Now as this is only a preview of the book, it's not going to be a proper review. Which is why I am only giving it a four stars, which is based on the pages I have read so far.

Granted this was a big excerpt but remember the book is 800+ pages long. From what I have read. This is definitely going to be an epic fantasy novel. As does start out slow and I find with these kind of beginnings you need time to set up the world you are trying to build. With that being said it's not slow as in boring I had to set it down. It's slow as there is a lot going on. It's the kind of beginnings you know that its going to be good book.(hopefully).


Overall this looks like a promising epic fantasy. Cannot wait to get a full page copy.

Fantastic high fantasy, with a rich, complex world and compelling characters. I love the hierarchical intricacies of the court, the promise of the water trials to become a dragon rider, and the intrigue and diplomacy between the Queendom of Knight worshippers and the islands of dragon worshippers.

Wow this was such a ride!

If you’re at all involved it the bookish community, you will most probably have heard of The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, coming out February 2019. Therefore, I was so excited to read an early excerpt, which in turn got me so thrilled to read the entire book when it comes out! I hadn’t even read any of Samantha Shannon’s other books pertaining to The Bone Season, but I think I might just have to change that after reading this!

So let’s see what The Priory of the Orange Tree is about:
“A world Divided.
A Queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.”

I mean is that blurb not enough to get you excited? I personally prefer knowing as little as possible before diving into a book, as I think it can maximize the enjoyment and elevate the reading experience. If the promise of dragons, fierce and formidable women, LGBT+ representation and the stunning cover appeal to you, you should definitely read this book!

For anyone who wants to know a bit more before picking up a book, this is from the publisher:
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.

This is a high fantasy standalone novel that does not play around. The world building is immense and never-ending, but it managed to grab my attention and keep me immersed in this world. I believe the finished version will come with a map and a glossary, which will definitely enhance the understanding of Shannon’s fantasy world. It is written in third person and has multiple points of view, but it was relatively easy to follow. In the beginning of some chapters I was not sure whose perspective I was reading from, but this ended up in building the suspense, as it became clearer soon enough. I was very impressed with the balance between dialogue and inner monologues or descriptions, which resulted in me flying through the pages and in all honesty, a book of this magnitude (800 pages or so) has to weave all those elements together for it to be approachable as far as I’m concerned. I’m still not sure how, but in those first 100 pages I met quite a large cast of characters that I came to care about.

I just don’t have the words to express how much I want to read the entire novel. Please do yourselves a favour and go pre-order this beauty! For fans of Six of Crows, Game of Thrones, The Hobbit, The Last Namsara, How To Train Your Dragon.

*A huge thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an early excerpt in exchange for an honest review!

I have to admit, it took me a little while to get into this book - even though stories that make my brain work to keep up are generally my favourites, the worldbuilding in the first half of the extract was a little on the "too much all at once" side for even my taste! (Maybe it's the fact that this book DOES have a list of characters, which is something I'd normally be checking repetitively, but it's not provided in the extract?)

Regardless, the story seemed to find its footing in the second half of the extract, and I soon found I was no longer struggling to remember which customs were associated with which nation, or where a particular protagonist was currently located - I was too enthralled by the story that was starting to unfurl, and becoming too attached to the characters!! Especially Ead!

Needless to say, I will definitely be reading the full novel when it's published - many thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for giving me a sneak peek!

I've been very curious about this book ever since i heard about it.

I love me a long book. I love me a high fantasy book.

However, one thing i dislike is the idea of a Queendom and an all female cast if main characters that are mentioned in the synopsis. It screams YA author too much and I'm kinda avoiding YA ATM.

However, i don't wanna be an ass and so I'm giving this a go. The extract turned out go be a bit longer than i expected. Interesting.

The story starts interestingly enough and I'm actually very intrigued. I liked what i read so far and i really hope the reat of the book is just as good.

The writing is good and i hope this turns out to be a great story.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for this extract. While the plot and the world was interesting, I found the pace of the story slow and therefore unengsging. The point of view felt distant, which also made it difficult to latch on to any of the point of view characters. This might be a good fit for readers of epic fantasy, but it doesn't work for me.

I just finished an excerpt and this book looks to be something special! Political intrigue, royal secrets, dragons, oh my! Add in Samantha Shannon’s great world building and character writing and this is sure to be quite the epic fantasy

Samantha Shannon has such a way with words. I believe she is one of the best fantasy writers out there and, from the sample, she truly delivers with Priory!
I already pre-ordered my edition and I am excited to receive it in the mail (it's actually my first 2019 pre-order!).

I am really excited for this one and the early extract just made that more so. Will definitely be picking this up when it is out.

A little rocky at first, but I was hooked after the first few chapters! I was given an exclusive early excerpt by Netgalley for my honest review and after reading it I can say that The Priory of the Orange Tree is a promise of a tale that will leave you breathless and in awe, as fantasy meets adventure. I am honestly so excited to see how the rest of this story plays out when it is released in February!

DO NOT READ THIS EXTRACT. You will not be able to sleep knowing that you have to wait so long for the rest of the book! Seriously, I cannot WAIT for the release of this book.

I only read 57% of the extract. It was enough to convince me that I wanted to read the whole book.

There are a lot of characters and there's a lot of jumping around between POVs and places within the story so the chapters I read weren't quite enough for me to feel really invested but I can tell it's going to be a slow burner. One that takes time to fall in love with the characters and really get the world, but I'm pretty sure the full book will accomplish that when I read it. I loved the writing style and I'm intrigued to see where the rest of the story will go.

I stopped at 57% purely so I can just read the story all at once rather than just a little bit then have to wait.

This was already on my list for the most anticipated book of 2019-and now after reading the excerpt seriously I can't wait! The characters and world building sound amazing! Already pre-ordered my copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this early extract. It did take a bit of time to get invested in the story, partly due to the scope of what seems to be a massive, sweeping epic fantasy, but the world building and plot felt solid to start. I was apprehensive at first because the book does throw the reader into the plot, and I didn't feel like I was given much to work with to get attached to these characters early on, which left me forgetting much of the extract soon after I read it unfortunately. I'm hoping that it sorts itself out, so I will be anticipating this full release.

Truth be told, I’m not sure how I am gonna make it until the end of Febuary to read this! This is going to be epic, and I don’t say that lightly. I’m so excited for this book and this series. Samantha Shannon is amazing.

I am so, so glad I got to read the extract because gosh, this sounds amazing and I am immediately going to order it. It's seems like a perfect feminist fantasy read for me and I can't wait to read more of it. The release date can't come fast enough.

Not sure how many pages this was, but this short preview was fantastic. So far, the story is riveting and the world is nuanced and complex with religious warring at the heart of the novel. It follows several perspectives that are set all over the world and have very different beliefs. However my favorite is definitely Ead, a maid, who seems to be a double agent but to protect Queen Sabran despite their different backgrounds, cultures and religious beliefs. I cannot wait to read the entire book!

The Priory of the Orange tree can be quite confusing because of the many characters and the many kingdoms to be learned. However, I learned that the paperback actually contains a glossary in the end so that's comforting. Needless to say, this excerpt has piqued my interest. The Priory of the Orange Tree seems to be a book unlike any other, a fantasy like no other fantasy. I am excited to read the full version!

I won"t lie, that extract was way too short ! February 26th can't come soon enough.
The Priory of the Orange Tree promise to be an epic read, it already has an epic start. I can't wait to read it in its entirety !

No except in history has ever created so much excitement for a book. Samantha Shannon does not, will not disappoint and Priory has the makings to be even greater than the Bone Season series. I am so terribly excited to read this novel!