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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
A Day of Fallen Night is set 500-years before the events of The Priory of the Orange Tree, but it is not necessary to read TPOTOT before ADOFN. (However, I do think you will get more out of ADOFN if you read TPOTOT first).
The story is told by 4 POV characters:
Glorian, the Crown Princess of Inys, is in the shadow of her mother, Queen Sabran the Ambitious, but finds herself being pushed to step-up.
Dumai is happy in her role as a godsinger on the mountain of Ipyeda in Seiiki, but her life is disturbed by the arrival of a visitor to the mountain.
Wulf is a housecarl in the retinue of the King of Hroth, but is haunted by his mysterious past.
Tunuva, a senior sister of the Priory of the Orange Tree, is content to spend her days in the service of the Mother, however when she witnesses the eruption of the Dreadmount, she realises that she will need to use all her skills to defeat the chaos that is unleashed.
Like TPOTOT, ADOFN is an expansive high-fantasy, with a diverse cast, intricate world building and beautiful writing. The characters are well rounded and interesting and the plot is intriguing and well paced. A number of themes, such as mothers, faith, dreams and duty are threaded throughout the book, and it is interesting to see how they are interwoven between the POVs. At nearly 900 pages it is an intimidating read, but I assure you it is well worth it.
The story is told by 4 POV characters:
Glorian, the Crown Princess of Inys, is in the shadow of her mother, Queen Sabran the Ambitious, but finds herself being pushed to step-up.
Dumai is happy in her role as a godsinger on the mountain of Ipyeda in Seiiki, but her life is disturbed by the arrival of a visitor to the mountain.
Wulf is a housecarl in the retinue of the King of Hroth, but is haunted by his mysterious past.
Tunuva, a senior sister of the Priory of the Orange Tree, is content to spend her days in the service of the Mother, however when she witnesses the eruption of the Dreadmount, she realises that she will need to use all her skills to defeat the chaos that is unleashed.
Like TPOTOT, ADOFN is an expansive high-fantasy, with a diverse cast, intricate world building and beautiful writing. The characters are well rounded and interesting and the plot is intriguing and well paced. A number of themes, such as mothers, faith, dreams and duty are threaded throughout the book, and it is interesting to see how they are interwoven between the POVs. At nearly 900 pages it is an intimidating read, but I assure you it is well worth it.
another solid entry with great representation
In my Priory of the Orange Tree review I mentioned how the first ~25%+ was a slog that took me three tries to get through, but the last half was really good. A Day of Fallen Night was pretty much the opposite.
This time around I was drawn right in and thoroughly enjoyed the characters, relationships and world building in the first half, but suddenly there was an interaction that felt forced and unnatural (as if it was a milestone in an outline that was force-fit) and then we launched into a battle heavy second half that revealed that battles are not the author's strongest suit.
Stakes in a book like this are interesting - there are things we know about the Grief of Ages from the first book that define the overall scope of what this book can accomplish, both in terms of people as well as outcomes. That made much of the second half feel like sketches of battles in a bounded box.
But where the book shines is in the characters and their relationships. This is a world that is diverse in its representation, and that really shines here as well. There are at least a dozen major characters we get to explore from four different regions of the world - there are multiple generations, romances, alliances and betrayals, political machinations, and more.
One area that I loved in this book was how much of a focus there was on older characters - and not just as wisened elders, but as vibrant main characters. One of the key POV characters was old enough to be a grandmother but still fought on the front lines and was critical to everything in the story. As an older reader I truly appreciated this representation.
Another exploration was motherhood - what it means to those who want it, don't want it, have it forced upon them, have it taken from them, or how found family can be every bit as real.
The book wraps up with a character by character epilogue that I liked but felt weird because it felt unnatural and like another thing tacked-on unnaturally - and yet I appreciated getting that 'after the story ends' look. Which is likely why it was added.
Overall I enjoyed Fallen Night about as much as Priory but for different reasons - and definitely recommend it. It is a 'door stop' volume, and will take an investment of time, but is overall a worthwhile read.
In my Priory of the Orange Tree review I mentioned how the first ~25%+ was a slog that took me three tries to get through, but the last half was really good. A Day of Fallen Night was pretty much the opposite.
This time around I was drawn right in and thoroughly enjoyed the characters, relationships and world building in the first half, but suddenly there was an interaction that felt forced and unnatural (as if it was a milestone in an outline that was force-fit) and then we launched into a battle heavy second half that revealed that battles are not the author's strongest suit.
Stakes in a book like this are interesting - there are things we know about the Grief of Ages from the first book that define the overall scope of what this book can accomplish, both in terms of people as well as outcomes. That made much of the second half feel like sketches of battles in a bounded box.
But where the book shines is in the characters and their relationships. This is a world that is diverse in its representation, and that really shines here as well. There are at least a dozen major characters we get to explore from four different regions of the world - there are multiple generations, romances, alliances and betrayals, political machinations, and more.
One area that I loved in this book was how much of a focus there was on older characters - and not just as wisened elders, but as vibrant main characters. One of the key POV characters was old enough to be a grandmother but still fought on the front lines and was critical to everything in the story. As an older reader I truly appreciated this representation.
Another exploration was motherhood - what it means to those who want it, don't want it, have it forced upon them, have it taken from them, or how found family can be every bit as real.
The book wraps up with a character by character epilogue that I liked but felt weird because it felt unnatural and like another thing tacked-on unnaturally - and yet I appreciated getting that 'after the story ends' look. Which is likely why it was added.
Overall I enjoyed Fallen Night about as much as Priory but for different reasons - and definitely recommend it. It is a 'door stop' volume, and will take an investment of time, but is overall a worthwhile read.
i think i liked this one better than priory. glorian is my favorite character in the world of this book, and it was so cool to see what happened before priory.
Took me a really long time to finish for no reason bc it was actually really good I was just depressed. 🙃 (it would probably be 4 stars if I wasn’t so mentally unwell)
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
QUEER LADIES AND DRAGONS FRANKLY WHAT COULD BE BETTER!??
(This was as lovely [if not more so??!?] than the first priory book for me. Despite kind of a slow start [and in general, a slow moving book] I had a great time. I liked all the pov characters more than I did in the first book. I was invested even tho I could t quite remember all the details of the first one that had impacts on this one [despite being 500 years prior] and goooood it was just, *chefs kiss* I want 800k of nikeya and dumai and all the early beginnings of Tuva and esbar’s love story pls and thank).
(This was as lovely [if not more so??!?] than the first priory book for me. Despite kind of a slow start [and in general, a slow moving book] I had a great time. I liked all the pov characters more than I did in the first book. I was invested even tho I could t quite remember all the details of the first one that had impacts on this one [despite being 500 years prior] and goooood it was just, *chefs kiss* I want 800k of nikeya and dumai and all the early beginnings of Tuva and esbar’s love story pls and thank).
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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:
Complicated
I read Priory before reading A Day of Fallen Night, and I loved picking up on details that connected characters and events of the two books. Even though you can read them in either order, I think reading Priory first gives you a good understanding of all the different cultures and religions in this world. ADOFN is beautiful, and each of the four main characters are complex women with incredible stories.
Again, another flawless book, I cannot believe how much I loved this book