A Day of Fallen Night
Author: Samantha Shannon
Published by: Bloomsbury
Pages: 884
Format: Hardback
My Rating: ★★★★★
Published by: Bloomsbury
Pages: 884
Format: Hardback
My Rating: ★★★★★
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, the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails to 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.
To the north, the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails to 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.
My thoughts:
When I first heard about Samantha Shannon’s new novel, I was beyond excited to return to this world once again. A Day of Fallen Night is a standalone prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree. If you liked Priory of the Orange Tree, I think you’ll certainly enjoy this book just as much.
The Priory’s existence is threatened, the dragons that have been asleep for a long time are awakening, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, in the hope to save both realms from ruin, Dumai must awaken the gods and protect herself from the person intent on destroying her and when Dreadmount erupts these three women must be prepared and capable of protecting their people from its devastating threat of extinction.
This book is just as epic as The Priory of the Orange Tree, but it does take a little while to get going. Personally, I really enjoyed how the story was initially kind of a slow burner. Samantha Shannon knows how to hook her readers, and I could not tear myself away from the pages. In fact there were many instances where I was completely hooked and stayed up late to read more.
The world building in A Day of Fallen Night is even richer and more fleshed out than the last book, and readers can spend more time here really digging into details and getting a look at the world of Priory as it was almost five centuries before. There are differences in cultures and beliefs and alliances that will provide fans of Priory with a good amount of time to speculate how and when certain changes occur.
There are three women at the heart of the book. Glorian Berethnet, the sole heir to her throne and the fifteen-year-old figurehead of her religion; Tunuva Melim, who has dedicated fifty years of her life to the Priory and to her goddess; and Dumai of Ipyeda, whose journey and relationship with the slumbering gods of the East will go on to define history.
Sometimes with epic fantasy books like this, I struggle to keep track if there are too many characters, but I feel Samantha Shannon has managed to get the balance just right here. Each of the characters had a unique story arc that was woven together by the fabric of Shannon’s universe. Also, queer people are core parts of the story and an inextricable part of the world itself. As another multi-point of view story, every single perspective had me fully invested and I loved getting to know all the characters throughout the book.
A Day of Fallen Night also continues Priory’s themes of religion and the role of religion in defining history. If anything, Shannon uses this story to develop those themes even further, exploring the ways that religion influences the lives of every character in her world. Her characters all embody faith in different ways.
Motherhood and pregnancy are key topics explored with great care and purpose from so many different perspectives. It is s a story about mothers and daughters, and that visceral, unbreakable connection. It’s a theme that resonates throughout the story’s disparate narratives, in multiple ways, and in storylines that will break your heart. There are characters in this book who love being mothers and everything that comes with it, others who fear it, others who resent the expectation of it, and so many thoughts in between.
Not only will A Day of Fallen Night please fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree immensely, it also can function well as a standalone. These two standalone stories work seamlessly together to tell an overarching tale that spans generations, and I love the effort that has clearly gone into this setup. Unlike many fantasy epics, readers of The Roots of Chaos series can pick the books up in any order and know they’re getting a complete adventure each time. Having said this, I’m glad I read Priory first for the context it provided. I think I might have found this one quite daunting without having some background on this world already.
A Day of Fallen Night is slightly longer and more politically complex than The Priory of the Orange Tree, with a larger cast and more settings, but it still has that feel of a feminist fantasy, filled with lots of different examples of strong female characters. Each female character showcases a different kind of strength. I’ve so enjoyed returning to this world and being introduced to new characters and their stories. I’ve been captivated by the book and what an incredible reading experience it was. I'm so in love with this series and I can’t wait to read what is yet to come.
Overall reaction:
When I first heard about Samantha Shannon’s new novel, I was beyond excited to return to this world once again. A Day of Fallen Night is a standalone prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree. If you liked Priory of the Orange Tree, I think you’ll certainly enjoy this book just as much.
The Priory’s existence is threatened, the dragons that have been asleep for a long time are awakening, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, in the hope to save both realms from ruin, Dumai must awaken the gods and protect herself from the person intent on destroying her and when Dreadmount erupts these three women must be prepared and capable of protecting their people from its devastating threat of extinction.
This book is just as epic as The Priory of the Orange Tree, but it does take a little while to get going. Personally, I really enjoyed how the story was initially kind of a slow burner. Samantha Shannon knows how to hook her readers, and I could not tear myself away from the pages. In fact there were many instances where I was completely hooked and stayed up late to read more.
The world building in A Day of Fallen Night is even richer and more fleshed out than the last book, and readers can spend more time here really digging into details and getting a look at the world of Priory as it was almost five centuries before. There are differences in cultures and beliefs and alliances that will provide fans of Priory with a good amount of time to speculate how and when certain changes occur.
There are three women at the heart of the book. Glorian Berethnet, the sole heir to her throne and the fifteen-year-old figurehead of her religion; Tunuva Melim, who has dedicated fifty years of her life to the Priory and to her goddess; and Dumai of Ipyeda, whose journey and relationship with the slumbering gods of the East will go on to define history.
Sometimes with epic fantasy books like this, I struggle to keep track if there are too many characters, but I feel Samantha Shannon has managed to get the balance just right here. Each of the characters had a unique story arc that was woven together by the fabric of Shannon’s universe. Also, queer people are core parts of the story and an inextricable part of the world itself. As another multi-point of view story, every single perspective had me fully invested and I loved getting to know all the characters throughout the book.
A Day of Fallen Night also continues Priory’s themes of religion and the role of religion in defining history. If anything, Shannon uses this story to develop those themes even further, exploring the ways that religion influences the lives of every character in her world. Her characters all embody faith in different ways.
Motherhood and pregnancy are key topics explored with great care and purpose from so many different perspectives. It is s a story about mothers and daughters, and that visceral, unbreakable connection. It’s a theme that resonates throughout the story’s disparate narratives, in multiple ways, and in storylines that will break your heart. There are characters in this book who love being mothers and everything that comes with it, others who fear it, others who resent the expectation of it, and so many thoughts in between.
Not only will A Day of Fallen Night please fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree immensely, it also can function well as a standalone. These two standalone stories work seamlessly together to tell an overarching tale that spans generations, and I love the effort that has clearly gone into this setup. Unlike many fantasy epics, readers of The Roots of Chaos series can pick the books up in any order and know they’re getting a complete adventure each time. Having said this, I’m glad I read Priory first for the context it provided. I think I might have found this one quite daunting without having some background on this world already.
A Day of Fallen Night is slightly longer and more politically complex than The Priory of the Orange Tree, with a larger cast and more settings, but it still has that feel of a feminist fantasy, filled with lots of different examples of strong female characters. Each female character showcases a different kind of strength. I’ve so enjoyed returning to this world and being introduced to new characters and their stories. I’ve been captivated by the book and what an incredible reading experience it was. I'm so in love with this series and I can’t wait to read what is yet to come.
Overall reaction:
