Samantha Shannon

This is an award-winning fantasy novel by English author Samantha Shannon, recommended to me by my daughter Jo. When my reading challenge asked me to read the longest book on my TBR I couldn’t avoid it any longer. I began somewhat hesitantly, not being much of a fantasy reader, with lots of swearing under my breath at the introduction of a new character name, place name or random unexplained word in every second sentence. As I went on I was drawn into what is a cracking good yarn, and as Jo said, “Dragons, strong female characters, lesbian romance: what’s not to like.”

The action revolves around three women. Firstly there is Sabran Berethnet, Queen of Inys, struggling to protect her kingdom from threat of darkness and also fulfill her life task of producing an heir. Then there is Ead Duryan, a mage from the Priory of the Orange tree, sent to protect Sabran with her powers. Lastly there is Tané, a dragon rider from the East, training for her role, and forming a bond with her wise dragon Nayimathun.

The kingdoms are divided by religion, particularly their view of dragons. The dragons of the West are the fire-breathing, destructive wyrms considered evil, hence the peoples of the West view all dragons in this way. The water-and-sky-dwelling dragons of the East however are viewed with reverence by their subjects, leading to a cultural chasm between West and East.

The book pivots on the need for unity between the divided nations to quell the rising threat of the Nameless One.

This was an enjoyable read with strong female characters. Ead was an easy character to root for, although Tané felt less fleshed out for me. The pacing was a bit off, with the beginning very difficult to get into and the end feeling rushed and somewhat clunky and convenient. There were faint echoes of Game of Thrones, but the characters were far less complex. I felt there were also some inconsistencies, with the religion of Inys being wholly based on the misogynist actions of its forebear, but then the kingdom being inexplicably matriarchal and feminist. A good read, and I might even succumb to reading the sequel.… (mais)

This book started great. The introduction of characters and the well-developed world. I fell in love with it. And honestly, I still loved it till the end.
But. It didn't stick the landing the best. For me, the ending was a bit rushed. Satisfying enough but not mind-blowing. Just a tiny bit let down after the 5-star material this book seemed to be. I think the book might have benefited from being released as a series and taking its time to build up the story as well as it did in the first half. Also, more and more there seemed to be these curious coincidences that just seemed to happen because they needed to happen...

But despite some lows, it really grew on me, and I certainly recommend it.… (mais)

I received an ARC for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Before I get into the review, I would like to recommend a reading order. While the author says that you can start with any book, I feel that the prequel reveals a lot of things right away that we learned only quite far into The Priory of the Orange Tree. For example, one POV already starts in the Priory. This book also seems to be written with previous knowledge in mind. While everything does get explained eventually, I had the feeling that it skims more over some lore. Also, starting with The Priory won't spoil a lot for this book as by then (500 years later) the events become half-forgotten legends. You do know more than the characters, but I felt that it didn't take away from the enjoyment as there was still plenty to uncover about the story.

Ultimately, I think picking up this book first would work too, but I would guess that the author wrote this one knowing most people that would pick it up already read The Priory and as such had to make sure to accommodate them.

Now let's get to the review.

In The Priory, the problem for me was that I loved one of the POVs, still enjoyed a lot of another, but the other two were very pushed in the background and pretty much there just to offer a way of seeing what the two main POVs couldn't. This book offers four full-fledged POVs that all have the same weight and I didn't feel like I wanted to skip any and get back to the important one. Although, I also felt that not any of them were as outstanding as the main one from The Priory.

All the characters were likable and original. They all had some strong personal story to deal with while being important parts of the overarching story of the whole world, and it made them very alive and relatable.

The worldbuilding was again outstanding. I love the variety of beliefs and religions and how they clash. It played a big part in the story. I enjoyed the magic system and how it is very tied to the world itself.

One thing that was a bit weaker was the way the storylines were tied together. It felt a bit forced and too unlikely in the way it played through. But that was mostly just one point in the book and it didn't bother me much.

I also felt that while I appreciated the slowness of The Priory and actually felt sad that the ending was a bit rushed, with the prequel I felt the other way. Those 880 pages took me forever to read, and I felt like some moments were redundant.

All in all, this was a very solid 4* all the way through.… (mais)