22nd February 2024

The prequel to Shannon’s “The Priory of the Orange Tree” is possibly even better than the first novel. I picked it for a holiday as the length meant I wouldn’t need multiple books, but still it took me a good two weeks to race through the 850 pages of narrative.

Set hundreds of years earlier, we see a different political landscape across the world, with new cultures, new characters, and new beliefs. It’s an amazing piece of world building to set up something that so clearly can develop towards what we knew from the first book.

The characters are fascinating to follow, and the interaction or not between them makes for a really interested evolving dynamic as the story progresses. Several years pass over the course of the story, and Shannon does well to show the passage of time passing in a way that you feel in the tale.

I've found myself reflecting several times since finishing about the diversity of characters. There's a strong LGBT majority amongst the characters, and it's notable that this is an entire world where thats just the default. The conflict between the humans in the story doesn't stem from such petty interpersonal differences as in the real world, but is focussed on differences of opinion about how to face an external threat to the whole - and how those differences shape and are shaped by hundreds of years of society.

read more

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.

read more