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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
Dare I say that this book is not only better than Priory of the Orange Tree, but has made me appreciate Priory of the Orange Tree even more to the point that I will most certainly be picking up the first book of this series again shortly.
This world that Shannon has created is so rich and complex and I enjoy reading every bit of it, especially when the events of this book directly impact Priory of the Orange Tree, since it comes later in the world’s history. Every crumb of information was so fascinating to read and I found myself enjoying looking through the glossaries and timelines at the back of both books while I was reading this, just to learn whatever I could about this world and connect any dots that Shannon was leaving for us together.
The characters in this novel were such a joy to read and I found them to be complex and realistic and flawed and I rooted for them from the very beginning to the end. When Glorian struggled through growing up and having to become Queen, I was anxious for her, even knowing where her story was going. When Esbar and Tuva separated and returned to each other, I was happy for them. When Dumai struggled with court politics, I was frustrated at the people around her who did not support her. When Wulf suffered through everything, I genuinely felt sad for him and wished for him to find peace. I felt an emotional connect with all of these characters in a way that I did not feel for all of the characters in Priory (looking at you, Niclays).
The plot had good pacing and felt intentional every step of the way. Each discovery or decision was important to the story and it rarely ever felt as though the story dragged, despite how large the novel is. I was worried that, because of how the major conflict of this novel is resolved, that the characters would lack agency or purpose, but instead I found that it allowed for greater depth in the characters because they were not focused on hunting something down or traveling across the world. Because the focus of the characters was a bit smaller, we as readers were able to really dig into their thoughts and motivations, which I think is what built such good opportunities of readers to root for them.
On top of this, everything that I thought lacked in Priory of the Orange Tree was only improved upon in this novel. In Priory, I was worried about the lack of emotional impact that some moments in the story had and I even struggled with some of the fight scenes that I just ended up glossing over because they weren’t interesting. In this book, I found that every obstacle, every character death, every victory had a large emotional impact on myself as the reader. The fight scenes were more limited in this novel and I think because of this there was a greater appreciation for them and a greater opportunity to improve upon them.
If there was even one thing I could complain about, it would be the dreams that Glorian and Dumai shared. I loved the connection between them and the comfort they found in each other. My only two issues with this are that one: it never really came to anything. Dumai and Glorian never found out who each other were, they never really shared any important information with each other that helped them out. They claimed to be great comforts to each other, but you hardly see them have any conversations or build up really any relationship at all. Secondly, this is neither mentioned nor shown in the entirety of Priory of the Orange Tree. While these books do not have to be perfectly identical in every aspect and detail of their history, Shannon is so deliberate with quite literally everything she does in this novel, that it just felt weird for her to introduce something that just doesn’t exist later on in the world. I know you could make the argument that it could only happen between a Berethnet and a Noziken and at the end of the novel, there was no way for this communication to continue into the future, but that reason isn’t given, so I can only assume that’s what it is. There is also absolutely no explanation on why it even starts in the beginning at all. Overall, I was sort of left with the question of why this was in the story at all.
In the end, this novel was an absolute delight to read and, like I said, it has sparked a new interest in me to reread Priory of the Orange Tree again, just to continue to engage in this incredible world that Shannon has shared with us in these books.
This world that Shannon has created is so rich and complex and I enjoy reading every bit of it, especially when the events of this book directly impact Priory of the Orange Tree, since it comes later in the world’s history. Every crumb of information was so fascinating to read and I found myself enjoying looking through the glossaries and timelines at the back of both books while I was reading this, just to learn whatever I could about this world and connect any dots that Shannon was leaving for us together.
The characters in this novel were such a joy to read and I found them to be complex and realistic and flawed and I rooted for them from the very beginning to the end. When Glorian struggled through growing up and having to become Queen, I was anxious for her, even knowing where her story was going. When Esbar and Tuva separated and returned to each other, I was happy for them. When Dumai struggled with court politics, I was frustrated at the people around her who did not support her. When Wulf suffered through everything, I genuinely felt sad for him and wished for him to find peace. I felt an emotional connect with all of these characters in a way that I did not feel for all of the characters in Priory (looking at you, Niclays).
The plot had good pacing and felt intentional every step of the way. Each discovery or decision was important to the story and it rarely ever felt as though the story dragged, despite how large the novel is. I was worried that, because of how the major conflict of this novel is resolved, that the characters would lack agency or purpose, but instead I found that it allowed for greater depth in the characters because they were not focused on hunting something down or traveling across the world. Because the focus of the characters was a bit smaller, we as readers were able to really dig into their thoughts and motivations, which I think is what built such good opportunities of readers to root for them.
On top of this, everything that I thought lacked in Priory of the Orange Tree was only improved upon in this novel. In Priory, I was worried about the lack of emotional impact that some moments in the story had and I even struggled with some of the fight scenes that I just ended up glossing over because they weren’t interesting. In this book, I found that every obstacle, every character death, every victory had a large emotional impact on myself as the reader. The fight scenes were more limited in this novel and I think because of this there was a greater appreciation for them and a greater opportunity to improve upon them.
If there was even one thing I could complain about, it would be the dreams that Glorian and Dumai shared. I loved the connection between them and the comfort they found in each other. My only two issues with this are that one: it never really came to anything. Dumai and Glorian never found out who each other were, they never really shared any important information with each other that helped them out. They claimed to be great comforts to each other, but you hardly see them have any conversations or build up really any relationship at all. Secondly, this is neither mentioned nor shown in the entirety of Priory of the Orange Tree. While these books do not have to be perfectly identical in every aspect and detail of their history, Shannon is so deliberate with quite literally everything she does in this novel, that it just felt weird for her to introduce something that just doesn’t exist later on in the world. I know you could make the argument that it could only happen between a Berethnet and a Noziken and at the end of the novel, there was no way for this communication to continue into the future, but that reason isn’t given, so I can only assume that’s what it is. There is also absolutely no explanation on why it even starts in the beginning at all. Overall, I was sort of left with the question of why this was in the story at all.
In the end, this novel was an absolute delight to read and, like I said, it has sparked a new interest in me to reread Priory of the Orange Tree again, just to continue to engage in this incredible world that Shannon has shared with us in these books.
maybe it was just the audiobook but i loved priory but i have no idea what went wrong with this
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Somebody sedate me, I will never get over how well Shannon writes. This book is the absolute definition of escapism. I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of this world, I’ve seen a few people commenting that there’s too much going on and too many characters, but I whole heartedly disagree, I love this kind of world building, I loved trying to piece together clues for the Priory and I look forward to any more instalments in this world. Samantha Shannon defines epic fantasy.
Picked this one up on a whim, knowing nothing about it, bc I thought the cover looked cool. The length was intimidating at first, but once I sat myself down to read it I gobbled it up in no time and I ended up loving it! The world is so well crafted, the characters are so compelling, and the writing is so beautiful. Nothing about this one I didn’t love!
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is fucking massive but still doesn’t feel very deep. The worldbuilding is great but not very entertaining. I found the first half very dull and the third quarter to start picking up but still very much a slog. This book didn’t pay off until the last 1/4 of the book and still is the payoff worth it? I don’t know. It was still good but I definitely feel this could be 200 pages shorter and be perfect. All in all it was a big bite to chew but not much flavor there. Kinda like the Burger King of fantasy, it’ll definitely leave you feeling full but was it very satisfying?
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No