The Priory of the Orange Tree

Paperback, 848 pages

English language

Published 2023 by Bloomsbury Publishing.

ISBN:: 978-1-4088-8335-8

(2 reviews)

A WORLD DIVIDED. A QUEENDOM WITHOUT AN HEIR. AN ANCIENT ENEMY AWAKENS.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction - but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. Across the dark sea, Tane has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

6 editions

KnitAFett reviewed The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (The Roots of Chaos, #1)

The Priory of the Orange Tree

4 stars

I held off on this one for a while due to the length, but I'm glad I finally gave it a go.

There are a LOT of character introductions throughout the book, and listening to this on audiobook, I had to frequently pause to try to remember who was who. I would probably recommend pairing with the book itself to help with tracking if that's usually an issue for you as well when listening. It got a lot easier once some of the characters started dying haha.

I'm not usually one for high fantasy just due to the overall reading time that is usually involved. But I really appreciated that you have the whole story wrapped up in this book. While it is a part of a trilogy, this is very much a standalone book. I think if I had realized that, I would have picked it up sooner. Definitely …

I held off on this one for a while due to the length, but I'm glad I finally gave it a go.

There are a LOT of character introductions throughout the book, and listening to this on audiobook, I had to frequently pause to try to remember who was who. I would probably recommend pairing with the book itself to help with tracking if that's usually an issue for you as well when listening. It got a lot easier once some of the characters started dying haha.

I'm not usually one for high fantasy just due to the overall reading time that is usually involved. But I really appreciated that you have the whole story wrapped up in this book. While it is a part of a trilogy, this is very much a standalone book. I think if I had realized that, I would have picked it up sooner. Definitely glad that I gave it a chance.

Captain_Janegay@bookrastinating.com reviewed The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (The Roots of Chaos, #1)

👍🏽

5 stars

Honestly, you don't know what you're missing in fantasy until you read this book. An author who genuinely succeeds in not recreating patriarchy in a fictional world, and then it's a fantastic, gripping story to boot.

Subjects

English literature