Samantha Shannon

The stunning, standalone prequel to the New York Times bestselling “The Priory of the Orange Tree”.

Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose.

To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be.

The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother's past is coming to upend her fate.

When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.

Intricate and epic, Samantha Shannon sweeps readers back to the world of “A Priory of the Orange Tree”, showing us a course of events that shaped it for generations to come.

A Day of Fallen Night

Miranda Watson

And somewhere, a woman awoke with a cry as the figure in her dream flaked to pieces and blew away like ash, and with it, the long thread between them, leaving her alone.

Giulia Langella

This is on page 241. There’s 863 pages.

Kaitlyn

Surely nothing else could break their family apart.

‘Given the urgency of the situation, I wondered if Mistress Kiprun might be able to see me today.’

‘The alchemist is now known as Master Kiprun. He has been away, but should return within a few days.’ 

Keira

The sky was a freshly scraped hide, raw and stretched.

Wulf could hear no more. He grasped her by her hands, and he said, “Lie with me.”

Wulf wondered what poor bastard had ever pissed lilac. 

“I’m not your enemy. Not unless you give me reason.” 

Nikeya sank up to her collarbone, all her dark hair fanning around her. Against her will, Dumai imagined winding her fingers through it. 

“Not as much as you might think,” Kanifa said, with a faint smile, “else I might have stopped loving you long ago.”

Sophia 

“Live, Wulfert Glenn, my dearest friend. I will see you in Halgalant.”

She wheeled her horse, and charged to war. 

Glorian took hold of her ibelly with both hands. I see now, she thought. I see now, Papa. All those who give life are wariors.

She felt a sudden, desperate fury. Her heart pounded not only with feat, but overwhelming frustration. If she could do this, the price to Inys would be paid. Her body would be hers at last, as it had never been. She moved from the pallet to the floor, lifeward. 

“Glorian, what are you doing?” Florell asked as she shifted on to her knees, hands braced on the floor. 

 “I am Queen of Inys,” Glorian ground out. “Even I kneel before the Saint.”She reached back, panting. 'Hold me. Helisent, Florell, help me.’

A warrior posesses her own body, she had once told her father. Inys has mine. She had to possess her own body in this moment– for Sabran, and for Inys.

Ninuru looked to Wulf, who was staring at her in amazement 

She had not understood her feelings. Not then. She had tucked that morning and that sweet kiss away, to cherish only in secret, in darkness- but from then on, her senses were sharp around women. A sharpening not like the tip of a blade, but like music soaring to the height of its power, or an unexpected chill, making her breath catch and her skin awaken. Some women left her with the thought that everything was new and bright.

‘It feels like so long since then,’ she said. 'My mother told me we are all like roses. I always thought it means that we opened our petals, took our true form, and gradually withered. But perhaps we never stop growing. If women are flowers, we are not roses, but day's eyes -blooming not once, but over and over, each time the light touches us.’

"Thank you. May the Saint keep you, Wulf.”

Glorian turned very still. “That was what the wyrm called me.”

 She looked back at him, and he saw Hróth awaken in her, iron and ice. 

Ummmmmmmm. This might be up there with “I may not be your queen, but I am yours” from POTOT. You just don’t get romance like this in actual romance books LMAO 

Cloudface

“I had a dream,” Nikeya whispered, “that you were still a godsinger, and I was your shrine."

 I had the same dream, Dumai wanted to say.

Her Imperial Majesty - she who is bestarred and moonlit, rightful Empress of the Twelve Lakes - is pleased to welcome you into her palace. 

DUMAI. WHY ARE YOU JUST NOW SHOWING THIS TO FURTIA? HELLO???

At least there was the stone, tucked into her glove. It was all she had to show for her journeying. Great one, Dumai said, touching Furtia, who cracked one huge eye open. Do you know what this is?

In Drouthwick Castle, Glorian Berethnet woke from a strange dream. At her side, Lady Florell Glade cooled her forehead, which had been too cold a moment before. 

“Glorian?” As Florell stroked her hair, Glorian opened her eyes. 

After, she would not remember saying it at all. 

‘A Prioress must do more than listen. She must not only look, but see,' Saghul said. ‘If all of us are flames, Esbar is the flame at the head of an arrow. So long as she found her mark, she would miss the world catching fire in her wake. That unswerving nature is both her great strength, and her weakness.’ She laid down her knife. ‘You saw what Hidat needed, even if she never told you. You did the same for Siyu, as you always have. You are the flame that warms, Tunuva Melim. The flame that seals a wound.’ 

This is such a banging book I’m kinda devastated that it’s over. 

soph 

i'm bored PLEASE I AM BEGGING split it into multiple books, make all of them 800 pages if you want to, but just...give us MORE...there are so many pages of NOTHING

Stas

I want to start off by saying I think it’s very impressive how Samantha Shannon managed to come up with all of those lore and content. It’s very difficult to do, and I feel like it’s clear she spent a lot of time building this world and giving it a rich history.

That being said, I struggled through this. Initially, I thought I was having a hard time because I was also reading another epic fantasy with dragons simultaneously, but when I finished that one, I still couldn’t fully immerse myself into this. I was constantly confused about where I was and how each location related to another. I don’t like to have to flip back to the map every few minutes, and that effort added to my semi-negative feelings. It felt like a chore to get through this as opposed to just reading it for fun.

It took me 200 pages to finally ground myself and learn names, roles, relationships, and some locations. I can typically read a book of this length in a few days, and it took me WAY longer than normal to reach the end, which tells me I wasn’t that into it.

I will say, overall, the characters in this book were more enjoyable than in Priory. However, the way they were written is more dull, in my opinion. The prose for this book wasn’t as flowery, descriptive, or full of emotion, and it definitely felt like I was reading more of a historical text than a narrative story. Additionally, pacing was off for me, and I wish there was a better way to make the first 30% enjoyable so it’s not just world building and lore.

Ending on a positive note, I was invested in a lot of the themes, including: personal identity vs duty, familial relationships and dynamics, and platonic bonds. The romance was cool as well, but I was neutral towards it for the most part.

In conclusion, I’m glad I finally tackled this book after reading Priory over two years ago. I can see why people are so enamored by Shannon’s work and applaud her for how effortless she makes inclusion seem. I’m definitely still interested in exploring her other works, despite feeling just okay about this book.

Nik ✨

I want to start off by saying I think it’s very impressive how Samantha Shannon managed to come up with all of those lore and content. It’s very difficult to do, and I feel like it’s clear she spent a lot of time building this world and giving it a rich history.

That being said, I struggled through this. Initially, I thought I was having a hard time because I was also reading another epic fantasy with dragons simultaneously, but when I finished that one, I still couldn’t fully immerse myself into this. I was constantly confused about where I was and how each location related to another. I don’t like to have to flip back to the map every few minutes, and that effort added to my semi-negative feelings. It felt like a chore to get through this as opposed to just reading it for fun.

It took me 200 pages to finally ground myself and learn names, roles, relationships, and some locations. I can typically read a book of this length in a few days, and it took me WAY longer than normal to reach the end, which tells me I wasn’t that into it.

I will say, overall, the characters in this book were more enjoyable than in Priory. However, the way they were written is more dull, in my opinion. The prose for this book wasn’t as flowery, descriptive, or full of emotion, and it definitely felt like I was reading more of a historical text than a narrative story. Additionally, pacing was off for me, and I wish there was a better way to make the first 30% enjoyable so it’s not just world building and lore.

Ending on a positive note, I was invested in a lot of the themes, including: personal identity vs duty, familial relationships and dynamics, and platonic bonds. The romance was cool as well, but I was neutral towards it for the most part.

In conclusion, I’m glad I finally tackled this book after reading Priory over two years ago. I can see why people are so enamored by Shannon’s work and applaud her for how effortless she makes inclusion seem. I’m definitely still interested in exploring her other works, despite feeling just okay about this book.

still love Priory the most but i loved diving back into this universe and getting to know different characters that laid foundational stones for Priory!!

Christine

Standalone prequel to “The Priory of the Orange Tree”
Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms - but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose. To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow - exactly where she wants to be. The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother's past is coming to upend her fate. When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat. Intricate and epic, A Day of Fallen Night sweeps readers back to the world of A Priory of the Orange Tree, showing us a course of events that shaped it for generations to come.

Annabella

Lili

4.75⭐️

I don’t even know what to say 

I really wish both these books were not made into 1 giant book. They are just sooo long and hard to get through. It is an incredible story and would be really cool to see made into a TV adaptation. But I literally don’t even know what to say because I don’t remember half of it

I’m not even sure where to start with this one. This book was really brilliant and excellently written. It was so immersive, I kept thinking, “now THIS is how you write a fantasy book”. I felt like I was really there, and I was so hooked the whole time. Well, almost the whole time, the ending was a bit slow, it started to drag a bit in the last third of the book, and the last chapters especially. The pacing was a bit wobbly, that’s the only reason why this isn’t a 5 star read.

The world building was insanely good. It was all so interesting and well plotted out. I think it’s so insane that the author managed to create such a vivid setting with just words. Probably my favorite thing about this book overall.

The characters fall just second in my list. They were expertly written and each one felt like a real person. Everything about them felt natural. This book had a huge cast of characters and a lot of povs, which I usually mind because juggling so many characters at once isn’t often done well. However, I didn’t mind it so much with this book. I thought each pov was well written, though some were slow, I could see their purpose. Every character had solid motivations and morals that aligned well with them. I loved following each of them, they really helped make this book as amazing as it is.

Lastly, the plot was great. Really interesting and solidly written. Again, the pacing could have been better, but I’ll easily let that slide because the plot itself was so intriguing. I liked how each character was on their own path, but each path was like interwoven with this grander scheme. It was really cool to watch everything unravel and each plot point meet. Absolutely loved this story.

bel 

I’m not even sure where to start with this one. This book was really brilliant and excellently written. It was so immersive, I kept thinking, “now THIS is how you write a fantasy book”. I felt like I was really there, and I was so hooked the whole time. Well, almost the whole time, the ending was a bit slow, it started to drag a bit in the last third of the book, and the last chapters especially. The pacing was a bit wobbly, that’s the only reason why this isn’t a 5 star read.

The world building was insanely good. It was all so interesting and well plotted out. I think it’s so insane that the author managed to create such a vivid setting with just words. Probably my favorite thing about this book overall.

The characters fall just second in my list. They were expertly written and each one felt like a real person. Everything about them felt natural. This book had a huge cast of characters and a lot of povs, which I usually mind because juggling so many characters at once isn’t often done well. However, I didn’t mind it so much with this book. I thought each pov was well written, though some were slow, I could see their purpose. Every character had solid motivations and morals that aligned well with them. I loved following each of them, they really helped make this book as amazing as it is.

Lastly, the plot was great. Really interesting and solidly written. Again, the pacing could have been better, but I’ll easily let that slide because the plot itself was so intriguing. I liked how each character was on their own path, but each path was like interwoven with this grander scheme. It was really cool to watch everything unravel and each plot point meet. Absolutely loved this story.

This book is again just too long. As someone who really prefers books over 600 pages, this story was just soooo drawn out. There was no reason for it to be this long. While I did like all the characters in this story better than the first, I still think there were too many povs which caused the story to get so bogged down. Truly NOTHING happened for at least 300+ pages of this book. And then when the final conflict comes about, it’s dealt with in such a lazy, easy, obvious way that had nothing to do with any of the characters. It basically just came down to nature… so boring as the final climax. I didn’t hate my time reading this book, but it should say something that it took me about 6 months to read…

Katie Allard

I missed this world like an old friend. Cried my eyes out for Kanifa, my goddess Dumai deserved the world, Esbar is my mother and Glorian is my queen. Wulf is the little dumb brother that you can't help but love. The only thing I really couldn't roll with is that they treated dragons as if they were horses, letting anyone ride them. To be a dragon rider should've been a special, sacred thing, and neither Nikeya (you beautiful strong poet) nor Kanifa were close to the gods enough to deserve that.

Enjoyed the characters and story.  It makes me want to reread Priory to see how these characters are remembered.   I had to take some breaks while reading due to the length, which made the overall experience more enjoyable than forcing myself to get through it.

Jenny Engel

Ian de Villava

this one didn’t pull me in as much as the first, but i still love this world and the writing is incredible.

Got attached to the characters and this one had better world building than Priory 

Miranda Hall

A wildly fantastic epic driven by strong, complex, and fascinating women. Shannon melds multiple storylines together with ease and builds out the massive world she has taken on with brilliance - it’s even better than Priory of the Orange Tree. If Shannon continues this arc, I’ll be waiting with bated breath for the next in this series.

Markedly, I love the way she handles women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ characters - she writes them as real people and treats them with equal dignity to anyone else. 

I would still recommend reading Priory first even though this is the prequel - there’s a lot of context that will help to orient readers to the breadth of this novel

Daphne Li-Chen

A wildly fantastic epic driven by strong, complex, and fascinating women. Shannon melds multiple storylines together with ease and builds out the massive world she has taken on with brilliance - it’s even better than Priory of the Orange Tree. If Shannon continues this arc, I’ll be waiting with bated breath for the next in this series.

Markedly, I love the way she handles women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ characters - she writes them as real people and treats them with equal dignity to anyone else. 

I would still recommend reading Priory first even though this is the prequel - there’s a lot of context that will help to orient readers to the breadth of this novel

I LOVED THIS BOOK. FANTASY GALORE WITH CASUAL QUEERNESS AND WOMEN IN POWER!!!!

britt

i got a wee bit bored in the third act but it was a slay. luv glorian, tunuva, and dumai with all my heart.

I preferred Priory and it's characters but this was still so good. The start is a bit slow but once I got through it I couldn't put it down

Rose Donovan

Mila Challenger

THIS BOOK 
IS SO GOOD
The way this book is honestly one of the most gripping things I have ever read in my life-
Ok spoiler free review- this is pure incentive to read this book.
1) THE CHARACTERS
In a very general sense, the diversity between the povs and the mcs is genuinely one of the things that I loved the most. I genuinely felt so attached to all of them, something that has barely happened to me in my recent reads.
My favourite character by far had to be Tunuva- her personality was literally glorious as well as her backstory. To have one of the povs not be a classic 16/17 year old chosen one was actually so refreshing, and her relationships with Esbar and Siyu are so beautifully written. 

2) THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS 
HOW CAN PEOPLE SEEM SO REAL?
I loved how this seemed to be an epic story of legend but completely subverted that by having characters who genuinely did have flaws and made honest mistakes, but which clearly sets up the world and the glorifies figures of old which are so revered in Priory.

3) THE WORLDBUILDING 
I am on my KNEES for Samantha Shannon’s worldbuilding. 
Genuinely.
That scene where all the characters (apart from a couple) happen to be in the same place and you realise none of them can understand each other because LITERALLY NONE OF THEM SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE?
GLORIOUS.
The cultures and the countries are so intricately woven and learning about the religious lore as well as the geopolitical plot was an absolute pleasure.

THIS BOOK IS INCREDIBLE.
I recommend it to any fans of Priory, for those who love a great (albeit long) read and tragically magnificent characters and lore.

altlovesbooks

"to hold the risen fire at bay
until the night descends"

How do you make a sequel to something intended as a stand-alone novel? Fans of the series demanded a new book, but things were fairly contained within Priory of the Orange Tree, so how do you square the circle? I quite like the author’s approach here; rather than making a direct sequel to the events of the first book, she marched 500 years into the past and created another stand-alone. Fans get their sequel, there’s no expectations to live up to, and you can continue building out the (extensive) lore you introduced in the first book. A win all around, that I think the author knocked out of the park to boot.

There be spoilers here after this point. 

(view spoiler)[Despite being an all-new cast of characters, there’s just enough familiarity here to hit the ground running with the (many) different viewpoints. Glorian, daughter of Sabran the Ambitious and King Bardholt of Hróth, is having a hard time finding her feet and her place within the role forced upon her. All her life she had her own ideas of how she wanted to live her life, but the older she grows, the more she realizes that duty comes before all else in the Queendom of Inys. Over at the Priory, we’re introduced to Tunuva and Esbar, sisters training to slay wyrms that haven’t appeared in generations. Discontent is rumbling through the Priory as some younger sisters start questioning why the Order still exists. When Siyu escapes the stifling confines of the Priory, Tunuva is sent to bring her home, but her return brings unwelcome change to the Priory. Finally, in Seiiki, Dumai of Ipyeda is a godsinger at the High Temple of Kwiriki, daughter of Unora of Afa, and heir of more than she knows. When her family comes knocking, she’s compelled to leave the mountain home she knows and loves in order to serve the kingdom. But as the world starts to tremble, it is her godsinger heritage that ultimately calls her to duty in service of the sea dragon Furtia. 

The scope of this book is quite a bit larger than Priory of the Orange Tree I think. Lots more places, tons of minor characters and references, but not to the point where I felt overwhelmed and lost. I think reading Priory of the Orange Tree first gave me the structure I needed to be able to sort through everything thrown at me here. There’s quite a bit more politics in this one as well, particularly in the Inys sections, but I’m such a sucker for grand political fantasy that I loved it all. It has a bit of a slow start, and I was starting to wonder where things were headed initially, but about a third of the way through things start ramping up quickly and I had a hard time putting it down. The ending was incredibly satisfying as well, and while a lot was happening at once, it didn’t have the same frantic feel as I thought Priory of the Orange Tree had at the end.  (hide spoiler)]

I hope the author decides to do more stand-alone books within this universe, because I thought this one was fantastic. Everything had a purpose, the writing was excellent, and I loved basically everything about it. Great fantasy, great work.

I am still so in awe of the world building in this series. I think this book was so much better than the first, but that very well could be due to me already knowing and loving the world Samantha Shannon created. I cannot describe how refreshing it is to dive headfirst into a fantasy series that is so inclusive - and this book even more than the last. This series is worth the read, without a doubt. Finishing this makes me want to skim through the first book again! 

Tess Martinez

I have such a deep love for these books. Shannon writes so beautifully. I think the value in this story is the characters and their interactions with each other, and getting that first hand account of the lore that is shared throughout Priory of the Orange Tree. This book is for people who want the gritty details, who are curious about the journey even if they already know how the story ends. 

Alli

A fantastic read again. Such a detailed world that sweeps you away. 

A Day of Fallen Night

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