Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this!!!!

I had to own the book after this. I am now 175 pages into the book that I went to barnes and noble and paid $22 for, only because I am a Barnes and Noble member. Other than that, the book would have cost $32 but at this point still worth it.....

The world is so complex and we are following 4 different perspectives at this point in my reading. It can be very slow but the author is giving you the world building. I am loving this book. It will be the biggest book I have ever read but I am taking it at a slow pace so it may take me a month to read in between other books as well, but I will be so proud of myself when I get this book completed. I can not wait to see where this world is going.

I received an extract of this book via NetGalley and if made me do something I have never done before. I paid over $15 for a kindle book. This book was so good that I broke my cardinal rule of not paying over $5 for an ebook.

This was over 800 pages of awesome fantasy fiction. I really loved that this book was a complete epic fantasy saga. I'm an impatient person, so waiting for the next book in a series to be released is excruciating (looking at you, Scott Lynch). Being able to read this complete, wonderful, story was so delightful.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

The version that I got was simply an extract from the book but already i can tell for one its very well written and two the world building in this story is incredible.

The fact that the author fit it all into a stand alone fantasy book amazes me and I can't wait to purchase a physical copy and dive right into this story.

IN A NUTSHELL: The Priory of the Orange Tree is one of the BEST fantasy novels I’ve read in a while, especially in terms of world-building. The religions, the kingdoms and the politics usually don’t intrigue me as much as the characters do, but Priory was a perfect blend of it all. I was as invested in the fate of the kingdom and the people as I was in the characters narrating the story. I loved the magic, the dragons, the lore, the romance, the friendship and the political intrigue.

In a nutshell, that ended up being no so nutshell-y, The Priory of the Orange Tree was everything I expected it to be AND MORE.


THINGS I LOVED:

1. EAD AND SABRAN. These two were my FAVOURITE characters and I loved them and their story.

2. In this world, both same and different sex partners and were the norm, except for royalty because of the whole line of succession reason, but companionship was based on love, not society-based gender constructs and it was wonderful

3. THE WATER DRAGONS WERE BRILLIANT and I LOVED Tane and her dragon’s story.

4. THE WORLD, THE RELIGIONS AND THE PALACES were all brilliant. I cannot describe how much I became a part of this world while reading this 800-page beauty, but I did. It was probably the most “I’m a part of this world now” experience I’ve ever had.


THINGS I DIDN’T LOVE AS MUCH:

1. Niclays Roos and his storyline seemed like filler at best. I enjoyed it FOR A WHILE, but by the time I reached the 300s, I was ready to skip past his story.

2. The ending was slightly… unrealistic. After all the build-up, I expected something MORE or at least more REAL but this wasn’t.


If you’ve seen this book around, you’re probably thinking – this book is HUGE, this cover is beautiful but will I be able to conquer it?

Trust me, even though it took me 100 or so pages to get familiar with the world and the characters, The Priory of the Orange Tree is an all-engrossing, queer, #girlpower filled fantasy that you NEED TO READ. Welcome to the Queendom and the obsession.

Read the preview and was totally into it I think Im going to enjoy this one quite a lot. . I already own the book and is in my TBR for first half 2019

Ahhhh this makes me want the rest of it! Such a well done beginning. honestly a really solid start. Can't wait to continue!

So thankful that we got an extract to read while waiting for the books release! I enjoyed this so much, I loved learning a little bit about the characters I would grow to love.
I really like dragons, so I was very excited to see a story from my favorite author about dragons.
Samantha has set up such an incredible backstory that you find yourself easily lost in the world and the people who inhabit it!

This was just an excerpt of Samantha Shannon's stand alone fantasy book.m provided to me by netgalley.

What a way to grab at readers! The priory of the Orange tree elegantly prepares the reader for an intricate world with full world building and what seems to be unforgetable chatacters.

This is an epic fantasy with all the complications of the former! Beware readers this is a stand alone so all the information will be thrown at you full force!

I got my hands on an extract of The Priory of the Orange Tree, and was really pleased I did! It's a fantasy with dragon's, wyrms (a different type of dragon, but one that doesn't like humans), kingdoms that don't understand each other, and an assassin from The Priory of the Orange Tree, looking after the Queen.



The whole book is 848 pages long in total, but the bit I read was really engaging, and I wanted to know more about the characters, and who gets to be a dragon rider!



The Priory of the Orange Tree was published on 26th February this year, and is available on Amazon and Waterstones to pre-order, and everywhere else you can find books!



I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Bloomsbury Publishing (the publishers) for this book.



Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

WOW -what a wonderful extract this certainly sounds an amazing book. Definitely one to be added to my tbr pile (to be read pile)
Thank you to both NetGalley and Bloomsbury for my eARC in exchange for my honest unbiased review

Even though this was only 100 pages of a massive book I absolutely adored it. I love Samantha Shannon's writing and I'm so excited to get into the full book and fall in love even further with this world

I absolutely loved this extract and I MUST go out and buy the full book! I've heard a lot of good things about this book, and it definitely didn't disappoint! The cover is gorgeous as well!

A really lovely beginning to a great epic. Big enough that I’m worried I’m biting off more than I can chew!

Absolutely brilliant high fantasy with complex characters and deep rooted story lines.
Great representation of the Lgbt community and also strong female characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the extract of the book.

I'm already sucked into the beautifully lush scenes of this epic fantasy. Shannon's writing is utterly illustrative. I'm excited to read this book in its entirety and see what happens next.

E-arc provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

I have read all of this amazing book and I am WOW. This took me quite a while to get through but man, if it was worth it.
This is a high fantasy novel which reminded me a lot of Eragon meets Game of Thrones. It a fairly fast paced book which never bored me. That took me by surprise, to be honest. Since it's really long I was expecting that.
Samantha Shannon's writing improved a lot since The Bone Seasons saga which I didn't particularly enjoy. But this is amazing! MUST READ!

This was a great extract and I am so excited to read the full book!

And the cover looks amazing to top it all off. Better grab a cup of tea and cosy up with a blanket!

I thoroughly enjoyed this fantasy novel. The world building was phenomenal. You were able to not only learn the history of the places and the people, but you developed a connection to the characters in a way that made you have hope for your favorites and disdain for those you didn't care for. All of the magical elements from the dragons to the magical objects made for a truly interesting story. I felt that the book was a good mix of information and action to keep you reading, and the book definitely picked up in the second half once you got a sense of the world and backstories. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a great fantasy story. I would only recommend it to my higher level high school readers because there are a few adult themes scattered throughout that not all teens would be able to handle, and the length would intimidate some of those that are not big readers. I definitely would recommend this to my adult friends.

Touching on some meaningful and topical theories, Shannon manages to construct a well-rounded, and yet intricate novel. Typically, the writing style used is not a favourite of mine. However, the author has managed to weave a world of words which distracts from the conceptual, and physical, and encourages the reader to a veritable absorption into this novel. While this is only a extract, I am currently reading (and enjoying) the full novel.

The story is well written and enjoyable to read. makes me want to read the full book instead of just a very small portion. There is more to this world than this brief glimpse allows.