Hard to tell from one extract, but I have a strong feeling this is likely to be one of the best fantasy novels I read all year. Ead and Tane are both engaging characters, albeit strong in very different ways, and I can't wait to see how their struggles resolve themselves. Really, though, the real star here is the world-building. I love how Samantha Shannon seems to have been inspired by eastern history: Japan's history felt very present in a lot of the world building. The dragons are just as mysterious and terrifying as I could wish for. However for me, I couldn't help but be particularly enthralled by the environment of the court. Definitely moving this one to the top of my to-read pile!

The first five chapters of this book did nothing to dull my anticipation for the whole book. It's going to be a slow burner to get into - exquisite but very detailed world building, many characters, sweeping, multi layered plot - but from this I believe the pay off will be well worth it. Even from here I can see Shannon's etymology enthusiasm shining through and it gladdens my word nerd heart. This is not YA. Do not expect facile access or a linear plot. But if you're looking for what will be a huge epic fantasy tome, look no further.

Even just in this extract (which is pretty substantial), you can already tell that this fantasy has an epic, classic feel, but the main thing that stands out even over the quality of the writing is the sheer number and variety of female characters. It's the sort of fantasy I've always wanted and have struggled to find - plus, there are dragons!

I often find fantasy with multiple points of view to be difficult to balance, and I end up preferring one storyline to another, but here I was equally intrigued by all the different viewpoint characters, and I can't wait to see how the various plot lines entangle and entwine with each other.

I'm really, really excited for the release of this!