Another stunning book by Samantha Shannon and a return to the expansive world that she first began in The Priory of the Orange Tree. The way Shannon weaves romance, political subtleties, worldbuilding and action remain deeply admirable and absolutely intoxicating as a reader. I was quickly drawn into this story and loved following each of these characters. I especially loved getting glimpses at characters whose existences were hinted at and mentioned in Priory (another Sabran and Glorian!), and getting a look at familiar spaces at very different moments in history. I LOVED this one.
As always, I also love the way these books are so very much centered on women in fantasy, in a way that gives them agency and nuance, and I love the queer representation woven throughout. So very worth the 800+ pages!

I couldn't get through this one. I was so bored immediately. The prose is great, but it all just felt like a slog to get through. I couldn't continue to force myself to keep reading it when I wasn't enjoying it. I might give it a second chance later on with the audiobook.

Thank you to Bloomsbury for letting me read A Day of Fallen Night early and yes i'm aware of how late this reveiw is.

A Stunning prequel to one of my favorite high fantasy books.

A Day of Fallen Night is a must read for fans of the Priory of the Orange Tree. Samantha Shannon is a master storyteller.

This is a prequel to the Priory of the Orange Tree. That book took me awhile to get into it, but once I did I enjoyed it. I felt the same with this - I just couldn’t get into it for the longest time. I do like the characters but I can’t see myself re-reading this one too often.

FANTASTIC. I found this book much easier to start than Priory. I was so lucky to recieve an arc and i enjoyed this story. A brilliant epic fantasy as usual from Samantha Shannon. This is a prequel taking place 500 years before priory and tells some of the legends we learned in that book. You can definately read before or after Priory.

A fantastic read for anyone who's a fan of Samantha Shannon or fantasy in general; it really compliments Priory and is a wonderful world to escape in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for the free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

God I went into this book wanting to love it so much. Instead it was ultimately 800+ pages that I just wanted to end. It's taken me nearly four entire months to finish it.

This book moves incredibly slowly, and each time I thought it was going to pick up, it unfortunately did not. I understand the vibes and pacing Shannon was aiming for, but when the book is so long and as a reader you can infer a lot of what is going to happen, especially at the beginning, it just really, really drags.

The worldbuilding is vast but unfounded, with more and more details being revealed that either aren't built up to or simply feel like they are being made up on the spot. There are entirely too many locations, cities, and characters in the story and it makes it clunky.

The ideas brought forth regarding religion and legacy are very interesting, but feel bogged down by the weight of the novel. It takes too long to become invested and understanding of the different societies and exactly what they believe, and then once you have it becomes cumbersome as the same discussions happen over and over.

The power of myth making, of storytelling, is explored throughout, with the various accounts of one historical event being the inciting difference in belief between two cultures. I love stories about the power in creating a mythos, whether that be through religion or legends or anything, and although the book does verify what actually happened in history, it didn't change the power the lie holds on an entire society.

I loved the centering of women, with all three main POV characters being women. There is also a lot of casual queerness in their world, and many prominent sapphic and gay people and couples -- I really loved that there was no questioning of their place in this world, and that nonbinary characters were introduced and referred to without fanfare. The novel touches a lot on the role of motherhood, tied together with the role of legacy, and explores the relationship between mothers and daughters and the expectations that are passed down from generation to generation. I was less of a fan of the matriarchy depicted through The Priory -- I find nothing interesting or new about a society that does nothing beyond switching traditional gender roles, and also has such strictly defined gender boundaries. I simply wanted something more substantial.

I did read Fallen Night before reading Priory, which I think Shannon suggests. I could see Fallen Night being a better experience if you have the foundation and emotional investment of Priory, but for me reading Fallen Night has just pushed Priory a lot further back on my reading backlog.

If you're a fan of Priory I am sure Fallen Night will be right up your alley; this is a sweeping high fantasy with magic, dragons, romance, and court intrigue. Fallen Night has helped me realize the fantasy that I prefer -- one in which the enemy is not an embodiment of evil with no discernible motivations, but just as flawed and human as the protagonists we are following. Fallen Night has it's fair share of villainous or malevolent characters outside of the deadly wyrms, but their story arcs and development simply aren't interesting. Ultimately, in a story that is about humanity, the greed of people in power even in the face of darkness, the strength of people in the face of adversity... those parts were not fleshed out enough to make for a compelling narrative.

I have to admit that I have not read Samantha Shannon's previous book set in this world, but when I found out that this was a prequel, I wanted to read it first.

I fell in love with this world and the characters and I never wanted to leave it!

Hands down this is one of my favorite fantasy series ever.

Unfortunately I was hoping for an entirely new story for A Day of Fallen Night. When you read the synopsis, it's essentially the same story is being told. If the book was in orange packaging I would've assumed it was The Priory of the Orange Tree. The world here is so big - I was hoping for something new and original and we just didn't get that here.

I am one of the biggest fans of Priory of the Orange Trees and so when I got approved for this ARC I just about lost my damn mind. Samantha Shannon is one of the most talented fantasy writers of the modern day. Both of these books are very dense fantasy, but they are works of absolute art.

I feel like this is a hard book to review because there are so many moving pieces in the plot, but I think this book has something special that Priory of the Orange Tree does not.

I loved the plot stories of three daughters and three mothers. It made it much easier to follow than when I read Priory. There was a beautiful story within these mother/daughter narratives.

I will always recommend either of these books to people interested in the genre.

I’m a little torn on how to review this book. Is it fair to compare it to Priory of the Orange Tree when the author has stated it’s a standalone book? I honestly can’t imagine anyone picking this book up without having read (or intending to read) Priory first. That being said, I do think this book stands on its own, but there are many little details that feel more significant when you’ve read Priory.
I’ll start with the things I liked. I liked all of the POV characters, and there was never one that I wanted to skip. I felt equally invested in each story, which is a rare thing in fantasy with multiple POVs. My favorite was Tunuva, and Dumai was a close second.
I liked that we got to learn more about the world beyond Inys, especially in Seiiki. However, some bits of world building felt a little weak (e.g. saying a character had their hair in a “Lacustrine” style, and then not explaining what that style is).
I really enjoyed seeing more of “Canthe” in this book and the development she got as a character.
Now for the things I didn’t like:
The POV characters never really came together like in Priory, so in the end it felt like I was reading 2-3 different books with parallel stories. Also, because there was a worldwide event happening, every character had to spend a chapter realizing and reacting to what was going on, which left me anxious for the plot to advance.
Many of the fantastical events in the book felt like they would have happened regardless of the characters’ actions, so all they had to do was survive until the conflict was resolved on its own.
Finally, the story of this book felt very similar to Priory’s. It felt like a remix with a different cast of characters rather than a whole new story. I was a little bored near the end because I knew, from reading Priory, how things would shake out.
Ultimately, I enjoyed the first half of this book more than the last. It had an anticlimactic ending, but there were some great moments and characters that made me enjoy the book overall. But it absolutely did not need to be 800 pages long, and I wish it had been unique enough to feel like a fresh new adventure.

WOW!!! I absolutely loved Priory of the orange tree but this? this was even more phenomenal. It will definitely be in my top reads of the year! It was just so well written, the characters and the plot was fantastic. Im a very slow reader so books this lengthy are a bit intimidating for me, but this was great and I flew through it in about a week. I loved this! Sooooo good!

Samantha Shannon has done it again! Readers return to the world of the Priory of the Orange Tree in this installment of the Roots of Chaos Series. Set hundreds of years before the first novel, Shannon expertly expands the world to new levels while introducing some of the strongest and one of the best, well written characters to ever be put down on page. Shannon’s prose continues to shine in this installment in a way that immerses the reader up this world which is heightened by the slow burn element to this high-fantasy series. Readers can expect tense action sequences, lush descriptions, a slow build, and crafted world building, which Shannon continues to shine. Readers will also be treated to smaller romance subplots that feel organic, but does not overshadow the rest of the plot. The novel also does a great job at delivering LGBTQ+ representation as well as giving a diverse cast of characters set within the world.

I truly didn’t think it was possible to love a book more than I loved The Priory of the Orange Tree, but as it so happens, returning to the world in A Day of Fallen Night was an even more amazing experience. With higher stakes, an intricately interwoven cast of queer characters, beautifully maintained tension, and gorgeously elevated prose, A Day of Fallen Night shattered my high expectations.

While this is a prequel, I don’t believe it necessarily has to be read beforehand; indeed, having some knowledge of the world as it is in Priory made certain elements of A Day of Fallen Night even more enjoyable. It’s also a novel meant to be savored; Shannon’s prose demands to be lingered over, and if I highlighted every line I thought was an absolute banger, I’d have easily run out of ink.

For fans of epic fantasy, I can’t recommend A Day of Fallen Night and the Roots of Chaos books more than I already do, which is a whole freaking lot. Samantha Shannon is a force to be reckoned with and has become an auto-buy author for me for the foreseeable future.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

A Day of Fallen Night was the most beautifully tragic fantasy book I have ever read. Once again Samantha Shannon succeeds at creating and inventing a world full of magic, intrigue and a set of characters like no other. The focus on individuality is appreciated and the inclusion and diversity is ever so amazing. I can’t get enough of the world and the characters, as well as the unforgettable interconnected stories. This is a stunning book that deserves to be cherished and loved. I absolutely recommend A Day of Fallen Night and the Roots of Chaos series in general to anyone.

In this book follow the lives of four women, one from each region of this complex world. This is the world of The Priory of the Orange Tree but years away from that tale. The author shows us each woman's life, their concerns, strengths and weaknesses. All this while she weaves the threads of their lives into one story.
This is a review of an ARC provided by NetGalley.

Another hit for Samantha Shannon!

First, this book, like every other book she has written, is MASSIVE. If long books with slow building and lots detail are not for you, or typically give you pause/bore you etc., this may not be for you. The book is long but the writing is beautiful and it truly feels like entering a whole new world.

If you've read Priory, this is a slower burn, but its a return to that beautiful world.

I think, if it's possible, I loved A Day of Fallen Night even more than Priory of the Orange Tree! As I was before, I am in awe of the worldbuilding.

One of the things I loved most is not something big, but it stood out to me, in the way that queerness was casual. The way people in the priory weren't chained to the duties assigned to them based on their gender at birth, learning a character is no longer a Mistress but a Master. These moments were simply part of the story and not hurdles that had to be crossed.

And of course our narrators. It's not usual that I enjoy the POV of all characters in a book with a rotating cast, but I really liked all of them (Tunuva and Dumai being my favorites though).

I cannot wait to hopefully see more of the Roots of Chaos series!

Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

I loved Priory and have been eagerly anticipating the prequel that is this installment in this world. The setting is hundreds of years earlier but still has strong female characters, told from multiple POVs, and dragons! Although I generally prefer a sequel to a book that I have loved, this delivered as well. It is a gorgeous cover as well, like icing on the cake!

Highly recommend!

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