The Priory of the Orange Tree

Hoo boy. Priory of the Orange Tree was a book that had a lot to live up to. This book has one of the most evangelical fanbases that I've ever experienced, so in my mind that meant there had to be something to it, that it was going to be this phenomenal book that would never leave me when I finished it. Then, in the buildup to the release of it's prequel, dissenting opinions began to arise, decrying the pacing, complaining about the YA nature of it, saying Shannon's prose was weak. And I'll admit, I put the book off because of those opinions. I really shouldn't have. Priory of the Orange Tree slaps, despite it's issues (some of which I've already mentioned), and I wish that I'd read it much sooner than I did.

I adore the world of the book, and how Shannon has managed to weave a thoroughly convincing history into the world, even down to how that history has been rewritten. The magic system, the unique cultures, both the systems of faith, and the methods in which they're governed all feel well developed and thought out, which is no mean feat for how short a time she has relative to other contemporaries. In just 800 pages, she manages to flesh out 3 different cultures, and touch on 2 others, all the while pushing the story forward with every single page. I've seen other authors struggle to do less in longer series, so I was pleasantly surprised by how she nailed the cultures in this book, as I didn't expect them to be this well developed when I started reading it.

I particularly enjoyed how the Inysh culture developed throughout the book, as they have a really unique religion, where they're ruled by a line of Queens who's bloodline keeps an ancient evil at bay as long as it goes on. Seeing the culture be challenged by the events of the book was an absolute treat, and left Inysh the most developed of all the cultures by the end, both in part due to the amount of time spent in that culture, and it's importance upon world politics within the story.

The characters are second to none, having no characters that I thought were bad. There were characters who I hated fairly distinctly, but for the most part, those were characters you were meant to hate. The way Shannon writes character arts is one that I really appreciate when I see it, since it feels much more real, and I'm glad that it's so common in modern fantasy. Characters don't let their guard down around people they don't know, so it takes time for you to see their true character, which gives you a huge amount of insight to the kind of person that they are.
Of particular note is Sabran, who at the beginning of the book, was my most hated character. I couldn't stand how rude and arrogant she was to Ead, the PoV character who's chapters Sabran appeared in. But by the end of the book, Sabran was one of, if not my favourite, characters in the book. Seeing her worldview and values be challenged and warped by the events of the book was stellar, every event slowly cracking the façade that she'd put around herself. It was masterfully done, and her ending felt so earned. I'll gladly admit to crying at the last chapter she was in.

Most of the PoVs are fantastic, with one particular exception. Ead, Loth and Niclays are all excellent, though Niclays is a bastard and I hate him. Tané however, was at best, mildly interesting, and at her worst, a total slog to read. She is probably the worst character in the book, having a neutered amalgamation of multiple other character's arcs, with very little to set her apart, and the personality of a wet rag. It took nearly the entire book for her to get moderately enjoyable, and she never rose higher than that. The only saving grace of her chapters was getting to see the Eastern culture be developed upon, as she was the only PoV who was born and raised in it, so she was realistically our only glimpse into the inner workings of the culture. I genuinely believe that Tané is the single reason that people drop this book in the early stages, as she's so dry to read, which is doubly impressive, considering her culture is based heavily around water.

The romance in the book is phenomenal. I haven't been this invested in a romance in a fantasy story in years. As a matter of fact, I can't recall what the last romance I was invested in was. It's a sapphic slow burn romance, and I ate that shit up. It could have ended up feeling very forced, but Shannon does a phenomenal job of selling the reader on it, making it feel extremely authentic.

I only have one more gripe with the book, though it's a massive spoiler, so read on at your own risk. If you do decide to not read on, I recommend the book, it's really good. Anyway, onto the spoiler.

The final battle of the book, that it spends 700+ pages building up to, amounted to a grand total of 40 something pages. This on it's own wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, and I'm not looking for a Wheel of Time length final battle, but it just felt rushed. There were much more minor parts of the book that had more page time, which sucks. But on top of this, it was just kind of mediocre. The character moments were pretty decent, but there was so few epic moments in the battle itself, that it didn't lend itself to the buildup it had received in the slightest.

I'm actually surprised that I don't hear more about this, as I personally felt extremely let down when I reached this, so it shocks me that nobody else has seemingly shared this opinion. I really do think it could have benefitted from about 20-30 pages more, since the books already really long, so what would the harm have been in ensuring that the battle was the best part of the book. It's ultimately not so much of an issue that I dislike the book, but I was definitely disappointed by that aspect of the book.

Overall, as I said before, you should get this book, it's fantastic. It's part of a series now, but you can read it as a standalone, and it will 100% work well as one. 4.5/5 Stars