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A review by theinquisitxor
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
5.0
This book raised my standards for fantasy literature sooo much. I absolutely loved this massive book and the story and characters are some of the best and most well-developed I've encountered. I think this is the best book of 2019 so far for me, and I think I will be hard pressed to find one better. The scope of this novel is huge. It spans an entire world and dozens of characters, but Shannon does such a good job. All the nations of the world are based on cultures and counties from our world- but it doesn't fell redundant or copied. The countries, religions and cultures of this book are new and fresh while still maintaining some comforting similarities.
I have seen this book called the 'Feminist Successor to Lord of the Rings', and while I do see some similarities to LOTR, this book stands on its own and holds its own ground. This is a story about a world that is divided between the East and West. Even in the West, counties are divided because of religious differences and beliefs. But the threat of the Nameless One returning will test these counties to see if they can band together and face the threat of destruction. The Nameless One is a giant bad dragon who has been sealed away for a thousand years, but his wyverns and draconic creatures are stirring across the continent. Meanwhile, in Inys, Queen Sabran needs an heir to ensure The Nameless One stays locked away, but threats are coming to Sabran. Ead is tasked with protecting the Queen, but is actually a member of a secret order of mages. Across the ocean, in the East is a world which has good dragons and Tane is training to become a dragon rider, while an embittered alchemist tries to find a way home.
As you can tell from the above paragraph this book is about a lot... but I never felt lost or disoriented while reading it. There is so much I could else I could include in the description, but this book also contains: pirates, political intrigue, shapeshifting, witches, platonic friendships between men and women, complex female characters, love, loss, two branches of magic, amazing LGBT rep and sooo much more you just have to read it for yourself.
One of my favorite aspects of this book is that there is no discrimination based off of race, gender or sexuality in this book at all. Everyone is equal, no matter their gender, skin color and sexuality. This was so refreshing to read because so many fantasy writers feel like they have to contain these elements in their books, when the truth is they don't. It's your made up fantasy world. If you want equal rights and magic and dragons, go for it, no one is going to stop you. The women, poc and queer people had just as much respect, importance and agency in this book as any of the other characters. Out of the 4 point of views, only one is white, and 2 are confirmed LGBT. The main romance is wlw and they're one of my new otps.
My only complaint is that I wish this was longer. Which is funny to say because this is 800+ pages. If she wanted to, Shannon could've made this into a duology and really expanded on characters and their backstory and scenes we missed in this one. But alas, I will sit here and hope that she comes out with more content based in this world because I will be sitting here ready to read it.
I have seen this book called the 'Feminist Successor to Lord of the Rings', and while I do see some similarities to LOTR, this book stands on its own and holds its own ground. This is a story about a world that is divided between the East and West. Even in the West, counties are divided because of religious differences and beliefs. But the threat of the Nameless One returning will test these counties to see if they can band together and face the threat of destruction. The Nameless One is a giant bad dragon who has been sealed away for a thousand years, but his wyverns and draconic creatures are stirring across the continent. Meanwhile, in Inys, Queen Sabran needs an heir to ensure The Nameless One stays locked away, but threats are coming to Sabran. Ead is tasked with protecting the Queen, but is actually a member of a secret order of mages. Across the ocean, in the East is a world which has good dragons and Tane is training to become a dragon rider, while an embittered alchemist tries to find a way home.
As you can tell from the above paragraph this book is about a lot... but I never felt lost or disoriented while reading it. There is so much I could else I could include in the description, but this book also contains: pirates, political intrigue, shapeshifting, witches, platonic friendships between men and women, complex female characters, love, loss, two branches of magic, amazing LGBT rep and sooo much more you just have to read it for yourself.
One of my favorite aspects of this book is that there is no discrimination based off of race, gender or sexuality in this book at all. Everyone is equal, no matter their gender, skin color and sexuality. This was so refreshing to read because so many fantasy writers feel like they have to contain these elements in their books, when the truth is they don't. It's your made up fantasy world. If you want equal rights and magic and dragons, go for it, no one is going to stop you. The women, poc and queer people had just as much respect, importance and agency in this book as any of the other characters. Out of the 4 point of views, only one is white, and 2 are confirmed LGBT. The main romance is wlw and they're one of my new otps.
My only complaint is that I wish this was longer. Which is funny to say because this is 800+ pages. If she wanted to, Shannon could've made this into a duology and really expanded on characters and their backstory and scenes we missed in this one. But alas, I will sit here and hope that she comes out with more content based in this world because I will be sitting here ready to read it.