The Priory of the Orange Tree

I finished it. This massive tome of a book that took me two attempts to get through. Am I glad I read this highly hyped book? I guess. Did I love it? Not s'much. Add it to the small pile of meh books I've been reading lately. I hate book slumps.

The story is told by five narrators in different parts of a fictional world. The author includes two maps to show the different areas but honestly, they were more confusing than helpful. There are some strong female characters, some LGBTQ+ representation which I enjoyed as Shannon builds a story that has a medieval feel with its dragons, sword fighting, pirates and warring kingdoms and religions.

But this was a very loooong slog through 804 pages of High Fantasy. I'll admit that High Fantasy is not a genre I typically read so take this review with a grain of salt if you're an avid fan. I'm not used to books that have maps, 30 pages of character lists (with subcategories!) and a glossary of made-up words. It's too much work for this reader.

Shannon spends hundreds of pages building this world, its religions, peoples, belief systems etc. There are pockets of tension but then we'd get bogged down with overly descriptive bits with tertiary characters who were hard to keep track of (despite the long character list). I was disconnected from the characters and felt like I was always just outside the story. And when major plot twists were revealed, they're done in a convoluted way and the big huzzah at the end? The conclusion to the major story lines was a big let down and concluded all these various subplots in 20 pages? Say wha? I read 800 pages for that ending!? Argh!

 

I'm not a fan of reading schedules but I had to give myself one to get through this book before it was due back at the library. This was my second kick at the can with this book and I stubbornly wasn't going to give up. For me, Priory was an unnecessarily long and slowly paced story and with all of its scads of five-star reviews I finished this book wondering if I had read the same book. 

My Rating: 2.5 stars

Author: Samantha Shannon

Genre: High Fantasy

Type and Source: Hardcover from public library

Pages: 804!

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

First Published: February 26, 2019

Opening Line: The stranger came out of the sea like a water 

ghost, barefoot and wearing the scars of his journey.

Book Description from GoodReads: 

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.