A Day of Fallen Night
In A Day of Fallen Night, Samantha Shannon sweeps readers back to the universe of Priory of the Orange Tree and into the lives of four women, showing us a course of events that shaped their world for generations to come.
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.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
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.
My Take
I first read The Priory of the Orange Tree in 2019 and I loved it. Almost six years to the day, I re-read it after reading A Day of Fallen Night, the prequel released in 2023. I still love Priory, and the prequel explores the same parts of the world and adds more, plus more depth. I really like the worldbuilding and the characters. Well, most of the characters. I like that a range of different sexual and gender identities are present and accepted. I find the Inys culture interesting with its insistence on sex only within “companionship” yet accepting of both same sex and heterosexual couples. The books also really get into the pressure on queens to produce heirs, whether they want to or not. Lots to enjoy and beautifully written. Both books have multiple points of view, which means you end up with lot of mini-cliffhangers, if that bothers you.
If you haven’t read either book, I would recommend reading A Day of Fallen Night first. There’s a good 500 years in between books, but it still felt a little awkward knowing how things ended up when reading the prequel.