Scan barcode
A review by goodbyerachel
A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon
5.0
I was so incredibly excited to get back to the world from Priory of the Orange Tree. I originally read that book two years ago and was amazed by the world and the characters Shannon created. It was the ultimate peak of high fantasy that was led by the most badass of women. When I think of some of the "most popular" high fantasy, women authors and women characters are sorely lacking but Shannon is here to say "hold my beer" and puts them all to shame.
And that is how I felt about Priory of the Orange Tree but it holds exactly true for A Day of Fallen Night, as well. This is not a fan-service sequel, this is a beautifully crafted work of art.
If you take one thing away from my review, it would be this epiphany I had at about 70% of the book. There are four of what I would consider "major" POVs (Tunuva, Glorian, Dumai, and Wulf) and a handful of other major characters who have the occasional section. I realized I never once had an "I wish it wasn't /this person's/ POV right now" moment and not that books have bad POVs but there is always either one that is your favorite, one that is your least favorite, or one that just comes at a time when you're DYING to know what happens next somewhere else. This book? No such thing. I accepted each POV and said, "thank you, Shannon" because they were all so great and tense and moved the story along, even in ways I wasn't expecting.
Also, with this standing at just under 900 pages, there is so much going on in this book. It feels a bit more political that Priory as both Glorian and Dumai are navigating various degrees of hostility within the courts of their respective areas. There are heavy topics and themes around womanhood and motherhood (again, within courts with expectations of heirs but also the joy of choosing motherhood which was balanced really nicely). The price of duty and loyalty (to yourself, your people, your title). There are dragons and wyrms and magic. Lots of battles. It was very intense and very gripping. I read it quite slowly, usually around 100 pages per day, but it never dragged. If anything, there were parts I wish were longer.
My only regret? I do wish I had reread Priory before starting this one. Purely for selfish reasons because I am so curious how the events of Fallen Night are referred to in Priory and just the extra bit of context to how they lined up. But realistically, this would still act as a great standalone.
I really hope we continue to see books in this world because I will be reading them.
And that is how I felt about Priory of the Orange Tree but it holds exactly true for A Day of Fallen Night, as well. This is not a fan-service sequel, this is a beautifully crafted work of art.
If you take one thing away from my review, it would be this epiphany I had at about 70% of the book. There are four of what I would consider "major" POVs (Tunuva, Glorian, Dumai, and Wulf) and a handful of other major characters who have the occasional section. I realized I never once had an "I wish it wasn't /this person's/ POV right now" moment and not that books have bad POVs but there is always either one that is your favorite, one that is your least favorite, or one that just comes at a time when you're DYING to know what happens next somewhere else. This book? No such thing. I accepted each POV and said, "thank you, Shannon" because they were all so great and tense and moved the story along, even in ways I wasn't expecting.
Also, with this standing at just under 900 pages, there is so much going on in this book. It feels a bit more political that Priory as both Glorian and Dumai are navigating various degrees of hostility within the courts of their respective areas. There are heavy topics and themes around womanhood and motherhood (again, within courts with expectations of heirs but also the joy of choosing motherhood which was balanced really nicely). The price of duty and loyalty (to yourself, your people, your title). There are dragons and wyrms and magic. Lots of battles. It was very intense and very gripping. I read it quite slowly, usually around 100 pages per day, but it never dragged. If anything, there were parts I wish were longer.
My only regret? I do wish I had reread Priory before starting this one. Purely for selfish reasons because I am so curious how the events of Fallen Night are referred to in Priory and just the extra bit of context to how they lined up. But realistically, this would still act as a great standalone.
I really hope we continue to see books in this world because I will be reading them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Minor: Death of parent