Today I’m covering a more recent epic fantasy. I’m talking about Samantha Shannon’s THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE.
Here are ten things I loved about THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE:
1. The Epic Scope
PRIORY covers politics of multiple different societies in multiple continents. There’s magic, adventure, conspiracy, political intrigue, and four different perspectives of characters going through completely different stories. The sheer massive scope of this story is comparable to the like of GAME OF THRONES but contained in one volume.
2. Standalone
On that note, I should say that I love how PRIORY stands alone. Despite being so epic and sprawling, the whole story is firmly contained in one volume. I can’t remember the last time I read a fantasy that was so grand and epic, yet perfectly wrapped up in one volume.
3. Detailed Worldbuilding
PRIORY explores so many different corners of its world, and all of them are incredibly well developed. It’s all so intricate, and all the countries of the world have their own histories and relations with the others.
4. Basis in Mythology
It was only after reading that I discovered PRIORY took inspiration from the legend of St. George and the Dragon. It’s fascinating to see now how the story takes this myth and deals with it in story, and I love the complex usage of mythology that PRIORY embraces.
5. Huge, but You Don’t Even Feel It
PRIORY is a hefty book. However, it doesn’t feel like a huge read. So much is happening, and it’s all so interesting, that the book is jam packed with content that makes you not even think about how massive it is.
6. The Chosen One Lineage
I love the trope of a chosen one descended from a long lineage of chosen ones. (See Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Savior’s Champion, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer if you want more examples of what I mean.) I’m always a sucker for this trope, but I really loved what PRIORY did with it.
7. Sabran
Speaking of chosen ones, Sabran is a queen whose lineage’s continued existence is held responsible for the lack of apocalypse. She’s a very multifaceted character, and my opinion of her changed multiple times throughout the narrative. She’s also one of the most important characters that isn’t a narrator-instead we get to know her through the eyes of a few of the narrators.
8. Ead
Unlike Sabran, Ead is a narrator, and she happens to be one of my favorites. I find her backstory so interesting, and the way her relationships grow and develop with some of the other characters was something I loved.
9. The Priory
The Priory itself (the Priory of the Orange Tree that the story is named after) is one of my favorite features of the story. I find the priory and the dynamics of those within it to be fascinating, but I don’t want to specify anything else because spoilers.
10. The Ending
Despite being such epic in scope, despite taking place in such a sprawling world, featuring characters on different corners of it doing seemingly unrelated adventures, PRIORY manages to pull everything together into one last satisfying climatic ending.
So that was ten things I loved about THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE by Samantha Shannon. I highly recommend it if you’re in the mood for some standalone epic fantasy.
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