A Day of Fallen Night: A Roots of Chaos Novel (The Roots of Chaos)

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I will try to keep this as spoiler free as possible, and put a warning before spoilers when they're included.*** Another epic, sweeping fantasy from the mastermind behind The Priory of the Orange Tree and The Bone Season series. I stayed up reading this book until I was actually drifting off! Having to put this book down was so hard, especially as it’s better in large chunks, so you can get fully into it!

A Day of Fallen Night: A Roots of Chaos Novel Paperback – 28 A Day of Fallen Night: A Roots of Chaos Novel Paperback – 28

Because the world is swimming with Wyrms burning down cities and people, and the Councils and politicians want to sit down and discuss the future of the kingdoms!!! And among all this chaos, the best solution that the 16-year-old Queen Dumai decides is to have an heir!!! I also highly enjoyed exploring more of the world of The Priory - we got to visit multiple new lands that we heard of but never saw in the first book, and they melded seamlessly into the overall story. Expanding a universe in a prequel novel is no easy task, as everything has to make sense for both the current and future (past) stories, and I think Shannon did an excellent job doing so. In particular, I enjoyed seeing Hroth, as I actually just went to Iceland and there were so many similarities in both the landscape and historical culture that it was easy to picture in my head. Priory is known as a sapphic fantasy staple, and I wholeheartedly agree with this. But A Day of Fallen Night boasts an even higher count of sapphic relationships, alongside it's other incredible representation. Out of our four main characters, two are sapphic, one is achillean, and one is aroace-spec. There are also several other queer characters as well as trans and genderqueer characters. Samantha Shannon could I possibly love you more? SPOILERS)) As far as the story goes, the thing that irked me the most was the Canthe storyline. Her true identity was obvious from the beginning, and then it soon became obvious that ((MASSIVE SPOILER)) ((last warning)) Wulf was Tuva's son and Canthe had taken him to Inys. So, one of the few things that could have been a surprise in this novel was spoiled as well before the reveal, due to just plain deductive logic. But - why? We *sort of* get an explanation at the end, but it's weak at best. Canthe says, in nearly the same breath that she wanted to raise someone as her successor, that she doesn't think she can ever die. So why would she need a successor? Also, a successor to what? She has no kingdom, no land to rule other than the wood, nothing tangible to her name. Her motives throughout the book just don't add up to me. I just don't see why she needed to be a main character, other than the purpose of physically connecting other characters and acting as translator. ((SPOILERS OVER))Subjects: Fantasy , Modern & Contemporary Fiction , Fantasy , Epic fantasy / heroic fantasy , Relating to LGBTQ+ people , Fiction / Coming Of Age , Fiction / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology , Fiction / Fantasy / General , Fiction / Fantasy / Epic Show Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose. The latter part of the book becomes more exciting as the paths of our protagonists intersect. However, the payoff is not commensurate with the long time invested to reach that point. The ending of the book features several plot twists, but most of these were rather predictable. The way bodies were described were so gentle and beautiful. Aging is not a terrible thing, and is described so tenderly.

A Day of Fallen Night - Bloomsbury Publishing A Day of Fallen Night - Bloomsbury Publishing

We know the long line of Berethnet queens from Priory, but there are very few who compare to Glorian. We even know a piece of Glorian's story, from the history of Priory, but there is still much that we do not know. Knowing this piece of her only draws tighter the chains that bind Glorian to her story, she grows evermore imprisoned as we read on and on. The role of queen is not one she desires, the eternal vine of Berethnets is not a destiny she wants to claim. Shannon is simply a master of the genre' C. S. PACAT, New York Times-bestselling author of DARK RISE A return to the world of Samantha Shannon's Sunday Times and New York Times -bestselling The Priory of the Orange Tree - 'The new Game of Thrones' Stylist please don’t hate me for this review. as someone who loved priory of the orange tree, it pains me to rate a day of fallen night so low.We trek the furthest in Wulf's perspective, seeing corners of the world we had not dared venture before. As I mentioned with the Republic of Carmentum, Hróth is another land we have not seen before, and (as a person who loves cold, icy lands) I treasured every moment inside of it. Hróth provided many unique obstacles and difficult terrain. It was a brilliant choice to establish so many varying geographies and cultures so that we could see how similar things affected each land differently and in which ways the lands each chose to combat them. The main problem with A Day of Fallen Night is its inconsistent pacing. After an exceptionally slow start, the plot sputters in fits and starts but never rises to the same level of intensity as in The Priory of the Orange Tree. Every time I felt like the story was gaining traction, it would be interrupted by an ill-timed chapter break and associated change in perspective. Rather than sequencing chapters to help build momentum or reinforce certain aspects of the story, the alternating perspectives give the novel a disjointed feel, compromising the flow of the story.

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon - Goodreads Editions of A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon - Goodreads

These three women are the heart of the book. They are what made A Day of Fallen Night genuinely excellent; not one POV was less compelling. Each of them had a unique story arc that was woven together by the fabric of Shannon’s universe. I’m reluctant to say more, for fear of spoilers, but the ways that their stories intersected and referenced one another absolutely thrilled me. Even the short scenes that were from other points of view provided the story with some of its best moments. Samantha Shannon has done it once again! I enjoyed A Day of Fallen Night even more than The Priory of the Orange Tree, it was such an incredible read. In a book with such an epic scope it's hard to find a place to start when reviewing, but I will nevertheless attempt explaining how infatuated I am with this book in my mere words. When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat. On that note, there are a great number of characters we follow throughout, all of whom I loved. Each was so different, from beliefs to voice, and it was nothing short of a special reading experience to go through this massive journey with each of them.

Look. Was I really not gonna like this book? No. It’s 100% my shit, everything I wanted, it’s gay, it’s beautiful, it’s heartbreaking. A real leveling up from priory (which I also enjoyed) and everything I’ve been craving in fantasy.