Tané is often tormented with a keen sense of inadequacy and failure which grows keener when one irreversible mistake suddenly creates for her an expendable past, disposable as a plastic cup—and it’s the hideous despair of having finally found the place that fits, the place where you belong, before being yanked back into loneliness. Tané's character development is as masterful and as deeply affecting as
Ead's and Sabran's. But Shannon’s depth of character doesn’t end with Ead, Sabran and Tané. One other major viewpoint explored in this book is that of Niclays Roos, an alchemist who persuaded a young—and naïve—Queen Sabran of his ability to brew an elixir of immortality for her, and whose failure in doing so earns him a long exile to the Island of Orisima where Niclays has only to glance over his shoulder for all the years to drop away and for him to see it behind him again, a
picture that will never desert him: of the man he loved and lost, and the people he let down since it’s been one long slide into the bottom of a wine bottle. Niclays, strangely, is the character that I connected to the most. Maybe because every fault of his is laid bare—every flaw, every weakness, every selfishness, the multitudes of shames he carried. He’s a self-confessed coward, too wane-hearted to show true courage, and everything he did, he did it selfishly, in bitter heart. But grief
does a lot of strange things, and while I wouldn’t consider Niclays a very good person, neither can I bring myself to believe that he is an irredeemably bad one either. Pity and sorrow for him welled up through me, hot enough to burn away both blame and resentment. While reading, I often wondered if it were his own wiles that had planted this seed of madness inside him, or if he were too soaked in solitude and grief to be his old self, yet all the same, I felt something deep between my lungs
crack clean in two reading his chapters. His character development is a heart-breaker (I could barely glimpse the pages through my tears), yet it’s one of the things I relished most about this book. Lord “Loth” Arteloth, Sabran’s closest friend, is also a very intriguing character. He is a man who is nobly built, notably arraigned, and nobly positioned, cloaked in diplomacy and compromise, and born with his heart on the outside of his body. Yet, it isn't until he is backed
up to the world’s edge that he starts pushing his mind past its limits of understanding to encompass worlds beyond his own, and realizing that he had long been locked out of them by his own innocence and naivety. This made his arc such a rewarding experience. In many senses, all the characters undergo this same aspect of masterly written character development: their lives were studded with facts
they’ve known beyond the shadow of the doubt, yet never with any proof to back them up. It was just the way things were. And it takes them being faced with calamity to stop seeing the world through such a narrowed lens and learn to come together on the other side of their differences. It isn’t lost on me that this, in many ways, borrows deeply into our everyday truths. Nor is it, I suspect, lost on Shannon either, who pours so much tenderness, care and attention into her story and characters. All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough! It's quite a chunky read, but believe me, despite its length, you will be sad to walk away from it. If you liked this review or found it useful and are feeling generous, please consider supporting me on ko-fi!
Okay, so. I finished this behemoth. Was it good? .... I don't know. I enjoyed it for the most part. Certain aspects of this book absolutely SOARED. But overall it is waaaaaaaay too long, and the plot is a bit of a mess. The word that comes to mind is inelegant. Given how much space Shannon has to set the stage for an intricate plot, I was left pretty disappointed on that front. What
this book does well: the love story. Despite the fact that this book has four perspectives, Ead's story is clearly t Was it good? .... I don't know. I enjoyed it for the most part. Certain aspects of this book absolutely SOARED. But overall it is waaaaaaaay too long, and the plot is a bit of a mess. The word that comes to mind is inelegant. Given how much space Shannon has to set the stage for
an intricate plot, I was left pretty disappointed on that front. What this book does well: the love story. Despite the fact that this book has four perspectives, Ead's story is clearly the tentpole for the whole book. And Ead has an INCREDIBLE queer love story! There is such a dearth of f/f love stories in fantasy, particularly f/f love stories that don't fetishize lesbian relationships. We get a beautifully told romance between two complicated, well-developed ladies. I loved it. But alas, the plot. The plot isn't bad per say, but it's also nothing to get excited about. The down beats, which are certainly essential to a story, were a bit too slow. And in a book that's over 800 pages, that can make reading a slog at times. The biggest disappointment, for me, was that almost every climatic moment--almost every big twist, every big emotional scene--was sloppy. I think this book falls for the idea that a completely suprising plot twist is the same as
a good one. That's a common misconception. A good plot twist is one that doesn't feel contrived, and still either surprises or delights the reader--to a degree. I would prefer a well set-up plot twist that I guessed earlier in the book than one that feels contrived. The twists in this felt contrived. The amount of explaining that happened post-twist is, to me, indicative of a lack of coherent set-up. The timelines for the emotional climaxes didn't make sense. And what left me feeling the
most frustrated was that so many of these things were very easily fixable. One example, at a sentence level, that stuck out to me and seemed representative of all of my issues with the plot (edited slightly to remove spoilers): I also have some... thoughts... about the gender politics of this world. On the one hand it's incredibly refreshing to see women just casually treated as capable and strong and competent. Love that! Love that it's just there and
doesn't need to be commented on!! A rarity in high fantasy books. On the other hand, that also just... didn't make sense to me? Hear me out. One of the kingdoms in this book was founded by a dude who takes credit for something that a woman did, sanctifies HIMSELF, creates a religion around HIMSELF that is highly structured and more than a bit repressive. It's also worth noting that the language used in this religion is verrryyyyy reminiscent of the chivalric tradition. Basically, the set
up for this society reeks of a misogynistic patriarchy. But that's not what we get! Instead, it's a matriarchy with lots of badass ladies. There's some discussion of how the queens are often reduced to their wombs, a teeeeensie bit about how women often act at the gatekeepers and enforcers of patriarchal structures. But there's not much. The logic of the world, in this specific instance, just didn't make sense to me. I think Shannon was trying to push back against the notion that you HAVE
to depict the oppression of women in high fantasy, which I think is a very admirable goal. But the world doesn't work. The set up would make sense if Shannon wanted to subvert some of the tropes that are unfortunately all too common in high fantasy, but she doesn't do that. The history of this particular society feels incongruous with its contemporary culture, and we aren't given any additional context to bridge that gap. I still largely had fun while reading this. The magic was
interesting, if the language was weird (star rot?? That's really what you're going to call a magical substance????). The love story kept me reading, but ultimately this left me feeling conflicted. I'm settling on three stars (though I debated giving it two), because I did mostly have fun. But the issues this book had were pretty glaring, and I think it's worth noting just how long it took me to finish this book...
As a huge Tolkien fan, and one who considers his writing to be the very best fantasy has to offer, I don’t often compare other books to his works (at least not in a positive way.) Simply because there is
very rarely a good comparison to be made. Every great work of fantasy has felt somewhat shallow in contrast to the deep pool of imagination he conjured with his words. Nothing cuts it. Nothing competes. However, with this I do venture to make a comparison. I do venture to concur with the blurb L However, with this I do venture to make a comparison. I do venture to concur with the blurb Laura Eve has provided this book with; this is a “feminist successor to The Lord of the Rings” because it is a story told with grace and
infused with rich history and lore in its gloriously huge scope: it is magnificent in every regard. It’s all about the girl power here! I recommend this to readers who enjoy female driven fantasy that is also carefully paced like the works of Robin Hobb, Tad Williams and Chris Wooding. So, what makes this book so excellent and what makes it stand out against a plethora of other fine fantasy novels on the market today? For me, and I do not doubt for many other readers too, this ticks every
box. Not only do we have real characters, and by real I mean characters so well-written that they actually begin to leap out of the page as they battle their internal conflicts and self-doubt, but we also have a world with a huge past. And the characters are driven by it as they try to live up to the example their ancestors set. They are trying to be better people, more worthy people. I loved this constant drive, it made the world feel old and like we have only glimpsed but a fraction of its
vast timeline that has spanned ages. There so much more here, so much room for more stories. And if I go away from a book this large wanting more, then that’s a very good sign indeed. The plot rests on the threat of The Nameless One returning. It’s a giant dragon that threatens to destroy the world and all in it if the eastern and western kingdoms cannot put aside their differences and unite in order to destroy the monumental threat. Much of the novel is dedicated to the unification of
the two factions, and several characters have many different ideas about how exactly this should be done ranging from assassination to simple negotiation. It’s a colourful story of witchcraft and romance, of dragons and political intrigue, of treachery and love and one that continued to surprise me until the very end. It’s also worth briefly mentioning here that I did not like the author’s series The Bone Season. It was too young adult for my taste, but I clearly loved this. So, I
really do urge other readers to try this regardless of what you thought about Samantha Shannon’s other work. This is completely different, and I don’t hesitate to say that this will be one of the biggest fantasy releases this year. Don’t miss it, it’s incredible. ___________________________________ You can connect with me on social media via My Linktree.
Jan 20, 2020 Rick Riordan rated it it was amazing Oh, this brilliant fantasy! Set in an
intricate quasi-Early Modern world where Eastern and Western cultures exist in an uneasy truce, PRIORY follows a large cast of characters in many nations as they prepare for the return of the Nameless One, the great evil dragon who was banished a thousand years ago, and who is now poised to make his big comeback and burn the mortal world to ashes. There are two basic types of dragons: the fire-breathing wyrms of the West (Bad dragon! Bad dragon!), who are co
Oh, this brilliant fantasy! Set in an intricate quasi-Early Modern world where Eastern and Western cultures exist in an uneasy truce, PRIORY follows a large cast of characters in many nations as they prepare for the return of the Nameless One, the great evil dragon who was banished a thousand years ago, and who is now poised to make his big comeback and burn the mortal world to ashes. There are two basic types of dragons: the fire-breathing wyrms of the West
(Bad dragon! Bad dragon!), who are considered evil demonic creatures only fit to be killed by chivalrous knights, and the noble water-and-sky-dwelling dragons of the East, who are revered as living gods. As you can guess, the Eastern lands and Western lands have a bit of a cultural disconnect over how they view their draconian neighbors. Centuries ago, the Eastern dragons fought with their dragon rider allies against the Nameless One, but that fact is lost on the Westerners, who consider all
dragons to be evil. Now that the Nameless One is rising again, the world’s only hope may be if East and West can somehow work together, which seems unlikely. The story is a tapestry of viewpoints, all of them lovely, but the main protagonists are two young women. In the West is Ead, a mage warrior from the Priory of the Orange Tree, a secret order charged with battling wyrms and protecting humankind in the name of the Mother, their founder who once battled the Nameless One. Ead is dispatched
to guard Queen Sabran of Virtuedom, descendant of the Mother, who may be the key to stopping the Nameless One’s rise. Only one problem: Magic is not allowed in Virtuedom, so Ead must disguise herself as a handmaiden while ninja-ing around the palace and slaying assassins like a badass. Okay, maybe two problems: Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if Ead started to develop feelings for the queen she was protecting? That might complicate things just a bit . . . Meanwhile in the East, Tané
has been training all her life to become a dragon rider, but when she finally gets her chance, everything seems to go wrong. She must overcome tragedy and disgrace if she is to save her own reputation, her dragon’s life, and the fate of her entire world, but no pressure. The scope of the book is similar to A Game of Thrones. The book is long, but never felt slow. If anything, the fast and furious pace made me want to take my time, because I sensed right away that I would be sad when I had to
leave this world behind. What I really appreciated was the feminist worldview in which female knights and rulers were no more remarkable than dragons or mages. Gender equality was simply taken for granted. I learned a lot from that, and it challenged preconceptions I hadn’t been aware I had. Very much a stand-alone novel, Priory is an enthralling and complete read, but I still find myself hoping Ms. Shannon will revisit this world in future books. Highly recommended.
UPDATE: $1.99 Kindle US 12/31/20 ******* I love this book so damn much!! I have this special edition, the kindle and the Audio! I loved so much about this book, the world, the people, the dragons! Ead is one of my favorite characters! I’m looking forward to savoring the Reread on Audio!! I’m going to add a few excerpts and that’s me done!! An enormous head towered over the fence of Orisima. It belonged to a creature born of jewel and sea.UPDATE: $1.99 Kindle US 12/31/20 ******* I love this book so damn much!! I have this special edition, the kindle and the Audio! I loved so much about this book, the world, the people, the dragons! Ead is one of my favorite characters! I’m looking forward to savoring the Reread on Audio!! I’m going to add a few excerpts and that’s me done!! An enormous head towered over the fence of Orisima. It belonged to a creature born of jewel and sea. Happy Reading! Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾 MY BLOG AMAZON REVIEW ...more
Hiiiii, Goodreads. This is my new book. I'm thrilled to finally be able to tell you more about it. The Priory of the Orange Tree is an epic fantasy set in a world that is both
like and unlike ours. I've been working on this book since 2015, and I've fallen in love with this setting and these characters. I can't wait for you to meet Ead, Tané, Sabran and the others – I hope you'll enjoy reading their story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I'm just popping in to let you know that there is a glos This is my new book. I'm thrilled to finally be able to tell you more about it. The
Priory of the Orange Tree is an epic fantasy set in a world that is both like and unlike ours. I've been working on this book since 2015, and I've fallen in love with this setting and these characters. I can't wait for you to meet Ead, Tané, Sabran and the others – I hope you'll enjoy reading their story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I'm just popping in to let you know that there is a glossary and a character list at the back of the book. And yes, that is the correct page count.
This book will hurt you if it falls on you. Be warned. Love, Samantha PS: The beautiful cover was designed by David Mann and illustrated by Ivan Belikov. PPS: There won't be maps in the proofs, but they're being drawn up by the wonderful
Emily Faccini for the finished editions. PPPS: A prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree is coming on 24 January 2023.
Epic battle between good and evil for the control of the world! Overall I really enjoyed this new fantasy book. The world was complex and interesting but since it's a standalone and that you're following 4 main POV it got quite overwhelming at times. Lots of names, places, histories to follow but it gets better. The magic system was great, the plot was intriguing and so were most of the characters. Also, dragons, pirates and magic.
Need I say more?! I would love to read more adventures in this worl Overall I really enjoyed this new fantasy book. The world was complex and interesting but since it's a standalone and that you're following 4 main POV it got quite overwhelming at times. Lots of names, places, histories to follow but it gets better. The magic system was great, the plot was
intriguing and so were most of the characters. Also, dragons, pirates and magic. Need I say more?! I would love to read more adventures in this world! The other things that bothered me were fairly minor but I'm curious to see if anyone else felt the same. Every time a character died, even when it was one that I liked, I felt quite detached from it because it was sudden and it didn't feel like it brought a lot to the story. It felt like the authors needed a few of them to
perish since this book is about an epic war. The writing during the battles also didn't really work for me but I'm having trouble pinpointing exactly why. All I know is that it was one of the weaknesses of the book. Lastly, the battle at the end that we wait for throughout the whole book was... very quick and lukewarm. Still I recommend it!
hit me with those 800 pages of high fantasy cause that's the only acceptable way to murder me fyi hit me with those 800 pages of high fantasy cause that's the only acceptable way to murder me fyi ...more
You know when people are rushing somewhere and your curious soul feels helplessly tugged along and then you get there and go, oh, I think I just hit a gold mine. That’s me with this book. That’s me with this book. Shannon’s
astonishing achievement is her ability to breathe impossible life into new religions, histories, and conflicts and create a world so old and layered that she’s been called “the female George R.R. Martin,” even as her work lacks his noted dark ruthlessness and has me in disagreement. However, “a feminist successor to The Lord of the Rings” is an adequate praise not many can bear on their shoulders and still remain standing, unperturbed by its weight, yet The Priory of the Orange
Tree might just be able to. A holy Queendom in the North, wyrm-worshipers in the West, mages in the South, and dragonriders in the East...a cursed, divided people swallowed by chaos. The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for more than 1000 years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran IX must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—for it is believed that as long as a Berethnet rules in Virtudom, the monster beneath the sea will sleep. But assassins are getting closer to the queen, and Ead Duryan, the outsider lady-in-waiting at court and in truth a mage of the South, is tasked with secretly protecting Sabran with forbidden magic. All this while across the Abyss far in the East, Tané who has trained all her life to be a dragonrider teeters on the brink of her dreams and one choice could unravel her life, taking her to places no Easterner has set foot in centuries. There are fools in crowns, Dukes and Queens absorbed in their own politics, clinging to their beliefs, blind to the forces of chaos rising from their sleep. History is to repeat itself and none are ready to stand united. “Let them come with their swords and their torches. Let them come.” Shannon has driven inspiration from folklore and teachings of all over the world and woven every thread in the tapestry that is POT; here are some I’ve managed to deduce—subjects in the book are in italic: ✦ Chinese/Japanese/Korean mythology: dragons ➾ for the Eastern dragons What’s more, Shannon addresses many themes and topics that are the centre of social debate in the 21st century and adds her piece on the deep conflicts of humanity: ❶ Feminism: Full of precious, strong women taking the stage, ruling, glowing, and fighting the world’s expectations, POT is one of the best feminist books out there, if not the best feminist fantasy book yet. No woman should be made to fear that she was not enough. ❷ LGBT+: POT’s world is a rare one where sexuality is not something people fuss over, openly accepting this aspect of humanity. This leads to a bold, refreshing book brimming with queer characters and relationships, all portrayed so tangibly. ❸ Custom & Tradition: Undeniably, these are two integral parts of human society that shape the world, and Shannon’s apt craftsmanship attentively discusses their implications, origins, and influence. Plus, there is the occasional amusing moment when characters question our traditions, such as “Who in the world wears white on their wedding day?” “Just because something has always been done does not mean that it ought to be done.” ❹ Prejudice & Clashing of Beliefs: Most importantly, though, Shannon has told a tale of both the struggles and beauties of our differences, asking, “Would the world be any better if we were all the same?” Or are our contrasting views on life truly meant to be accepted and embraced and joined to form a picture none of us could see individually? As international relations become more a part of the day-to-day life these days, the importance of how people can come together despite years upon years of hostility and bitterness increases with an unsettling yet precious speed, and Shannon offers a path to acceptance of others’ differing identities while not losing our own. “Piety can turn the power-hungry into monsters. They can twist any teaching to justify their actions.” ❺ Religion: But POT also tackles my favourite social conundrum, tying religious conflicts, living gods, the power of belief, the shunning of science, and the reshaping of religions. No one can deny the power faith holds on humanity and how it’s been put into conflicting uses in history, for good or bad. “When history fails to shed light on the truth, myth creates its own.” ❻ History & Myth: One more matter I have been obsessed with since the dawn of my curiosity is the accuracy of history and fluidity of facts upon changing the narrative. And Shannon explores this theme thoroughly and without flinching. I’m inclined to give her a standing ovation. “When the heart grows too full, it overflows. And mine, inevitably, overflows on to a page.” The best way to describe Shannon’s glorious and detailed writing in POT is to quote herself, “She was part poet and part fool when it came to telling stories.” Her prose is exquisite and her storytelling technique genius; rather detailed like GRRM’s with focus on immersion in the moment rather than on plot advancement. “To ensure an heir, the Dukes Spiritual must paint a certain picture of the Inysh court and its eligible queen. They needed you gone, so they...painted you out.” Yet it’s not only her prose that submerges the reader; her politics aka the golden point of it all, are smart, wicked, creative, and impressive in the way she has brought them to life, and her battles and action scenes are mostly unmatched, and rarely a little lacking unfortunately. But perhaps POT is already too long and no one wants more strategy and detail...but I do? That aside, to alter Kit’s words, “This is a fine book. I believe I would marry this book, were I a book myself.” ✮ Ead (POV): A mage and strong warrior, with an open heart and open mind, she smells secrets and roots them out. I can’t even begin to explain the love I feel for this inspiring young woman. “I do not fear that which I do not understand.” ✮ Tané (POV): Yes, she is single-minded with all the wrong priorities, but at 19 she’s the youngest protagonist, and she stole my heart with her ambitious and courageous dragon’s heart. “The sea is not always pure. It is not any one thing. There is darkness in it, and danger, and cruelty. It can raze great cities with its rage. Its depths are unknowable; they do not see the touch of the sun. To be a Miduchi is not to be pure, Tané. It is to be the living sea.” ✮ Niclays (POV): An alchemist with madness in his blood, a man of shadows with a life of pure tragedy, “too heartsore to live, too craven to die,” Clay is my #1 character in POT and my heart cracked into a thousand pieces for his pain. He was the most real and conflicted, and I was in awe of his journey and its parallels with the stages of alchemy. With Clay, Shannon taught me that pain does not change us—neither dies it reveal our true selves; it only inflames our worst instincts. Clay was a passionate man who was dealt a cruel hand and turned ruthless to pay life back what was its due; he did it all only to return home. Anything to return home. That is why, from the 6 moments I had tears in my eyes during the 800+ pages of this book, 4 were for Clay. “I don’t want to carry on! Do you not understand? Does nobody in this world understand, damn you? Is no one else haunted?” ✮ Loth (POV): A religious, kind, loyal man who is trusting to a fault but a strong, brave, and determined quick learner who goes through a moving character development and shows that understanding and love can bloom in any belief or way of life. “Art is not one great act of creation, but many small ones. When you read one of my poems, you fail to see the weeks of careful work it took me to build it—the thinking, the scratched-out words, the pages I burned in disgust. All you see, in the end, is what I want you to see. Such is politics.” ✮ To name other characters who dug a den in my chest: Kit the hilarious, genius, charming poet. Sabran the golden-tongued, an unforgettable queen, a self-righteous fool, and a woman I would not change for the world. “You say you desire truth, but truth is a weave with many threads.” Kalyba the wicked witch and my devious love. Captain Harlowe the privateer adept at survival. Estina the wise, clever, and badass sailor. The Emperor, witty, charismatic, and irresistible. Aubrecht the charming puppy I wanna hug. Truyde the sharp little fox. Sulyard the precious, passionate, open-minded idiot. Susa the cat girl, always landing on her feet. Onren the amazing and memorable friend. Chassar the honourable and discreetly wicked man. And yes I shipped Sarsun the sand eagle and Aralaq the ichneumon. “Not all dreams should be pursued, especially not dreams conceived on the feather-bed of love.” It’s a rare romance that you ship from their first scene without knowing anything about the characters or their orientation, and yet Shannon managed to make their chemistry so palpable and their development so gradual that she immediately established herself as a fave author and had me bursting at the seams with emotions. “All of us have shadows in us. I accept yours.” He placed a hand over her ring. “And I hope you will also accept mine.” But all that aside, it’s friendships that are the author’s strongest point and focus of much of POT. From “sea sisters, two pearls formed in the same oyster” to friends with the opposite beliefs, I’d say my number one relationship in POT is Ead and Loth’s bond—a platonic and moving example of how two very different souls can be tied together with such unbreakable chains. Seek not the midnight sun on earth, And that’s it folks—a new fave treasure tome. Considering the loose ends and Shannon confirming future books in this world, I’d say farewell until the spinoff. ...more
‘we will shake the world for our beliefs.’ starting with me because, holy mother of dragons, I AM SHOOK.
This, my friends is why I love fantasy 5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I shall found a priory of a different sort, and no craven knight shall soil its garden." Wow! I have no words. I am blown away, spellbound, enraptured in this incredibly beautiful and complex world. I thoroughly enjoyed Samantha Shannon's The Bone Season series, but this was something else entirely! I don't even know where to begin. I guess the best place would be with the characters. We follow a large set of characters in a similar way This, my friends is why I love fantasy5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I shall found a priory of a different sort, and no craven knight shall soil its garden." Wow! I have no words. I am blown away, spellbound, enraptured in this incredibly beautiful and complex world. I thoroughly enjoyed Samantha Shannon's The Bone Season series, but this was something else entirely! I don't even know where to begin. I guess the best place would be with the characters. We follow a large set of characters in a similar way to the A Song of Ice and Fire series. These characters are separated by religion, station and geography. In this world the East and the West have no contact. There is a huge divide between the East; where they worship Dragons as gods, and the West, where they fear dragons and believe they should all be destoyed. Sabran the ninth Berethnet: Sabran is the current monarch of Inys. A group of lands that all fall under the religion of Virtudom - that of the worship of the Saint, Galian and the damsel, Cleolind. Sabran's family line is revered for being the reason that the nameless one, one of the most terrifying and powerful dragons; has not returned to murder everyone, after first being bound by Saint Galian. As long as she continues her family line (in history every Queen has had only 1 daughter, who has continued the line) then Inys will remain protected. Ead Duryan: Ead is a member of The Priory of the Orange Tree, a sisterhood trained to destroy Wyrms (aka dragons) and to protect the realm from destruction. Ead has been sent by the Prioress to pose as one of Sabran's ladies, in order to be close enough to protect her from any harm. The Priory also follow the religion of Virtudom but with a twist. They believe that Cleolind (known as the Damsel to Inys) was the one who first bound the nameless one rather than Galian. They worship Cleolind as the mother rather than Galian as the Saint. They actually believe Galian was a bit of douche. Tane': Tane' is like the Daenerys of this book, if you like. She doesn't have any obvious links with the other characters, and she resides in the East, where she is training to become a dragon rider. As we learn right in the very beginning, Tane' allows someone to breach the border keeping the East separate from the rest of the world. The East lets no one in, for fears of the draconic plague (a disease whose origins are unknown, but cause terrible burning for its sufferers). Her story is one of my favourites, as she serves such an important purpose as the book goes on. "You have a ghost...do not become a ghost yourself." Niclays Roos: I also really loved Niclays' character. He is an alchemist, previously of Sabran's court before he was banished and sent to the East. He also plays a part in the beginning with the smuggling of a man over the border into the East. Niclays reminds me of Davos a little bit (sorry for the ASoIaF comparisons, I can't help it) he manages to keep surviving despite numerous obstacles and losses. He makes a lot of mistakes, and his conscience definitely isn't the clearest, but he has a good heart and I could relate to his character a great deal. As the nameless one is found to be returning once again to destroy the world. The East and the West must find a way to work together. The wyrm haters must learn to work with the water dragons of the East in order to battle the fire dragons and prevent a mass slaughter. With magic, myth, violence, heartbreak and war - this vast novel has something for everyone. I'll leave my review here, as it's impossible to explain such a complex and imaginative world with powerful storylines and characters all interlocking and connecting. I will just say this - if you loved ASoIaF don't miss out on this one, it is truly incredible. Actually just one final point I would like to reiterate. The fact that Samantha Shannon can create such believable religions for her fantasy and have characters who cling to these faiths so strongly was truly remarkable. I've read quite a few fantasy books where authors will refer to religions that exist in our world, rather than creating their own. If you are making a fantasy world, then everything in it should be fantasy, don't reference religions that would not exist in that world. Just my two cents. "Love and fear do strange things to our souls. The dreams they bring, those dreams that leave us drenched in salt water and gasping for breath as if we might die - those, we call unquiet dreams. And only the scent of a rose can avert them." **************************** 1) This book is available to pick up from the library!!! OMG THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! 2) I have like 7 other library books to pick up and I'll need some serious upper body strength to carry them along with this beast. 3) Not to mention the like 10+ library books I have at home..... (2 of which are Fire and Blood and War Storm which are also GIANT BOOKS) Send help ************************** How did I not notice that this was written by Samantha Shannon? Aka the author of The Bone Season series!! I need this!!!! ...more
“We may be small, and we may be young, but we will shake the world for our beliefs.” I'm not gonna lie, I feel fucking proud of myself for managing to make my way through this giant. I have been wanting to read this book for months and with every high rating I saw on my GR feed, it made me even more excited. To say that I'm sad that this turned out to be a three star read for me is
an understatement. This review is going to be a short one. I'm not going to give a summary of what this book is I'm not gonna lie, I feel fucking proud of myself for managing to make my way through this giant. I have been wanting to read this book for months and with every high rating I saw on my GR feed, it made me even more excited. To say that I'm sad that this turned out to be a three star read for me is an understatement. This review is going to be a short one. I'm not going to give a summary of what this book is about because I do feel that it's the sort of book you jump into. What I liked: When I finally had the time to dive in I was pleased to find the writing style to be
beautiful and easy to read. The different kingdoms, religions, hard-to-pronounce names and creatures became easier to remember as I went on. What I disliked: Most of this book was slow paced. And then towards the end everything was so rushed and thrown together. I did not connect with the characters. I just felt so detached and that put a damper on my experience. I did appreciate the character growth of Niclays. He, Tane and Loth
became dear to me and I was very invested in their story lines. I did not like Sabran. I just found her obnoxious, arrogant and dislikeble. Now don't get me wring, sometimes those traits could make me love a character. I found it hard to sympathize with her and I honestly couldn't care less about her. The ending was poorly executed and, for me, was a huge let down. My dissapointment was akin to the heartbreak suffered by millions of fans when season 8 of Game of Thrones ended. I was sitting there staring at this gigantic book and my first thought was: Really? That's it? I know my opinion is unpopular and that most readers absolutely loved this book. And that's great! I think this book would be awesome for people wanting to start reading adult epic fanatasy. It's not too complicated and it's easy to follow.
Oct 25, 2020 Sofia rated it it was amazing This, my friends, is feminist fantasy at its finest. I still can't
come to terms with the fact that it's over. After this whole journey, it seems almost impossible that a last page exists. The Priory of the Orange Tree trapped my heart from the very first sentence, and now I'm having trouble distinguishing what's real from what jumped out of the pages. Sabran Berethnet is Queen of Inys during a time of turmoil and unrest. She has to come to terms with a devastating loss, her own depression, and I still can't come to terms with the fact that it's over. After this whole journey, it seems almost impossible that a last page exists. The Priory of the Orange Tree trapped my heart from the very first sentence, and now I'm having trouble distinguishing what's real from what jumped out of the pages. Sabran Berethnet is Queen of Inys during a time of turmoil and unrest. She has to
come to terms with a devastating loss, her own depression, and deception within her court as an ancient force threatens to reawaken. But nothing is as it seems, and history is not often truthful. Ead Duryan, a mage of the Priory, is assigned to protect Sabran from the Nameless One, who seeks to destroy her and her house. While she longs to return to her duties to Cleolind, the founder of the Priory, she is determined to uncover the twisted secrets of the court of Inys. She has to
sacrifice her destiny for the good of the world, but she never bats an eye. Miduchi Tané, an aspiring dragonrider, makes an error of judgement that changes her future forever. Disgraced and cast out of her homeland, she discovers a hidden force within herself that could destroy the world. Tané, who uses the people around her for her own needs, is forced to overcome her pride and her overwhelming guilt. Niclays Roos is an alchemist who was banished from Sabran's court
years ago. He yearns for his home and his old love, but he knows the only way he could ever return is if he finds the secret of immortality. He dives into a web of treachery and deceit to do so, propelled by his own sorrow and lust for a longer life. Throughout the novel, he comes to terms with his selfishness and cowardice. Arteloth (Loth) Beck is sent on a mission that will almost certainly lead to his death. Betrayed by his own court, he ventures into the unknown, unaware of the
dark forces that are soon to rise. But nothing is as he expects, and his whole religion is turned upside down. These protagonists, separated by wildly different cultures and religions, find themselves intertwined in a turn of events no one could have predicted. The worlds of this book are vivid and real and evocative, as are the characters. Each point of view fills me with different fears and biases, and these contentions are what bring them to life. When all their beliefs were
overturned, it was so easy to slip in each of their minds and gauge their reactions. The Priory of the Orange Tree starts out slow, which I like. We’re very gradually introduced to the world--absolutely no infodumps. And by the end, I was completely immersed in the story, characters, and religions. Speaking of religion, Samantha Shannon crafts three believable faiths, but not a single one of them is immune to the threats that rise again. It’s incredible how much I
sympathized with each one; how much I wanted each to succeed. Losses were personal hits. Gains were personal victories. Every advance in the plot is gradual, natural, and realistic--but not in a predictable way. Everything makes sense once it’s unveiled. The whole scope of things is something that takes time, but it's not out of grasp. If I were to condense The Priory of the Orange Tree into one sentence (impossible, but whatever) I would say something along the lines of
“queer queens, dragons, and ancient magic.” It’s wondrous. It’s awe-inspiring. It’s epic.
Me, trying to jump on this book's bandwagon before it's way too late: for all the hype it's receiving this book better pay my
bills, cure my depression, and usher in an era of world peace. for all the hype it's receiving this book better pay my bills, cure my depression, and usher in an era of world peace.
Hi, hello, I am Priory trash. If you are looking for: If you are looking for:
Key facts about this book: An
overhyped book. I hope you have not expected anything more than 2 stars from me. I am asking myself why, oh why, I have thought that reading “The Priory of the Orange Tree” was a good idea at all. Having critically scrutinised my motivations I have come to this conclusion: Firstly, it has a sexy tittle. Some time ago o An overhyped book. I hope you have not expected anything more than 2 stars from me. I am asking myself why, oh why, I have thought that reading “The Priory of the Orange Tree” was a good idea at all. Having critically scrutinised my motivations I have come to this conclusion: Firstly, it has a sexy tittle. Some time ago on Fantasy Buddy Reads, we have had this awesome discussion
about the best titles. The general agreement was that the majority of the fantasy books follow the “something of something” line. You know, Gardens of the Moon, Fellowship of the Ring, and so on and so forth. It is really not that easy to find something original. But even among this crowd “The Priory of the Orange Tree” has a nice ring to it. How many times have you heard that you should not judge the book by its cover? More, I am sure, than you care to count. Now, heed my advice. Do not
judge it by the title either. Secondly, I have failed to do my research. As in: read Goodreads reviews! Have I known that Samantha Shannon is the very same writer who penned The Bone Season which after reading this genius review I have promptly shelved as not my cup of coffee, I’d definitely think As it is, after making these two rudimentary mistakes I set myself up on a course for a spectacular disaster. And what is it precisely that I did not like about this book that the various “I love this book so much”, “my favourite book of all times,” “the most beautiful works of literature I’ve ever read,” “5 million stars kill me now” reviews won’t mention? In short: Let us starts with the protagonists. Of the four main ones, there is only one individual who is not repulsive from the outset. I am talking about Eadaz du Zāla uq-Nāra, who is, so to speak, a special agent on a covert mission. Her unique powers and somewhat implausible skills notwithstanding, she initially comes across as a likable heroine. Initially being the keyword but we will come back to this. The three remaining persons: Lord Arteloth Beck, Niclas Roos and Tané, have all the necessary predispositions to be antagonists rather than protagonists. It would be OK if the novel was built on the anti-hero premise, but it is not and so you are expected to fall for a brainless indolent, conniving conformist and a ruthless egoist. Take your pick. Roos and Tané aim at some sort of character development, but one is just a victim of circumstance and the other goes through a personality flip in the grand finale and the post-coital (plot-wise, naturally) change of character does not come as plausible at all. The only person I truly liked appeared for a couple of chapters (still, I am grateful for the respite, Donmata Marosa and I am seething that your potential has been wasted and your personage abandoned in a most careless way). And then there is the queen. The queen is selfish and moody bordering on neurotic; politically inept to the point of being redundant which is doubly amazing because on the ideological level “The Priory of the Orange Tree” is supposedly a feminist read with females saving the world and winning all the fights (which always makes me laugh because: it’s biology stupid), and on the commonsensical level you’d expect a daughter of royalty in umpteenth generation has sucked intrigue and the rules of the power game at the court with her mother’s milk. Instead, we have to put up with somebody locked within a bubble, falling for flattery and outright lies and altogether fitting in the “a princess to be rescued” trope. On top of everything, and this really drove me bonkers, even though she knows that a whole lot of things depends on her getting married and getting laid pregnant, she is as obstinate when it comes to this issue as a four-year-old eating her greens. Pining after immortality and jealous of her baby to be - can one fall any lower? As these are the evil Queen-mother staples, you’d think THIS is an antagonist perhaps? Wrong. This is the significant other. This brings me to the second problem.Romance less exciting than copulating whales and not a single guy to fall for. Loth is too gentle and too naive to snatch anyone’s interest and mind you adjective naive is used only because I feel rather magnanimous. There are other, less flattering words that can be used to describe somebody apt at ignoring reality. Loth is so tough that leeches give him shudders, talks faster than thinks, and this is because he does not think too much. In truth, I loathed Loth for most of the time. The two romantic sub-plots are not heterosexual and so I either yawned or skimmed, and most often did both at once. It’s this kind of diversity that stops being diverse anymore. In a book unable to hook the reader with a protagonist (on whatever grounds, mind you, there are also those we love to hate, ideal antagonists, right Darling?), the only solution left is to provide a compelling plot and world building. “The Priory of the Orange Tree” has none of these. What we have is another atheist author thinking that writing about religion is a great idea and invents a faith to the measure of their own spirituality; essentially a hypocritical system based on invented religion which is both Puritan to the core and at the same time gay-friendly which strikes me as an unlikely combination. The way this world is setup and then developed suffers from the terrible malaise called lack of consequence: all the premises examined for longer than a minute fall apart like rotten oranges. Most of the behaviours don’t make sense and the decisions have been sponsored by WTF. A queen who doesn’t want to conceive although it’s her to be or not to be; a girl who spent her whole life to earn the red cloak of a slayer and refuses it because; a dragon rider who was not told anything about dragons by her teachers; a gal able to win marital duels in a full Victorian dress; the living Kinder Surprise Egg (now, that was rich!). I could continue, but I’ll spare you. The most important effect of this is that the most dramatic turns of events instead of being riveting were hilarious in their absurdity. The whole orange tree business was terribly disappointing and all I could think of when reading was gummy bears and their gummiberry juice. While the whole tale starts refreshingly (an outsider in the court), it goes awry soon enough. Ead prides herself on telling the truth and serving the truth but all she gives is flattery and her whole service feeds into a lie so while she says that all she does serves a bigger and nobles purpose, all I could see was a girl serving her own (lusty) needs. And the actual truth is kept hidden for no self-evident reason whatsoever (why would you keep secret something that really happened if not because of the feeling of power and superiority this gives you?) which is the main reason for the whole incoming disaster, which is uninventive and, dear me, involves dragons. I cannot recommend the book or the author. In fact, I’d implore you to stay away from the orange tree failure. Better listen to this beautiful song about a Blueberry Tree and find a worthy read instead. ...more
I don't usually get along with high fantasy - heavy world-building tends to bore me and I don't really get any enjoyment from reading about wars/fights/political ploys. But this was just WONDERFUL. PRIORY does have fights and politics (and history and dragons and magic), but its heart lies with the characters, whose flaws, desires, relationships, and struggles are so damn relatable. I just wanted all of them to be safe and warm. Thank you to Samantha and Bloomsbury for sending me a proof many mo I don't usually get along with high fantasy - heavy world-building tends to bore me and I don't really get any enjoyment from reading about wars/fights/political ploys. But this was just WONDERFUL. PRIORY does have fights and politics (and history and dragons and magic), but its heart lies with the characters, whose flaws, desires, relationships, and struggles are so damn relatable. I just wanted all of them to be safe and warm. Thank you to Samantha and Bloomsbury for sending me a proof many months ago! ...more
5 juicy stars
for a book that breathes heart and soul into Fantasy. “It was the stuff of legend, a tale destined to be enshrined in song”. and a song that needed to be sung. And so from the realm of the Orange Tree we travel east and west, to reveal how the lives of Ead, Tane, Niclays, Loth and Sabran become so dependent on each other as they face an evil buried for a thousand-years. A world on the brink of destruction. A world divided for many years. The Priory of the Orange Tree is a complex
bo “It was the stuff of legend, a tale destined to be enshrined in song”. and a song that needed to be sung. And so from the realm of the Orange Tree we travel east and west, to reveal how the lives of Ead, Tane, Niclays, Loth and Sabran become so dependent on each other as they face an evil buried for a thousand-years. A world on the brink of destruction. A world
divided for many years. The Priory of the Orange Tree is a complex book that is adventurous, daring, and yet still magical. A book that creates a new universe, inspired by the cultural differences between East and West, and with striking similarities to countries and periods in our own history. A book that introduces new religions, and new demons, while using one of the most powerful monsters dating back to antiquity. The Dragon. A commitment at 800 pages, but a book that is
imaginative, addictive and absorbing; action packed and energetic but also dramatic and expressive. The Plot. It is difficult to summarise an 800-page book and do justice to the plot, sub plots, and world building because this feels like a series crammed into one mammoth read, not just because of the 800+ pages, but also the scope of the book and the number of stories at play at any one time. Four narrators deliver this great tale covering the vast realms of Inys,
Yscalin, Mentendon and Hróth. So, let’s start with Ead in the West who is an outsider at court and sent by the Priory of the Orange Tree to protect Sabran the Ninth who is the current ruler of the Queendom of Inys, the last in line of the House Berethnet. A Queen who must produce an heir to secure the dynasty, but a leader who faces an invisible enemy and the return of the nameless one who was sent to the abyss by one of Sabran’s ancestors. We travel East to Miduchi and to the famous
dragon rider’s of Seiiki where we meet Tane, a fierce warrior who earns her place among men to pair with one of the dragons, that is to become her bond. Then we meet Niclays Roos, an exiled alchemist, and Lord Arteloth Beck, a trusted advisor to the queen who is sent on missions that presents all sorts of challenges as he is captured, mistrusted, and pardoned but it is his finesse and gift of words that keeps him alive and ready to return to his Queen in the west to face the final trial against
the nameless one. With a very divided East and West who are refusing to forgive the past, one or all of the four must force the unlikely alliance of all kingdoms as the forces of evil are slowly arising from their thousand-year sleep, and the mythical creatures in the East and West start to lose their powers. Review and Comments. The Priory of the Orange Tree is a feminist story, with women in leads roles. Inys is ruled by a woman, her protector is a woman, the powerful
warrior Tane is female, while all the wisdom is imparted by female ancestors. As such this creates the perfect backdrop for a same sex love story between Eads and Sabran, that is very touching, deep, and respectful of their personal duties. Whilst I love the feminist story, not so much at the expense of weak men, because that is not the world we live in, and it makes the story too one dimensional. Had we enjoyed the company of some strong men (not love stories) then I feel this would
have appealed more to a wider audience and set this up there as one of the best Fantasy stories ever written. The second criticism is the lack of detail in some of the action scenes. Sounds bizarre in an 800-page book that I am asking for more detail? Why? Although packed with lots of action, the conflicts and encounters seemed to be over in a flash and we were missing the mental and emotional detail experienced by the characters who had to solve many riddles and work out the problems as
they were faced some harrowing challenges. Now to the positives. And there are plenty. This is one of my favourite fantasy books ever, the characters felt real but flawed and the love stories felt honest, deep, and sincere. I would like to see same sex / opposite sex relationships incorporated into the stories written by other Fantasy authors, as well, which is more representative of the world we live in today. However, I loved that Shannon did bring a same sex relationship to this
feminist story. The book was well structured and divided into parts that could easily be read as separate books without feeling the need to finish in one go. The writing style was perfect for the genre, and although some of the names like ‘the nameless one’ could have been more imaginative, this book overall was an explosion of imagination. The outstanding quality of this book, however, came from the world building. You could see the cultural differences between the East and West and
the countries the author took inspiration from. Although most of the story took place in the West, the action in the other parts of this magical world was equally captivating and by no means played down. An exceptionally gifted author that brought sincerity to the characters many of whom were strong but flawed, combatants but compassionate; deadly but loyal. A series of plots that were so intricately woven you can only admire the author for being able to keep all this in her head when
writing this epic fairy tale. Then finally the world building that I missed when I finished this book. It was simply brilliant. A multi cultured and multi-layered story that was captivating, immersive and unforgettable by an author who managed to breathe heart and soul into Fantasy. Dazzling and now we can sing that song!!!.
I'm NOT DNFing... I'm just putting this down for now, because I just can't immerse myself in this story for some reason! But I promise to try again before the year is over! <3 Blog
| Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Youtube |
Twitch I'm NOT DNFing... I'm just putting this down for now, because I just can't immerse myself in this story for some reason! But I promise to try again before the year is over! <3 Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr |
Youtube | Twitch
4.5 stars TW: gore; death of a friend; miscarriage The thing that keeps this from being 5 stars is that I do think this should have been multiple books. This
world is so vast and complex that there were times I do think things were skimmed over that wouldn’t have been if there were more books. This single book also reads as multiple books anyway, so I feel it could have easily been split up. But beyond that, I love this world and the masterful interweaving of characters that we had here. The cha TW: gore; death of a friend; miscarriage The thing that keeps this from being 5
stars is that I do think this should have been multiple books. This world is so vast and complex that there were times I do think things were skimmed over that wouldn’t have been if there were more books. This single book also reads as multiple books anyway, so I feel it could have easily been split up. But beyond that, I love this world and the masterful interweaving of characters that we had here. The character arcs were wonderful, and the world was rich. This makes me want to read more
by Samantha Shannon.
I liked this, didn't love it. But wow did I sure race through it! 800 pages flew by pretty fast, so this book is doing something right. There's enough here that if you're thinking about reading this
book, go for it. It's a compelling fantasy story and the world is intriguing. I do think it had the potential to be much better. It's a reeeeeally long book and there are a ton of things to like here, and also some very uneven things that I can't quite let slide. This book isn't necessarily doing a lot There's
enough here that if you're thinking about reading this book, go for it. It's a compelling fantasy story and the world is intriguing. I do think it had the potential to be much better. It's a reeeeeally long book and there are a ton of things to like here, and also some very uneven things that I can't quite let slide. This book isn't necessarily doing a lot of things that feel new, but it's taking tropes of the high fantasy genre and using them in interesting ways. I appreciated that. Let's start with what I loved: There are cool dragons. There's a growing sense of urgency as the end of the world approaches. And the world itself is well put-together, offering some great threats (like an evil draconic plague that infects people). My favorite part of the book by far was the religious politics. There are three or so religions that have completely different understandings of one central event of the last 1000 years. All are convinced that they're right and that the other
religions are wrong. This makes for great conflict and drama in the story and makes us as readers want to find out what REALLY happened. I love the idea that 1000 years is so long that confusion about what happened generates important mythology. As we learn more about the real story, I was a little saddened to lose that mystery. Things are explained a little too cleanly, and the characters who have their entire worldview shattered seem to respond to it fairly well. I actually would have liked
more characters who refuse the truth and hold onto the old view of things. Also the matriarchy was interesting, and the gender dynamic in Virtudom was intriguing. It was too bad it wasn't able to be way different than our world though? Like an actual feminist kingdom in this world would have been super refreshing instead of this vaguely British thing where all our ideas about medieval patriarchy and oppression exist but where women can be Knights too. I have two large critiques: First, the second half of the book feels like three or so sequels got crammed into 400 pages. Some of that makes it very exciting but mostly it just feels uneven and oddly paced. The first half is, if anything, a little too slow, building on court intrigue and the mystery of the looming apocalypse. Then the second half is a real sprint to the end. Suddenly, previously long geographic distances shrink and characters are able to jump far across the world at just the right time when it's
convenient to the story. Chapter lengths become kind of random too, and we don't shift as much between PoVs. That said, I absolutely appreciate getting the full story in one volume. No waiting 5 years to figure out how things will end. We get one complete tale. That's great. My second complaint is about the LGBTQ representation. It's absolutely great that there are central queer characters here acting in the world. That said, they're the kind of queer characters that feel safe to
straight people: they're monogamous, committed to one and only one person, and they don't really talk about the experience of being queer in this world to anyone except in very contained moments of coming out. I appreciate the representation but would have liked to see things go further. I've said this before, but there's a lot of room for fantasy to explore how queer identity could be different in different fantasy settings. Sexuality and gender roles were vastly different in different times
and places in the history of our world, and there's a lot of room to explore that in fantasy in particular. Since there is a generally progressive throughline present in this story (like with rulers thinking about modernization and how to create alliances without relying on marriages), there seemed like there was a lot of room for a better and more nuanced identity politics. Oh well. Anyway, if you've been looking at this book and wondering if it's worth reading, I say yes. I have no idea
if there's going to be a sequel, but I'm curious about how the world at large responded to the end of the book, especially what happens to the three religions after they see that they've all been wrong. Happy reading!
A well-written high fantasy with multiple amazing characters with strong female power, an epic war between good and bad and lots of magic, dragons!
So what are you waiting for? This is intriguing, exciting, entertaining formula of best fantasy book needed to have! So why am I dancing between 3 to 4 ? Am I really too picky, dissatisfied, picky, grumpy person? (Mostly I am but this is not about being tough grader, something in my heart made me reject to love this book. I truly liked it especially p So why am I dancing between 3 to 4 ? Am I really too picky, dissatisfied, picky, grumpy person? (Mostly I am but this is not about being tough grader, something in my heart made me reject to love this book. I truly liked it especially progression and development, but unfortunately I didn’t love it because the competitors were
written in the same genre are so much better.) What I liked but don’t love about this book are: As a start, why all the authors try to sabotage my eye health by writing books could be only carried by heavyweight champions. Lately I read Imaginary Friend and Institution, I even took them to my training sessions and my torturer trainer made me lift them like heaviest dumbbells (I lifted them at least 500 times and they start to call me Dwayna –Dwayne Johnson’s little sister-) When
a book is so good, I don’t want it finish, I actually enjoy reading it forever like a never ending soap opera continues to air on TV till you die. But the problem with this one, first half was too low and second half was too fast with its action parts. I thought we were moving with baby steps and then we started to sprint. Especially the last epic war part lost its effectiveness because it happened so fast and I didn’t get thrill I have been waiting for from the beginning of the book. There
were so many materials and vivid characters to write too many sequels but they were used only for one book so we couldn’t absorb all those beautiful, witty, exciting stories. When it comes to dragons, my all-time favorite books are “Dragon and Thief” , “Iron Dragon’s Daughter”, “Seraphina” and “Eragon”. It’s fair to compare this book with those epic stories but as I said before especially last parts of the book lost its magic and made me wish if it would end at the half part and divide
into separate three books. So we may easily relate with the characters and don’t suffer from heavy breathing to catch the last parts’ too fast pacing. But I still rounded up my 3.5 stars to 4 because even the book is too long and there were some pacing issues I still liked the idea to create a feminist fantasy with its queens, warriors and priestesses. The rich, resounding worldbuilding of the author (reminds you of the UK and Japan), diversions between religious and the mysterious
atmosphere were perfectly developed. If you’re patient enough and real high fantasy lover you should read this book! I enjoyed the most parts I have to admit it’s good written book from a brilliant writer but I honestly say this is not one of my favorite books from this genre.
Buddy read with my dragon-riding mate,
Azrah!
I have qualms with Ms. Shannon… I did not just read 780 pages to have this 20 page wrap up💀 Still a fantastic book, but this ending🥵
WOW. Where do I even begin with this book? Firstly, thank you to Bloomsbury for sending me an early copy of this book to read. But
also how could you do this to me? Now I have to wait another month for everyone to get their hands on this so we can talk about it! Having been a fan of Samantha Shannon's series, The Bone Season, and in general being a fan of fantasy novels, I was eager to read her latest novel, The Priory
of the Orange Tree. I have to confess, though, that some larger, high fantasy Having been a fan of Samantha Shannon's series,
The Bone Season, and in general being a fan of fantasy novels, I was eager to read her latest novel, The Priory of the Orange Tree. I have to confess, though, that some larger, high fantasy books have intimidated me and/or bored me to death previously. It takes the right kind of
world-building and characters, mixed with a good plot, to keep me going. And wow does this deliver. The story follows four narrators—Ead, Tané, Loth and Niclays—who live in a world divided, East and West, over the opinions of dragons. In the East they are revered as gods, while in the West they are feared due to the haunting history of the Nameless One, an evil dragon who has been locked away for a thousand years in the Abyss and kept there by the bloodline of the Queendom of Inys, ruled
by the Berethnet matriarchy. Stay with me. It sounds like a lot, but when you're reading it it flows so naturally and you quickly adjust to all the characters, where they are from, etc. Plus it has maps! MAPS! As with all fantasy novels, a chain of events sparks action in our main characters' lives that drives them across kingdoms and oceans, encountering pirates and mythical beasts, and towards and away from one another in both physical and metaphorical senses. It's got lots of action,
great dialogue, court intrigue, dragons and more. Plus there is great romance as well as amazing platonic female friendships that you really don't see much in high fantasy. Like, a majority of this book is just about kick-ass women taking charge and working together to save their world. Needless to say, I loved this story. I loooooved the characters—especially the Loth/Margret/Ead trio—and how they were often at odds with one another but you were also kind of rooting for everyone. It's
hard to pick a side but I love that choosing sides was beside the point all along. It's just a wonderful journey to go on with these characters, and I can't believe how much they'd grown on me by the last page. I can see myself returning to this story again in the future, and even though this is a standalone novel (which I appreciate), I hope Shannon returns to this world to expand on the stories we only get glimpses of in Priory.
This Review ✍️ Blog 📖 Twitter 🐦
Instagram 📷 ★ I have read this a while ago and I initially rated it 4 stars (on GR) although I was not convinced of that rating 100%, after a couple of weeks of thinking and after having to explain to my class what this book is about (More on this later) I think that I should
not overthink my rating and go with 3.5 stars which I feel most comfortable with. ★ I am going to revi ★ I have read this a while ago and I initially rated it 4 stars (on GR) although I was not convinced of that rating 100%, after a couple of weeks of thinking and after
having to explain to my class what this book is about (More on this later) I think that I should not overthink my rating and go with 3.5 stars which I feel most comfortable with. ★ I am going to review this from the outside to the inside and I am saying this because I think the outside of this book played a major role in its success! The outside is 2 things in this case: The cover and the number of pages. This book is thick and the author herself was afraid readers won’t read it because of
that. In the adult fantasy world, the number of pages of this is not unheard of, there are many books this large and so readers who are comfortable with the genre will have no problems with this one. The cover design is awesome with the colors and Dragon and it being shiny! It even has a catchy name, all of which made it famous in the bookstagram world. ★ Now another thing that I noticed is that this is mostly read by younger readers and most of my adult-fantasy expert friends have not
read it (yet). I think that is explained by Samantha’s previous books belonging to the YA genre. I think that is why the author too was keen on assuring readers of it being readable and that it is not intimidating as it looks, younger readers are not used to this! ★ Now let’s jump into the inside and talk about the writing which per se was a good thing about this book! If I am going to be objective here and talk about the prose itself, then yeah, it was good, it was very easy to read and
it made sense! I have a criticism of Samantha’s introduction of characters, putting the hard names aside, the problem is that the characters are introduced by their name, with their connections and their job which is too much info-dumping and could have been better. I forgot to add an example from the book but for it is something like: This is A, he is the servant of B which is son of C and he works as D in the city of E, but he originally comes from F!!! ★ The characters were diverse and the book changed POV among three kingdoms so we had many characters. Unfortunately, I can not say that I was a big fan of any of them, I don’t think I will remember them for a long time, to be fair I liked Ead, I felt she was well fleshed and her actions, choices, and powers all made sense to me. This book is feminist for sure and it has LGBT characters so I think readers looking for that will enjoy
it! ★ Plot-wise, the books heavily focus on Politics that it even forgets the fantasy part. I like politics in books because I can see everything and decide which side to take. The problem is that it was kind of black vs white here and I prefer morally grey characters. I am learning a language for my job and my teacher knows I read and so she asked me to come in front of the class and to explain the plot of the book that I am reading to the class! Since I am not fluent in the language, I
had to simplify it as most as I can to be able to say it and for my friends to be able to understand it and that’s when I thought: oh, this is like the good guys vs bad guys trope and I am not a huge fan of that! I am quoting my friend Helena who said: “This preference of politics over dragons just made it seem like a feminist ASOIAF retelling, which it really isn’t.
The dragons here were only interesting because they spoke in this book.” And I think this is a very accurate description of the book! ★ The book is very slow-paced and I have a confession: I almost DNF the book at first, but around page 120, I read a scene that I really liked -It was the scene on the cover with the huge dragon on the tower- and I decided if we are moving slowly toward more of that then yeah, I am in, and I will push through those pages! Fans of the books
confirmed that it gets better. It improved slightly the more I read to be honest. I was waiting for that great war and action that 800 pages were preparing me for except that it never came! Let me tell you about the ending: I was disappointed and it was the main reason I am rounding this one down and not up! The final war was so rushed, my friend Azrah asked me what I thought of it immediately when I was done and we had the exact thought: “Is that it?“ ★ I saw a thread on twitter where the
author talked about this criticism because apparently many readers thought the same (So not only Azrah and I), the author said that it was longer but her editor suggested cutting it down! The problem was not with the length to be precise, but the book ignores the fantasy elements so we expect to get more of that at the end but we don’t! I am not a fan of very long fighting scenes because they lose their spark and it may be boring and repetitive and even confusing! The real problem was the
balance that was never struck in this book. The author could have used multiple short fights in the book rather than a final long one that she had to cut! Also, the ending was kind of open to a continuation which I think is not a good idea, this should stay a standalone! ★ Summary: I am kind of disappointed with this book and the more I think about it,
the more I am upset! It surely had potential but that was lost with the slow pacing, average characters and with the focus on politics! The writing was easy to read and the book has a gorgeous cover but if you are looking for fantasy with dragons and wars then this is not what you are looking for and there are better books for that! If you love politics in a fantasy world then go for this feminist story of one! You can get more books from
Book Depository
"No woman should be made to fear that she was not enough." This is my favourite book of the year so far, hands down. This is my favourite book of the year so far, hands down.
I just need it said that I've been calling this book "The Priority of the Orange Tree" for months, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. XXXXXX “All the world is a cage in a young girl's eyes.” XXXXXX I wanted to
finish this yesterday because it was International Women's Day and this book is everything I have ever wanted to see in the Epic Fantasy genre since I was a little girl - but you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and (wo)men. I digress. From the very beginning this book pull XXXXXX
“All the world is a cage in a young girl's eyes.” XXXXXX I wanted to finish this yesterday because it was International Women's Day and this book is everything I have ever wanted to see in the Epic Fantasy genre since I was a little girl - but you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and (wo)men. I digress. From the very beginning this book pulled me in and I held on for dear life. The world building felt natural and progressed at a pace that kept me interested
in the plot but not overwhelmed. Shannon weaved a beautiful web from Eastern and Western mythology, and infused it with this badass womanly energy that makes me so excited to see the ripple effect. “We may be small, and we may be young, but we will shake the world for our beliefs.” The book changes POVs from place to place instead of character, so you get glimpses of what is going on in the East, West and South as the story progresses. What I found so interesting in this book
is that usually, when I deal with a POV change I'm annoyed because I wanna see everything play out, or I like one character better, but in Priory everything was just so well timed and executed to perfection. Can I also say, props to the author for making this standalone and a self-contained story in itself and not dragging it out in book after book just to cash grab like a lot of authors choose to do. And there is so much beauty in the fact that this is one gorgeous tale on its own. It is
magical, and powerful, and dramatic, and an adventure from beginning to end. I think there is something so unique in fantasy that is unlike any other genre, where anything is possible and we are not bound by the boring and often stifling constrictions and preconceived notions. If there are dragons and wyrms and magic than why not Queendoms, and societies where the women are the ones trained to fight, and it is just as common for a man to marry another man than it is for him to marry a
woman. I really don't want to say too much about the story because I find so much joy in walking into a brand new world. But I looked back on my updates while I was reading this and this is what I experienced: goosebumps, edge of your seat excitement, awe when faced with such beautiful storytelling skill, surprise as nothing went down how I thought it would, shock because HOLY. MORTHERFORKING. SHIRTBALLS. BATMAN, and just so much contentment in knowing there's a book like this out there
now.
I think I have officially been converted to fantasy. I still can’t believe I made it through this massive book and enjoyed every minute of it. The Priory of the Orange Tree follows various
characters in a world that is separated by beliefs and experiences. But all fear the return of the Nameless One, a dragon who can destroy everything. I want to start my review by highlighting that this book is quite complex. There are a lot of character names and places that take a while to get used to. Even at The Priory of the Orange Tree follows various characters in a world that is separated by beliefs and experiences. But all fear the return of the Nameless One, a dragon who can destroy everything. I want to start my review by highlighting that this book is quite complex. There are a lot of character names and places that take a while to get used to. Even at the end I found myself wracking my brains to place a particular character. I found the map at the beginning of the
book was really helpful for me to get used to the places, and it really helped me visualize the world Samantha has created. Despite the complexity, the world is so incredibly vivid that my heart sank when I realised it was all over. I genuinely do not want to let these characters and this book go. The characters have so many layers to their personalities which I loved. From the beginning I adored Ead. She has a beautiful strength, kindness and power to her character that I loved. I also
loved that it was the women in this story that made history and were the main strength in the wars. I also loved the LGBT representation! I loved the spin on the usual idea of dragons, and who doesn’t love dragons anyway?! I found myself googling the different mythological creatures that were mentioned and I officially want an ichneumon (Aralaq being my favourite character after Ead). I feel lost now that I’ve finished this book, but I will definitely be exploring more of Samantha’s books now. I would recommend this book to fantasy fans, as long as you don’t mind a bit of a struggle initially!
Samantha Shannon studied English Language and Literature at St. Anne’s College, Oxford. The Bone Season, the first in a seven-book series, was a New York Times bestseller and the inaugural Today Book Club selection. Her next novel, The Priory of the Orange Tree, was published in February 2019 and became a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller.
Her work has been translated into twenty-six lang Her next novel, The Priory of the Orange Tree, was published in February 2019 and became a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller. Her work
has been translated into twenty-six languages. She lives in London. Other books in the seriesArticles featuring this bookFantasy literature is arguably the single oldest genre in all of storytelling. Contemporary fantasy has its roots, overtly or not, in world... “No woman should be made to fear that she was not enough.” — 452 likes “We may be small, and we may be young, but we will shake the world for our beliefs.” — 272 likes More quotes…Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Is The Priory of the Orange Tree LGBT?On top of the different types of love shown throughout, the main romance plots are LGBT+, which is practically unheard of in epic fantasy.
Does Priory of the orange tree have romance?Once you start reading The Priory of the Orange Tree, its length becomes far less alarming. It's a complex story set in a complex world and populated with complex characters. It catches the reader's attention and holds it. I loved the characters, the romance, the dragons, and all of it.
Is Priory of the orange tree hard to read?It's actually hard for me to put my finger on why I found Priory so hard to read. I feel I should like many of the characters—they're strong, mostly female, and complex. They have character arcs that make sense. Despite the book's famously immense length, I didn't get enough time with any of the characters.
Why is priory of the orange tree good?The Priory of the Orange Tree is an epic fantasy jewel of a novel. It features terrific characters, stunning set-pieces and a brilliantly crafted grand and picturesque world. Throughout this tale, we follow four distinctive point of view perspectives.
|
The priory of the orange tree age rating
Copyright © 2024 SignalDuo Inc.
