276°
Posted 20 hours ago

The Priory of the Orange Tree (Roots of Chaos)

£9.9£99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

Every time a character died, even when it was one that I liked, I felt quite detached from it because it was sudden and it didn't feel like it brought a lot to the story. It felt like the authors needed a few of them to perish since this book is about an epic war. Ok, ok. I fully admit that I’m in a cranky mood, because I wasted so much time reading such an awful, boring, clichéd book. This is one of those cases where I wonder if I read the same book as everyone else did, because what I just read bears no resemblance to the book that people are gushing about. All this while across the Abyss far in the East, Tané who has trained all her life to be a dragonrider teeters on the brink of her dreams and one choice could unravel her life, taking her to places no Easterner has set foot in centuries.

Sabran Berethnet is Queen of Inys during a time of turmoil and unrest. She has to come to terms with a devastating loss, her own depression, and deception within her court as an ancient force threatens to reawaken. But nothing is as it seems, and history is not often truthful. 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. What about the story itself, the pacing and such? I don't know, while reading I just kept thinking that it might have been a better idea to make this a series as then you would have more time to give characters personality and growth while also immersing the reader into the world. The story was filled with tropes and it was highly unoriginal if you keep in mind the bigger picture of fantasy genre as a whole. I get that it is hard to make something completely original these days, so it doesn't bother me as much. This book could even be a not-entirely-terrible start for someone who wants to get into fantasy. However, the first third of the book was incredibly slow but it's fiiiine, I know, the author had to set up all the things. But later it became so fast-paced that even the more important events lost their meaning because there were so many things happening at all times that you couldn't discern between the important ones and the fillers. It’s a rare romance that you ship from their first scene without knowing anything about the characters or their orientation, and yet Shannon managed to make their chemistry so palpable and their development so gradual that she immediately established herself as a fave author and had me bursting at the seams with emotions. As it is, after making these two rudimentary mistakes I set myself up on a course for a spectacular disaster.Firstly, it has a sexy tittle. Some time ago on Fantasy Buddy Reads, we have had this awesome discussion about the best titles. The general agreement was that the majority of the fantasy books follow the “something of something” line. You know, Gardens of the Moon, Fellowship of the Ring, and so on and so forth. It is really not that easy to find something original. But even among this crowd “The Priory of the Orange Tree” has a nice ring to it. How many times have you heard that you should not judge the book by its cover? More, I am sure, than you care to count. Now, heed my advice. Do not judge it by the title either. One character is looking down at their lover, who has a wound on their face that has been stitched up. Another character enters, hugs character one, and then says "It's over. He's dead." I'm just so disappointed with this one, it was so hyped and I was so excited and it has such a gorgeous cover. As you've probably already garnered from the above summary, the scope of The Priory of The Orange Tree is majestic, brimming with detail and ideas and teeming with characters, languages, and perspectives. Though this is a single novel, it feels rather like several books meticulously stitched together. In lesser hands, it would be a bewildering welter. Fortunately for us, Shannon possesses the inerrant skills to make it all come together so splendidly. Piety can turn the power-hungry into monsters. They can twist any teaching to justify their actions.”

I did not connect with the characters. I just felt so detached and that put a damper on my experience. And therein lies the book's greatest triumph for me: that despite so many moving parts, what beams through is the author’s concern with language, the supple twisting of the narrative spine, the minute turnings of characters and their choices, the web of moving relationships and how all those ripples affect players continents away. Shannon gathers myriad old tales and turns them into something all kinds of vibrant and new. She makes sure the readers are always thinking about and learning about the various nations, cultures, and histories that make up this vast, sweeping world. And she does so in writing so suffused with love and enthusiasm for storytelling, with sentences coiling around like the serpentine tail of a dragon itself, enshrouding the reader in a conspiracy which had begun a millennium before and ends exactly where it must. That said, I absolutely appreciate getting the full story in one volume. No waiting 5 years to figure out how things will end. We get one complete tale. That's great. Niclays Roos is an alchemist who was banished from Sabran's court years ago. He yearns for his home and his old love, but he knows the only way he could ever return is if he finds the secret of immortality. He dives into a web of treachery and deceit to do so, propelled by his own sorrow and lust for a longer life. Throughout the novel, he comes to terms with his selfishness and cowardice. 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 two romantic sub-plots are not heterosexual and so I either yawned or skimmed, and most often did both at once. It’s this kind of diversity that stops being diverse anymore. There is so much wandering (fetch-quest style) and yet obstacles are removed with ridiculous ease. Over and over and over the characters just happen to find the object they need, or some coincidence leads to their miraculous escape, or they arrive in a huge city and immediately find the one person they need to find. The entire plot is built upon these obnoxious coincidences. It removes any tension or suspense because you always know that another miracle is right around the corner.

You know when people are rushing somewhere and your curious soul feels helplessly tugged along and then you get there and go, oh, I think I just hit a gold mine.

“It’s been empowering for me personally to write a world which is quite women-centric”

Having been a fan of Samantha Shannon's series, The Bone Season, and in general being a fan of fantasy novels, I was eager to read her latest novel, The Priory of the Orange Tree. I have to confess, though, that some larger, high fantasy books have intimidated me and/or bored me to death previously. It takes the right kind of world-building and characters, mixed with a good plot, to keep me going. And wow does this deliver. History & Myth: One more matter I have been obsessed with since the dawn of my curiosity is the accuracy of history and fluidity of facts upon changing the narrative. And Shannon explores this theme thoroughly and without flinching. I’m inclined to give her a standing ovation.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment