The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The Priory of the Orange Tree
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

Escaping My Dragons: A Narrative for Those Who Have Cared

          Happiness doesn't come easy for me. You know that. You've known that for a long time. You've known that I could have happy moments and then be dragged back down once I was alone again. You knew that I desperately needed to be saved, but didn't know how to save me. The more you tried, the more I pushed you away. But still you tried, valiantly, slaying dragon after dragon to save me. Little did you know I was the one sending the dragons. My tower, where I was always alone, was all I knew. I couldn't let anyone in my tower, let alone take me away from it, because I was scared. The dragons held me captive and I thought they were keeping me safe. They tortured me and abused me and I thought that was how it was supposed to be. Doesn't everyone have their dragons? Mine were just a little rough around the edges. I know you got tired, fighting an uphill battle that never ended. I know you wanted to give up. I know some of you did. I watched from my tower as you fled from the scorching fire that ravaged the ground. No one could get through.
          I tried to leave, every now and then. Sometimes I almost made it out before I was turned around.
         "They don't really want you out there," said the dragons.
         "Why do you think no one has come to get you?" they hissed.
         "Stay in the tower."
       
         "No one wants you."

         The dragons, my companions, were right. I listened to them because I trusted what they said. I believed them. Yes Dragon, I don't know what I was thinking. No one wants me out there, I thought as I watched you fall beneath the flames. I belong in here, I thought, looking at all of the burned skeletons surrounding my tower. I belonged with the death, fire, and bones.
         Eventually, I stopped looking out the window. I didn't want to see you fail, over and over and over again. I didn't want to see you lose your sword, desperately clinging to your shield, trying to get to me. I turned away, hoping you would give up if you couldn't see me. The problem then was that I couldn't see you. I didn't know if you were still charging your way through my dragons or if you had finally given up. You weren't there anymore because I had cut off my view. Desperate, I turned to the window, but it was gone. The dragons had taken that from me too. I mourned the loss of you, but my dragons assured me it was better this way. Without me, you wouldn't be caught up in the constant battle with my dragons. You could turn around, go home, and be free of this battle forever. They told me this, but I couldn't let you go. You had been fighting for me for so long that the thought of you not being there broke my heart. Sometimes a broken heart is stronger than a broken mind. I grabbed my sword that had always hung on my wall, something to be looked at, but never used, and I stepped out the door.
          "This is a mistake," the dragons said, surrounded me, their voices filling me. "You don't really want to do this."
          For the first time, their words rang with wrongness in my mind. I did want this. My first swing of the sword missed and the dragons closed in on me. I swung again, my sword plunging into a dragon's heart. It screamed and the other dragons swarmed. The terror and chaos of what I had done was paralyzing. But I couldn't stop. If I stopped now the dragons would kill me. The dragons that had so carefully kept me all these years would rather end me than let me continue. I fought for my life in the stairwell of my tower, sword flashing as their fire burned me. I rose from the fire, a phoenix in the midst of pigeons. The dragons fell one by one at the end of my sword. They wouldn't hold me captive anymore. I escaped my tower and saw the scorched field that stretched around it.

           Bones and ashes, ashes and bones.

          The bones are you and they are not you. You died for me, you fought for me, and you are still out there.
         The dragons still come for me; I didn't kill them all. They come and I fight them. They burn me and I kill them. The dragons still come for me just as I still come for  you.
         It isn't easy, this road that I have taken. You know that because you've taken a hard road, too. The dragons are everywhere. They come from above, from below. They come in disguise and they come head on.
         But we have swords.

         Let them come.




"Fairytales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten." -Coraline by Neil Gaiman