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!

#ADayofFallenNight #NetGalley #BloomsburyUSA

DNF but I'm still sending in a review because I absolutely plan on coming back to this. I really loved Priory, but I just couldn't get into this. I'm sure it's great, and I'll read it soon, but I just couldn't manage to get through more than somewhere around a tenth before publication.

Before I started, I had wished Shannon had given us a sequel instead of prequel to Priory of the Orange Tree. But after finishing A Day of Fallen Night, I can't imagine my experience of this world without these new layers of history and emotionally compelling ensemble of characters. The pacing was pretty slow at first and it took a while for the book to truly hook me, but by the end I was completely sucked in. The portions of the book following Dumai in Seiiki were probably my favorite, but it was fascinating getting to glimpse how different the Priory was before the Dreadmount erupted.

This book was such a joy and I feel very lucky to get back into the world of the Priory. I think I even enjoyed this one more than the Priory of the Orange Tree.

These new characters hold a special place in my heart and I was sad to have finished this massive book. I might be biased because I absolutely love books with strong female characters and this one definitely had that.

What an incredible book.

3.5 stars,
After letting my thoughts sit for a little while, i think I am now comfortable with giving this book a 3.5. It was good, but it wasn't amazing. I LOVED priory, and I had high expectations for A Day of Fallen Night but I just didn't feel like they were on the same level.I found some of the plot points to be predictable and the amount of time spent traveling through places to be a bit tedious.
I feel like competing with Priory was always going to be a tough task, A Day of Fallen Night adds some excellent lore to Priory and fully fleshes out a time that was mentioned in Priory. The characters were ultimately well written, and it was fun to see the links between generations from both books. I did enjoy returning to the world of the priory, and would love to see more done within the series (ahem, specifically a book about the origins of the House of Berethnet).
If you enjoyed Priory, then A Day of Fallen night is worth the read... but I wouldn't say it's necessarily a mandatory addition to the series.
(P.s. i'm still not over the cover art!!!!!)

What a joy to be back in the world of the Priory! Although it wasn't necessary, I am glad that I reread Priory before starting in on this beast, because there were so many things I had forgotten. But I had so much fun returning to this familiar world and getting to see so much more of it through the eyes of new characters!

Do you like high fantasy but wish it had more strong female characters? More queerness? More dragons? Then the Roots of Chaos series may be the one for you!

I spent the past month reading both PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE and A DAY OF FALLEN NIGHT - both more than 800 pages. They were both immersive and well written, but I think I slightly preferred ADOFN. The stakes felt higher and the dragons scarier. I also really enjoyed each POV, whereas in Priory I definitely preferred some POVs to others.

Like most high fantasies, the worldbuilding here borrows liberally from our own. You have a mix of European, Asian and Arabic cultures, with nods to their mythologies and religions. The lingering questions I had after finishing Priory (mainly, is this a homophobic world or not? I couldn’t really tell) were answered in ADOFN. Overall, you can tell Samantha Shannon really did her research and is thinking through all the nuances of her world. I dug all the politics and intrigue.

Cleolind and Witch of Inysca prequel when??

I cannot explain to you what sapphic high fantasy books mean to me. For such a long time fantasy felt devoid of any sapphics and I want to thank Samantha Shannon for writing such incredible books for sapphics. Although the books seem long and intimidating, once you start them you don't want to put them down. The writing is incredible and this may be my new favorite fantasy duology.

Actual review:

Good Lord, was this book fantastic! Honestly, I'm struggling to think of a book that's just as well written, well plotted, and just so well done overall. I was in love with A Day Of Fallen Night from the very first chapter right up until the last page. I haven't read Priory of the Orange Tree yet, but I am so excited for it now after reading this book.

So, this book follows four perspectives in a world where dragons and wyverns are very real. There's a shared myth among most of the people in this world of the Nameless One, a deadly dragon whose fire has the power to turn the world to ash. Each country has their own version of events about what happened to the Nameless One and what it is, but I'm not going to get into it because it would be too long. In this book, an eruption of the Dreadmount and a series of disturbing events lead people to believe that perhaps the Nameless One, or something else, has come back to destroy humanity.

We follow four different perspectives in A Day of Fallen Night, each of them from a different corner of the world. Dumai is a godsinger who hails from the East, which is pretty much isolated from the West due to a harsh sea. Then there is Glorian, heir to the Inys throne in the West and child to two very important and brutal political figures. Wulfert Glenn is one of Glorian's father's men in the North, who has a mysterious past. Finally, there's Tunuva, a warrior priestess from the South with strange magic. I would explain more about these characters' roles in the book, but again, it would take too long and also would take away from the story.

All of these perspectives interweave in ways you wouldn't expect and are so interesting. I was eagerly invested in each of the perspectives, which is a rare thing for me, especially in an epic fantasy. Usually, I prefer one perspective over the others, but I was equally invested in each of these characters' stories. Honestly, i did not want this book to end because I did not want to leave these characters.

As much as I loved the characters, I think the setting and the world was my favorite part of the book. Every time I picked up this book, I felt like I was literally in the world. Samantha Shannon did such a fantastic job writing the setting, the lore, and even the different cultures. I just love feeling like I'm in another world when I read fantasy, and it's rare for me to find a book where I become so immersed that it takes me a few minutes to come back to reality.

I struggle to come up with a single flaw for this book. If I had to find something I didn't like, I'd probably say it was how some things feel unresolved. <spoiler>The dream connection thing, Canthe's real identity, the meaning of the magic stones, and the real story of Cleolind to name a few</spoiler> However, like I said before, I haven't read Priory of the Orange Tree yet. For all I know, the things I thought were unresolved could come up in Priory. Also, Samantha Shannon is planning on writing two more books set in this world so she could be planning on coming back to certain things in the future. Also, this issue of unresolved things didn't hamper my love for this book at all. I still think this book is practically flawless.

If you love dragons and magic and fantastic epic fantasy writing pick this up!!

Pre-review: Could this be the best book I've ever read in my lifetime? Right now, I'm thinking A Day of Fallen Night definitely feels like the best book ever. I need some time to sit with my thoughts and feelings, so review to come later (hopefully).

Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for an advanced e-book in exchange for an honest review.

A Day of Fallen Night is the PERFECT PREQUEL! It is a stand-alone epic fantasy that took take place hundreds of years before the events in Priory. I really loved this book - from the world-building to the complex and diverse set of characters, to the story line, everything is perfectly crafted. I was captivated from the very first page 'til the end.

Samantha is such an amazing storyteller. Thank you for giving us another masterpiece!

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury for this e-arc!

A Day of Fallen night can only be described as one word. Epic. What a sweeping, masterpiece of a book. She’s a chonk but well worth the work.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely devoured this beast of a book. Dare I say that this prequel is even better than The Priory? Either way, it definitely captured my full attention and has made me want to reread The Priory all over again, which is quite a feat considering the size of the book.

Samantha Shannon's worldbuilding is so intricate that I can't even fathom how she keeps it all organized in her mind. This is the definition of an epic fantasy. But despite its intricacies, it wasn't hard to follow for me at all - and I usually find it very difficult to follow books with more than 2 POVs. I actually had a harder time with Priory, and I was worried about having that same problem with this book, but I'm so glad I didn't. Each character and setting stood out from one another, and the way their stories intertwined was captivating. My favorite was probably Tunuva's story, which takes place in the Priory itself, but I honestly loved all of the characters. And of course, I am SO glad this book is also incredibly sapphic. Thank you, Samantha Shannon.

I can't wait for the third book of this series! I'll be preordering it ASAP.