I am so grateful to have received this excerpt because OH MY GOSH I am so excited to read this book when it comes out this month!! The story/plot is so intriguing and i want it NOW!

This is a great introduction to a new epic fantasy that should go far on word of mouth alone. 

Immediately, both the world-building and characterisation is strong. I felt we were in a real solid place straight away and I'm intrigued about what's coming next. It did take me a little while to get a grip on the story but I expect that in a decent fantasy - you don't want to be spoon-fed.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing U.K. for  making available via NetGalley a substantial extract of Samantha Shannon’s ‘The Priory of the Orange Tree’ due to be published in the U.K. on 26 February.

I have been excited about this epic fantasy since it was first announced and so was pleased to be able to read this extract in advance.

While it can be hard to judge the finished novel from a partial manuscript I have complete confidence in Shannon’s skills. 

Given its 848 page length this is a weighty book but I was intrigued and entranced by what I read and it’s made me even more excited for the upcoming release. Thus, I have preordered both the ebook and audiobook editions.

Amazing, amazing, AMAZING sample. After reading this breath-taking sample I pre-ordered the book! So good.

Even though this was just a small excerpt, I am sooooo excited for this book. I've been hearing buzz about it for a while, and the preview didn't disappoint! Epic fantasy? Check. Featuring all kickass women? Check. And dragons??? I am totally in for this one! I wish I could read the whole book right now, I was so upset when my preview ended. I have a feeling this is going to top my 2019 list of best books.

Having read this extract from The Priory of the Orange Tree I am extremely eager to get my hands on the rest of the book. Samantha Shannon's world-building is intricate, her characters are already fascinating despite this only being a short extract, and the plot is just starting to set up to be the most epic of fantasies. Of course, this will come as no surprise to readers of The Bone Season, but this feels like something more - grander in scale, bolder in ambition, and has the potential to be one of the best fantasy novels I've read for years. Bring on publication date!

This book is going to be amazing.  I have already preordered it and now am even more excited for it after this sample!  The writing is beautiful and it features strong women and dragons -I'm in!

Boys, step aside. The Queen of Fantasy is here. 

Samantha Shannon. Remember the name. It’s going to be here for a while. 
I only had access to an extended excerpt of this book, but I am already a die-hard Shannon fan. Yes, I am pre-ordering this book as I am typing this. And yes, I will be buying the rest of Shannon’s books as well (and by “buying”, I mean I’ll be putting them at the top of all my Christmas lists, because, let’s be honest, a book addiction is a very expensive habit). 

Now that we’ve gotten my fan-girling out of the way, let us dive into the writing. Shannon writes what epic fantasy should be. Grand worlds navigated by WOMEN. Yes. Women. I know. The ground is shaking beneath my feet. I hate to compare authors to other authors (because I understand the need of establishing your own identity), but for the sake of getting my point across, Shannon’s world building and epic narratives are just the thing for fans of George R. R. Martin. Shannon had me on page one. Quite literally. The poetic language in which she navigates this fantastical world conjures up vivid imagery that will completely consume the reader.

Read this book. Not because you are a fantasy reader, or because you like dragons (which are also in this book; I know, like you needed another reason to read it). Read this book because Shannon writes fearlessly. Read this book because you deserve to read fearlessly. 

Remember, read with an open mind, and most importantly, an open heart. Enjoy!

This excerpt of Samantha Shannon book Priory of the Orange Tree makes you want to read more!
 It introduces a bunch of characters but doesn't overwhelm you with information. It properly sets up the upcoming events. Also the world she created makes you want to read more than the extract as quickly as possible! 
This book has introduced a magical world with lovable characters so far and I can't wait for my finished copy!

Intricate plot, exciting array of characters and an absolutely fascinating fantasy world - what more could anyone ask for? I adored the 250 pages included in this extract, and I'm terribly excited to delve into the entire book upon its release.

Because this was just an excerpt it’s hard to really say if I will like the entire book. But so far, im interested. At first it was confusing with the world building plus all the jumping back and forth between different characters all living in different parts of the world. Despite that, I’m interested. After mostly getting an understanding of the world, I want to know more. I want to know what the secrets are that the characters are keeping. I want to know the end goal of the story and the outcome of all the political maneuvering that was hinted at. I will definitely be reading the full finished copy when it’s published.

Oh my! This is going to be absolutely incredible. No wonder it's labelled as one of the most anticipated books of 2019. Superb!

Just reading this extract has made me so excited for the release of the full book! I need it now. Samantha Shannon's writing is beautiful and evocative, and she's built a world I just want to sink into. Can't wait.

wow. holy shit. amazing. those are the words that ran through my mind as I gazed starry-eyed at Kindle app, as the last words of the extract rolled. that was truly a gargantuan extract, even if it was only a sixth of the entire book. yet for all its size, it was still only a taste of the book.

I've been following the author, samantha shannon, for many years since I loved the bone series series for years and years. this was her high fantasy pet project, her passionate love. and that dedication and love has clearly shown in the priory of the orange tree. 

at first, it was slow. like all epic fantasy, it winds threads and threads until a patterns begins to appear, an intricate web of connections. a picture, nay, a map begins to unfurl before the reader's eyes. something truly epic, something truly incredible. it really hit me then, when tané first meets the dragons and my heart went 'thump'. samantha shannon's writing is as lovely as ever, lyrical and lush. 

for all that most of the characters venerate the young queen of inysh, sabena, I found her thoroughly unlikeable (at least from roos and ead's point of view). I despise narrow-mindedness and sabena is literally the paragon of narrowmindedness and a refusal to accept other truths than the ones crafted for her (then again, I have a high disdain for censorship and obfuscation of the truth). the tantalising hints of another viewpoint, another truer story of the dragon and the saint myth from ead's homeland tortured me, I want to know more!!

there are at least 5 unique viewpoints and I can't choose the one that I love the most!! but a close contender for number 1 is tané, the dragon rider in training. I feel like she'll have a big role to play in the upcoming clash between east and west. on that note, I love the worldbuilding in priory, the prejudices and biases that colour the perceptions of characters from the east and the west. the little details about food, dress, language, religion and culture were so richly described and detailed. 

I am so here for the diversity rep (asian and lgbt!!) the moment you breathe 'gay' or 'wlw' my direction, I materialise like a jinn that's heard its name called. this book was already on my tbr since it was announced, but now it has rocketed up my reading list. this makes for a fine present to myself, as it releases a day before my birthday!!

I love to see women writing thick, rich fantasy like this-so much so that I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did. The hype around this book is warranted, it is exactly what I would expect to be popular within this genre. 

The author is good, the story too, but there was a little too much going on for my taste. To many places, names, and things all at once. And like someone else mentioned, 800 pages is quite a daunting commitment.

The story develops mainly in this place called Seiiki .
I read the expert, kindly provided by netgalley. The book is inspired by stories and legends from different parts of the world. As soon as it starts it jumps right into action presenting our main character Tané. 
The writing is beautiful , very descriptive but not in a heavy way but in a simple yet deep manner that makes you feel inside of this world. Which I find magnificent. 
It certainly gives me A song of Ice and Fire vibes. 
Promising story with a lot of political maters mixed with loyalty. I can’t wait for the release of this book.

The hype around this book is definitely warranted. I will be honest and say that the full book is still very intimidating to me, but after reading this sneak peek, I am dead set on reading this as soon as it comes out.

It has been a great pleasure to be able to read the ARC for “The Priory of the Orange Tree” by Samantha Shannon. Thank you publisher and NetGalley. 

[Note: No spoilers!]

Firstly although the arc was only an extract of the 880+ pages, the sample was a substantial read, giving just enough to reel one in and leave them to enthusiastically count down the days until the publication date. 

Secondly what an amazing artwork on the cover! So beautiful. Colors are complimentary. The Dragon is wonderous in it mystic and frightful pose atop the building. 

There are a number of story lines within the books which has you wondering how the one character connects to the other. 

I did find in (the beginning) the character jumping and the encyclopedia amount of fictional history was confusing... however reading further into the book allowed greater connections between characters, their background, beliefs and religions. The story began to than flow from one character to the next. Dragons, knights, secret mags, a possibility of an underlying war threatening to break out between two sides. So much to keep you on the edge of your side. 

My favorite character thus far was Ead. Strong willed and seemingly quiet intelligent. 

I certainly look forward to eventually reading this book in its entirety! 

** I received a copy of The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#PrioryOfTheOrangeTree #NetGalley

<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/3304833bccfc2e0416ee4bfbd23dc3be01ea4674" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>

Great preview for what I am sure is going to be a fabulous book!! This preview was lengthy and made me want to read it that much more!!!


The beginning is slow to start but I think it is just building up to the main context. As with many fantasy books, the first part is always building the world. Dragons and Strong women.... where do I sign up??!! So looking forward to the full book!! 

Thank you to netgalley for providing this preview in exchange for an honest review!

I received an excerpt of this 800+ pages book via Netgalley. 

The quality of the text on my Kindle was quite bad, words missing, unnecessary zeroes or ones in the middle of the text, new paragraphs in the middle of sentences, so I had quite the hard time to read the actual, short excerpt. 

It took me about an hour and for the most part I am intrigued and interested, but also confused. There are too many characters, too many new places and historical references... 

I liked some of the characters and the idea of dragonriders, but the layout and length of the excerpt did not really help to immserve myself into the story. I have pre-ordered the book as there are some interesting characters + world-building aspects in there, but I would have greatly prefered an ARC to be able to read the entire thing and not just bits and pieces...

Three stars because I am mostly confused, the layout was horrible and I couldn't immerse myself enough into the story. The book will be much better I think!