The Roots of Chaos Series 2 Books Collection Set By Samantha Shannon (The Priory of the Orange Tree, [Hardcover] A Day of Fallen Night)

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Loth is too gentle and too naive to snatch anyone’s interest and mind you adjective naive is used only because I feel rather magnanimous. There are other, less flattering words that can be used to describe somebody apt at ignoring reality. Loth is so tough that leeches give him shudders, talks faster than thinks, and this is because he does not think too much. In truth, I loathed Loth for most of the time. Rich in content, with real depth to the human emotion on display and personal passion portrayed through the characters. Wonderful for the tension and mistrust created through the political intrigue and daring in its ambition and depiction of such a vast expanse of worlds. Overall an impressive story of three powerful woman whose lives become entwined as Shannon breathes fire and life into this incredible story of survival, love, and honour. Her bare feet lit upon the marble. As the cutthroat stepped into the Great Bedchamber, dagger aloft, she covered his mouth and drove her blade between his ribs. Speaking of religion, Samantha Shannon crafts three believable faiths, but not a single one of them is immune to the threats that rise again. It’s incredible how much I sympathized with each one; how much I wanted each to succeed. Losses were personal hits. Gains were personal victories.

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 sheer effort and commitment in writing such a comprehensive book is to be commended, but it does not stop there because Shannon also provides the images of the global landscape, an explanation of the characters and their roles and even a glossary of terms to help the reader.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. 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."

Let's start with what I loved: There are cool dragons. There's a growing sense of urgency as the end of the world approaches. And the world itself is well put-together, offering some great threats (like an evil draconic plague that infects people). 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. There are fools in crowns, Dukes and Queens absorbed in their own politics, clinging to their beliefs, blind to the forces of chaos rising from their sleep. History is to repeat itself and none are ready to stand united. “ Let them come with their swords and their torches. Let them come.”

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The three main female characters were all equally adorable, admirable, and deserving of a central role. All very different but it was how their lives became entwined was the main appeal for this book even though their story, independent of each other, was unique, eventful, but also powerful. The other things that bothered me were fairly minor but I'm curious to see if anyone else felt the same. 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. The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for more than 1000 years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran IX must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—for it is believed that as long as a Berethnet rules in Virtudom, the monster beneath the sea will sleep. But assassins are getting closer to the queen, and Ead Duryan, the outsider lady-in-waiting at court and in truth a mage of the South, is tasked with secretly protecting Sabran with forbidden magic. 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.