So glad I finally got round the reading this. The beginning was slow but I love the world that Samantha Shannon has created and how their are various cultures and religions.

I absolutely love The Priory of the Orange Tree so was excited for this but it was such a disappointment, and I feel like this was an unnecessary prequel. If I hadn't been reading it with a friend and also stubborn after having this book for so long then I probably would have dnf'd before the halfway mark. this has about four or five separate character POV's and I only cared about two of them, and on the chapters where it wasn't those two characters, I just didn't care enough, I wasn't intrigued, and I cannot remember most of what happened in those chapters because it didn't interest me enough to retain that information after I had read it. One of the things I loved about The Priory of the Orange Tree is that even though it's a huge huge, I feel like everything that happens in that book is necessary to develop the story and the characters.

Sadly, I struggled to get into this one. Great writing but just couldn’t engage. Very complex, which isn’t a negative, but I couldn’t get into the story enough to complete it.

The book had really interesting themes such as motherhood and what it means to devote your body to something more than yourself. The characters were absolutely amazing and the relationships between them were fantastic!

Priory of the Orange tree was one of my all-time top five star reads and I enjoyed it immensely so obviously I was delighted and Also very grateful to have a chance to read this prequel before it came out .
I wasn’t disappointed ! I loved the fleshed out storylines and the more in-depth look at some of the characters within the previous history of the world. Lush thorough world building I’ve come to expect from Samantha, I found it thoroughly entertaining all in all.

There was so much information to take
In about a handful of historical characters set Centuries before any of the events in primary of the Orange tree, The way that these characters Stories intertwined Made for an incredibly Complex, detailed and enjoyable story, I can’t wait for anything to come in the future from Samantha Shannon.

This one took me a while to get through. While I did really enjoy it, it wasn't quite as good as The Priory of the Orange Tree

I sadly requested this when i was in my fantasy era and my reading vibes have changed. I have heard endless great things about this book but it’s not for me at this time.

What a brilliant book! Samantha Shannon's world building and character developments are some of the best I have seen. Whilst this is a chunky book it didn't feel like a drag at all. I'm just sad that it's all over!

A beautiful addition to the world of Priory, Shannon's continuation of this world in such a masterful way creates such a beautiful beginning to the original storyline. Filled with tension, political intrigue, and daring ambition, A Day of Fallen Night is beautiful to read either before Priory or immediately after for a return to the stunning world

The Priory of the Orange Tree was a tough book to follow, but this prequel expands on the world-building of the first book and dovetails well with it.
I was lost in it for weeks.

Set in a world where the sun has disappeared, leaving only perpetual night, the novel follows the protagonist as she navigates a landscape filled with danger and intrigue. Shannon's prose is lyrical yet sharp, drawing readers into the protagonist's struggle for survival against both the elements and dark forces at play.

What sets A Day of Fallen Night apart is Shannon's ability to delve into complex themes such as resilience, hope, and the nature of power. The characters are multifaceted, each grappling with their own demons and desires, adding layers of depth to the narrative. Overall it is a mesmerizing read that will leave readers eagerly awaiting the next installment. Shannon proves once again why she is a master of the genre, delivering a tale that is both haunting and unforgettable.

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4 stars

A Day of Fallen Night is truly a breathtaking epic novel, the sheer size alone is daunting but it truly does not feel its size. At almost 900 pages long, I enjoyed the pace - while slow, I enjoyed the time we spent with each character and I did enjoy the development of this vibrant cast of characters. A Day of Fallen Night is rich in content and world-building from the countries, cultures, politics, myths, histories, and religions of each part of this world - from East to West. It is an ambitious novel, in the same way Priory was, but it achieved the truly expansive world in the same way.

One of my favourite things in The Roots of Chaos series is the central role women play in this world and the sapphic relationships they have with other women. They were all equally deserving of the time and attention paid to them, I don't think there was a single character arc wasted here.

Could it have been smaller? Probably, but it is an epic novel in all aspect and I do highly recommend this to any fans of epic fantasy.

Samantha Shannon has done it again with this excellent “prequel” to the Priory of the Orange Tree. I absolutely adored it.

Tho this review is rather late due to health reasons, I did finish the book but never got around to posting the review.

It has been a while since I finished reading the book. However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this sequel-prequel. This gave a very nice look into the history of the world and how certain things came to be. I loved reading about the ancestors of the characters I loved in The Priory of the Orange Tree. The world building was immaculate, just like in her previous book, the stories tied very well together.

Thank you to Bloomsbury for approving me for an ARC of this book!

A Day of Fallen Night is the prequel to the much-adored Priory of the Orange Tree, so naturally, I was HYPED for this! Alas, much like Priory, it's also a behemoth of a book, so gathering the bravery to tackle this and then actually reading it feels like almost as much of an adventure as the protagonists go through here.

The good news first: The worldbuilding is rather easy to grasp if you've already read Priory, so a big chunk of the mental work is already out of the way. It beautifully expands on the history we get crumbs of in Priory, and adds some much-appreciated context.
Also, it's deliciously queer. If Priory feels fruity to you, this is fruity^2. And I am SO here for it.
I think the way the cast is introduced in the beginning is so brilliant and gripping, I was instantly hooked and honestly, never stopped being deeply engaged with them.
I feel like it's not even worth mentioning at this point, but obviously, the writing and plotting is amazing. The multiple POVs once again serve tremendously well in establishing a feeling of vastness within the world of the book, and it's always a treat when they interconnect.

The bad news: While the plot and the writing is stunning, it somehow felt a little anticlimactic in comparison to its companion novel. That's not to say that I didn't immensely enjoy reading this and was on the edge of my seat for most of it, but I was kind of always waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it just.. didn't? This, to be fair, is probably owed to the source material. If you're telling the tale of an event that has passed, there's not much to do in terms of raising the stakes of the events themselves. Sure, we can get there through personal connection to the cast (and oh boy, was I connected!), but all of the fights ultimately left me wanting for something more.

Still, this is another amazing work by Shannon, and I cannot wait for more entries into the Roots of Chaos.

Another truly excellent epic fantasy story from Samantha Shannon!

There are a lot of characters in this epic tale however Shannon has woven their stories together into a beautiful tapestry that completely absorbs the reader into the world and they feel so connected to each and every one, wishing for their happiness even has a very real threat hangs over the narrative.

I had a really great experience reading this book, luxuriating in the world and was very sad when the story drew to a close as it felt as though I was saying goodbye to family as some characters I had been following for their whole life.

This book takes place some years before The Priory of the Orange Tree and the gap between the two means that both books are set in the same world but very much function as standalones. I think some readers might appreciate reading the two back to back as they would be able to recognise common elements or see the introduction of something in ADOFN and how in evolves into what it is in TPOTOT. I went into this book having read Priory however it was over a year ago so much of the detail had left my brain so it was as if I was going in with a clean slate so much so that I would say that it was as if I was reading ADOFN without any knowledge of the world and it definitely did not reduce my enjoyment at all.

It has taken me a while to get around to reading A Day of Fallen Night with its sheer size being quite daunting.

The story is told from multiple points of view and builds a World vast with dragons, wyverns, beasts, magic, fire, light, faith, LGBTQ+ characters. With the eruption of the Dreadmount war begins. All four characters are really interesting with excellent character development. I really liked that a pregnancy did not hinder a woman, which I feel is often prevalent in fantasy books where a strong character becomes pregnant and is suddenly incapable. In A Day of Fallen Night that is not the case and I think it explored the strength of woman and the impact pregnancy, birth can have on mental health.

I was stressed, I cried and I was so happy with the characters story line endings. Despite its size I didn’t feel at any point that the story was dragging or felt too long.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this arc.

Thank you to Bloomsbury books and Netgalley for this advance copy (and sorry for the late review!).

Samantha Shannon does it again. This is a stunning sequel / prequel to Priory of the Orange Tree. I love love loveddd it.

An astounding rich and spellbinding prequel that somehow manages to add an even greater layer of history to the amazing world created within The Priory. So great