by Samantha Shannon
Read: January 16 - March 3, 2020
Publication date: February 26, 2019
Genre: Adult Fantasy
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 dragon rider 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.
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Why did you read this book?
Samantha Shannon is one of my all-time favorite authors and The Bone Season series is one of my favorite series of all time, so naturally, I will read anything this woman publishes. Also, I am a lover of fantasy and dragons and badass warriors and platonic friendships between people of the opposite sex (spoiler: this book features all these things).
What did you like about this book?
I absolutely loved the characters in this book, even the ones I didn't like. Niclays Roos, for example, wasn't a character I particularly liked. I didn't like his choices and I didn't like his behavior or his attitude. I didn't like his selfishness. BUT even though I was so irritated with him 75% of the time, I understood why he did the things he did. His backstory made me feel for him. And that is what I loved so much about all of these characters. I felt for them. If made me sad when they were sad and I was happy when they were happy. I wanted so desperately for them all to make it to the end of the book victorious (and alive). Even though the book was split into four different narrators, I was just as invested in each one. I will admit, it took me about 100 pages to really get to the point where I just wanted to consume the book as quickly as possible because I was so desperate for more story. However, once I got past that initial chunk of introducing the readers to the characters and setting, I was hooked. Reading this book was a similar experience (for me) to watching Avengers: Infinity War. I remember going into the theater thinking "wow, this movie is three hours long, how am I going to set through the whole thing?" and then the movie ended and it felt like it had only been one hour. Somehow, I had been so engrossed in the story that my own concept of time had been thrown. That's what it was like reading The Priory of the Orange Tree. Starting the book, 805 pages felt (and looked) like a lot. I mean, this book is massive. But suddenly, I only had 50 or so pages left and I couldn't believe that it was almost over. And the plot, oh my goodness the plot! I was so hooked. There was enough suspense to keep me reading but not enough that I felt lost. And even though there were four separate narrators with four separate story lines, it was fascinating to see where/how they connected, especially when they finally all came together in the end! Ugh. It was just so satisfying.
What didn't you like about this book?
I'm not going to lie, there are very few things that I didn't like. As I said before, it took me about 100 or so pages to really get invested in the story and the characters -- longer than I typically would like to spend warming up to the book. However, because the book gigantic, I gave it a little slack. Another thing that was something that I liked and didn't like at the same time was the four different story lines. It was sometimes jarring to have to switch back and forth between characters. I would be reading from Ead's point of view and then find the next chapter to be Loth and I'd be so disappointed. But then, once I got into Loth's chapter, it'd switch to Tane and I'd have to go through it all again! Again, this is both a dislike and a like because I loved all of the story lines (although I'll admit, Niclays was easily my least favorite), it's just the switching between them sometimes took me out of the story.
Bottom-Line:
I loved this book. I absolutely loved it. I wish I could recommend it to everyone, but I know that high fantasy isn't for everyone. I also know that 800+ page books aren't for everyone either. If these things are your thing though, please read this one. It's worth the arm workout!
Quote:
"Night is when fear comes to us at its fullest, when we have no way to fight it. It will do everything it can to seep inside you. Sometimes it may succeed -- but never think that you are the night." - The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
_____________________________________________________________________
Why did you read this book?
Samantha Shannon is one of my all-time favorite authors and The Bone Season series is one of my favorite series of all time, so naturally, I will read anything this woman publishes. Also, I am a lover of fantasy and dragons and badass warriors and platonic friendships between people of the opposite sex (spoiler: this book features all these things).
What did you like about this book?
I absolutely loved the characters in this book, even the ones I didn't like. Niclays Roos, for example, wasn't a character I particularly liked. I didn't like his choices and I didn't like his behavior or his attitude. I didn't like his selfishness. BUT even though I was so irritated with him 75% of the time, I understood why he did the things he did. His backstory made me feel for him. And that is what I loved so much about all of these characters. I felt for them. If made me sad when they were sad and I was happy when they were happy. I wanted so desperately for them all to make it to the end of the book victorious (and alive). Even though the book was split into four different narrators, I was just as invested in each one. I will admit, it took me about 100 pages to really get to the point where I just wanted to consume the book as quickly as possible because I was so desperate for more story. However, once I got past that initial chunk of introducing the readers to the characters and setting, I was hooked. Reading this book was a similar experience (for me) to watching Avengers: Infinity War. I remember going into the theater thinking "wow, this movie is three hours long, how am I going to set through the whole thing?" and then the movie ended and it felt like it had only been one hour. Somehow, I had been so engrossed in the story that my own concept of time had been thrown. That's what it was like reading The Priory of the Orange Tree. Starting the book, 805 pages felt (and looked) like a lot. I mean, this book is massive. But suddenly, I only had 50 or so pages left and I couldn't believe that it was almost over. And the plot, oh my goodness the plot! I was so hooked. There was enough suspense to keep me reading but not enough that I felt lost. And even though there were four separate narrators with four separate story lines, it was fascinating to see where/how they connected, especially when they finally all came together in the end! Ugh. It was just so satisfying.
What didn't you like about this book?
I'm not going to lie, there are very few things that I didn't like. As I said before, it took me about 100 or so pages to really get invested in the story and the characters -- longer than I typically would like to spend warming up to the book. However, because the book gigantic, I gave it a little slack. Another thing that was something that I liked and didn't like at the same time was the four different story lines. It was sometimes jarring to have to switch back and forth between characters. I would be reading from Ead's point of view and then find the next chapter to be Loth and I'd be so disappointed. But then, once I got into Loth's chapter, it'd switch to Tane and I'd have to go through it all again! Again, this is both a dislike and a like because I loved all of the story lines (although I'll admit, Niclays was easily my least favorite), it's just the switching between them sometimes took me out of the story.
Bottom-Line:
I loved this book. I absolutely loved it. I wish I could recommend it to everyone, but I know that high fantasy isn't for everyone. I also know that 800+ page books aren't for everyone either. If these things are your thing though, please read this one. It's worth the arm workout!
Quote:
"Night is when fear comes to us at its fullest, when we have no way to fight it. It will do everything it can to seep inside you. Sometimes it may succeed -- but never think that you are the night." - The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
