When I first came across this book, I thought it sounded amazing. I mean, who doesn't love epic fantasies with dragons of all shapes and sizes? The opening quote from Revelations made this even more intriguing as I started reading the excerpt.

While this excerpt gives a chunky look into this massive novel, I'm not sure which way to go with it. It certainly reads like a well-written epic fantasy. But the up-play of the LGBT aspects of the book in several reviews I've read are making me second guess if I want to read it or not. I wish this was better indicated as not everybody wants to read books in this genre.

I found the text quite hard to follow because of the formatting and odd line breaks which I'm not counting towards my rating as I am assuming that these issues will be resolved in the final ebook release . Nonetheless, the sample I have read has me very excited to read the rest of this highly anticipated work from Samantha Shannon

Well what a beginning to a story is it February yet I need the whole book!
A retelling of George and the Dragon, with a female point of view and from the small amount i read it is rich on details and the world building is immense.

Not sure how I feel about this book yet. I will definitely pick up the full text when it is released.

Such a tease!! While I'm very grateful to have been given the chance to read an excerpt of one of the most anticipated releases of 2019 by a beloved author, all it did was whet my appetite for even more!

While the world building itself was a little dry, (though understandable when reading a high fantasy), when I first saw the mention of Dragons from the East I was intrigued. When I saw them, I was hooked. The pieces soon fell into place, and I started to feel for the characters more. This was no longer a documentary style historical fiction, but a full blooded high fantasy fit for a Queen! (or a fantasy loving reader at best).

I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy when it releases in February, and bask in the brilliance that is Samantha Shannon.

Same as for Exclusive Early Excerpt:
I enjoyed this extract quite a bit, the writing was precise and easy to read, the characters were well developed and the exposition was integrated into the story so as not to be distracting while at the same time clearly indicating the depth of world building. By the end of the extract the various characters' plot intrigues and the story's sense of scale had built and combined to create the sense that this book is clearly going to an exceptionally if traditional epic fantasy.
The only draw back for readers may by the clear analogues between world history and the nations of this book's fantasy world. Already there are fantasy nations that are clearly inspired (both in culture and to some degree geographically) by Tudor England, Shogun Japan and the 17th century Dutch Republic. This probably won't be much of an issue but may undercut reader's desire for this fantasy world to have a real sense of distinctiveness.
It should be noted that the book does of very good job of creating a diverse fantasy world both in terms of gender and race without being heavy handed in it's approach.
It's clear that this is going to be a book on an epic scale and if purchased, as I intend to, readers should be prepared to make a big commitment for what should be a highly enjoyable reading experience.

amazing, I was hooked from page one!I wish I had the rest book to read it all in one sitting!Just fantastic!I loved the world and the set up!

Dragons! Mysterious strangers emerging from the ocean! Matrilineal queens! There's so much to love about this book. The frequent point of view shifts and Fantasy Names sometimes make it difficult to follow exactly what is happening, but as I progressed through the excerpt I began to pick up many of the details that were initially lost on me. I look forward to reading the rest of the book when it comes out.

I want more! It was alot to take in for an excerpt - lots of new terms - countries, beliefs, names, etc. But it was an engaging story, with an interesting plot and characters. Who and why is Ead there, protecting a queen she doesn't believe in. How the wyverns have woken, and who will become the dragonriders.
The world seems beautiful, well built and I want to dwelve deeper into it. Can't wait for this release.

This extract was a wild ride and I loved it. There is so much world-building, so many hints about what's to come, I just want to have the book in my hands.

If you love strong women and dragons (sentient dragons, no less), you'll love this. The jacket summary makes the plot sound easy to understand, but it is very complex.
Here's a quick breakdown. There are two main characters: Tane and Ead, but the story is told from many points of view. This world is divided into the East, where Tane lives, and the West, also known as Virtuedom, where Ead lives. The East has dragon riders and the West believes dragons are evil. Tane is hoping to become a dragonrider and Ead is a handmaiden to the Queen of Virtuedom, but Ead is an outsider with a SECRET.

The extracts jumps into the middle of the story (or so it seems) and there's so much information to take in, that it took me a while to fully grasp everything (one, where) that I was reading. I still don't fully understand (because it was only an extract), but there were a few instances of explaining in the novel, so I am confident that the entire book will have information secreted away in it like bits of candy. Better yet, the book is massive, so we can be assured of a wonderful, wild ride of a story with powerful women in an intricate world (aka the best thing ever).
And yes, the title has meaning! What meaning, I can't exactly say, but there were some mentions of a Priory and an orange tree!

I hope the finished copy comes with a map, because I need one to keep track of every place.

My only complaint is that I heard there would be LGBT romance (and the description makes it sound so), but I haven't seen any in this extract. More to come, hopefully!

I've been seeing this book around for months now, authors getting ARCS and commenting, and it really got me curious, I mean Jay Kristoff? Our lovely droog writer of Nevernight and Illuminae and LifeL1k3 mentioning a book? It's got to call your attention.

So already, my expectations where up high, but now after the extract?! I got to have the finished product on my hands and on my bookshelves!

Samantha Shannon's writing? Marvelous!
The plot? From what we can read in this extracts. Beautiful!
My heart? Stolen.

I cannot wait for 26 feb to get myself this amazing book!

I absolutely adore Shannon's The Bone Season series so when I heard she was publishing something outside of that world I was very excited. Being able to read an excerpt of this book had me glowing with happiness.

I will say that while I was thrilled to be able to read this excerpt, I wasn't especially impressed. As a reader I was made to feel as if I should immediately care about these characters but was given very little reason to do so. There were obviously Important Things going on but I was drawn in enough to really give a hoot about them.

When this book is released I will still be picking it up as I love Shannon but I will be keeping my expectations low. Maybe further on beyond where this excerpt ends the story picks up and the reader is given a reason to care and if that is the case I will be thrilled. As it is right now, I was a bit disappointed.

Really looking forward to read more of this book, only an excerpt but made me so curious about the world and the characters Shannon created.

I think my too-high expectations ruined this first bit of reading for me. It is one of my most anticipated reading of 2019 and so far it looks very different from what I was expecting. While I've enjoyed the plot and characters, I couldn't love the writing style as much as I'd liked.
However, it's a 800+ pages book and it will take me to read more of it to see if it'll be as cool as I hope. Also: DRAGONS are a BIG incentive to keep reading.

I really enjoyed the excerpt and was saddened when I reached the end! I wanted to just keep on reading. Great start to what I can predict will be a 5 star read. I can't wait to read the full novel!

"The stranger came out of the sea like a water ghost, barefoot and wearing the scars of his journey."

If that is not an opening that makes me want to read more I don't know what is! Priory is one of my most anticipated reads of 2019 and this excerpt did nothing to satiate my desire for it! I can't wait to finish it!

Wow. Just wow. This series is going to be something special. Dragons and awesome characters and a sweeping epic?! Yes, please. Although this is just an excerpt, it made me so thrilled to read it when it comes out. I’d encourage all of you to preorder it if you like tons of action and intrigue!

SO. MANY. NAMES.

I am a sucker for a giant brick of a book, some of these fantasy books are so puny they always leave me wanting more. Which is what this little sample did to me! I can’t wait for the final release and am definitely going to preorder it! The beginning so far is a bit slow and didn’t suck me in as hard as I thought it would, but with a 800 page book, you’ve got A LOT to develop and I think the author’s has done an amazing job so far! Can’t wait to read more!

My absolutely most anticipated read of the year! I can't wait to have a finished copy in my hands! The setting, the plot, the characters, the world, it all looks so fascinating! I'm sooo excited for it I already have it preordered!

Samantha Shannon has a lovely way with words. She quickly became my favourite author after The Bone Season. While this book is much different from TBS, it is just as great! The preview of the book left me wanting more. I can't wait until my preorder arrives and I can finally read more about these fantastic creatures and learn more about the wonderful characters.