What a compelling book from Samantha Shannon! I absolutely loved priory of the orange tree and was very nervous/excited for this installment in the world of priory. Shannon has a way that just fully immerses the reader in her fantasy worlds with lush world building and dynamic characters.

No words could ever describe the love I have for this book. I genuinely tear up thinking about how much I loved it and the characters within it.

It was 800+ pages and I would have gladly read another 800 more. I just fell in love with every single character. I cried so many times. The writing destroyed me.

Tunuva and Esbar and their quiet lifelong understanding. Glorian is the most badass motherfucker I’ve ever read about and grows so much throughout the book. Dumai’s deep deep distrust of everyone.

God. It’s just all so good. I loved it even more than priory, even though it was definitely less plot-focused. I personally could not care less.

Another great read by Samantha Shannon! Despite being extremely long it didn't feel as daunting because of Shannon's writing. Will definitely be recommending it.

The Priory of the Orange Tree was epic, and all of the characters and world building were phenomenal (the book is huge for a reason! And well-worth the long read). A Day of Fallen Night is harder to get into and lacks the interest that readers of the Priory of the Orange Tree stuck around for.

As good if not better then POTOT but Samantha Shannon REALLY needs to work on her action scenes. Maybe call in some favors?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to the free advanced digital copy of this book.

Trying to write this review as all telecommunications and wifi access in Gaza has been shut off to allow Israel to commit war crimes and genocide without the world watching feels so wrong. But as I sit here, all I can think about is the similarities I saw in ADOFN and what has been happening in this genocide against Gaza the last few weeks and the many decades prior.

There is war. A war between many nations and the wyrms that came out of the Dreadmount. We see plague, we see mass casualties, we see lack of food and water and infrastructure. The entire time I was reading this book, all I could think about was Gaza and the genocide we're witnessing live on social media.

When everyone started to wash their hands with vinegar to prevent the plague from spreading, all I could think about was how hospitals in Gaza have resorted to using vinegar to clean wounds and disinfect instruments because they have run out of medical supplies.

When food is scarce, crops destroyed, water contaminated, all I could think about is how there is no food or water in Gaza and people are starving and dying from thirst.

When Glorian marries in order to have financial support from her husband to save her people, I'm reminded of how the world argues whether Gaza even deserves medical supplies, food, water, electricity, and fuel.

When I read the many battle scenes in this book and a side character/background character loses an arm/leg, or their bodies are mutilated, blood everywhere, all I can think about is the hundreds and thousands of Palestinians, men, women, and children who's bodies have been recovered under the rubble in pieces.

The history that Galian Berethnet created of his defeat of the Nameless One, his marriage to Cleolind and her subsequent death which resulted in him removing every figure, painting, image of her from Inysh history reminds me of the propaganda and misinformation that has been spread by western media and the terrorist zionist colonial state of Israel.

When Canthe murdered Meren to kidnap Tunuva's son and use him for her own purposes I was reminded of the thousands of Palestinian children who've been imprisoned without charges, separated from their families, and tortured.

When Glorian's parents are burnt to death by Fyredel and Wolf finds their bodies on the beach in Hroth, all I could think about were the 3rd and 4th degree burns caused by white phosphorus and who knows what other chemical weapons Israel is testing on Palestinians in Gaza.

When Wolf runs off with baby Sabran to protect the future of Inysh, all I can think about is the hundreds of nameless babies and children, and the premature babies in incubators in hospitals in Gaza, who are the future of Palestine. And how that that future is cut short because unlike a comet to stop the wyrms, the world is actively supporting a genocide and ethnic cleansing of millions of Palestinians.

When I think about the Kuposa and the War Lord, and how he took advantage of chaos and destruction to take over Seikii, I think about how Israeli settlers are killing Palestinians in the West Bank, destroying their homes, attacking their funerals, and arresting hundreds because the world is focused on Gaza and can't see how this is a bigger, broader issue of settler colonialism and apartheid.

When I think about Dumai dying alone on the sands of Seikii, I think about the hundreds and thousands of Palestinians dying alone under rubble in pain, thirsty, and with no one to help them.

I don't know what else to say about this book. It mirrors real life, as so many fantasy and dystopian books have in the past. And yet we still have to fight for our voices to be heard because people would rather support the oppressed in some fictional world, than support the oppressed in real life. When we speak up we're censored. We lose our jobs. We're called terrorist sympathizers. We can't protest or wave a flag. We can't even use terminologies like "concentration camp" and "genocide" because zionists have decided to co-opt those words for only their suffering. Many of us don't have the power to do anything except use our words. And those in power either fully support genocide, or do nothing despite having the resources to stop this. It's sickening. If you read a book like this one, and can't figure out if genocide irl is bad or not, you honestly don't deserve to read anything, let alone deserve any joy in this life.

So I read this ages ago and turns out I just forgot to write a review for it. Altogether, this book provides a much more compelling narrative than Priory, though it still struggled to fill its page count. The characters are more interesting, the plot certainly more engaging, and overall i enjoyed it. I do think it is a testament to Samantha Shannon's Worldbuilding that this reads almost like a history textbook at times (in the best possible way). I wish I had read this first, because it may have been 5 stars if I didn't have the drag of Priory in the back of my mind.

Samantha Shannon is amazing. The multiple POV is overwhelming at first but really helps move the plot along in really interesting ways. Definitely recommend reading this one before Priory as it makes the world building more accessible.

This was my very first book by Samantha Shannon and she did not disappoint.

I walked into this book completely blind to the world of priory, and I am thankful for that. I got to fall in love with these characters, with no clue of what history they would create for the future world.

And boy did I fall in love with these characters. I loved them all, everyone who had a moment on these pages, stole pieces of my heart. I do think Glorian holds the most though. Her story was the one from the beginning that gripped me the most, while I struggled a bit with Dumai and Tunuva.

Surprisingly, Wulf and Nikeya stole my heart from their first appearance in the story as well.

I think Samantha did an amazing job with this world, and these characters. They all had their own stories, no matter how intertwined they may have became at parts.

This review is very late because I was also sent an physical ARC and sort of forgot to review it here on Netgalley, apologies!
I loved this prequel. It was Priory of the Orange Tree 2.0, which I was totally fine with because I loved Priory of the Orange Tree. For me, nothing get me going quite like a doorstop of a book, dense with world building and intrigue. I loved the range of POV's we got in A Day of Fallen Night, especially reading from the perspective of a woman in her fifties. We just don't see that enough in the fantasy genre, where a main character is older than her late twenties, and it's always a breath of fresh air.
It's been nearly a year since I read this book, so the details are not fresh in my mind. What I am left with is an extremely fond memory of reading the entire thing over the course of a week between Christmas and New Years, delighted I could return to a world that I held so dear.

Samantha Shannon is simply amazing. While thick, this book is engaging and keeps pulling you in. I will always recommend her work.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advance copy of this title in exchange for honest feedback.

I am in AWE.

When I say I adore Samantha Shannon's brain, I mean it wholeheartedly.

For this book, Shannon takes us around 500 hundred years before the Priory of the Orange Tree setting. The ambiance, the characters, and the issues you will encounter in this prequel are entirely new and different. So, please be wary when picking this big baby up, as it may take a while for some readers to warm up to these characters' stories.

Now, compared to Priory of the Orange Tree. Yes, A Day of Fallen Night feels slower as the action takes time to happen. However, if you've read Shannon's work, you are in for a great time. There is never a predictable twist or outcome; you will be hooked and want to know what will happen and how things will resolve.

It is not an easy read. What I mean by this is that if you are not into fantasy or want fast-paced stories, you won't enjoy this as much as everyone else. A Day of Fallen Night, just like Priory of the Orange Tree, has a deep and vast world-building. There is so much information thrown at you, and its characters, complex and addictive and easy to love, are more concerned with the twists and turns that link their stories. In short, A Day of Fallen Night is focused on exploring religion, politics, and conflicts within its world-building that may not be as fascinating or intriguing for everyone.

Besides the story and the unique voices of each POV, I was fascinated by how committed Shannon is to making the reader feel the difference between Priory and Fallen Night. The language and spelling differ from what we have seen in Priory. I didn't notice this at first; my brain was ready to accept these little details without question, so thank you to the reviewer who pointed it out!

Overall, don't be intimidated by Samantha's big babies. I promise she is an incredible author who can captivate you with her characters and stories.

Thank you, Bloomsbury, for the ARC a while agooo, I read this nonstop the moment I got it on Netgalley, and I felt spechiaaaaal.

A wonderful, well written, fantastic follow up. Samantha Shannon is honestly a genius. Will purchase for my library.

This was such an intricately woven storyline set within complexly crafted worldbuilding that felt very original and unique despite being a universe that we have already visited. The plot complimented Priory in the Orange Tree very well without feeling like it was doing the same thing again, and it opened the whole world up to give context and reality to myths and stories that were previously mentioned in Priory through the characters and the journeys they go on. Samantha Shannon is such a master with creating compelling stories, and her latest doesn’t disappoint!

A really great prequel to Priory, I enjoyed this book so much. Samantha Shannon's writing is atmospheric and while this book felt a bit too long, I enjoyed the ride a lot.

I loved Priory of the Orange Tree and knew that I would enjoy this massive tome (seriously you could absolutely kill or severely wound someone with this). Builds upon the already exciting world to dive into the history of certain characters that make you ache.

I have to state I did not read the book this is the prequel for, I wanted to read this one first before continuing the series. However, I do not think any reader needs to have background about the other book to understand this one. I certainly did not get lost and understood everything that was written.

The amount of care the author put into this book shows. The story, characters, plot, and the vividness of the scenes is honestly ground breaking in my opinion. This is a stellar fantasy book and I will now be tuning into the entire series!

Review 5/5

Thank you to @bloomsburypublishing for an early arc of this book for review and congrats @say_shannon on another absolute masterpiece.
This will be an overall spoiler free review (more after the book has been out for a bit longer 🥰)

I enjoyed every single word in this book. It was one of the most immersive fantasies I’ve ever read and as a huge fan or priory, it gave me goosebumps to hear the origins of some of my favorite aspects of it.
One of my favorite parts is the prologue, which perfectly sets up the oncoming novel. This is a story of mothers and daughters. Cages and freedom. Choices and Must-Do’s.

The storytelling is also amped up in ADOFN, something I fiercely enjoyed. Some of my favorite moments were forming connections across the two timelines while reading, as well as the ones that had my eyes flaring open in the middle of the night when something finally clicked.

This book had some incredible male side characters that will stick with me, but what really made this book shine was the women. Strong women. Sensitive women. Queens. Female warriors. Human women. Women with magic. There were also incredible and complex mother/daughter relationships. There were women who are duty bound to have children, adoptive mothers, surrogate mothers, women who don’t want children, mothers who have lost children. All these relationships, all these female roles, stood out fiercely and our extremely relevant to our modern socio/political conversations regarding women.

My recommended reading order for these depend on preferences, honestly. You can read either of these first. However, if you prefer a bit of a faster pace and more action I would read Priory. If you want to read in timeline order, and like slower built, character led plot and more story telling, pick ADOFN. I would also recommend this first if you’re struggling with the world building in Priory as this one shows their origins.