I’m honestly quite proud of myself for finishing this beast of a book with its 800+ pages (the fonts are tiny too)! I’ve been seeing this standalone epic fantasy by Samantha Shannon, The Priory of the Orange Tree, all over BookTube and Bookstagram, and I was instantly intrigued because I haven’t really read a lot of fantasy books that aren’t part of a big series.

I mean, how do you get through all the world-building and plot development that characterizes a fantasy book in ONE novel?

I guess the answer to that in this particular narrative, is you sacrifice a couple of things. In this case, characterization.

One of the plot devices used to really fully immerse the readers into this HUUUGE world is the introduction of a cast of characters coming from all over the map. We’ve got Tané from the dragon riders of the East, Ead from the South who is currently working for the Queen in the West, Loth who is originally from the West but was tasked to an impossible mission in the other kingdoms, and Roos who was also originally from the West but was exiled to the East.

via GIPHY

That’s a lot to take in, I know.

And it takes a bit of time to really feel settled in each character’s perspective, especially since that also comes with different cultures, events, and history lessons, depending on which character we’re currently with. To add to that slightly confusing experience, they also have conflicting beliefs between regions, so I’d say it’ll take you the first 100 pages to really understand where each character is coming from, the stakes of each of their personal journeys, and how it all ultimately affects the world’s plot as a whole.

(I took down notes every time we met a new character so I wouldn’t get lost, lol)

The basic premise of The Priory of The Orange Tree is that 1,000 years ago, an ancient enemy was put to rest. Now the thousand years are up, and mankind is too busy with their own endeavors and prejudices to prepare for its next coming. In comes our cast of characters from all over this incredibly vast world who now have their own agendas, but must find a way to come together to defeat the beast–even if they don’t know it yet.

There’s a review at the back that calls this novel a feminist Lord Of The Rings, and as someone who is a BIG fan of Tolkien’s world-building and plot, this didn’t disappoint.

This is definitely a more plot-driven narrative, despite the huge cast of characters. And if you’re into that, I think this could be something you’ll really, really like because the story itself is EPIC, the world-building is exquisite, and the details connecting it all just blew my mind.

Don’t get me wrong, though. There are certain characters here that go a long way in terms of characterization and really defining who they are, their personality, and the relationships they have with others. There’s one character in particular that just breaks my heart (Niclays Roos )….

…But there are also some protagonists that are pretty bland. They don’t really have a lot of personality or depth to them outside of who they are in service to the plot. It didn’t really take away from the reading experience; it’s just afterwards when you realize that “oh, I didn’t really care about that character.”

Though, as someone who leans more towards deep characterizations and relationships, I still fairly enjoyed this book.

The action definitely makes up for whatever I was looking for in its characters, and even if you aren’t totally rooting for someone as a person, you still find yourself cheering them on in their adventures as they all impact the success of the main story. Even in the instances where it seems like our characters were going off tangent in their own journeys, it all still ties together really well to the overarching plot.

This one’s definitely worth to pick up if you want an epic fantasy to really dive into in the coming weeks!

Scorecard–The Priory of the Orange Tree:

• World-building – A
• Characterization – C
• Plot – B
• Star Rating: 4 stars

If you want to read more of my thoughts about this novel, I shared a quick little review up on my Instagram (@skimmingspines)

I’d love to hear from you:

• Have you read this book? What do you rate it?
• Do you like reading about dragons? (There’s a lot in this one!)
• What’s your favorite high fantasy novel?