A really lovely beginning to a great epic. Big enough that I’m worried I’m biting off more than I can chew!

Absolutely brilliant high fantasy with complex characters and deep rooted story lines.
Great representation of the Lgbt community and also strong female characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the extract of the book.

I'm already sucked into the beautifully lush scenes of this epic fantasy. Shannon's writing is utterly illustrative. I'm excited to read this book in its entirety and see what happens next.

E-arc provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

I have read all of this amazing book and I am WOW. This took me quite a while to get through but man, if it was worth it.
This is a high fantasy novel which reminded me a lot of Eragon meets Game of Thrones. It a fairly fast paced book which never bored me. That took me by surprise, to be honest. Since it's really long I was expecting that.
Samantha Shannon's writing improved a lot since The Bone Seasons saga which I didn't particularly enjoy. But this is amazing! MUST READ!

This was a great extract and I am so excited to read the full book!

And the cover looks amazing to top it all off. Better grab a cup of tea and cosy up with a blanket!

I thoroughly enjoyed this fantasy novel. The world building was phenomenal. You were able to not only learn the history of the places and the people, but you developed a connection to the characters in a way that made you have hope for your favorites and disdain for those you didn't care for. All of the magical elements from the dragons to the magical objects made for a truly interesting story. I felt that the book was a good mix of information and action to keep you reading, and the book definitely picked up in the second half once you got a sense of the world and backstories. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a great fantasy story. I would only recommend it to my higher level high school readers because there are a few adult themes scattered throughout that not all teens would be able to handle, and the length would intimidate some of those that are not big readers. I definitely would recommend this to my adult friends.

Touching on some meaningful and topical theories, Shannon manages to construct a well-rounded, and yet intricate novel. Typically, the writing style used is not a favourite of mine. However, the author has managed to weave a world of words which distracts from the conceptual, and physical, and encourages the reader to a veritable absorption into this novel. While this is only a extract, I am currently reading (and enjoying) the full novel.

The story is well written and enjoyable to read. makes me want to read the full book instead of just a very small portion. There is more to this world than this brief glimpse allows.

This book is amazing, my review is up on goodreads. Definitely in my top 5 of the year.! Reading this excerpt was a great way to hold me over before release date!

The Priority Of The Orange Tree ~ Samatha Shannon
The story follows four characters/narrators,that live in a divided world. Master story telling including; great dialogue, intrigue, friendships , a little romance. With interesting and believable characters, Wonderful story building with fantastic mythical creatures. Please don’t let the size of this book intimidate you. I was so engrossed in the story and its characters, that I didn’t want it to end. Masterly written. The Priority Of The Orange Tree, is one of the best books of 2019.

All options are my own .

This ambitious fantasy epic by Samantha Shannon has something to keep everyone invested: titillating characters, all of which are flawed and complex individuals whom undergo harrowing trials and tribulations that alter their outlooks and personalities; several differing religions that simultaneously complement each other and contradict one another; a beautifully imagined landscape with tender world-building; and relationships between characters that are as wholesome as they are heart-wrenching.

I am definitely liking this book so far! This is just chapters 1-7, but already I like the storyline. It’s was a little difficult at first to keep track of all the characters, but at this point I’ve got the main ones and their storylines pretty much down. The world is so well imagined and I’m excited to see where the story goes from here. I also feel like a good bit of mystery has been set up with the Nameless One and the discrepancies of what really happened with Cleolind and Galian and whether dragons are good or bad. This is a huge book and I’ve only barely scratched the surface with this excerpt but I’m definitely enjoying it so far.

The first paragraph is the most telling, for me. If a book doesn't start out grippingly then what can I expect of the rest of the book.
Be aware that I merely acquired an EXTRACT of this story through NetGalley, and it was only 50 pages or so.
This book (from what I read) is very focused on building lore. I found it interesting but would have loved to see it more rounded. It's roughly 800 pages, after all. Minimally described and focused mostly on the characters themselves, and even so, hardly described more than their hair and age.
I'll wait for my local library to gain a copy before continuing. No rush.

I was eagerly anticipating this novel, and now that I've read the Early Extract, I simply cannot WAIT! This is going to be epic.

i read this and automatically preordered the book! i don't remember the last time i was this excited to do read something, i already got it and will have a full review on the full book up at some point next month!

The only beef with this, is that it's an extract. I want the whole damned book! *lol* When I'd finished with the extract - which is about 10% of the whole book of 800+ sides, I went right ahead and got the audio book version for it.

Epic fantasy at its best, and a very feministic fantasy also. My red socks (a symbol of feminism in my country) quivers with delight when I'm reading about these kick-ass ninja women who take sh** from no one. I digress, but there are too many damsels in distress in the fantasy world.

Anywhooo, excellent writing, the world-building is insane, and the characters are awesomely flawed and real. This is a must read if you like fantasy. Or feminism. Or just plain ol' good reading.

Let’s start with this: I was given a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

With that, The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon is a very long book, and it took me awhile to whittle through it while getting other projects done. And it was a great book.

This follows four distinct stories, taking place in the West, South, and East. In this world you have those who follow the Saint, a man who supposedly put the Nameless One (a dragon who is fire and wants to kill all of humanity) to sleep, the Nameless One, and the East where the worship the dragons of the water and air. As such, it took a while for the story to get going as there is so much background information needed to understand what is going on. And, in a lot of ways, the religions still mostly confuse me. But, beyond that, this was a great high fantasy read. Court intrigue was the name of the game in the West, while everyone one was on the classic adventure saga path.

This novel worked so well by itself. Could be that there will be a sequel, but I really enjoyed this book. It dealt with the hot topics of today – they had gay folks in this, people, and they could be “companions”, plus all sorts of different colored people in different walks of life – but it didn’t point them out as being important to the story outside of descriptions and understanding the relationships that the characters had with one another.

I, for one, really appreciated that they also had people who loved one another as friends. Loth and Ead, as well as Loth and Saban, were wonderful relationships that added to the story in their own way.

Shannon has written a complex story that is difficult to discuss in a short form. Who would like this book? Anyone who enjoys fantasy of any level would appreciate this book. Particularly those who enjoy deception in their novels, action, and growth. These characters go through difficult things, and the author didn’t buckle at them. She attacked them head on and forced her characters to deal with them, even if they didn’t want to.

If you don’t like fantasy and complicated stories, this likely isn’t the novel for you.

Back in the 1950s, J.R.R. Tolkien’s publisher made a notable change to the book that would become his magnum opus. Instead of the lengthy single volume that he intended, The Lord of the Rings was broken into three volumes, each of which contained two “books.” Since then, the trilogy has become something of an expectation in high fantasy—three books are almost always considered better than one, it seems. And it isn’t always trilogies: British author Samantha Shannon is currently midway through her own stab at that other beloved fantasy format, the seven-book epic.

Yet with her latest book, The Priory of the Orange Tree, Shannon upends the precedent, delivering readers a complex, intricate, and complete high fantasy story in one gravid volume, itself containing six internal books. It is a tale wide in scope and deep with history, the kind that keeps you reading well into the night, the action building and growing into a great flight of dragons.

This is what everyone knows: a thousand years ago, the world was threatened and nearly destroyed by a fire-breathing dragon known only as the Nameless One. The Nameless One and his draconic horde were defeated and forced into the Abyss, where they slumber. The Nameless One is prophesied to rise again.

Beyond that, there is very little consensus. The countries of Virtudom claim to be descended from Saint Galian Berethnet, who rescued the princess Cleolind and defeated the dragon. Virtudom counts its ruler, Queen Sabran IX, back to Cleolind and Galian, and the founding myth holds that the Nameless One will be held at bay as long as the royal line holds. The titular Priory has an altogether different take on the relationship between Cleolind and Galian: Cleolind was self-rescuing, and not the consort of Galian; it was she who founded the Priory.

While the people of the Priory take a dim view of Virtudom’s founding myth, they are nonetheless committed to help maintain the Queendom and the line of succession. Probably the Nameless One is not kept at bay by Sabran’s continued rule, but certainly, if Virtudom were to fall into chaos after the failure of the royal line, humanity would lose an important bulwark against the awakening dragon threat.

In the East, on the other side of the world, people revere dragons, though these are beasts of a different sort: water-based, instead of fire-breathing. The Seiikinese train a special few to bond with their dragons and become Riders. It is their belief that a comet forced the Nameless One into dormancy in a cycle that balances water and fire, earth and sky.

The recent past and the complex interpersonal webs that bind the many characters (there is a lengthy index to help you keep them all straight) feel textured and real. The book follows a web of people bound to one another by both duty and duress, enmity and amity. In the East, and on the eve of the trials that may advance her to dragonrider, Tané Miduchi breaks a prohibition against outsiders by helping a young traveler from Virtudom to avoid the authorities. This act of largely self-serving kindness (the trials would certainly be postponed if the stranger were discovered) sets her on a path to collide with Niclays Roos, an exile from Virtudom who has lived the last decade on the doorstep of the East, a small trading post where foreigners must wait for unlikely passage into Seiiki.

In Virtudom, Sabran IX is protected by Ead Duryan, an agent of the Priory who has been inserted into the royal chambers as a handmaiden and helpmeet. The threats she is facing are both human and draconic, and Ead must use both her wits and training and a sort of magic forbidden in Virtudom to keep the queen safe. Another exile from Sabran’s court, Lord Arteloth, investigates why the country of Yscalin, once a part of Virtudom, has thrown in with the fire-breathing dragons against the rest of humanity, declaring itself a “Draconic Realm.”

The opening half lays out the world and its people in with a careful hand, and at a measured pace. While there is an inkling that the awakening of the Nameless One is nigh—wyvern attacks, rumors of outbreaks of a draconic plague—the threat feels remote and unreal; a spectre like climate change, always circling on leathery wings. It’s understandable: a thousand years is a very long time, and while no one doubts the existence of the Nameless One, the lack of consensus on even the nature of dragons keeps the different peoples of the world focuses more closely on their local concerns, and not on the terrible awakening of a historical enemy. There are a few thrilling glimpses of dragons—both the water and fire varieties—in these early sections to tide you over until the real fireworks begin.

After an almost languorous opening, The Priory of the Orange Tree picks up steam as agents of the Nameless One begin to assert themselves in unequivocal terms. After so detailed a beginning, the second half can feel a little rushed, as all these so carefully placed pieces inexorably begin to coalesce and collide. Yet though the magic and dragons the novel concerns itself with are traditional to high fantasy in many ways—from their influence on prophesy to the drama of the court—Shannon often defies expectations, from influences to consequences, in ways that make tradition feel fresh and new.

The Priory of the Orange Tree is available now.

I was very excited to start this book. I’ve heard so many people rave about it and the cover is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, that’s where it ends. This book turned out to be the complete opposite of what I was expecting. It’s written from different POVs, which is very much hit or miss for me, and in this case, it was a miss. The book spoke of a lot of different countries, in either the East or the West. Due to the lack of a map, I had a hard time understanding where the story was taken place and what the countries were that were mentioned. I didn’t understand the different religions, what was specific about them and why they were different. Also, there were A LOT of names, and when I say a lot, I mean A freaking LOT. Most of the time I had no idea who anyone was, what their role was in the story or even if the person mentioned was male or female. The different ranks in Sabrans court were very confusing. There were chamberers and Ladies of the Bedchamber and what not. I didn’t understand who outranked who and what all the ranks entailed. Lastly, the writing style was too much. I felt the author used an overly complex writing style, with a lot of difficult words. All in all, there was hardly anything I liked about this book and because of all the points mentioned above, I felt reluctant to continue reading. I didn’t particularly care for the characters or the plot. This book was simply not for me.

Definitely bumping this up on my tbr! The writing is beautiful and I'm already loving this world! If the rest of the book is as good as this sample was this will definitely be in my Top 10 of the year.