The easiest 5 stars I've ever given. Priory has been my favourite book for several years, and honestly i was concerned that whatever book came next, it wouldn't live up to how incredible book 1 was. I was clearly wrong.

Day of Fallen Night has a bigger cast of core characters and POVs this time around, but this added to the narrative and world building, allowing us to explore more of the Priory verse around their globe. Samantha Shannon has such a natural way of building the characters up that you just can't help but fall I love with them.

Glorian was an unexpected gift for me. From the premise I expected to enjoy Tuva and Ez the most, with them being older queer warriors there's literally nothing to not like, but as layered and complex as they were, they still come second to Glorian. Her strength and resilience is something else.

The prose of this book matches that used in Priory, and I know its not for everyone, but I love it. Not only does it enhance the world building and scenes, but it just uplifts the narrative.

I can not wait for future developments that may come from this, I don't care how long I wait, I need more Roots of Chaos stories!

I was so glad to receive this ARC. The Prioty of the Orange Tree was an incredible read and having the oportunity to read its prequel felt like a gift from the divine.

Okay, I have some things to say about this book. Firstly, Samantha Shannon freaking KNOWS how to write epic, mindblowing fantasy stories like no other. The world building alone is incredible. To actually be able to write several different settings/countries, each with their own lore, traditions, and customs is absolutely incredible all on its own. Then she goes on to create fascinating, authenitc characters, each with their own stories that come together in the most amazing way possible. The depth she provides for each character, their complexity, their human flaws...my mind was blown.

Also, there are dragons, I LOVE dragons!!!

If I had to complain about something it would be its incredibly slow pace. I almost fell into a reading slump several times while reading this book. Sure, epic world building and complex stories need a lot of exposition, and it is all enjoyable for the most part, but there is too much information being delivered, and it is all too hard to keep track of. I had a hard time following the story sometimes and I couldn't read more than a few pages a day because absorbing all that information was exhausting.

I wanted to wait before publishing this review, as I happened to be seeing Samantha Shannon in Conversation at Waterstones Piccadilly (and also because my Broken Binding copies shipped so I wanted a cute picture).

Now I am concerned about how exactly to write this review in a way that doesn't spoil things for people who haven't read Priory, however it seems that the books can be read as standalones where you can dive into either one and not have had to have read the other but I will keep this spoiler free and brief.

In Shannon's own words A Day of Fallen Night is longer and gayer than The Priory of the Orange Tree, taking place 500 years before, and I think I'm going to leave describing the book there.

From the first line, you're hooked, the imagery Shannon creates is beautifully; you truly feel immersed in the world. When Shannon said she spent hours at the British Museum researching what a hat would be made of in a specific time period - she meant it, her dedication to world building and every little detail shines through in ADOFN (and Rabbit is the answer).

Now ADOFN is thicker than Priory, and for good reason - we finally get to the North and explore the Priory! ADOFN focuses on four main characters: Tunuva, Glorian, Dumai & Wulf and spans several years. The storylines initially seems independent but as we go along we see how they all connect with each other. The age and hierarchical difference in the characters was done exceptionally well, especially Tunuva who is older and really isn't a character you see in popular literature - fantasy or otherwise. I do think with the characters you either love them or hate them. I liked Glorian from the get-go she is smart, self-assured and cunning and I was in a way hoping for world domination for her. The world building I cannot stress enough Shannon creates religions from the Godsingers to the Virtudom of the Queendom of Inys. ADOFN is a world you want to explore.

Now I would say it is chunky, so pace yourself if you need to, don't feel overwhelmed or intimidated by it's size ADOFN wants to be read, however you choose to read it. I do recommend perhaps Audio-booking this, just for ease.

Final words? ADOFN demands to be read.

Thank you to Samantha Shannon and Bloomsbury for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

There's no two ways about it, Shannon's Roots of Chaos books are an undertaking to read. This one was even longer than <i>The Priory of the Orange Tree</i> and while a book being a chonky boi isn't something that generally ever puts me off, I'm well acquainted with the author's writing; there is never a wasted word nor a moment where you can scan over a descriptive passage. She always asks you to engage with every moment. Your reward for this is a fully immersive fantasy experience unlike any other. But if you're in the mood for light, undemanding fare then this is probably not the book for you at this time.



I loved <i>The Priory of the Orange Tree</i>. I won't claim it was flawless but it was a perfect book for me - the sapphic fantasy novel I'd always wanted. <i>A Day of Fallen Night</i> recaptures that immersive experience and tightens the story telling. It took me a little while to get into - Shannon uses the first twenty per cent of the book to set out her stall and doesn't rush. However, the narrative is still engaging enough to draw you in if you give it the chance.



<i>A Day of Fallen Night</i> is a subtle, slow burn political fantasy novel which explores various themes (which I'll get into) and while it does have plenty of action, it's main purpose is an examination of character interactions set against a backdrop of helplessness in the face of impossible odds.



It's told from four disparate POVs and Shannon moves us skilfully through different corners of her world, managing the enviable feat of making all of her ensemble cast equally compelling. It seems initially as if at least three of these POVs are all on separate trajectories and are unlikely to meet in the main plot and part of the joy of the story is unravelling how these pathways will collide.



Let's talk themes. Perhaps one of the biggest is how we all deal with being helpless and what choices we make when under that kind of pressure. The dragons in this universe and especially in this book are more like stand-ins for natural disasters. We frail humans cannot generally stand in the path of an earthquake or a volcanic eruption and expect to emerge the victor, and it is the same with the wyrms or western dragons, and to a lesser extent the hybrid creatures who follow them. The point here is that if you cannot solve the problem by swinging an ordinary sword at it, what choices do you make? This plays nicely into an examination of the interconnectedness of all things. When a global disaster hits, you may be striving to survive and find solutions, but so are other people on the other side of the world - people you have never met and will likely never know about. You benefit from their courage and endeavour as they benefit from yours. Therefore no matter how hopeless a situation appears, it is always worth fighting on in whatever way you can. No man is an island and perhaps you won't succeed for yourself but you might just tip the balance for someone else.



Another theme is motherhood and parental/ child love. Honestly, this theme would normally turn me right off because there is far too much 'mothers are saints and can do no wrong; isn't it sacred and beautiful' crap out there. However Shannon skilfully examines the issue from all perspectives and from a variety of different approaches to parenthood. Even mothers who mean well can do harm and on the opposite end of the scale, motherhood can also be used in toxic ways to 'own' a child. There's a look at changing perspectives from being the child recipient of parental love to becoming a parent too. And the always gut wrenching 'this is the world I must bring a child into' aspect told with nuance and empathy.



Another major theme is power. Who deserves power, if anyone? Who is worthy of it? And how far will you go to obtain and hold it? There was an interesting pont where one character is politically outmanoeuvred. Ordinarily, the reader would then be treated to several chapters of them out scheming the opposition in turn. I love a good battle of wits but what Shannon did was more interesting IMO. She had her character reassess why she wanted power and whether she could do better elsewhere. Sometimes, choosing to surrender, even temporarily, in a bid to do the least amount of harm, is the best choice. Surrender is not necessarily to be conflated with weakness.



I could on about themes, about every bit of meaning I extracted from the story on just one read (I'm sure there's more) but I'd advise you just to read the book. The world building is phenomenal. The prose is intelligent and beautiful. There are several sapphic romances told with nuance and featuring fully formed characters and a range of other diverse representation which shows diversity of thought rather than being a tick box exercise. The story is gripping and so multi layered and clever, I'm not sure I saw everything even now. Best of all the characters completely engaging. I loved this book. Highly recommend.#

Breathtaking, awe-inspiring and above all, an incredible read.
Samantha Shannon’s world-building once again triumphs, as we find ourselves 500 years before the events of Priory.
The very heart of this book is the three women - Dunai, Glorian and Tunuva - and the way their stories tangle and weave together.
Couldn’t put it down and barely noticed the length of the book!

I'm not sure exactly how to talk about this book, partly because it's a prequel and don't want to spoil those who want to read Priory first. However Samantha Shannon wishes to keep the books as standalone and I think they work beautifully like that and no matter what order you read them in you would get to enjoy the well crafted relationship between the books.

To cut to the chase I had so much joy reading it. There were just so many things I loved; dragons, diversity, adventure, love, intruigue, the sensory descriptions, the fast pace, the links with Priory and the connection between everything in this world, the good, the bad, magic and nature.....

It's a read for those who love to be lost in another world, but also with a strong heart as the action seems to ramp up by halfway and just doesn't stop, till you're gasping for breath. The page length actually helped me enjoy it even more as I got to spend more time with these characters,

I am so grateful to have gotten a netgalley copy, thanks to all involved.

First of all let me start by saying that I haven’t yet managed to read The Priory of the Orange Tree and man do I wish I had now. I’ve seen in other reviews that there were Easter eggs in this book referring to priory and I just wish I’d had the opportunity to appreciate them!

Overall, the book was absolutely beautifully written and is incredibly well thought out. I did find it hard to get into but I often find this with long ebooks. I’m sure after I read the other book I will only appreciate this book even more.

Finally, thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this ARC!

It is an honour to review this book. The Priory of the Orange Tree means so much to me and getting to dive back into the world was a joy. I am so happy to get to share this experience with all of you.

Though not as good as Priory (because what really could have been as good as Priory), A Day of Fallen Night is a beautifully written prequel. It picks up a lot of the same themes as Priory and takes you straight back into this world. While I was a little slow to get into it (which I put down to the lack of dragons in the first half ) it soon picked up and reminded me what I loved about Priory,

This book is an epic. It is long and detailed and you have to buckle yourself in for a big commitment. But while some books this size are long winded and honestly not worth the effort, that's not true for either Priory or A Day of Fallen Night. It is worth the commitment and doesn't feel nearly as long when you buckle in and get reading.

My favourite parts, I think were the parts with Tunuva and Siyu. I loved seeing more about the Priory and what it was like in a time of peace. But I also really liked the bits with Glorian a lot and obviously the bits with Dumai and the dragons. It was nice that we had such a scope of storylines, with lots of themes to explore but it was also nice to see them connect together at the end.

I would recommend reading Priory again first though. I didn't have time for a reread and though I did remember a lot of stuff as I went on, I got a little frustrated that I couldn't remember certain details.

In short, this series is amazing but do reread before you get stuck in!

Samantha Shannon did it again. I really didn't think she could top Priory, which is one of my favourite books of all time but oh she did. The characters were rich and well created, I am actually hurt by the endings for some of them/ I love the little easter eggs that nod towards Priory and how certain things occurred due to the events in Fallen Night.
Honestly such an epic fantasy, it is immersive and beautifully written. It took me like 3 weeks to read but it was so worth it.
Thank you so much for an ARC copy!

Shannon does it again. If you thought Priory was a sprawling triumph of world building and storytelling, just wait until you get your hands on A Day of Fallen Night.

I won't lie, the beginning is slow - but that is a feature, not a bug. You are introduced to the characters in a way that makes it easy to keep track of them because there are several different points of view in the story. And each one of them is so distinct, you never have to wonder which character you're with at that moment. I fell in love with Tuva - it's so fantastic to see an older woman be (one of) the main character(s) in a fantasy novel like this. It was badly needed (or maybe I just need to get better at finding stories featuring older women as protagonists).

Not sure what else I can say without spoiling you for what happens in the book. After a while, each chapter feels like you're both catching up with a dear friend you haven't seen in a while and a tense and immersive episode of the latest award winning tv show. This is not a book you're going to fly through, not with the amount of pages, plot, characters and plain old story to go through; enjoy taking it slower, it's most definitely worth it.

Five stars and you bet I'm going to recommend my colleagues to add this book to our adult fantasy catalogue!

First of all, a massive thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for my advanced copy of A Day of Fallen Night - this was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023 and I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to read it beforehand✨

I was blown away when I read The Priory of the Orange Tree and this book was no different. Honestly, Samantha Shannon is out of this world incredible! Five stars for this epic, breathtaking fantasy book…

Even though this is a chunky book, at nearly 900 pages, I knew there was nothing to worry about because of how beautifully written Priory was. As usual, I was so captured by the writing that I wasn’t even paying attention to what page I was on.

The worldbuilding was done so beautifully; the descriptions and setting almost felt real. The way that Shannon (yet agin) has woven the characters and storyline together is utterly flawless. How she is able to convey characters and their choices, which in turn affect characters on the other side of the world, is phenomenal. No detail has been missed. I really enjoyed the use of multiple narrative voices and how we come to realise how everyone’s tale is woven together. We watch them grow, learn and face the wyrms that have returned into the world.

The characters are so complicated and deep. I loved all of the main characters: Tunuva, Glorian and Dumai! We travel along their respective storylines with them and slowly they begin to intercept each other.

Overall, an incredible fantasy book with exceptional worldbuilding and attention to detail. Highly recommend if you’re wanting a diverse read with powerful female characters!

A great follow up to the Priory of Orange, continuing the epic great story.
Samantha Shannon can certainly write a great story.

4.5⭐️ rounded

Please note, I have not read the Priory of the Orange Tree.

Set 500 years before Priory, A Day of Fallen Night is a beautifully written, politically & religiously dense novel full of intrigue & action.

The overarching plot was well thought out & it kept me reading late into the night. I liked how the different POV’s were used to control the pacing & to give you better insight into the background & how the different areas are woven together. The pacing was pretty slow, but I knew that going in & my investment in the story more than made up for it!

I really liked all the main characters, especially Tunuva! Due to her character’s age, she felt the most well developed & her backstory absolutely broke my heart! (Would also not say no to an ichneumon of my own). Parts of Glorian’s storyline were definitely uncomfortable to read, however everything was handled with great care. Dumai & Wulf we’re both great, strong characters. I appreciated Shannon not shying away from tough topics with all the cast, it payed off very well.

Starting out without the base knowledge I assume you would have from Priory was definitely confusing! I would say I felt extremely confused about everything for the first 15-20% of the book, but after that initial set up, everything was fine! This is an extremely well thought out, complex world with a lot of different cultures & backstories, but Shannon never drops the ball & having that context later on in the book makes the masses of world building worth it.

Despite this being an 880 page book, I flew through it without ever really struggling. This is definitely a testament to Shannon’s writing, it is filled with beautiful prose & plot that made me want to keep going! The short chapters & switching POV’s definitely helped too.

Clearly I don’t really have any faults with the book, but 1/2 a star off the full 5? Only because I was very very slightly disappointed with how everything came together! 3 of the 4 different storylines came together in a relatively satisfactory way, if not in a pretty convoluted way, to be honest for me the Tunuva part was the bit that was stretched a bit too thin! But I was mostly disappointed in the way the Dumai storyline was interwoven, I really feel like there could have been something more substantial there & maybe a missed opportunity! But it’s such a minor issue in an overall great book!

Thank you to Bloomsbury and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.

A Day of Fallen Night is the long-awaited second instalment in Samantha Shannon’s Roots of Chaos Series. This is, in fact, a prequel, set just under five hundred years before Shannon’s original book, The Priory of the Orange Tree. It is possible to read the series (so far, at least) in any order. Although I have read Priory, my memories of both plot and characters were hazy going into this novel.

This book is very much one to add to my “books I expected to like, but inexplicably didn’t” shelf. I found it incredibly difficult to get into and the various characters difficult to distinguish and remember. Please note, however, that there is an extensive glossary of characters, terms and geography at the end of the book - not so easy to access when you’re reading an e-ARC! I also felt that the plot lost some of its momentum as the book progressed. The pacing was also somewhat strange at times - events which I would have expected to take many chapters were resolved unexpectedly quickly. Perhaps that is an inevitable consequence, however, of this being a single-volume tale rather than a muti-book saga.

I suspect that I will be in the minority with my reservations. Most people who enjoyed The Priory of the Orange tree will, I imagine, adore this book. Taking a step back and reviewing the book objectively, there is much to admire. It is refreshing, in such a male-dominated genre, to see so many strong and interesting female characters. This is very much a feminist tale. Those looking for Sapphic fiction need also look no further.

Not a book perhaps that resonated with me, but A Day of Fallen Night is sure to thrill other fans of the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Circus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In some ways, there are no words. The words "epic" and "breathtaking" get thrown around an awful lot with this type of book, but they are, quite simply, true. I was blown away by Priory of the Orange Tree. I thought it was amazing and the type of work that defines an author for the rest of their life. Fallen Night was even better and I was *not* expecting that.

The same flawless word building and well-defined characters were present, but there were also fantastic improvements in pacing, descriptions, word usage, imagery, and flow. It was magnificent. Some people are alarmed by the size of this book (and Priory), but I raced through it. It didn't feel like slow or like I was trudging my way through an endless tome.

I felt parts of Priory laboured over some of the politics and I remember finding it dull. There was none of that in Fallen Night. It was gloriously feminist, queer, beautiful, sweeping, romantic, and full of the most gorgeous prose. I also loved looking back at Priory and fitting some of the bits together. It is the kind of book that haunts. I find myself thinking of it, even though I've finished it.

Samantha Shannon has more than delivered with this absolute masterpiece.

Did not disappoint! I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy and read it again. Samantha Shannon world building skills are truly something magical. Brilliant. Fabulous. All immersive. Breath Taking. Amazing.

Although Samantha Shannon had declared that The Priory of the Orange Tree was a standalone novel, it is testament to the world she created that it has called back to her and drawn her back in to tell some of the other stories of her world, It was also a fantastic read, turning a number of fantasy tropes on their heads and introducing us to some badass female characters in Tane the dragon rider, Ead the warrior mage - as well as Queendoms, enchanted swords, evil witches and of course lots of dragons.

So when her prequel appeared on NetGalley, even at a somewhat intimidating nearly 900 pages, I leapt at it.

Shannon offers us four separate stories from her world 500 years prior to the events of The Priory and those stories revolve around the central moment of the eruption of the Dreadmount volcano, the prison into which The Nameless One had been banished in mythology.

I loved Tunuva's story, and I think that is because of her age: as a forty-nine year old reader, seeing a fifty year old woman wielding a spear, trained as a warrior to defeat The Nameless One, a powerful mage in the Priory - and having a passionate romantic and sexual relationship with Esbar, another member of the Priory and destined to become Prioress. Life in the Priory, the hidden and secret community dedicated to the magical orange tree which is the source of their magic, siden, felt fleshed out here more than in The Priory - and it was surprisingly brutal in its rules: beneath the nurturing matriarchy, outsiders who stumbled across the Priory were kept prisoner or executed; punishments focussed on isolation and withdrawal for months.

Dumai had the most traditional hero journey, perhaps: like so many fantasy heroes, she is plucked from an isolated community - in her case of Godsingers on a mountain - and a hidden past is revealed to her which leads her to a series of adventures and quests. So far, so Star Wars. In Dumai's case, she is initially revealed to be the daughter of the Emperor and becomes a dragon rider, waking all the other dragons of Seiiki. In terms of romance, I felt that she had the most tender relationship with the courtier Nikeya even if she were the daughter of her enemy at court.

Wulfart Glenn, also, is that staple of fantasy, a foundling: he is discovered by his fathers with a wolf looming over him at the edge of the Haithwood a semi mythical pagan haunted hawthorne wood - and home to the witch Kalyba in The Priory. To save him from superstition, he is put in service to Bardholt Hraustr, the northern King of Hroth who had married Queen Sabran the Ambitious of Inys but stayed in the North for most of his reign. Wulfart became part of his retinue and his lith, trusted warriors.

Finally, we have Glorian, the teenage daughter of Queen Sabran and King Bardholt. Like Sabran in The Priory, she is simultaneously powerful as a Queen yet powerless as her obligation to bear the heir is overwhelming: the belief is that only the bloodline of the Berethnets keeps The Nameless One at bay. Her position is doubly powerless as she is a minor throughout most of the novel subject to her mother's and later her regent's wishes, and also terrified of being either a tyrant or a weak Queen as her great grandmother and grandmother had been. She was, if I'm honest, my least favourite character but perhaps had the strongest arc as she becomes Glorian Shieldhart.

The novels opening chapters were strangely distant in the tone - almost as if recounting mythology rather than narrating a story, which is itself perhaps appropriate: these are characters and events that had become mythology by the events of The Priory. But it was a little disconcerting as we are given a lot of rather heavy infodumps about Dumai's mother's flight to the Imperial Palace or Glorian's ancestors and how a tyrant's reign followed by a weak reign had nearly destroyed the kingdom. Those opening chapters felt bereft of dialogue, I think, felt distant and perhaps in need of a little more of an editor's eye...

In terms of plot, the novel literally centres on the eruption of the Dreadmount and the return of wyrms to the world after 500 years, an event that happens in the middle of the novel - and the plot really picks up at that point. There is a wonderfully tense section where only a handful of people are aware of the arrival of the wyrms and the rest of the world is sceptical; then there is an onslaught of dragon attacks and the novel become genuinely apocalyptic. The five dragons that flew from the Dreadmount bring the world to its knees both individually - they are almsot kaiju like in their size - as well as through a combination of draconic hybrid creatures and a burning red plague that they spread - and certain points made about the plague and mask wearing and closing borders really reminded us that the novel was being written according to Shannon over the last three years, in a world encountering covid.

Could the opening half of the novel have been pared down a little? Yes, probably. Dumai probably did need the time to move into her new role. The story of Siyu - essentially Esbar and Tunuva's daughter, born to Esbar and fathered by a man but named for Tunuva - and her elopement with the father of her child seemed to drag a little... but Canthe's presence in the Priory as an outsider but one with her own magics was vital. And some of the plot developments felt a little contrived and overly reliant on coincidence.

There was however fantastic representation of sexuality here: Wulf, brought up in a homosexual gay household, found love and romance with both men and women; Dumai has no interest in men, and in the later chapters of the book reveals her revulsion at the idea of heterosexual sex, and is uncompromisingly Sapphic; Esbar and Tunuva both bore children with men but loved each other. Glorian? Glorian - when of age sexually if not dynastically, which is troubling in itself - has sex because she must simply in order to maintain the lineage and bloodline but appears to have little if any desire or need for it and would probably be somewhere on the ace spectrum. And not a single one of these relationships is a plot point or an issue - save Glorian's. It is a world beautifully accepting of sexuality, as was the same world in The Priory. In fact the cruelty of the enforced heterosexuality of the Inys throne and the shackles that the mythology places on the queens actually felt palpable in this novel and is explicitly alluded to: who owns the Queen's body?

In reflection, I felt this was a stronger book than The Priory personally - although what it has done is prompted me to consider re-reading it, to see whether my reading is different in light of my deeper understanding of the world. If that is not a sign of a great prequel, I am not sure what is!

This book is like my most anticipated read of 2023 and i felt super blessed to be able to read it earlier and enjoy it thoroughly.

It was so easy to get back in to the world and the writing style.
The start was slow but even though for me it's an established world it's nice to get that slow start again to get me right back in the world. also it was nice after rereading priory of the orange tree to recognise some of the "historical" characters.

A DAY OF FALLEN NIGHT was one of my most anticipated novels since Samantha started working on it in 2019. PRIORY is one of my favourite books: I started a reread--not a small feat, considering the size--before Covid hit in 2020, then continued on during the first lockdown as something comforting to cling to. It's the sapphic, dragon-filled epic fantasy I wish had been around when I was younger, and means a great deal to me.

PRIORY is an achievement that struck new ground in what could be done in terms of subverting sexism and reader expectations in the genre, with the potential to become a SFF classic. That said, A DAY OF FALLEN NIGHT is a triumph.

More epic in scope, and darker in themes--PRIORY covers over a year, while ADOFN covers four years of an escalating conflict--Samantha has dug deeper into themes revisited from PRIORY. Parenthood, with an emphasis on mothers, is an important theme throughout this book, in how it shapes people both as parents and children. This is strongest in Tuniva's storyline, but also in Glorian's, both in what she will have to do as future Queen of Inys and in how she's shaped by her parents, Sabran VI and Bardholt I (shout-out to Bardholt as an incredible father figure), The intense pressures of marriage and the childhood as duty for the Inysh Queens is more sharply critiqued in ADOFN through the circumstances in how it comes about for Glorian, made even more tragic by the truth revealed under the Berethnet lie that we learn about in PRIORY.

It was also fantastic to see more of the inner workings of the Priory in ADOFN, and to see older characters come to the fore who are radically difficult in personality to Niclays in PRIORY. We're getting more older women in fantasy, and it was wonderful to follow Tunuva and to see her in a long-established relationship with Esbar. Ead in PRIORY is mostly a devout follower of the Mother and her teachings, having grown up in the consequences of the Great Sorrow/Grief of Ages, and it was intriguing to see a group who had been training for the worst for five hundred years but beginning to doubt after such an extended length of peace.

And how peace is shattered. This is one of ADOFN's strongest qualities, in my opinion. In following the conflict over four years as it escalates, and to see how four years of relentless assault by the wyrms, makes for a stark glimpse into the desperate lengths people will go to survive and endure, and how fragile that determination hangs in the balance.

Andlook: I adore Ead and Sabran, Dumai and Nikeya's dynamic and relationship (with excellent reasons for the initial hatred!) is a joy to watch unfold over the course of the novel, beautifully interwound with Dumai's plot line that will make you reconsider Tané's storyline in PRIORY with fresh eyes.

As ADOFN is a prequel, there is, of course, the question of which to read first: ADOFN or PRIORY? As someone who is obviously coming to ADOFN after PRIORY, there's still much to be gained by going in with subsequent knowledge that the world survives. Things alluded to in PRIORY are given a sharper perspective in actually witnessing them happen in ADOFN, or knowing context or secret knowledge that the PRIORY characters will never learn. Character dynamics in ADOFN have impact on character relationships and connections in PRIORY. When I finished ADOFN, I was struck by the intense desire to reread PRIORY (again), which made me considerable TBR metaphorically scream in anguish.

There are more novels to come in this world, and judging by how magnificently Samantha pulled off ADOFN, I can't wait to see what more revelations are to come in future instalments.

Thank you so much to Bloomsbury for this early copy.

I remember enjoying Priory of the Orange Tree and loving that it was a stand alone novel. I thought wouldn’t end up tied to a huge series of books. Well, here we are!
A day of Fallen Night is a prequel to Priory of the Orange Tree, though I would still read that first if you are new to this world.
In short, I enjoyed returning to the lovely sisters of the Priory, learning more of Inys and the Witch of the Wood, and of course Dragon gods and Wyrms. However, some of the plot seemed obvious which I won’t spoil here.
Dragons I love, but someone giving birth then immediately riding a horse in to battle pulled me out of the fantasy some what. Having just had a child myself perhaps I was a little sensitive, but that part was just too fantastical for me!
Overall I did really enjoy this book, though long, the story keeps you immersed in the world well, and it wasn’t until the last 10% or so of the story I started to get a little bored.