The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

I read The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon yoinks and yoinks ago, and I recall enjoying it, so I was certain that when I picked up The Priory of the Orange Tree that I'd enjoy it. Her writing is often hyped and in this case I'd say that the hype is warranted. Shannon writes the kind of fantasy I can sink my teeth into, and her solid grip on evoking a sense of history and place in her writing is what keeps me reading. But also, the covers. Oh my, Bloomsbury has outdone themselves with the covers – and not only for The Priory but also for the other book in this setting that is currently sitting next to its chum up on my bookshelf – A Day of Fallen Night. These are pretty books that look simply delightful in my permanent library, avid book dragon that I am.

Speaking of dragons, this book has 'em. 

We meet Tané, a dragonrider; Ead, a mage belonging to a secret order who must safeguard a queen; and of course Queen Sabran who must face great adversity to rule her land. I don't want to go into too many particulars – this is way beyond the scope of this review, but I will touch on themes. We do have an outside, existential threat that reminded me somewhat of The Lord of the Rings in terms of the world-breaking aspect that the different protagonists face. It's a ticking clock, if you will, with it being quite clear that if East cannot treat with West, then everyone's doomed.

Sabran is very much a Queen Elizabeth figure, while our enlightened meddlesome mages with their orange tree are suggestive of our Assassins or yore, and of course our dragonrider's culture is very much a nod to Imperial China – and it's really a lovely combination, with plenty of adventuring and derring-do. And the sapphic angle was wonderful to see so effortlessly front and centre.

But...

Of course, there's a but.

While the story starts off strong, and Shannon has oodles of awesome happening, I feel that she falls afoul of the the law of 'too much awesome'. One of two things should have happened: the novel should have been reeled in and simplified with perhaps fewer subplots and viewpoint characters in order to focus more on shoring up the stronger main arcs or, alternatively, it should have been expanded into two or three books, with more attention given to fully developing all the narrative arcs.

While I still found this an entirely enjoyable read – enough so that I immediately purchased the next book in this setting, I felt that about 3/4 of the way in, Shannon suddenly came to the startling conclusion that she needed to wrap the story. Whether this was due to the publisher's deadline or a self-imposed one, who knows, but the last quarter of the story feels somewhat dashed off. She gets off to a strong start but then either lacks the will or the wherewithal to see it through to the end. And this is a big book – one I'll likely read again in a few years. The world is big enough that it wouldn't have hurt to develop this further to give The Priory a more dynamic ending. It's not a deal-breaker, but definitely a thought I've had.

As you can most likely gather by now, I feel quite strongly about Samantha Shannon's writing, enough that I'll go on a limb. I really love what she's doing, however, and I'm glad that she's getting the opportunity to tell her stories.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon #reviews

Title: The Bone Season
Author: Samantha Shannon
Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2013

In this post-apocalyptic urban fantasy, author Samantha Shannon envisions an alternative history where “unnaturals” – individuals with the ability to interact with and control spirits – are discriminated against. Many Western cities are under the control of an organisation known as Scion, which enforces strict rules relating to those who show signs of clairvoyance, or voyants, as they are also labelled.

We explore Scion London and its environs from the viewpoint of Paige Mahoney, who is a member of a gang of voyants who are at the top of Scion’s most wanted list. Her ability is perhaps the rarest, that of dreamwalking – someone who is able to leave her body at will and infiltrate others’ minds.

Anyone who controls her has a powerful weapon in their hands, and it comes as no surprise that she soon finds herself in the midst of a bigger conflict than she previously imagined existed.

We are introduced to the shadowy Rephaim, a magical race best described as somewhat between angel and vampire, and though they claim to have mankind’s continued best interests at heart, to protect them from vicious creatures called the Emim, their methods for doing so leave a lot to be desired.

I was a bit torn about The Bone Season by the time I reached the end. I’d heard a lot of hype about it, touting Shannon as the next JK Rowling, but I feel much of that hype hasn’t done much good. So far as debut offerings go, this is a strong entry into the genre, and Shannon’s style is certainly fast-paced, gritty and vivid. Yet I did feel the combat scenes fell a bit flat for lack of detail, and at times a few clichéd phrases slipped through (enough that I noticed it and was jerked out of my reading). Also, the ending felt a bit untidy, with what I felt should have been crucial interactions glossed over in narrative summary that could have amplified tension. That being said, the world building is detailed, and overall this is a suitable departure from the standard YA dystopian reads I’ve encountered so far.

The love triangle that does crop up isn’t as glaringly heavy-handed as I initially feared.

The Bone Season is an action-packed thriller that will twist readers’ expectations a few times before it reaches a suitably explosive conclusion, with enough loose ends present to hint at further instalments.