The Priory of the Orange Tree
ISBN: 9781408883
Description
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.
Reviewed on 28th October 2023
It took me years to get to and weeks to read, but I’ve finally finished and really enjoyed this 800 page brick.
The opening chapters throw you into a world of two halves - an east and a west separated by religion and attitude toward dragons. I found it a little hard to keep track of which was which at first, particularly because I’m not good at east and west in my head - so it took a while to get into and remember from chapter to chapter who was who.
Once that was over with though the plot progressed at a solid pace, with a range of relatable characters. One in particular stood out to me as a favourite. It’s a world where gender and sexuality are almost always treated with equality, and that’s a lovely setting to be in, and really highlights the occasions where there are reasons this is lacking.
I raced through the final third over the course of a weekend, having really enjoyed the read, and am looking forward to picking up more books by Shannon. Although definitely time for something shorter next from my pile.
