Take a photo of a barcode or cover
lindsaysofia_25 's review for:
The Priory of the Orange Tree
by Samantha Shannon
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
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:
Yes
This was my first foray into high fantasy and I loved it! I was, and still am, in absolute awe at Shannon's ability create entire histories, religions, and political systems, on top of the magic and fantastical logic of her new universe. Maybe this is just the typical experience of a newcomer to the genre, but I cannot emphasize enough how amazed I am at how fully developed this brand new world was. It's outstanding to me that this came out of someone's brain!
This novel hooked me in many different ways: I was drawn in at first by care for the major characters we meet early on and the political intrigue of the divided world they lived in, but quickly became entranced by the religious, cultural, and magical systems in the world of different characters, and later in the book, by the rising tide of cultural relativism the characters seemed to discover. On the topic of the divided world, I absolutely loved the way the chapters were labelled with the corner of the world they took place in, and how that changed over the course of the book. Very mild spoiler incoming:I thought it was really cool that at first the label 'East' vs 'West' essentially told you exactly who would be discussed in a given chapter, but then the appearance of 'South' in part II marked the first departure from that pattern. At first, we just had three groups of characters to follow instead of two, but shortly thereafter, characters started to reshuffle themselves even more and their adventures caused them to appear in chapters labelled with multiple different geographical labels. Where a chapter took place was still a useful detail to help track different plot lines, but no longer necessarily told you who could show up there, contributing to broader themes of the novel! Beyond these bigger ideas of anthropology, the novel also explored in depth, and with care, concepts of what make us human, like the many different forms of love and how they affect the individual and the community. In fact, Shannon artfully explored how the cultural divide and the perspective one takes in interpreting cultural difference impacts the relationships they are able to form.
I also have to comment on how masterfully Shannon wielded dramatic irony as a tool to advance the plot, and sometimes deeper themes, throughout the novel. Frequently, the audience would learn information from one character, only to read a different character's speculation on the matter shortly after. Often this helped build tension, as the readers got to build a more holistic understanding of the existential challenge facing the characters than any one character could have themselves. Relatedly, Shannon was really great at multitasking whenever a character would discover something that readers already knew from another character: she could use it as an opportunity to exemplify how perspectives differ while also offering readers a quick refresh on that information and its significance. This is an important talent when you're writing an 800-page novel and need to make sure your audience remembers the facts that make the next plot events hold weight, without boring them!
There is so much more I think I could say about this novel, but I think I'd quickly lose any semblance of organization since there are so many angles I could talk about it from! All in all: just read it and see for yourself!
This novel hooked me in many different ways: I was drawn in at first by care for the major characters we meet early on and the political intrigue of the divided world they lived in, but quickly became entranced by the religious, cultural, and magical systems in the world of different characters, and later in the book, by the rising tide of cultural relativism the characters seemed to discover. On the topic of the divided world, I absolutely loved the way the chapters were labelled with the corner of the world they took place in, and how that changed over the course of the book. Very mild spoiler incoming:
I also have to comment on how masterfully Shannon wielded dramatic irony as a tool to advance the plot, and sometimes deeper themes, throughout the novel. Frequently, the audience would learn information from one character, only to read a different character's speculation on the matter shortly after. Often this helped build tension, as the readers got to build a more holistic understanding of the existential challenge facing the characters than any one character could have themselves. Relatedly, Shannon was really great at multitasking whenever a character would discover something that readers already knew from another character: she could use it as an opportunity to exemplify how perspectives differ while also offering readers a quick refresh on that information and its significance. This is an important talent when you're writing an 800-page novel and need to make sure your audience remembers the facts that make the next plot events hold weight, without boring them!
There is so much more I think I could say about this novel, but I think I'd quickly lose any semblance of organization since there are so many angles I could talk about it from! All in all: just read it and see for yourself!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Different murders were described in different amounts of depth, the most gruesome ones were generally actually described in less explicit detail so as a squeamish person I was pretty okay. There is an awful lot of death though: be forewarned!