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winter2468 · 1 year

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In theory, Kalyba should find it easy to hook up with someone. She’s a beautiful, immortal, powerful witch. Plenty of people would go for that! But she’s exclusively attracted to people who don’t want her back.

So important of Samantha Shannon to invent this sexy evil witch and then say “also, she’s a bit pathetic”. So important.

#kalyba only goes for people who are already taken #this is not a priory quote #kalyba #canthe #tpotot #adofn #a day of fallen night #the priory of the orange tree #ead #eadaz du zāla uq nāra #eadaz uq nara #tunuva #tuva #tunuva melim #galian berethnet

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althaeaofficinalis · 1 year

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reading a day of fallen night and you know which historical figure I genuinely think is incredibly tragic? galian berethnet. he didn't think he was living a lie. he had no idea. and when he found out the truth, he banished his abuser and ended his own life, and now either a sanctified version of his horrific abuse or a scathing view of him as a liar and a thief are how people know him. god, what a fucking legacy. his offer to cleolind (or what we know of it) wasn't fair or equitable or good, but he didn't deserve what he received.

#the theon greyjoy of it all!!!! nobody deserves THIS #and god the fucking trauma lives on in every single berethnet queen #it lies so heavy on them and they don't even know what they're carrying!! fantasy epigenetics #like when it's mentioned in glorian's pov that there are no images of the damsel. that the Saint destroyed them all bc such was his grief #and love for her... I cried. I genuinely actually shed tears #he cannot escape her even in death and that's so fucked #the priory of the orange tree #a day of fallen night #galian berethnet #roots of chaos

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magnusth · 1 year

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So, I just finished the Priory of the Orange Tree. Excellent high fantasy, I enjoyed the world building and the characters and the plot (mostly, there's perhaps a few conveniences too many) except one thing.

What is the Saint the Saint... of? Virtuedom has a saint and his knights and the virtues as objects of worship but who, exactly, is the saint the Saint of. The Saint apparently made the afterlife, but what about the world? The people of Inys believe that Galian is holy, with great supernatural power, able to protect them, to create their afterlife in the celestial realm, etc. But how does this work? Do they think the Virtues themselves have some supernatural power and that he was the Most Virtuous and that made him holy? Do they think he was born special - and if so, how do they explain that? Do they think there was some god who raised him, or that slaying the nameless one somehow gave him supernatural power? The Priory reveres The Mother, but it's clear that they also believe in the other faiths of the south - the statue of The Mother wears a symbol of a different god, for example. The East has its dragon-religion, and their metaphysics seem to be based on ancient dragon-lore, so i get how that works. But i simply do not understand how the supernatural, metaphysical world works in the eyes of an scholar or sanctarian from Inys. When a child asks a priest "Why did the saint have all this supernatural power" I don't have any idea what the priest would answer. Perhaps it's a mystery, in the ancient sense, a miracle that cannot be understood, but virtuedom never seems like much of a mystery religion. There's just a little bit of theology missing for me to understand how the religion functions on a theological level. (As opposed to a ritual level or a political level, where the book explains it very well.) It's just a little niggling thing, but it's a gripe i can't shake.

#priory of the orange tree #tpotot #the priory of the orange tree #queendom of inys #virtuedom #the six virtues #galian berethnet

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themuseoftheviolets · 5 months

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both characters in the books and readers of it have this view of the different places in the roots of chaos world that i find to be really black and white and also not accurate

characters like ead, tunuva and esbar (at least in the beginning and sometimes even at the end) as well as some readers view virtudom as bad and the rest of the world as good, and the priory as the best place to live in, but it's more complex than that

the problem of being forced to marry and have children that we see with both sabran ix and glorian can also be seen with dumai, who is not from virtudom but rather from seiiki. everything that the berethnets are forced to go through also happens to every royal in the world, no matter what country they're from. to quote glorian in chapter 95: "She saw the cruel truth of it now. The relentless, violent circle of monarchy."

yes, virtudom is bad, but it's not the only place that has these issues

and the priory is far from perfect. in tpotot they kidnap and drug loth, refusing to ever have him leave just because he found out about them

and in adofn siyu's treatment by the priory is horrendous, and she never received so much as an apology for all that she was forced to endure as a teenager. i've made several posts about that already, which you can find in my siyu tag, and i will forever be angry about how she was treated

(also, sidenote, the priory prides itself in knowing the truth about galian while virtudom believes a lie but even they don't know the whole truth about him, cleolind, neporo and kalyba)

the priory needs some serious reform, just like virtudom and the rest of the world does

#again i feel like there was more i wanted to say but. well i am tired #siyu uq-nãra #<- if you want to see the siyu posts #adofn #tpotot #roc #a day of fallen night #the priory of the orange tree #the roots of chaos

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seabringers · 1 year

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I love the priory of the orange tree but the queendom of inys being a matriarchy will never make sense to me. Galian Berethnet takes credit for the slaying of the nameless one when it was Princess Cleolind, creates a religion around himself and is worshiped as a saint and it’s definitely a bit repressive, but instead we get a queendom with cool ladies? Sure theres a little bit of talk of them being reduced to their ability of having a daughter, but there’s not much. I feel like it should be the very opposite. Inys and Virtuedom vs the Priory and the more matriarchal society of Lasia. The world is so interesting, and Ms Shannon truly worked so hard on it but it just doesn’t make sense! (To me)

#just thinking because I’m doing a similar two contrasting societies and the consequences of the chivalric medieval era society vs the other #one that I’m trying to plan around a possible matriarchy and what that would be like #because I don’t believe matriarchy = patriarchy but switched #bc #the political structure and societal norms wouldnt be the same #personal #roots of chaos #the priory of the orange tree

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bronzewool · 2 years

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This book took so long to finish I actually managed to read two other books in-between taking breaks from this one, and I'm not ashamed to admit I got the audible version just to get through the first 200 pages.

The Priory of The Orange Tree is set in a world where an ancient evil Wyrm called the Nameless One threatened to devour the land but was sealed away by Saint Galian Berethnet, weilding the mythical Sword Ascalon and becoming the first King of Inys. Nearly a thousand years later and signs begin to emerge signalling the the Nameless One's return. It becomes a race against time to stop the rise of the Fire Wyrms and slowly piece together what really happened all those years ago and how to defeat the Nameless One for good.

The novel follows four POV protagonists from different corners of the world. Eadaz uq-Nāra is the most prominent of the POV characters, a fire mage sent by the secret Priory of the Orange Tree to the western Isles of Inys to infiltrate the royal court and guard Queen Sabran IX, King Gallion's descendant, from several assassination attempts following a prophecy that says should the line of Berethnet fall, the Nameless One shall rise again. Ead has lived in Inys for eight years now, slowly rising through the ranks of the ladies in waiting and becoming one of Sabran's ladies of the bedchamber.

Lord Arteloth Beck is the childhood friend of Sabran and exiled to Yscalin at the begining of the novel due to their closeness and the court fearing Sabran's fondness for Loth would distract her from marrying a suitable Prince. His presence in Yscalin leads to him discovering the ruler of the Draconic Kingdom has become gravely ill and a puppet to the Nameless One who is raising an army, and Loth cannot return home without risking being infected by the deadly plague.

Tané is a member of the High Sea guard in the East continent of Seiiki where the water dragons are worshipped by the citizens, as opposed to their fiery western counterparts who are feared and hated. Tané wants nothing more than to become a dragon rider and be partnered with a dragon of her own. In order to ensure her success in the upcoming water trials she makes a selfish decision with lasting consequences that quickly catch up with her when her Dragon is stolen from her.

Niclays Roos is the last of the POV characters and the most morally ambiguous. A surgeon and Alchemist who failed to brew the elixir of life for Queen Sabran and has been exiled to Seiiki ever since. Desperate to return home at any cost, Niclays continues his research to uncover the secrets of immortality that will lead him to a crew of pirates searching for a fabled tree said to produce fruit that will grant the consumer eternal life.

The Priory of the Orange Tree has dense lore with a rich history and character politics surrounding the religion their kingdoms are built on and differing opinions of how the Nameless One was originally defeated. This divide in history is what causes the most conflict in the book and you understand each character's stance as their interpretation is seen as blasphemy to the other.

Going into this book I did not know this was a sapphic love story and was pleasantly suprised by the growing romance between Ead and Sabran, and the world's positive views on same sex couples in general despite having a medieval aesthetic. Ead and Sabran's romance isn't about whether they'll be accepted for what they are, but how their duties to the respective countries prevent them from ever being together.

Despite how perfectly woven each plot point was I couldn't help but think this book could have been split into two parts, with the first half focusing on Ead and Loth in the west, the return of the wyrms, the coup against Queen Sabran, and the involvement of the Witch of the Woods and her mysyerious connection to the royal family and the orange tree.

While the second half focusses on Tané and Niclays in the East, with the West attempting to form an alliance with the Emperor, Tané being blackmailed by Niclays for bringing an outsider onto the island, Niclays risking the life of his comrad just to obtain Dragon blood and scales, the pirates kidnapping Tané's dragon, the mystical stone in her possession and the search for the fabled mulberry tree.

Tané in particular feels underutilised despite having as much importance as Ead. She is present for most of the book but her story doesn't really take off until the second half when she is separated from her Dragon, banished from her home, and discovers the truth of her heritage. I would have prefered a slightly longer story split in two parts just to give Tané more focus.

Overall it was a well developed book with attention to detail regarding the character's speech, clothing, food, environments, politics, and interpersonal relationships. I can see why it's regarded as a feminist Lord of the Rings given the similarities in writing styles. The only aspects that let it down for me was how dry the first 200 pages were, and the not so memorable villains besides the Witch of the Woods.

Rating: 4/5

#long review for a long ass book #i'm gonna go and read something more lighthearted now #charl's book journey

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sshannonauthor · 4 years

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I may have just missed this, but is Sabran dedicated to one of the Virtues in particular or is she, as queen, dedicated to all of them? (I absolutely loved this book!)

‘A sword-shaped brooch was pinned to her bodice. She alone, in all of Virtudom, took the Saint himself as her patron.’

—Chapter 26

The Saint doesn’t have a single virtue assigned to him. He embodies every virtue.

#sshannonauthor book asks #the priory of the orange tree #galian berethnet

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dwellordream · 3 years

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My whole life apart from obligated books from school, I’ve only ever read the books grrm has written. I’m considering getting the orange tree books based on your suggestion, I also like how it reverses the enemies-lovers trope. Would it be ok if I asked you for your plot description? To get a good feel for how the reader views the book?

I can give you a brief intro/summary that doesn’t contain too many spoilers. I will still put it under a read more in case some people want to go in totally blind.

TPotOT takes place in a Renaissance fantasy inspired world divided sharply by East and West. In the East dragons are honored guardians and regarded as god like entities here to share their wisdom with humans. In the West dragons are seen as demonic forces of evil.

The kingdom of Inys is ruled by the Berethnet dynasty, a matriarchal line of queens who claim succession from the first Sabran, a divinely regarded maiden who was famously rescued from the wicked Nameless One by the knightly hero Galian Berethnet, who slew the dragon with his magical sword.

Every generation produces one daughter, who must have her own daughter to continue the line. The Berethnets bear no sons and every queen looks eerily the same.

The latest queen, Sabran the Ninth, is under increasing pressure to wed and have an heir, as well as pressure to live up to her family legacy of prophesied heroes as the Nameless One is said to be reawakening and dragons are stirring in the West again.

Ead Duryan, who comes from the South and was raised by an isolated order who believes they worship the true god, the Mother, is a powerful mage sent as a spy to Sabran’s court to report back to her order as to whether Sabran is in fact the hero the world may need.

Meanwhile in the East, a resourceful orphan named Tané aims to join an elite order of dragon riders, but a chance encounter with a mysterious traveler from the West threatens to ruin her ambitions.

#the priory of the orange tree #ask #anon

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shallanspren · 4 years

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Wait when was Galian raped? I must've missed that when I read the book?

Under the cut are spoilers for The Priory of the Orange Tree, and trigger warning for rape.

When Eadaz and Meg meet Kalyba in Goldenbirch, she tells them all about the forging of Ascalon, Galian’s past, who she is, and the first queen of Inys. Obviously we know pretty early on that Galian did not slay the Nameless One, and he did not marry Princess Celolind.

Kalyba reveals that she stole Galian away when he was a baby and raised him as her own. She also reveals that years later, she’s developed romantic love for Galian (and one of the issues i have with this book is that the nastiness of this is glossed over). She uses her magic to deceive Galian, making him think she is Celolind. They marry, Kalyba gets pregnant with Sabran the I, the first queen regnant of Inys. She says the labour weakened her and her magic and Galian sees her for who she really is.

Galian would never have married her, his adopted mother, let alone sleep with her had he known from the start who she was. Kalyba knew this, which is why she did it. That’s rape, plain and simple.

For all his own faults, it’s really quite sad what happened to Galian, and in the end, knowing what had happened to him destroyed him. The Berethnet line was littered with grief and it starts with him and his sexual assault.

that being said, in the world of the Priory, rape is a rarity. It is not an inevitable act of war or pillage. Come to think of it, I can’t think of an instance where gendered slurs are even used in the book. Women do not have to fear discrimination or sexual violence in this world, and men (aside of Galian) don’t either. It doesn’t happen.

And that’s part of why I love the book so goddamn much.

#the priory of the orange tree #rape mention tw #Anonymous

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althaeaofficinalis · 1 year

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a day of fallen night really goes hard on "monarchy is a chain of poisoned links, it is trauma, it is dangerous for those who live under it and traumatic for those who embody it," and if the only one you get is the inysh queendom you haven't been paying attention. kediko onjenyu is frustrating beyond belief, refusing to listen to wisdom and converting those who stay in his realm to his comfortable materialism. noziken pa dumai will have to be married to a man and bred to continue the line, something she has never wanted to do. every single one of these monarchical founders is exactly as bad as the rest - galian berethnet is just the most recent.

like how is suttu the dreamer better than galian? the founder of house noziken? when the results are always, always the same? queernorm won't save you from the inherent lack of bodily autonomy found in a monarchal system, and THAT'S THE POINT that shannon is making! that's why cleolind left! that's why the prioress is elected, and a munguna isn't a shoo-in for the role! as chained as glorian is, so too is dumai. we just know about the lie of the berethnets. it's all about gathering their own power.

#a day of fallen night #roots of chaos #idk something about how people focus their ire solely on galian bugs me #like. it's all lies!! it's all to consolidate power!!#the onjenyu are the noziken are the berethnets are the kozol are the vetalda are the vatten are the lakseng #they all have founding myths and they all chain their descendants to the eternal vine #the berethnets are just the most recent is all

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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Most Anticipated Non-Western Fantasy Books of 2019

https://ift.tt/2ouKBy1

It's a great time to be a fan of fantasy literature, as the genre makes more space for epics told outside of the western perspective.

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While I love a good epic fantasy read where an unassuming, usually male, usually white farmboy learns of his great destiny to save the world, there are so many fantasy stories that exist outside of that framework.

One of my favorite ways to see fantasy genre tropes subverted is by taking the usual feudal European-like setting of the "traditional" epic fantasy saga and throwing it out the window in favor of mythic tropes that are less familiar to western fantasy readers. After all, Game of Thrones is great, but we tend to overrepresent Eurocentric, medieval-inspired stories in the epic fantasy world. There are so many other kinds of stories out there waiting to be told and heard.

read more: Best New Young Adult Books

This standalone YA #OwnVoices fantasy, which has the possibility of more novels to follow set in the same world, follows Hesina as she breaks the laws of her nation by enlisting a soothsayer and a criminal to help her determine who to trust, and who must be punished.

Read Descandant of the Crane by Joan He

Upon a Burning Throne by Ashok K. Banker

In promotional blurbs, Banker is called a pioneer of fantasy in his home country of India, and Upon a Burning Throne is based on the ancient classic, The Mahabharata, full of demigods and demons and battles for the throne. Although princes Adri and Shvate are royals, they must pass the Test of Fire if they want to inherit the throne.

read more: 9 Fantasy Books Set at Magical Boarding School

To make matters more complicated, a half-demon girl claims to have the right to take the test as well. When the girl is not allowed to claim any power after passing the Test, her demon father declares war on the Empire, threatening to tear the world apart. This #OwnVoices series is set for seven volumes, so get ready for an epic fantasy saga stretching over thousands of pages.

Read Upon a Burning Throne by Ashok K. Banker

The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala

An assassin and a soldier get tangled in a civil war in this #ownvoices fantasy steeped in Indian history and Hindu mythology. Viper, an assassin fighting alongside the rebels, is how Esha hides her identity. No one knows that she, who lost so much in the royal coup, is the legendary assassin.

Kunal is a soldier, unquestioning in his orders to support the king, even while he longs for life outside the army. When Viper is on a mission to kill General Hotha, Kunal’s controlling uncle, the pair become involved in events on a grander scale, and no one is really sure who is directing all the pieces of this deadly game... This is listed as book one of the trilogy, so expect more cat and mouse games as the story progresses.

Read The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala

May

The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad

In this YA feminist fantasy, set along the Silk Road, the city of Noor is destroyed by Shayateen djinn; only Fatima and two other humans survived the attack. Now, a restored Noor is protected by Ifrit djinn, who represent order and reason.

But their protection does not remove all the danger: when one of the Ifrit is killed, Fatima is forever changed, and she finds herself drawn into the political intrigues of the maharajah and his sister—and onto the magical battlefield. Azad’s #OwnVoices tale features fiercely independent women, and a cosmopolitan Silk Road city striving to find harmony within its myriad cultures.

Read The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

It isn’t easy to be a legend. Zafira is the Hunter; by taking on a man’s role to feed her people, she can never reveal that she’s a girl, or everything she has done will be rejected. Nasir is the Prince of Death, a deadly assassin who punishes the enemies of his father, the king, despite his own tendency toward compassion.

Both Zafira and Nasir believe that an artifact can stop the incursion of the Arz, a cursed forest that expands by the day. Zafira, as the Hunter, sets out to find it; Nasir is ordered to retrieve it—and to kill the Hunter. Set in a fantastical Arabia, filled with cultures and beliefs that reflect the diversity of the real-world region, this #ownvoices YA series starter features lyrical prose and an enemies-to-lovers romance.

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Nocturna by Maya Motayne

First in an #OwnVoices fantasy trilogy set in a Latinix-inspired world, Nocturna introduces Finn, a face shifter, who has been in and out of so many disguises over the years she’s practically forgotten what her own face looks like. Unfortunately, she crosses the wrong mobster, and she’s given a choice: succeed at a heist inside Castallan’s royal palace, or have her magic stripped away.

Prince Alfehr faces the dilemma of trying to live up to his dead brother’s role as heir to the throne; feeling as though he will forever fail at that role, Alfie would far rather dabble in forbidden magics on the hope of bringing his brother back. When the two of them accidentally unleash an ancient evil, they have to become a team to stop it from destroying the entire world.

Read Nocturna by Maya Motayne

June

The Last Tsar's Dragon by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple

Set during the Russian revolution, this novella features dragons as tactical weapons, giving it the feel of a historical fiction that happens to have dragons involved in the plot. Yolen and Stemple explore the Romanov family history, as well as royal conspiracies and the revolutions of Jews and Bolsheviks during the October Revolution. For fans of this mother-son duo, it's a chance to delve into historical intrigue.

Unraveling by Karen Lord

Told in a contemporary setting, Lord's newest fantasy could easily be called a psychological thriller. Dr. Miranda Ecouvou has helped put a serial killer behind bars, but there's more to the world than she realized—and now Chance and the Trickster have enlisted her to look more deeply into the seven unusual murders. The plot and world are both labyrinthine, steeped in #ownvoices Caribbean storytelling.

July

Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells

You might have heard something about "that angry feminist bisexual dragon YA fantasy novel" on the Internet, and that's a description that Wells has embraced wholeheartedly for her new series starter. In Shatter the Sky, Maren and Kaia expect to live a quiet life—but then the emperor's prophets steal Kaia away to join them, and it's up to Maren to rescue her girlfriend. She's determined to do it, too, even if the only way to rescue Kaia is to steal a dragon from the emperor and storm the fortress of his prophets on her own. While there's a lot in Shatter the Sky that fits into the traditions of western fantasy (including Tamora Pierce and Mercedes Lackey), but the worldbuilding includes #ownvoices Asian influences as well.

David Mogo, Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

This #ownvoices urban fantasy is set in Lagos, Nigeria, in an age in which thousands of gods fell to Earth during a war. David Mogo is a demigod and a freelance Godhunter. But he takes a bad gig when he agrees to catch a god for an Eko wizard—who turns around and decides to rule Lagos himself. The three sections of the novel intertwine, but each has a distinct arc, almost like separate novellas. But together, they show David's journey of self-discovery as he deals with his own feelings of abandonment and defines for himself what it means to be a demigod.

Jade War by Fonda Lee

The Green Bone Saga continues in this sequel to the World Fantasy Award-winning Jade City. The Kaul family battles for control of the capital city of Kekon, and over the jade that allows Green Bone warriors to maintain their supernatural powers. But the conflict within Kekon is only a hint at the conflicts beyond the island's borders. Other nations have become interested in the properties of Kekon's magical jade, and the Kaul family must decide whether to band together, or whether to make new and more dangerous alliances to rise to the top. This #ownvoices Asian-inspired fantasy surpasses the first in the series, delving more deeply into Lee's world.

July

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter

If a Xhosa-inspired revenge fantasy sounds up your alley, this #ownvoices debut may be exactly what you're looking for. Originally self-published in 2017, The Rage of Dragons got picked up by Orbit in a new edition for July 2019 publication. The story is set in a world of war, where those rare gifted—one in two thousand women can call the dragons, one in one hundred men can magically transform into a superhuman killer—wage battles, using the rest of their people as fodder. Ungifted Tau's greatest desire is to get injured early on so he can settle down and raise a family. But when everyone he cares about is slaughtered, his goals change: he will be come the greatest swordsman in order to get revenge on the three people who betrayed him.

The Ascent to Godhood by J. Y. Yang

The fourth in Yang's "Tensorate" series of novellas, The Ascent to Godhood explores how the Protector, now dead, came to power—and why her greatest enemy, Lady Han, mourns her death. Yang's series falls into a space that is almost serial fiction (we include it in our serial roundup), because the novellas are a shorter length, and the story and world grow with each new addition.

Fans of this #OwnVoices silkpunk saga are sure to enjoy seeing how it all began—and new readers might find this a good jumping in point for the series.

Read The Ascent to Godhood by J.Y. Yang

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

There’s something going on with stitching and magic in recent fantasy, but this #OwnVoices novel features both tailors and a girl-disguised-as-boy fantasy story with echoes of Mulan. Drawing inspiration from Chinese culture, Lim creates an Imperial Court where the competition over who will become the imperial tailor—and where Maia is at risk of being executed if anyone discovers that a girl is vying for the job.

Things get even worse when the court magician takes an interest in her, because he almost certainly knows the truth. Set with the task to sew three impossible gowns, one from the laughter of the sun, one from the moon’s tears, and the third from the blood of stars, Maia departs on a journey that will either save her family, or end her life.

Given that the book is marked as the first of a series, one can only hope that Maia will survive to stitch her way through future installments.

Read Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

August

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Though this one isn't set wholly in a fantasy world, I couldn't miss out on including a Jazz Age underworld epic. Casiopea Tun dreams of life beyond her small town in Mexico, but those dreams didn't prepare her for freeing the Mayan god of death and following him into the Mayan underworld to reclaim his throne.

With parts of the novel set in Mexico City and the Yucatán and other pars set in the darkness of the Mayan land of the dead, this #OwnVoices novel is at the top of my TBR list.

Read Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Morena-Garcia

The Dragon Republic by R. F. Kuang

The sequel to Kuang's celebrated The Poppy War, the novel follows shaman and warrior Rin, now addicted to opium, traumatized by her own actions at the end of the Poppy War, and hiding from her god.

In order to get revenge on the Empress, Rin allies with the Dragon Warlord to take over her home country—but Rin learns that her new ally's motivations may not be for the good of the nation after all. Kuang uses some real-world events from twentieth century China as inspiration for an #OwnVoices fantasy full of magic and monsters.

Read The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

September

The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan by Sherry Thomas

If you can't wait for the 2020 live action Mulan, starring Liu Yifei, keep an eye out for this YA wuxia retelling by Chinese-American author Sherry Thomas. A cover reveal posted at Hypable also offered an excerpt packed full of martial arts action. Catching arrows? This #OwnVoices Mulan is definitely going to be our action hero.

Read The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan by Sherry Thomas

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron

Arrah doesn't have the knack for her witchdoctor family's magic. But when the Kingdom's children start to disappear, she's not going to let the mystery go unsolved. But this is no simple crime spree: the Demon King is waking, and Arrah may be the only one to stop him—if she's willing to sell years of her life to gain the magic it will take to defeat him. This #ownvoices fantasy sets witchdoctors and demons and an over-ambitious mother in the path of a heroine who's willing to tackle it all to save the world.

A Hero Born by Jin Yong

It might be a stretch to consider this classic Chinese epic truly a fantasy novel, but if you love a good kung fu epic, this is absolutely a thing you need on your list. Stretching from the Song Empire to the rule of Genghis Khan, the novel follows Guo Jing, a Song patriot who joined Genghis Khan. But a greater destiny awaits him, and he must learn from the Seven Heroes of the South in order to take up the mantle of his fate.

Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger

Krueger explores the role of colonization in this #ownvoices Asian-inspired fantasy epic. The nation of Tomoda has, until recently, been a colonial power. The Sanbunas have recently won a war that freed them from Tomoda. It means that Jimuro, heir to Tomoda's throne, should despise Tala, one of the Sabuna soldiers escorting him back to him to his home nation. But the two of them are thrown together, along with a detective-and-Shang-princess-in-disguise, Xiulan, and her thief partner, Lee. The four of them team together to defeat a killer using more powerful magic than the world has ever seen—and, along the way, forge friendships that could change the progression of their entire world.

October

The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco

Climate change can be a threat even in a fantasy world, and here, a goddess has sent the world spinning into a climate shift that causes rifts between nations. Half of the world is cloaked in night, and the other half burns with daylight. The two goddesses who rule the world each have a daughter, and both have kept their secrets about which twin goddess betrayed their world.

These young goddesses are called back to the site of where it all happened... and determined to undo the damage their mothers have caused. The daytime desert setting features sandworms and sand dolphins (which is enough to put it on my TBR list right there), and the author has noted her inspiration from both Mad Max and Avatar: The Last Airbender. The worldbuilding itself is less referential to real-world mythologies, and some advance reviewers are saying it's like nothing they've ever read before. We can't help but consider that a good thing.

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy

Eva and her sister Isa must face each other in mortal combat to decide who takes the throne, because in Myre, only the strongest is fit to be the queen. Eva has magick of both marrow and bone, a rare power, but it means that her sister may not be the only one who wants her dead.

Eva must rely on a fey instructor and a khimaer prince to teach her how to wield her own magick before it's too late. But Eva's biggest challenge may be facing the sister she still loves and fighting her to the death, because only one of them can survive. Based on a North African setting, this debut fantasy doesn't shy away from the dark and bloody, whether in magick or politics.

November

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Inspired by the song of the same title, written by Hamilton original cast member Daveed Diggs and his fellow hip-hop artists William Huston and Jonathan Snipes, Solomon’s novel takes place under the water, where generations of African slave women live now-idyllic lives, their pasts forgotten.

Only Yetu, the people’s historian, remembers the truth of their past. But the weight of the memories is destroying her, so Yetu tries to flee to the surface—only to gain the understanding that if her people are to survive, they must begin to remember for themselves. Solomon, author of the science fiction novel An Unkindness of Ghosts as well as a writer on Serial Box serial The Vela, shows their versatility with this switch into this #OwnVoices fantasy.

Read The Deep by Rivers Solomon

The Impossible Contract by K.A. Doore

Doore's Chronicles of Ghadid continue as Thana, daughter of the Serpent, takes up her first assassination contract to prove her worth. Her target, Heru, is a dangerous sorcerer, and Thana isn't the only one who wants him dead. When a rival sends an undead horde to attach Heru and Thana both, Thana has no choice but to follow her target into the empire that threatens her own nation. Following a different main character from the first book in the series, The Perfect Assassin, the novel still relies on the world building of the first in this Arabian-flavored setting, so pick up book one before this one hits the shelves.

Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri

Last year's Empire of Sand told the story of Mehr, daughter of an imperial governor and a mother who is one of the outcast and oppressed Amrithi people, descendants of desert spirits. Because Mehr can work desert magic, the deathless Emperor and his advisers take her captive, force her to marry, and try to break her spirit. But when Mehr discovers their plot for her magic, she stands against the tide. In Realm of Ash, Mehr's younger sister Arwa is now an adult, widowed in a massacre she only survived due to her Amrithi heritage. To try to free the Empire from a curse, she forms an allegiance with the disgraced prince, and they travel to the Realm of Ash, seeking to to find answers in the ghostly memories of their ancestors. This #ownvoices sequel returns to the South Asian inspired desert lands of the Ambhan Empire, giving readers new aspects of its world to explore.

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callendar

Set in a Carribean-inspired fantasy world, this #OwnVoices novel follows Sigourney Rose, last heir to a murdered noble family. Her people have been enslaved and massacred by colonizers for generations, and Sigourney, who has the power to control minds, is ready to take her revenge. But as she manipulates herself into the royal island and among the colonizers, she realizes a sinister magic is killing the ruling families, and she herself may be a target.

Callender’s excellent middle-grade novel, Hurricane Child, had an understated sense of fantasy and a beautifully grounded depiction of the islands, family, and same-sex budding romance. While I expect the fantasy aspects in Queen of the Conquered to be much stronger, I hope that we’ll see more of those earlier strengths.

Read Queen of the Conquered by Kheryn Callender

December

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

If you're like us here at Den of Geek, you've already taken the quiz to find out your Maji clan and you've put the date for this release, the sequel to last year's Children of Blood and Bone, on your calendar in big red pen. We're ready to get back into the world of the Orisha and find out what happens next with Zélie and Amari now that they've brought magic back into the world.

Step one is securing Amari's throne—so that Orisha's maji clans can be safe from persecution. Can't wait until December? You've got time to read Adeyemi's first #ownvoices African-centered fantasy over again!

In the Works

Choice of Games, publisher of interactive, multiple-choice novels, has two forthcoming non-western fantasy apps in production. (Disclosure: I also have multiple-choice novels published by Choice of Games, but I’m not involved in either of these projects!)

Keep an eye out for #OwnVoices Destined for Greatness, by Yasmine Fahmy, in which the reader directs the actions of a main character who keeps company with a djinn, flies magical carpets, and has to save the city of Ghariba from a nefarious dragon; and Tale of Two Cranes by Michelle and Stepanie Balaban, in which the main character helps shape the course of a battle between two warring nobles (based on the historical civil war between the Han and Qin dynasties) in an ancient China filled with magic.

What non-western fantasies are you most looking forward to this year? What did we miss? Let us know—we’ll keep updating this piece as we find them!

Alana Joli Abbott writes about books for Den of Geek. Read more of her work here.

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Alana Joli Abbott

Oct 10, 2019

Fantasy Books

from Books https://ift.tt/2M1RxM4

#aion-rsa #Books

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thereinafter · 4 years

Text

Dear Yuletide Writer letter below (warning, this is a very long text post). I’m requesting:

Magdelene & Terazin/Terizan stories - Tanya Huff Midsummer Night’s Dream - Shakespeare The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon The Ten Thousand Doors of January - Alix E. Harrow

Hello, Yuletide writer! Thank you so much! I’m also thereinafter on AO3. I like and am delighted to receive a wide range of things. Feel free to mix and match my prompt suggestions or come up with your own idea. I’m good with whatever rating of fic you want to write and any tense/person/structure. (And to cover other types of gifts, I think interactive fiction is very cool if someone happens to want to do that, and would be happy to get art treats.)

I’ve copied my signup below with a DNW list for each fandom, and those are followed by my long general fic likes list.

—————

Magdelene & Terazin - Tanya Huff Terazin/Terizan, Swan

(Note: this fandom tag covers a group of short stories by Huff that have appeared in a few out-of-print collections, and apparently the spelling of Terazin/Terizan varies by edition. I’m using Terizan, following the currently-available-in-ebook Swan’s Braid and Other Tales of Terizan.)

So, Swan’s Braid is a fun quick read about the master thief Terizan with a canon f/f ship that’s also quite fun (though the mercenary captain Swan only appears in a couple of stories). Some things I love about it: sword-and-sorcery-and-heist adventures, thievery competence porn, Terizan almost literally stealing Swan’s heart after having a big crush on her, the two of them being really into each other. I would like more of any/all of those. Fine to mention other characters like Terizan’s friend Poli, just not as the focus.

Prompts:

Terizan needing to steal Swan again from somewhere/break her out of somewhere?

Since Swan is away most of the time, do they ever write to each other? I like a good epistolary story. What if Terizan had to give thievery advice by letter?

A little shared adventure from Swan’s POV, since the stories are all from Terizan’s?

I missed nominating her, but these two interacting with Magdelene the lazy wizard from the other half of these stories (available as Third Time Lucky) could be fun, if you’ve read them/want to.

I would be easily pleased by something cute/humorous/fluffy about one of their reunions. Also not averse to PWP, although I do like a little plot.

Or use anything else from the long likes list at the end of this letter that strikes your fancy. A few that might be interesting in this world: holiday gifts, masquerades, magical accidents, time loops, bathing/caretaking, huddling for warmth, wilderness survival.

DNWs: setting AUs, pregnancy/parenting by requested characters, death of requested characters, unhappy endings, daddy/mommy kink, noncon, a/b/o, scat/watersports/vomit/spitting

—————

Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare Helena, Hermia, Titania

(Full text of the play is here, among many other places.) This request was inspired by seeing the National Theatre Live 2019 production with Gwendoline Christie, which is sadly unavailable to buy/stream now. If you've seen it and want to draw from it, great, but entirely not necessary! Just going by the text is fine.(That said: one unusual element I loved was that it swapped roles/lines for Titania and Oberon from act 2 scene 1 on, such that Titania is the one ordering the enchantment of the others, so if you feel like making this happen as an optional detail, lovely.)

No need to include all three characters if your idea doesn’t. Other characters from the play can be mentioned, just not a focus. I’m interested in Helena and Hermia’s friendship/rivalry, and in what else it could be, given lines like Helena’s speech here: “ … Two lovely berries moulded on one stem; So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart; Two of the first, like coats in heraldry, Due but to one and crowned with one crest. And will you rent our ancient love asunder, To join with men in scorning your poor friend?” and Helena being generally over the top about Hermia’s beauty.

Prompts:

There’s a long tradition of setting AUs for Shakespeare and it’s one case where I like them a lot. If you want to translate the story to a nontraditional setting like “in space” or “knights” or “small insular college” or “bohemian artists” or “Amazons” (considering the presence of Hippolyta) or something else I haven’t just thought of, I would be into that. Or if you want to focus on Titania more than the humans, something variations-on-a-theme like “X times fairies interfered with human romantic entanglements”? Along similar lines, I feel like there’s crossover potential with other “fairies behaving badly” stories like Goblin Market, Tam Lin, Sir Orfeo, etc. (so if you want to try that, other such unrequested fandoms are OK to include for this request).

Or for other gen ideas, could be a slice of life past or future scene or Titania looking in on what Helena and Hermia are up to in the past/future. does the magic on Demetrius wear off eventually? Or what if they went back into the wood again, as older women, looking for the fairies?

If you want to go with me on shipping Helena/Hermia, do they have repressed feelings for each other? Does the night make them realize it without magical encouragement? Or do they get the flower juice in their eyes and act on said feelings to whatever extent? (Open to going in a sex pollen direction with this, but I’m more into it for the disinhibition/magical sex aspect and would prefer no humiliation or regrets. Also open to including Titania if you do.) Do they end up running off together or with the fairies somehow instead of staying with Demetrius and Lysander? Do they go back to their lives but remember that night?

DNWs: death of requested characters, genderswap of requested characters, high school AU, underage sex, daddy/mommy kink, noncon (the canonical dubcon of the fairy enchantment is OK), a/b/o, scat/watersports/vomit/spitting

———————-

The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon Eadaz du Zāla uq-Nāra, Sabran Berethnet, Cleolind Onjenyu

(This is a standalone epic fantasy novel published in 2019 and can be found wherever you get books.) Things I loved about this book: canon slow-burn queen/protector f/f romance, dragons both evil and good, order of dragonslaying assassin mage nuns, court intrigue, sprawling world with lots of intriguing details. No need to include all three characters I requested (although if you think of a way to, that would be interesting). Fine to mention other characters, just not as the focus.

Prompts:

So, I loved Ead and Sabran individually and together and would be very happy to read missing scenes between them during the timeline of the book, or long-distance pining afterward, or time(s) they reunite.

I was really drawn in by the worldbuilding and all the varied places we see, and I’d love further exploration of any part of it through these characters. The dragons and dragonspawn creatures, the different mythologies/religions, the different courts. The trees: What happened to the hawthorn and mulberry? Are there other undiscovered ones/will new ones ever grow? Sterren: What else can it do? Can Sabran learn it given her ancestry?

I wished the book had spent more time at the Priory itself. What does Ead do when she goes back? What was her youth/training there like?

Following that: I requested Cleolind because I would just like to read more about her than the book gives us. Something exploring her more as a person, her experience being a sacrifice to/fighting and defeating the Nameless One, her rejection of Galian Berethnet, her relationship with Ead’s ancestor Siyati, her founding of the Priory, or whatever else would be great.

DNWs: setting AUs, death of requested characters (exception: Cleolind’s canonical death is OK), pregnancy/parenting by requested characters (Sabran’s canonical pregnancy is OK, mentoring successors is OK), daddy/mommy kink, noncon, a/b/o, scat/watersports/vomit/spitting

———————-

The Ten Thousand Doors of January - Alix E. Harrow Adelaide Lee Larson, Jane Irimu

(This is a historical fantasy/portal fantasy novel published in 2019 and can also be found wherever you get books.) When I read this I liked January’s story, but her intrepid portal-adventuring mother Ade and governess/protector Jane were the characters who most interested me. I’d love to see them develop a friendship. Or: they both have such compelling backstories that I’d equally love a fic centered on just one of them, before or after the events of the book.

I don’t really ship them with each other, so this is mainly a gen request, apart from wanting to know more about Jane’s past relationships. I was very fond of the Ade/Yule love story and it’s fine to mention him or January or other unrequested characters, just not as the focus.

Prompts:

A story from Ade’s travels: a Door where she didn’t find Yule (the St. Ours mansion, the selkie door, Toussaint Louverture’s door, Red Cloud’s door, the door to Locke’s homeworld, the door in Istanbul where she came back with dragon scales? and how did she learn about them all?), run-ins with the Society, building the boat, the time she spent sailing in the Written before finding him, the Doors she searched from there after she lost him again.

A story from Jane’s 22 years in her adopted homeworld of the wereleopards—her experience of discovering it and meeting the leopard-huntresses, or adapting to their society, learning to hunt monsters with them? Or she mentions having “two husbands and a hunt-wife” and I’m especially interested in the latter—what does that mean, how did they get together, do they find each other again?

Helping Jane find her way back: How does Jane get in contact with January’s family again? Does Ade decide she’s not done with adventure and go along if January reopens the ivory Door in Kenya? Or if that’s thwarted for some reason, use her knowledge to help Jane look for another Door? Does Jane visit them in the Written? Do the two of them help hunt down the remaining Society members or return Locke’s stolen collections?

I’m massively fascinated by all of the other worlds through the Doors referred to in the book, and further exploration/worldbuilding of any of them (even the ones only mentioned in a few words) would be great, whether from Ade’s or Jane’s POV as an explorer post-canon, or told in found documents or artifacts, or from the POV of the residents visited by these strangers.

DNWs: setting AUs, death of requested characters, unrelenting bleakness/hopeless endings, PWP for this fandom, daddy/mommy kink, noncon, a/b/o, scat/watersports/vomit/spitting

———————-

General likes

If something’s not on this (long and probably overkill) list, that doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t like it, but I enjoy these things pretty reliably. Take from it as you wish, all of them are good alone or combined. (It’s mainly a fic-oriented list, but if you do art for me for an exchange and want to incorporate something here, great!)

for both gen and shipfic: Friendships, partnerships, rivalries, and relationships between women, complex and powerful female characters, adult characters with some level of life experience Lighthearted fluff and humor Slice of life/ how the characters manage everyday life stuff in canons where the focus is more on big dramatic events Casefic if the characters do cases or missions: anything like another episode or chapter or adventure from the canon Epistolary or “found documents” stories, and other unconventional story structures Time loop stories, Rashomon-style stories, and other sets of variations on a theme (including “five times” fic) Canon divergence AUs, meaning “what if x event in canon went differently” Worldbuilding/exploration of the canon world and backstory, especially parts unexplored in the canon; also, in-universe stories, songs, mythologies, histories, etc. Holidays, rituals, celebrations; balls, masquerade or not; dancing, romantic or not Magical accidents causing weird things to happen Heists, rescues/jailbreaks, solving mysteries Court plotting, etiquette/complex social rules, intrigue, spying Road or sea or space trips, wilderness survival situations, exploring ruins/haunted places/caves/dungeons/etc. Swordfights, duels, tournaments, sparring, training for all kinds of fighting Monastic communities, priestesses, witches, hermits, anchorites Characters doing things in disguise, whether they’re good or bad at it; bodyswap as a subcategory of both this and forced intimacy Characters making things for others, whether it’s art or music or crafting or food or magic or whatever, and giving gifts Artists (in any art form), artistic rivalries, artist/muse dynamics, artists inspiring each other, artist or crafting communities Competence/being very good at what they do (but perhaps awkward or lost in other contexts); relatedly, learning/practicing/teaching others new skills

for shipfic (pre-relationship, get-together, and established-relationship stories are all interesting to me if I like the ship) Everything above plus: Pining and crushes, preferably requited in the end Intensely emotional romantic moments or cute fluffy/silly/playful moments Angst with happy endings Repressed feelings, extended UST, slow burn, revelations of feelings Loyalty/dedication/faithfulness/devotion, us against the world, knight/queen dynamics (either one-way or where both consider themselves the knight to the other), bodyguarding, protectiveness, love conflicting with other loyalties, noble self-denial and sacrifice, courtly love Longtime friends to lovers, partners in adventuring or work or crime, old friends meeting again, old enemies who aren’t really anymore and have to admit they like each other, rivals who respect each other (enemies to lovers is more likely to work for me if they become friends/allies first, and I love pairings with a long history together) Ascetic/hedonist or repressed/libertine or inexperienced/more experienced pairings Stoicism, bad at feelings but has a lot, good at feelings and good at hiding them “The grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one,” or alternatively the two grumpy/intimidating ones who are soft for each other when no one’s looking Secret/forbidden relationships as a source of angst and/or for the excitement of sneaking around (though I prefer infidelity not be the reason, unless it’s a forced/political marriage situation) Forced-intimacy-by-circumstance tropes like bedsharing, huddling for warmth, fake dating, marriage of convenience, handcuffed together, dreamsharing/psychic bonds, whether in a lighthearted or angsty way Hurt/comfort, fighting beside each other, facing external threats together, rescuing each other, tending each other Snuggling/bathing/dressing/playing with hair/other caretaking Moments where the couple just gets a break from everything to be together

for sex scenes: cuddling, kissing, laughing, eroticized hands and voices, clothed/semi-clothed sex, complicated undressing, talking whether emotional or joking or dirty, asking for things, curiosity/discovery, playfulness/inventiveness, eagerness/desperation, being overwhelmed by feelings, having to keep silent or hold still, interruptions and delayed gratification and intentional teasing/drawing things out, body worship, sex against walls, informal mild kink (e.g., tying up, holding down, blindfolding, taking direction, scratching/marking, tearing clothes, mutual roughness), sexy letter writing, one fantasizing about the other, decadence, voyeurism/exhibitionism, writing/painting on skin, sex pollen, magical or magic-enhanced sex

#yuletide 2020

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themuseoftheviolets · 5 months

Note

What I really like about roots of chaos that felt more expanded upon in ADoFN is the idea that there is no monarchy without heteronormativity, that even if your society is a matriarchy it is still unavoidable (unless I suppose they find someone who is a guy with the right equipment to impregnate them, which I would imagine is sometimes possible). It felt self aware. Like, even if the fandom doesn't always go into it enough, it feels like Samantha Shannon was deliberately trying to make that point, that even if it's a queendom or a monarchy where birth order matters not gender and an heir could've been born out of wedlock, it is always going to be crushing to women. Even if Dumai and Nikeya had started their dynasty with Suzumai, as they could have, they eventually would've run into this issue-- if Suzumai didn't want kids at all and it went beyond just not wanting to be pregnant would she have been forced to adopt even so? Could she even adopt if it wasn't a family member?

Idk I just find it really fascinating. And it's kinda sad that more people aren't talking about it, so I liked your meta. Like it's awful what these monarchies do to these characters in a world like this.

yes i agree! inys may seem very progressive at first glance because it's a queendom, but it's really not. these two scenes from adofn come to mind:

In the haze of the next push, [Glorian] thought of Nunum of Carmentum — ash now, perhaps, along with her republic. It made no sense to envy her.

And yet Numun never had to rip herself asunder.

Damn you. A low sound, her own. Damn you, Galian Berethnet. Why did you not have to suffer, but each of your descendants did?

from chapter 93

"History may record the end of my line as a tragedy," the Grand Empress said, "but a house that crushes its own daughters beneath its foundations — that is no house at all. Better it burns with the rest."

from the nikeya epilogue

as for what would have happened if nikeya and dumai had built their dynasty — i think suzumai would have had to get pregnant. i think they could have brought up the idea of adoption, but if it did work it would take a long time. and that's a big if, because while seiiki doesn't believe the blood of the nozikens keeps them safe like virtudom believes berethnet blood does, they do believe the nokizen are seiiki's pathway to the gods, and i don't think it would have been easy to make someone else the heir to the rainbow throne if there was still the possibility of more noziken being born

as things stand at the end of adofn, the only noziken left is the grand empress, who can't have any more children, so having someone else in charge was the only option. but otherwise i don't think that would work so soon

even at the end of priory, when sabran decides to abdicate, it'll still be a process that'll take ten years, and that's only because there are no berethnets left. if there were any nozikens left, or just the possibility of them, i don't think an exhange of power would be accepted

#im glad you liked my post ty!#adofn #tpotot #roc #the priory of the orange tree #a day of fallen night #the roots of chaos #mail

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ofdragonsandbibliophiles · 4 years

Text

The Priory of the Orange Tree Book Review

The Priory of the Orange Tree was written by Samantha Shannon and is a standalone book set in a fantasy world. The book's perspective alternates between four main characters, which may sound like a lot but due to the sheer size of the book, each character has a good amount of story dedicated to them. The story takes place a thousand years after the defeat of the Nameless One, a fire-breathing wyrm who caused mass destruction.

The first character introduced is Tané, a wannabe dragon-rider from the East where the water dragons are revered as gods. So desperate is she to accomplish her goals, that she helps a stranger sneak onto the island, in order to prevent the delay of the trials that choose dragon-riders. The island is forbidden to outsiders, as it is feared they will bring the dragon-pox with them.

The stranger is then brought to Niclays Roos, a scholar from the West who was banished after he failed to provide the Queen of Inys with the key to eternal life that he promised her. Niclays lives on a very small island just off the island Tané lives on, where all trade for Tané's island occurs. He has no desire to take in the stranger, but the promise of being able to pay off his debts convinces him.

In the West, Ead is a chamberer in the palace, secretly a member of the Priory of the Orange Tree, a society dedicated to slaying wyrms. She has been tasked with protecting the Queen of Inys as legend says it is the royal line remaining unbroken that prevents the return of the Nameless One, after Queen Sabran's ancestor was responsible for their defeat.

The final character followed along their journey is Arteloth "Loth" Beck, a close friend of Queen Sabran, who is sent away by the country's spymaster who claims it is to discover what is preventing the Queen's father from returning after his diplomatic mission to the South, but is actually to allow Queen Sabran's marriage prospects to improve.

I found this book to be absolutely incredible. I thought that the pacing was good, and action was spread nicely across the book. I liked how romance was not introduced unnecessarily to every character, but the romance that did appear was gradually developed and was not the only thing influencing those characters' decisions. Background characters were well fleshed out and I would eagerly read any secondary character spin-offs. I also greatly enjoyed how the characters stories intertwined and that many of them crossed countries a great deal. I particularly found it interesting how each country reacted differently in the aftermath of the Nameless One's initial attack, and how their defeat was attributed to different parties (for example, in Inys it is Galian Berethnet and in the East it is the water dragons). This book also included good diversity, with various prominent queer characters, a wide range of people of colour, and couple of background characters who are amputees.

Although this is a standalone, the ending still left a few things for the reader's imagination, (in a very good way). I highly recommend this for anyone with a love of fantasy and dragons, as well as a bit of spare time!

#the priory of the orange tree #samantha shannon #book review #fantasy #dragons #standalone #lgbtq+#lgbtq characters

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