The Priory of the Orange Tree
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4.5 • 610 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestselling "epic feminist fantasy perfect for fans of Game of Thrones" (Bustle).
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY:
AMAZON (Top 100 Editors Picks and Science Fiction and Fantasy) * CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY * BOOKPAGE * AUTOSTRADDLE
A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction--but assassins are getting closer to her door.
Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.
Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.
Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Shannon (The Bone Season) satisfyingly fills this massive standalone epic fantasy with court intrigue, travel through dangerous lands, fantastical religions, blood, love, and rhetoric. Ead, undercover as a lady-in-waiting in a court analogous to that of Elizabethan England, must protect the queen from lurking assassins; the queen, Sabran IX, theoretically belongs to a magical bloodline whose existence binds the huge and abominable dragon, the Nameless One, at the bottom of the ocean. Half a world away, young Tan , the rider and companion of a more benevolent sort of dragon, breaks her country's strict ban on allowing seafarers through its borders. This sets in motion a chain of events that reveals that Sabran's ancestry may not be the true source of the Nameless One's bindings, and that tests all three women profoundly in their attempts to keep humankind safe from the beast. Unfortunately, so much time and effort are expended on setting up the world and the principal conflicts that the denouement gets rather short shrift. The difference in tempo is very noticeable and hampers (although it does not destroy) the emotional effectiveness of an otherwise well-planned and well-executed ending. Nonetheless, this is a very capable epic fantasy.
Customer Reviews
Weaving A Complex Detailed Tapestry of Fantasy
I have never read anything so moving, detailed, and fascinating as The Priory of the Orange Tree - a beautiful historical work taking us back to the past yet building a captivating world of love full of complex intertwined plot lines leading to an incredible experience. This is an incredible work of fantasy you will not be able to put out of your mind when forced to pause leaving you expectantly eager to learn what happens next. I read it in digital form and despite that it exceeds one thousand pages I had no problem staying hooked from beginning to end. Now I simply must have the prequel written after it. Samantha Shannon is a fantastic writer and storyteller.
Epic Worldbuilding
Shannon does an exquisite job of building a relatable yet fanciful world full of deep culture. The story unwinds itself gradually and builds to several unexpected twists and turns. The only criticism I have is that there was so much build up, I would have liked a bit more action in the climax. Shannon does such a great job describing the characters and settings, I found myself wanting a bit more description during the action-packed scenes.
A great book that got me back into reading
Dare to imagine a non-patriarchal fantastical world full of captivating characters and adventures