the priory of the orange tree: fantasy done right
- paigenherbooks
- Jul 27, 2022
- 7 min read
4.5/5
An epic fantasy tale full of love, betrayal, politics, religion, and the thematic search for "truth" and what the true meaning of "good" is. The Priory of the Orange Tree is a story that is lathered with dragons, warring countries, "evil" sorcerers, knights, daring battles, and unexpected love. Shannon builds a thriving and complicated world in a way that is enticing and digestible. A world crafted from the imagination of my childhood self. The Priory of the Orange Tree is a book I would heartily recommend to everyone and anyone, for within these pages is deep lessons, amazing characters, and a quest for hope that is undoubtedly beautiful.
Synopsis: 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 to be a dragonrider since she was a child, 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.
Just an FYI some parts of the review may have some spoilers, so if you don't want minor or major details explained to you, please come back and read this when you've completed this Mount Everest of a novel.
Yes.
This book looks huge and quite frankly it is, with a whopping 848 pages of raw story.
This, I know to some, can be a daunting adventure to commit to (hey commitment issues, I totally understand) so this is my PSA that this book, while large, isn't huge on the inside.
Paige what the hell do you mean?
I mean that this story moves at speed that is understandable but enjoyable. It's interesting and something is always going on. No boring walking and traveling for 40 pages or un-needed paragraphs upon paragraphs of scenery. For a fantasy novel, it did exceedingly well to keep my attention for the whole amount of the story.
Not once was I nodding off, trying to read about the shade of grass...which I appreciate it.
Our epic story has four main voices whom we the reader follow on their intertwining adventure...
Ead
I genuinely loved Ead.
I thought she was a quick-witted character who was secure in herself in a way that oozed confidence and intelligence. I enjoyed reading from her point of view as she was a part of two very intriguing worlds that were slowly starting to mesh together. The kingdom and the court of Sabran and the world of the priory. Ead’s character was stubborn and determined and quite frankly just badass. She could win a fight but go and dress up as a lady of the bedchamber, and THEN slay a dragon all within five pages…she was pretty damn cool.
I also liked how Ead’s character had the difficulty of religion woven into her story.
She came from the priory where they believe in the Mother but had to “convert” to the religion of the mainland. Throughout the story Eads’ devotion to her own religion never wavers–regardless of how many times she has to say the story incorrectly or pray a certain prayer. To me this was intrinsically beautiful. That she wasn’t outrightly condemning anyone else's religion, and when she learned new things about them, she instantly crushed her own prejudices and did what needed to be done for the common good. I would consider her a very ethical and morally sound person. She lives for her religion and for the people she cares about.
A stubborn, hard-working, and mystical woman who I know will do great things at the Priory. Ead was simply relatable in the fact that she was also falling in love when she should be “falling asleep” meaning that she had a duty to do but started to find herself infatuated with the queen. Their friendship and then more was a blessing to read. It was sweet, innocent, but powerful. As Ead and Sabran are two of the strongest characters I have ever read before–they also complimented each other quite well. Ead was calculated and Sabran was more spontaneous. Together they were a perfect and beautiful couple who to me, displayed what love truly is. Sacrifice, work, and friendship.
Niclays
To be quite frank Niclays was the weakest character for me.
I didn’t love reading from his point of view nearly as much as the others, BUT I did enjoy his character for what it’s worth.
Niclay’s character was almost a curve ball in the story. His redemption arch was woven into the fabric of something truly grand, but he was no king or sorcerous, he was simply a man of science who is utterly heartbroken and disheveled. That being said…he grew on me. Niclay’s truly went through the hero’s journey (as did every character) but he was almost sweet to me. We see him go from this almost loathsome character who has no ambitions and often throws others under the bus to save himself, to completely changing that facet of his character, and starting to become a shadow of a hero. His devotion to his lost love was sweet as well, his want to do better for the man he would see when he died was honorable. I find it humorous that he of all characters got himself caught up in this whirlwind of a story by no means of himself!
Loth
Loth reminded me heavily of Obi-Wan Kenobi and I absolutely adored it.
He was a strong “man man” character who went almost on a side quest of his own, before circling back to his “destined” path. Loth was a good friend and a great point of view to read from. He was constantly having his life, ideals, and beliefs challenged and oh was he up for it. He took everything in elegance, grace, and stride, fully committed to saving his kingdom and friends. He was funny and kind, intelligent and brave. An all-around knight of a character whom you just couldn’t help but love. His travels and heartbreak made him an interesting character to where the readers were rooting for him full heartedly but weren’t entirely sure if he would pull it off.
But there's Loth for you, breaking barriers and staying alive regardless of his foe.
Tané
I loved Tané.
Her background was intriguing to me as she was a very strict and almost extremely traditional character to read about. There’s one line that solidified what kind of person Tané was for me. Towards the beginning of the story, she makes a remark about how something unfortunate happened and the person should have tried harder and that they deserved it. This thought wasn’t out of spite or anger, but a simple matter-of-fact statement.
The world for Tané is very black and white…until it isn’t—which makes her character refreshing and a breath of fresh air to read from.
She sees the world so clearly as “yes” and “no” or “good” and “bad”. She is steeped in tradition and watching her slowly warm up to being more of a malleable person was inspiring. She went from being strict to the rules to giving them up for the greater good (there’s a theme here). Tané was full of respect and honor, she was strong and not one to complain when things became hard. She was a quiet and fearsome warrior and I adored her. She was 100% herself but still insecure–aren’t we all. Her arch with her dragon was fantastical and I just really enjoyed her character and her commitment to what she knows.
Sabran
Sabran wasn’t a POV character but I genuinely enjoyed her as main character. She was spritely and regal, what a queen should be. I enjoyed watching her defrost as the story progressed, into what she thought she should be into what she genuinely wanted to be. She can be cold and slightly snotty, but she can also be kind and sweet, as well as being selfless. Sabran would do anything for her people–in a heartbeat, which in turn made her likable. She is a character that is selfless to a flaw at points.
The story
This story is an epic of a fantasy world. Different countries, religions, dragons, languages, and more, The Priory of the Orange Tree was a new and refreshing world I loved jumping into. I don’t want to give too much away but I will say this…
This story didn’t drag at all.
For being almost 900 pages long, I was hooked to each and every page with a fever for needing to figure out what was going to happen next. The four main different plot lines that slowly start to blur together until they are one large plot line, glowing gold with the fantastical events occurring, to then slowly disperse back to their own stories was enthralling and quite frankly intoxicating.
The perfect combination of fantasy and imagination combined with the real-life elements of religious discourse, politics, and power made The Priory of the Orange Tree a novel unlike anything else. A story that truly made me sit and ask what characters I identified with, sitting back and trying to tie the ancient story together.
As well as watching with starry eyes as our characters grew and worked together, all the while being unique and true to themselves.
The story showcased in a lot of ways how, even when people are vastly different they are still underlying similarities that make us human-and for that I say we work together to defeat a common enemy. The prospect of a world untouched by hardship with the help of those from every creed, religion, and race is something that the author focused on heavily throughout her story.
This story was truly unique and I am beyond grateful to have been able to grace it’s pages and learn of this story with these fantastic characters, whom I know I’ll come back to again and again.
I think anyone wanting a fantasy novel with easy and accessible world building, a little bit of everything, along with a female-centric dialog...plus a plot that makes you stop and think of the power that women truly hold, would love this book. The Priory of the Orange Tree shows what power truly means, how love can heal most wounds, and how understanding & accepting our differences while still remaining true to our own may be a way to world peace.
I can’t wait for the prequel for this story to come out, and I will be hungrily awaiting until I can get my hands on it.
Until then: happy reading readers
xoxo
paige :)
Comments