This review will only cover the EXCERPT of The Priory of the Orange Tree that I received, but I will update my review in the future once I read the rest of the book.

This book immediately drew me in from the first page. This book seems to have everything that I love in fantasy - strong women, interesting stories and settings, and of course dragons. The characters are well-developed and realistic, and the author's style of writing is engrossing. I can't wait to read the rest of this amazing stand-alone fantasy novel!

This excerpt is everything I was waiting for : it's a fantasy you won't want to miss out, full of details with a unique style. If you love dragons and fierce women like me, you're going to love it.

Whew!What a book! It opens with only a few details of the setting or the context of how things will unfold but the word play draws a strong mood of anticipation and suspense. I would recommend that you sit down with this book when you are able to give it some undivided attention for the beginning can look a bit vague. But stay with it and the characters: their allegiance, their connections and conflict with one another plays out beautifully soon enough.

In the best of the fantasy genre, there are not only dragons but also shape shifters and other ‘birds’ with their unique abilities and bonds with the ones they hold close to them. I love it that the dragons are not just magical creatures that instil awe, fear and dread but ones that are full of wisdom and speak about love and life. The story weaves in elements of how one’s beliefs honed over generations as the only truth, can be a baggage and a barrier to moving ahead towards a better world.There are sexual identities and relationships that carry the story forward and the beauty of how the support of friends can be so affirming.

I absolutely adored this little sample! It was so well written. I can not wait to get my hands on the full copy.

Ahhh! This excerpt was a little taste of such an amazing book, and I was so grateful to be able to read part of it early. I cannot wait until I got my hands on my own finished copy so that I can devour the rest of it!

DRAGON RIDERS. MATRIARCHY. REPRESENTATION.

Or in other words, High Fantasy redefined. Yes, High Fantasy made feminist. Made diverse.

This beast of a book blew me away in more ways than one. And definitely, in more ways than I would have ever expected. The Priory of the Orange Tree should stand as a new genre, or at least that’s how it feels like.

Rich in prose and world building, what moves the story forward are threads and threads of layered characters weaved together. The powerful and female protagonists are one of the stars of the show. Sabran, a young queen that refuses to wed and bear a heir. Ead, a kickass foreigner secretly sworn to the queen’s protection. And Tane, who has been preparing her whole life for the dragon rider trials and who may have done something with great repercussions.

The East and the West, two seemingly independent worlds that are tethered by one creature: dragons. Where one society fears them, the other one worships them. Where one dreads their awakening, the other one knows no greater honour than to be chosen to dedicate their lives to them.

As you see, it has the right elements to make a difference and a statement.

And at the same time, even if incredibly compelling and attractive, this book is also very intimidating. Even once you've started reading. I'm not only talking about length (+800 pages), but also about complexity. The reader is thrown into a universe where there’s a false sense of familiarity. Yes, the Priory world includes a good share of known high fantasy elements. But it also defines them from a whole new perspective. In addition to that, there’s a merciless firefight of characters. Lots of them, with complicated names and titles that belong to a hierarchy characteristic of this genre that at the same time, belong to foreign realm to the reader.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. From the expert that I've read so far, I look forward to reading the rest of the book and seeing how the story progresses and how Ms. Shannon is able to weave all those different storylines together into one cohesive plot. The stirring of something momentous was happening and it was enough to keep me engaged, despite the jumping back and forth between characters storylines. I will be purchasing the full book when it is released and recommend to others.

Fantasy is one of those genres whereby i am choosy as to what i would read. Upon reading this excerpt, i know 'The Priory of the Orange Tree' is one of those fantasy book that i would enjoy. Loved the excerpt and cannot wait to read the whole book.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my excerpt.

Greatly looking forward to better explore the extensive characters and their journeys once The Priory of the Orange Tree releases. I loved the sweeping nature of this world and how the characters were all separate but equally connected in unrealized ways, and I cannot wait for what's to come.

The Priory of The Orange Tree looks to be a promising new book and I absolutely cannot wait to read the rest of this book when it releases! I was blown away just by the excerpt!

High fantasy seems to be at it's peak with this beautifully written book! Already I love the world building, the author does a fantastic job at describing everything too. I

This book will have everyone talking about it, the book of the year!

Read an ARC excerpt courtesy of the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

I can honestly say I was so excited when I read this excerpt, I really can’t wait until the main book is released so I can continue the story !

Characters are well fleshed out and the story has some interesting twists, definitely worth the read !

#theprioryoftheorangetree #netgalley

This excerpt makes the reader want to keep reading and sets up the world of Priory. I can't wait to read more next week when Priory of the Orange Tree releases. Based on this excerpt, it sets itself up to be one of my favorite fantasy novels!

An excerpt copy was provided by Bloomsbury via NetGalley. So far this book is so amazing! I can't wait for it to hit the shelves. This is going to be a "Must Read!!"

This is quite the enigma. I have picked this up and abruptly put it back down at least 9 or 10 times. I just can't get into it and that's confusing since the synopsis hit all the right notes. I was intrigued. I also saw all of those glowing reviews and I feel like I'm reading a different book. We're not vibing. Forget falling in love with it (like the other reviewers), I'm just trying to fall in tolerance with it... and I'm failing. I'm going to give this one the benefit of the doubt and say it's probably a simple case of "it's not you, it's me". Maybe it's because I have been reading some REALLY good books lately, I think it has set the bar pretty high. Either way, it wasn't for me and I set my limit at 10 tries before I call it so here we are... I HATE to say it but... I QUIT!

This is quite possibly one of my most hyped books for 2019, and I greatly appreciate Samantha and Bloomsbury making the first 100 pages available! I can't wait to dive into this world of dragons and courts!

The Priory of the Orange Tree EXCERPT
A Novel
by Samantha Shannon
Bloomsbury USA
Bloomsbury
General Fiction (Adult) , Sci Fi & Fantasy

I only got a taste and a couple of Houses...this looks like very good book with a certain amount of complexity, court intrigue and a well thought out put together cast that includes dragons, pirates, assassins, anti assassins, magic, mysticism, maybe some romance and quite detailed different cultures. I would read it if given a chance. I giving a 4 instead of 5 because I only went through 100 pages but will try to rad it soon and probably change up

The world building shown so far for this story is amazing and incredibly intriguing. I am very excited to read more

You know when you start reading a book and you know you're going to love it? Well that's it!

I enjoyed the excerpt enough to preorder the book. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

This excerpt is so good that I pre-ordered the book after reading it ... The cover is magical and how Samantha Shannon is build up this book and helps the reader getting from up to now into the story is fantastic! Thank you so much for reading this excerpt. Will this book also be published and Germany and if yes, is it clearly by now, when ;-)? I love what I´m allowed to read by now very much ... Thank you!

Thank you so much for the preview I am so looking forward to getting my copy of this book I went out and pre order immediately. I love dragons!!! Cant wait to see where the adventures take me