Now, do I have a problem that this is a diverse feminist book? No. But relying on these things as the main selling point is not a good idea. You have to have good characters, story and the world. Ead Duryan, a mage of the Priory, is assigned to protect Sabran from the Nameless One, who seeks to destroy her and her house. While she longs to return to her duties to Cleolind, the founder of the Priory, she is determined to uncover the twisted secrets of the court of Inys. She has to sacrifice her destiny for the good of the world, but she never bats an eye. As a start, why all the authors try to sabotage my eye health by writing books could be only carried by heavyweight champions. Lately I read Imaginary Friend and Institution, I even took them to my training sessions and my torturer trainer made me lift them like heaviest dumbbells (I lifted them at least 500 times and they start to call me Dwayna –Dwayne Johnson’s little sister-) After a millennium of peace, rumors of the Nameless One’s return—gliding vulture-like in the skies above—had finally descended and sunk in their claws for good. I could write essays upon essays just on this topic and how essential it is to be explored like this, but I fear I cannot without dragging huge spoilers from the depths of every part of this novel, so I won't. But know that it is done incredibly, with parallels that illustrate deeper these monstrosities, and profound moments that will wrench your heart from your chest.

When a book is so good, I don’t want it finish, I actually enjoy reading it forever like a never ending soap opera continues to air on TV till you die. But the problem with this one, first half was too low and second half was too fast with its action parts. I thought we were moving with baby steps and then we started to sprint. Especially the last epic war part lost its effectiveness because it happened so fast and I didn’t get thrill I have been waiting for from the beginning of the book. It’s also worth briefly mentioning here that I did not like the author’s series The Bone Season. It was too young adult for my taste, but I clearly loved this. So, I really do urge other readers to try this regardless of what you thought about Samantha Shannon’s other work. This is completely different, and I don’t hesitate to say that this will be one of the biggest fantasy releases this year. Don’t miss it, it’s incredible. My second complaint is about the LGBTQ representation. It's absolutely great that there are central queer characters here acting in the world. That said, they're the kind of queer characters that feel safe to straight people: they're monogamous, committed to one and only one person, and they don't really talk about the experience of being queer in this world to anyone except in very contained moments of coming out. I appreciate the representation but would have liked to see things go further. I've said this before, but there's a lot of room for fantasy to explore how queer identity could be different in different fantasy settings. Sexuality and gender roles were vastly different in different times and places in the history of our world, and there's a lot of room to explore that in fantasy in particular. Since there is a generally progressive throughline present in this story (like with rulers thinking about modernization and how to create alliances without relying on marriages), there seemed like there was a lot of room for a better and more nuanced identity politics. Oh well. Also the matriarchy was interesting, and the gender dynamic in Virtudom was intriguing. It was too bad it wasn't able to be way different than our world though? Like an actual feminist kingdom in this world would have been super refreshing instead of this vaguely British thing where all our ideas about medieval patriarchy and oppression exist but where women can be Knights too.Not to mention the like 10+ library books I have at home..... (2 of which are Fire and Blood and War Storm which are also GIANT BOOKS) But the biggest annoyance and disappointment about The Priory of the Orange Tree is that this was supposed to be a feminist story. IT ISN’T. Making most of your characters female doesn’t automatically make a story feminist. Making two of your characters lesbians doesn’t automatically make a story feminist. Switching gender rolls only to engage in the same sexist tropes certainly doesn’t make a story feminist. There is NOTHING empowering or inspiring about this book! The main story of A Day of Fallen Night concerns the reawakening of an ancient evil and its impact on each of our main protagonists and their respective lands. Through it all, Shannon keeps returning to two main themes: the importance of finding oneself and the power of love in all its forms. The author proves especially adept at depicting relationships among her characters, including several queer relationships. A holy Queendom in the North, wyrm-worshipers in the West, mages in the South, and dragonriders in the East... a cursed, divided people swallowed by chaos.

A Day of Fallen Night is a standalone prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree, you can read either one first. I would say Priory is the gentler read and is a softer introduction to the world, however ADOFN is (in my opinion) the better of the two. It is truly such a brilliant read and I now love Samantha Shannon and the world of Priory even more. Shannon has driven inspiration from folklore and teachings of all over the world and woven every thread in the tapestry that is POT; here are some I’ve managed to deduce—subjects in the book are in italic: The worlds of this book are vivid and real and evocative, as are the characters. Each point of view fills me with different fears and biases, and these contentions are what bring them to life. When all their beliefs were overturned, it was so easy to slip in each of their minds and gauge their reactions. Samantha Shannon has done it once again! I enjoyed A Day of Fallen Night even more than The Priory of the Orange Tree, it was such an incredible read. In a book with such an epic scope it's hard to find a place to start when reviewing, but I will nevertheless attempt explaining how infatuated I am with this book in my mere words.To ensure an heir, the Dukes Spiritual must paint a certain picture of the Inysh court and its eligible queen. They needed you gone, so they...painted you out.” Was it good? .... I don't know. I enjoyed it for the most part. Certain aspects of this book absolutely SOARED. But overall it is waaaaaaaay too long, and the plot is a bit of a mess. The word that comes to mind is inelegant. Given how much space Shannon has to set the stage for an intricate plot, I was left pretty disappointed on that front. What this book does well: the love story. Despite the fact that this book has four perspectives, Ead's story is clearly the tentpole for the whole book. And Ead has an INCREDIBLE queer love story! There is such a dearth of f/f love stories in fantasy, particularly f/f love stories that don't fetishize lesbian relationships. We get a beautifully told romance between two complicated, well-developed ladies. I loved it. I know my opinion is unpopular and that most readers absolutely loved this book. And that's great! I think this book would be awesome for people wanting to start reading adult epic fanatasy. It's not too complicated and it's easy to follow. There are fools in crowns, Dukes and Queens absorbed in their own politics, clinging to their beliefs, blind to the forces of chaos rising from their sleep. History is to repeat itself and none are ready to stand united. “ Let them come with their swords and their torches. Let them come.”

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. All of which is to say that motherhood and childbearing and the different ways people feel about them are a STRONG theme across this book that's explored so well I still think about it all the time. 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.The only person I truly liked appeared for a couple of chapters (still, I am grateful for the respite, Donmata Marosa and I am seething that your potential has been wasted and your personage abandoned in a most careless way). A queen who doesn’t want to conceive although it’s her to be or not to be; a girl who spent her whole life to earn the red cloak of a slayer and refuses it because; a dragon rider who was not told anything about dragons by her teachers; a gal able to win marital duels in a full Victorian dress; the living Kinder Surprise Egg (now, that was rich!). I could continue, but I’ll spare you. The most important effect of this is that the most dramatic turns of events instead of being riveting were hilarious in their absurdity.

A Day of Fallen Night is a slower burn than Priory. The world building is even richer and more fleshed out and you spend more time really digging into details and getting a look at the world of Priory as it was 500 years before. There are differences in cultures and beliefs and alliances that will provide fans of Priory a good amount of time to speculate how and when certain changes occur. LGBT+: POT’s world is a rare one where sexuality is not something people fuss over, openly accepting this aspect of humanity. This leads to a bold, refreshing book brimming with queer characters and relationships, all portrayed so tangibly.First of all, the world. The world is unconquerable, Shannon's skill and immense love of history shines in every structured choice she made whilst creating it. It is lush forests and desolate plains, ravaged by the ice of the North and the sun of the South, it boasts so many fascinating geographies, civilisations, religions and cultures. It's a sweeping tale that spans the Grief of Ages (a time Priory readers will recognise from the world's history) with perspectives from all across it's vast map. The other things that bothered me were fairly minor but I'm curious to see if anyone else felt the same.