The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
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Web ID: 15843617Ratings & Reviews
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Great World-Building in this Exciting Story
I got this book after it was recommended by a couple of friends and it was a tough start for me. There were so many characters and places being introduced, and my family was distracting me! I ended up photocopying the map in the front of the book and using it to make a board where I jotted down what characters were where and how they related to eachother lol. I'm sure most normal people wouldn't have to do this, but it really helped me to have that visual. Once I had a good grasp after that first 100 pages or so, I didn't need the board anymore and was able to really mentally visualize where everything was, with only occasionally flipping back to the front to look at the map. The author really creates an entire planet's worth of places. I loved the cultures and religions she created, and the complexity of the characters. There were lots of surprises, especially early in the story. I felt very swept up in the adventure. There was so much happening! I also just loved that it was full of women in power. I'm not a person that normally reads books more than once, but I absolutely would read this a second time and I'm sure I'd pick up on more!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Slow but good
Overall this is a great epic story. It’s a bit slow and have multiple POVs. It took me a bit longer to read due to its writing style. It’s intimating at first but the pages are thick and have narrow margins. I have recommend to others
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Amazing Epic High Concept Fantasy
To be honest, I put off reading this book because I was intimated! She is a thicc girl, with a cult like following and I was afraid I wouldn't love it. Man, am I mad at myself for putting this off. While it took me longer to read than I anticipated, it was because I loved taking my time with each POV/character, and enjoying the journey the author was talking me on. To me, this harkened back to what I consider a true 'epic' high concept fantasy. Think Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones - just less sex/more vague descriptors than GoT. I loved this book, and would highly recommend for anyone wanting to be completely immersed in a fantasy world with intrigue, depth, and cunning genius.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Truly one of the best books I have ever read
Gosh darn just read it already!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Speechless.
This is honestly the best book I've ever read. So much emotion behind the writing, plot twists around every corner, with every little detail building upon the next, until every piece of the puzzle falls into place. Will always be my first recommendation. Highly recommend listening to it as well; the narrator did a fantastic job.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Epic Fantasy Done Right!
Eadaz uq-Nāra and Tané Freaking Miduchi!!! I would go to war for these two women. Imagine if Game of Thrones was just not written by ANOTHER (side eye) white dude and the white walkers were actually an evolved plotline? Now add in badass women, well thought out cultural histories and lore, and dragons done WAY better and you have Priory of the Orange Tree. This book was soooo good, but it was a behemoth. I must warn new fantasy readers about the absolute enormity of this book if you don’t have a healthy dose of epic fantasy under you belt. I know they say that this book is shorter than Kingdom of Ash by our lord and savior SJM, but it is 225,000 words of intentional plot points. This is not a book you can skim read through the boring parts because (1) there are no boring parts and (2) every detail in this book is important. The book is split into 6 parts, and it feels like 3 books were edited down to perfectly fit into the one long story. That being said, this book is still a 5/5 stars. The writing was done so perfectly. It struck a balance between noble and poetic. I don’t often care about quality of writing, but I was blown away at how well Samantha Shannon was able to portray emotion, action, and setting. The characters were rich and showed so much growth. The world was epic. The way the characters experiences were ever intertwining throughout the book was lovely. Very little to complain about.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Diverse High Fantasy!
Beautifully written high fantasy world with such a diverse set of characters! Loved the representation and the magic involved! *SPOILER ALERT* Only critique is the ending
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Lengthy but Enchanting and Diverse
I had little-to-no expectations when going into this book and came out awed and absolutely enchanted by the story and the characters. Shannon writes relatable and diverse characters, including LGBTQ+ characters. Also, I would highly highly recommend the hardcover of this book since this may be the most beautiful book I own. The art style and level of detail is absolutely incredible. If you want a fresh fantasy with diverse characters, I would highly recommend this book. Also, if you love dragons in fantasy, this is the book for you. Furthermore, for those that do not like dragons or the tropes that go along with them, there are characters whose storyline is largely not related to dragons. I recommended this to someone I know who does not like fantasy with dragons and she still loved this book and recommended it to others.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com