This was an engaging expansion on one of the events happening in The Priory of the Orange Tree, and I enjoyed reading about the POVs of these characters that are side characters in Priory. There are three POVs, with Marosa’s being the main one, while the other two act as supporting POVs. I feel like I really got to know these characters. The only thing I wish we got was that we actually got to see Marosa and Aubrecht interacting with each other on page instead of just being told about it. It would have increased emotional investment in their relationship and how later events affect it.
It’s been great being back in this world. I think this short novel works nicely for fans of the series, even though I wouldn’t say it adds much new information to the series as a whole. It just has a closer look at what happened in Yscalin prior to what we see in Priory.
I’m not sure if I’d recommend starting with this instalment without having read at least one of the other two books. It’ll spoil some things for both Priory and A Day of Fallen Night, and the references to events and people from both books will not mean anything to a new reader. They might struggle more because of it. It can act as a little appetizer of what to expect, but I’d advise reading Priory first, to be honest, because it serves as the best introduction to the world of all the books in this series, in my opinion.
The pacing issues I had with the other books in the series weren’t as apparent here, probably due to the much shorter length. Both endings in the other books felt anticlimactic to me. Here I’m fine with how it ends as it pretty much stops where Priory starts off concerning this part of the events.
In general, I’d recommend this series to people who want to: get lost in a rich and detailed world, see the characters navigating and interacting in it, see different (religious) believes clashing, see how differently historical events are viewed by different cultures, explore some mysteries, read about interesting women, and get some queer romantic subplots, dragon content (there definitely could be more dragons) as well as political/court intrigue. If you’re fine being in it for more of the journey, you might really like these books.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Among the burning flowers follow three different perspectives in this book: the future Queen of Yscalin, Donmata Marosa; her betrothed, the prince of Mentendon Aubrecht; and finally a draconic slayer named Estina Melaugo.

This book is set after A Day of Fallen Night, but before The Priory of the Orange Tree. The story is a insight into the downfall of Yscalin.

Among the burning flowers is has a rich and immersive worldbuilding, a beautiful prose that balances the density of the narration and characters that gives depth and realism to the story.

Samantha Shannon has this incredible power to make the reader feel so involved and part of the story. She can capture the human emotions and play with them.

This is a story of human resilience, lore, tragic events and beautifully written representation.
A story that gives the chance to the reader to introduce themselves on tiptoe in the world of Samantha Shannon.

The Priory of the Orange Tree was such an epic, sweeping saga that it's hard to not worry that the subsequent books will not live up to it. I thoroughly enjoyed A Day of Fallen Night and am so impressed with how Samantha Shannon creates such intricate, weaving stories. Among the Burning Flowers has certainly started off with a roar. I'm already hooked. I cannot wait to read the rest.

WE’RE SO BACK

It was so great to re-enter the world of The Priory, a book I read a few years ago and loved deeply, reuniting with some of the characters we already knew. And I had missed Shannon's writing-I think she is one of the most talented writers on the scene today! I recommend this read not only to the fans of the og book, but also to those who have never read Priory yet and are a bit intimidated by its length, this novella will already give you a background on the world-building and a taste of what's to come!

Thank you Netgalley, Tandem Collective and Bloomsbury Export for the copy! [AD/PR]

If you’re looking for an unbiased review, this isn’t it. I always have to say this. Do you know how much I love Samantha Shannon? Because I do. Deeply. Endlessly. And once again, she’s delivered a story that has completely consumed me.

Donmata Marosa, heir to Yscalin's throne, is trapped—held captive by her own father, King Sigoso, after a mysterious and catastrophic event - while clinging to the hope of escape through her betrothal to Aubrecht Lievelyn. Meanwhile, Estina Melaugo hunts the Draconic beasts that have begun to stir after years of slumber. But the greatest threat of all? The great wyrm Fýredel is awakening.

Technically, you could read Among the Burning Flowers as a standalone—Samantha Shannon herself recommends it—but why deprive yourself of the full, layered experience? The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night add a richness that makes this story all the more immersive. I can’t personally say what it’s like to dive in without them, but trust me, the payoff is worth it. No wonder everyone is feeling the urge to revisit Priory—this book deepens its legacy, making a reread feel almost inevitable.

Shannon has an unparalleled ability to blend intricate world-building with intimate, heart-wrenching character moments and masterful prose. She fills every page with tension, yearning, and emotion, effortlessly pulling readers into the highs and lows of her characters’ struggles. As someone who gets deeply attached to characters, I adored the echoes of our beloved Root of Chaos characters woven throughout, the legacies that linger, the brief but powerful nods to those who came before.

And Marosa—oh Marosa. I admire her and her resilience, like an aching fire in my heart that can never extinguish. Getting more insight into her story, alongside deeper context on Queen Sabran and our beloved Priory characters, was everything I could have wanted. I was entirely mesmerized by her, albeit enjoying the two other point of views in this book. Samantha doesn’t just tell stories; she makes you feel them, in your skin, bones and joints. She grips your heart, wrings it out, and leaves you utterly breathless and begging for more.

One of the things I absolutely adore about Samantha Shannon's works is the sapphic fantasy element that she weaves so effortlessly throughout her stories. The relationships, full of passion, complexity, and tenderness, feel both natural and refreshing, whilst giving space to breathe and be witty and funny, in the middle of chaos. She doesn’t just include a sapphic love story; she builds it with depth and care, giving it space to breathe and thrive within the larger, high-stakes drama of her worlds. It adds a layer of beauty and emotional richness that I simply can’t get enough of—each interaction and connection feels like fresh and anew, and I am here for it!

So yes, this is a love letter disguised as a review. You wouldn’t have anything else from me in regards to Samantha Shannon, would you?


Thank you Netgalley and publishers as always for the e-arc!

✨ Just finished "Among the Burning Flowers" by Samantha Shannon, and wow, what a journey! ✨

Shannon has crafted another richly detailed and immersive world, this time within the captivating tapestry of her "Roots of Chaos" series. The characters are complex and compelling, each with their own unique struggles and strengths, drawing you deeply into their lives.

The writing is as lush and evocative as ever, painting vivid scenes that linger in your mind long after you've finished reading. The intricate plot weaves together magic, politics, and personal growth in a way that kept me absolutely hooked!

If you're a fan of intricate fantasy with beautifully developed characters and a world that feels both magical and real, this book is a must-read. It's a testament to Shannon's incredible storytelling prowess.

Highly recommend diving into this one! 📚🔥

Among the Burning Flowers by Samantha Shannon. This is the first time that I am reading one of her books. It was the perfect toe dipper into her world as this is a prequel to her best-selling fantasy book The Priory of the Orange Tree.

ABF is only around 200 pages which is rather short against her normal 600+ page books but its wonderfully descriptive with a background of red pears, lavender and a dragon infested world that she conjures up. I will definitely be giving her other books a read in the future.

Donmata Marosa, the future queen, is kept a prisoner in her own home by her father, King Sigoso. She is counting down the days until she gets married to her betrothed, Aubrecht, but all sorts of Draconic mayhem break out before this happens.

Across the waters Estina Melaugo is a Culler. She hunts Draconic beasts who have starting emerging from caves and lairs after a slumber of over a thousand years.

The great wyrm Fýredel is stirring and life as the people have known for centuries is about to change. The lands will soon be ablaze with dragon fire.

Thank you to Tandem Collective and Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the eARC. This book releases in September.

The shortest book out so far from Ms Shannon at only 288 pages, I'm so used to be encased in her worlds for such a long time that I was surprised (and upset) to realise I'd reached the end so soon! But with this being a prequel, it could be a much easier entry point into the series for those who aren't sure about attempting an 800 behemoth.

We follow three different perspectives in this book, and whilst it took me a while (blame my brain for this) to click how each was relevant to Priory and Fallen, once I did I was utterly obsessed with seeing how these events came to pass and linked to the other two books. Getting to see the development of political alliances and to understand more the actions of certain characters was something I really appreciated.

This book is set after A Day of Fallen Night, but before The Priory of the Orange Tree., so there are mentions of certain characters that link between both books. We get to know some characters that were previously only mentioned by name as well as learning more about the motivations and lore behind actions of some more well known characters. I love that Among the Burning Flowers bridges this gap between the two larger books.

The three POVs in this book are: the future Queen of Yscalin, Donmata Marosa; her betrothed, the prince of Mentendon Aubrecht; and finally a culler (draconic slayer) named Estina Melaugo.

Despite this short page count, Samantha Shannon still delivers the deep relationships between characters (romantic and platonic), the intense action moments, and has me utterly absorbed and wanting more. Am I going to have to go back and reread Priory and Fallen?!

This short (for Shannon) novel demonstrates her fantastic writing style. She adds to an already lore-rich universe with beautifully written worldbuilding, character development, and a deeper understanding of the tensions present in this world. Yet another absolute marvel. Thank you so much to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for an eARC of this book!

It was just so wonderful and easy to get lost in this world again.

I have the memory of a goldfish so I really struggled to figure out where it slotted in with the previous 2 books. It's set about 500 years after A DAY OF FALLEN NIGHT and shows the origin story for Yscalin as we know it in THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE.

Though this is a lot shorter than the other books in the series, it still manages to have the same level of depth in the world building and character storylines.

I really enjoyed this addition to the Roots of Chaos world! I found that this provided a lot of additional context to the other two ROC books, particularly Priory. I always appreciate some good lore in my epic fantasy!!

Samantha Shannon does a great job of transporting you to this fantasy world of castles, princesses, dragons, and political intrigue. In many ways this novella felt like a dark adult fairytale, and I loved that aspect of it! I also loved the centrality of women to the story and how Samantha wrote their respective struggles in this turbulent fantasy world. This is a story of strength and resilience, and I always love the way Samantha explores these kinds of qualities in her characters.

My only critique is that this novella was a little too ambitious with it being multi-POV as well as trying to make it a possible entry point to the ROC world for new readers. I wouldn’t recommend it as a first point of contact with this world, and I think existing ROC readers are going to get a lot more from this than new readers will. I think Among the Burning Flowers either needed to be fleshed out into a full-length novel, or to have less POVs.

That being said, as an existing ROC fan, I loved what this added to the wider timeline of events/cast of characters we see across all three instalments, and I’m really looking forward to re-reading it with what I can imagine are going to be beautiful illustrations when it comes out!

Thanks so much to Bloomsbury and Netgalley for the e-ARC of this novella.

I rated this book 5 stars, because how can it be anything else than that. It was just amazing! This book brought me right back into the magnificent world the author created. She wrote this as another entry to the series; one that is shorter than her other books and may be more appealing to readers that aren't used to long epic fantasy books or just want to see how her writing is. For me personally (I read all published books in the series), I think it would be best to read it after ADOFN and before Priory, because their is a minor spoiler about ADOFN.
We already saw Marosa, Aubrecht and Estina in Priory and while I was excited to see more of Marosa and Estina, I wasn't the biggest fan of Aubrecht. For me, he kinda gave nothing. This book changed my opinion on him immensely as we saw more about his relationship with his family and Marosa and his thoughts and motives. And then Marosa. What a woman! And definitely my favourite of the three. It was fascinating to see how she survived the fall of Yscalin and to get more insight into her thoughts. We knew a bite about Estina's backstory because of Priory and it was really interesting to see her experience of the fall of Yscalin, as her social status was very different from Marosa.
The title is very fitting as the story deals with the fall of Yscalin and you quickly realise why it's called "Among the Burning Flowers". I'm really happy that the author decided to publish more in this world and I can't wait for the next installment.

This is a shorter book that I feel is perfect for a new readers entry into the roots of chaos world, it's not as big but gives you enough info and world building to drag you in and make you want to finally pick up that 15lb book!
Yes, it is that serious and I highly recommend starting here and binging the rest!

This was a fantastic delve in to the series and the story

The Priory of the Orange Tree was on my 2025 TBR, but I was waiting for this book as it’s the prequel and gives some more background and context for the first big book

This was a super fast, easy read (it’s the shortest of the series), and really set everything up for me and the next book clearly. I am now ready to dive in to the main storyline!

The world building was spot on and I am so excited to see more of it

The book can definitely be read before or after the other two books, I guess it would just hit a different way if you’ve read the other two first!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the arc 🫶🏻

I'm sorry, I wanted to love this but found it very static: so much of it is back story as characters remember what has happened in the past and I wanted a plot happening in the present. There was no tension or pull-through for me. While advertised as a prequel, maybe you need to read the later books first?

Although it's been quite a while since I read The Priory of the Orange Tree, and I've not yet gotten to A Day of Fallen Night, Among the Burning Flowers stands on its own incredibly well. It eased me right back into the world again, smoothly enough that I didn't even have to Google any names or places (honestly a miracle as my memory is abysmal)!

This book was exquisite. Rich and immersive worldbuilding, beautiful prose that strikes the perfect balance between flowery and accessible, and such emotional depth. Marosa's poise, determination, and resilience in the face of incredibly bleak and horrific circumstances was the highlight of the book for me, but I also definitely grew a soft spot for Aubrecht's dutiful nature and love for his family, and it was fun to learn more about Estina, although I wish we'd gotten a little more of her POV!

I'm in awe at how much was conveyed in under 300 pages while not feeling rushed or underdeveloped. Definitely my favourite read of the year so far! Highly recommend for anyone who loves intricate fantasy with heart-wrenching stakes.

I really enjoyed this book! The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night is one of my favourite series. If you've heard about them but the large page counts put you off, this book is a great place to start. Among the Burning Flowers is a short novel which ends where The Priory picks up. So if you enjoy this book you can move straight on to see the story continue to unfold.

For readers that have already read these books, this novel gives so much extra context to the history of our characters, the political alliances and the fragile nature of the situation. It's good to know whether its 800 pages or 200 Samantha continues to rip out my heart and make me feel.

Easter eggs of some of our favourite characters
This story happens after A Day of Fallen Night and there are brief mentions of those characters in this book. For anyone that hasn't read it, you probably won't notice them, but I kicked my legs a little when I came across a few mentions and saw their legacy shine through.

I get so attached to characters so this was such a lovely touch to add and it helps pull all the stories together.

Shannon is a brilliant writer and we see this through her storytelling. She seamlessly weaves worldbuilding, history and character dialogue with such heavy tension. She plays on the readers emotions and in such a short amount of pages I felt intrigue, sadness, pity, anger, confusion.. It's real talent to get the reader so involved and part of the story.

We also get familiar with characters that have previously only been mentioned by name. It was good to get a sense of them and see their interactions, who they are, how they carry themselves. This world is rich with lore and I love digging into it and building on what I already know.

I also loved to see more of our Priory main characters. I wasn't a huge fan of Aubrecht but after this and seeing his passion and loyalty, I have been swayed. Also getting more context of Queen Sabran and what Marosa has been through. I ache more for her and the strength she's shown.

More representation as expected from Samantha Shannon!
Shannon continuously adds representation to her books and this one is no different. Love comes in all forms and if you like your books with sapphic love, give this one a try!

‘A few years ago, an ancient compass came into my keeping. At some point in time, its needle had rusted in place,’ she said. ‘I was like that compass when you found me. I had finally established a safe place, a home, in Perunta. But the longer you remain still, the more rust starts to cover you, and underneath, you become fragile. And soon it hurts to move at all.’

I can tell so much thought has gone into this. Shannon has planned out these characters very well and when reading the Character Glossary to remind myself of a few points, Shannon has made note of characters in there from the very first book (in 2019) that she's referred back to in this story. She has played the long game and its very smartly done, I love that.

Fantastic story rich with lore and tension

The story was intriguing, unfortunately I wasn't emotionally invested in the Characters.

I'm hoping its because it's a short prequal as I haven't read any of the other books from the series yet, but they are still on my TBR and I look forward to reading them now that I know what to expect.

The characters seem strong willed and the world is vast. All the different locations and names took me a moment to get used to but the addition of Wyverns was a pleasant surprise as I went into this book blind.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved dipping back into my favourite world and learning more about some Priory characters we only caught a glimpse of initially.
So many emotions for something so short.

Among the Burning Flowers by Samantha Shannon is a fantastic book. I loved the characters and the storyline was perfect! I rated it 5 stars because I couldn't put the book down for a second.

“I see you’ve accepted my offer. Only took the end of the world.”

I know Samantha Shannon has advised reading this as a less daunting introduction to the Roots of Chaos series, but I’d personally recommend reading it after The Priory of the Orange Tree. Among the Burning Flowers is an incredible book on its own, but 288 pages is a blink of an eye for the Roots of Chaos series, and I think I would have struggled to understand the scale of the world and its characters without having read Priory first!

As always, I adored the worldbuilding; Among the Burning Flowers provides a deeper exploration of Mentendon and Yscalin. It dives into different - and forbidden - faiths, backstory behind Yscal’s reigning house of Vetalda, and gives us the POV of some of the wonderful characters that are just side characters in Priory.

I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of places in Yscalin, like Ortégardes the City of Courtesy - Samantha Shannon has a way of breathing life into everything she writes. I also loved the POV of all three characters, although I was surprised that Estina Melaugo was my least favourite.

My only complaint is that Among the Burning Flowers is short, and I could have spent a Samantha Shannon-typical 900 pages with these characters.