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fanboyriot's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Read For:
Dragons
Slow Burn
Fantasy Map
Sapphic Romance
High Fantasy (but make it queer)
I definitely have some mixed feelings about this book. I wanted to love it but it fell more flat for me than anything else. It was just kinda meh. It wasn’t bad but I also just didn’t fall into the hype about it either. I was a bit bored at times, honestly.
While the worldbuilding/setting was done really well the characters overall just lacked personality. I found myself confused as to who was who for more than half of the book, which might be more of a me thing than anything else, but even then I just didn't really care for any of them. I am much more of a character person than a world-building person.
Then there were some chapters that just dragged out, and while in the beginning, it was fine. It's high fantasy and that's expected to get to know the world and everything but it was no better by the last chapter.
However, I didn’t totally hate this book either. I really liked how the Queen was the one running things. It was super nice to read a high fantasy without it being majorly sexist or borderline creepy. Plus it had some queer relationships as well, a sapphic relationship being the main hype of the book besides the dragons. And lastly the dragons, I loved how they were written into the story, how they interacted with their riders, and the bond they shared.
Overall, if you're a fan of high fantasy and want to see some queer rep within the book then I recommend this to you. However, if you’re more like me, where contemporary books have taken over your tbr, then I probably wouldn't recommend it to you.
POV: Switching, Third Person
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Rep: Queer MCs, Queer SCs, Sapphic (main), Achillean (side), Aspec MC
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Excrement, and Dementia
arlaubscher's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Slavery, and Trafficking
pbeeandj's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Huge, epic, and gay. Quality animal and dragon friends to help our protagonists (I especially loved the Ichnuemon). All but one of the pov characters are POC. I wish I could watch this as a series. 5/5 stars and no notes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Alcoholism, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
cameronreads's review against another edition
5.0
I don’t know how this book managed to surpass my expectations but it did by leaps and bounds. A perfect world, magic system, writing style, structure, and cast of characters. I was convinced I’d be saying it was too long, but if anything it could have been longer - I would spend forever in this incredible world with these life like characters. Loved this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, and Death of parent
racheyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This book was a slog! A positive one, but oh boy the content was so much to digest. I've constantly been surprised by the storyline throughout the entirety of this book which is amazing considering how long it is. One chapter could be explaining the scene and within a single paragraph towards the end of it, everything you knew could just unravel and change. The characters are complex and true to their own places in the world, even after revelations literally shake the foundation of an entire empires beliefs. Religion and belief systems are a huge frame of context for this book, and it was great watching characters firmly stick to their beliefs even when others they loved were of an opposing system. I find it too common characters change to fit the narrative and make telling stories easier rather than remaining complex and challenged. My only gripe with the book was with the conclusion. Fantasy books especially, boast so much adventure and character struggles through the meat of their books that a climax which is lacklustre feels like the entire journey to this point was overkill. Especially when the journey is 800 pages long AND there's an equally long prequel. I'm so heavily conflicted with how this book ended that I'm unsure if I want to spend another month trudging through the next book. However, if you want a book with great characters, incredible world building and you don't particularly care how it ends then this book would be perfect for you!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and Religious bigotry
Minor: Miscarriage, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and War
artie_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
It's absolutely brilliant! I read this one a while ago - it was a gift from a neighbour who has a very similar taste in books to me - but I still recommend it whenever I get the chance! The worldbuilding is absolutely gorgeous. You will have to do some flicking back and forth to check the map at the front and the long lists of characters and fantasy words at the back but it's absolutely worth it for how richly detailed the politics, religions and history of the world are. Those themes are explored in interesting ways as well. The twist bringing together the threads of different religions into the actual people who inspired it was brilliant and a bit mind-blowing. The story itself is told from the perspectives of 4 very different characters to excellent effect. The plot revolves around the characters separately trying to save the world, featuring dragons, witches and fantasy court intrigue! What more could you want?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy
The xenophobia and religious bigotry are within the context of a fantasy world, rather than aimed at real world groups.rubybastille's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I don’t read a lot of epic fantasy nor do I tend to read gigantic books. I’m glad I made an exception for this one. It had a couple pacing issues and convenient coincidences, but I’d much sooner take an imperfect but still *really good and enjoyable* single volume over a strung-out (and possibly never completed) series. I loved the contrasts in religions and cultures and the way different POV characters learned key plot points at different times. I also loved how it felt like a completely new fantasy experience, from Roos’ character arc to Tane’s relationship with both her dragon and her nation to Sabran’s mental health struggles.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy
ssmylie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
“I do not sleep because I am not only afraid of the monsters at my door, but also of the monsters my own mind can conjure. The ones that live within.”
This was easily a 5 star read for me. I highly recommend it.
I haven’t read a high fantasy novel in a while. I’ve been scared to invest time into their lengthy stories and juggle the demands of my personal life. But, when I started to read Samantha Shannon’s “Priory of the Orange Tree”, I knew that I had to sit down with this book for about a month to get to the end of this book. And that’s what I did. Throughout the month of June, I was captivated by Shannon’s world with strong, young, talented women characters and their allies who are fighting against sexism, ageism, and past traditions to end the greatest evil in the world “The Nameless One.” Also, they are doing this in a world that was divided by their ancestors. So, they were going through A LOT. I was really into the world building, how the stories shaked out, and the ending had me in a chokehold the whole time but I’m glad it ended well!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
ka_cam's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This is a solid fantasy read- if you’re looking for a fantasy world where sexism, racism, and homophobia just don’t exist (women characters in all kinds of major and minor roles, characters of all colors, queer/same sex relationships central and generally completely normalized) in a clear but not overwrought way this is a great choice! Outside of that it was a pretty average plot, a bit predictable, and somehow not as satisfying an ending as I was hoping for. Given that a decent amount of fantasy is p openly sexist and racist though it is refreshing on that end. It’s giant but a great choice for a summer/beach read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
sofipitch's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was fine. I'm not sure I would have finished it if it wasn't an audiobook which I could listen to while driving to work or at work. I did consider DNFing and what saved it was the first dragon appearance. This book has a TON of lore, at least the first 5 hours just feels like being hit with a firehose, and at the same times lots of parts of the world still felt undeveloped. I think the world Shannon created was maybe too large and as a result, a lot of the countries and cultures of color were the ones that suffered, as opposed to Innys, the England stand in. I actually thought I was stupid and had just missed a lot at the beginning, bc the beginning has 3/4 of the POVs all being different ppl from different cultures entering a new one and commenting on it, but no there just wasn't much. This got a lot of praise for having lots of characters of color but I only thought it was okay in effort there.
There are also a lot of potentially interesting scenes that aren't shown on screen, such as the water trials, competitions to determine if you are skilled enough to be a dragon rider. You get scenes of Tané stressing about them but not the scenes itself. Shannon likes writing exposition a lot, very obviously not action, which for an 800+ page epic is not great. A lot of information is given to you only as it is relevant, and directly from the characters in dialogue. There is no sense of the readers figuring anything out. The villains are 1-D just plain evil and pretty boring. I did end up caring for the characters but that did take a while for me to get into. Overall, entertaining, it was a throw back to the kind of huge fantasy novels I remember reading as a kid, but nothing special
There are also a lot of potentially interesting scenes that aren't shown on screen, such as the water trials, competitions to determine if you are skilled enough to be a dragon rider. You get scenes of Tané stressing about them but not the scenes itself. Shannon likes writing exposition a lot, very obviously not action, which for an 800+ page epic is not great. A lot of information is given to you only as it is relevant, and directly from the characters in dialogue. There is no sense of the readers figuring anything out. The villains are 1-D just plain evil and pretty boring. I did end up caring for the characters but that did take a while for me to get into. Overall, entertaining, it was a throw back to the kind of huge fantasy novels I remember reading as a kid, but nothing special
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Torture and Death of parent