I could hear the lava crackling and feel the heat.... !

Among the Burning Flowers transports us into 500 years after the last Wyrms and Wyverns have been seen. People have formed new alliances, found new saints and maintained their prejudices all the same. Oh how quickly we forget what truly matters!

The main characters feel instantly "warm", as if we are listening to an old friend tell the tale of their life before meeting us. The plotting is impeccable and the character's trials and tribulations feel true.
It is a shorter than usual read, however, it holds the same magic and immersion we have gotten to associate with Samantha Shannon's craft.

This was an obvious 5 star read and I am going to read The Priory of the Orange Tree right after (again).. emotionally satisfying and you'd do yourself a favor in adding this to your list of "Things I need to buy" !

Thank you to Samantha Shannon, Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for giving me these Burning Flowers !

(5/5⭐️) 📚 Thank you NetGalley for the eArc of ‘Among the Burning Flowers’ - the prequel to ‘The Priory of The Orange Tree’. I have always been fascinated to know Morosa‘s story within the Roots of Chaos series. It was clear the sacrifices she had to make in the first book, but to know the lead up and what sort of person she was before the second Grief changed her. What I didn’t expect was to become so invested in Aubrecht, only to slowly remember what happens in the next book…trying not to spoil here!🥲

I wished we got more chapters of Estina because her character was the most interesting due to her crazy Culler career but I understand that Morosa and Aubrecht’s stories are more relevant and help to ease reads into ‘The Priory of The Orange Tree’. I do agree this is a good introduction book, though you won’t hear from these characters until 25% through or more, so newcomers to this series, please remember what’s happened in this book when going into the next. There is so many more characters to come, so you’ll probably forget important information you learnt now haha.

The series is amazing, I’m so glad this novella is coming to make it more accessible to people. I still have ‘A Day of Fallen Night’ left to read, just need to build up to courage to have my soul destroyed.

Take your first steps into the epic.
Yscalin, land of sunshine and lavender, will soon be ablaze.
Exciting prequel to Priory of the Orange Tree we visit a few side characters in the main story before the fall of Yacalin. As usual the Writing is stunning and it felt amazing to be in this world again. I would read Samantha’s Shopping list if she wrote it herself!

This was my first book by Samantha Shannon, which I went into knowing it could be read as a standalone or part of the Roots of Chaos series. My point was to see if I liked her writing and the world before fully committing. My goodness, her writing style is amazing. I am now convinced and can't wait to read the other 2 books in this series. It's the perfect taster for those wanting to dip their toes in - but I wasn't left entirely clear on where this book sits within the timeline of the universe? I know there is some character crossover, but I don't think enough to spoil the rest of the series.

Getting to enter the world of the Roots of Chaos series again was nothing short of magical.

This book is a standalone taking place before the events of Priory of the Orange tree, and it's an excellent entry point for people who find the size of the other novels daunting.

Full of politics, world building, draconic mayhem, and intrigue, this book did an excellent job of keeping me on my toes. Furthermore, I love that it has such a cute sapphic love story embedded in it without being a full on romance novel. Honestly, I'd read a standalone novel for any of these characters (especially Marosa).

Well, Samantha Shannon has done it again, and let's face it, none of us are surprised. It's time to delve into the land of Yscalin, a beautiful place of sunshine and lavender, or at least it was.

Marosa Vetalda is a prisoner in a fortress ruled by her Father, the King. She can stand on a balcony and watch the beautiful city and the surrounding plains, but she can go no further. And it seems all for the crimes of her Mother. But when the ground begins to rumble and the nearby volcano erupts, life as Marosa knew it is gone, and a new horror is upon them. And while the Princess suffers, Estina Melaugo starves as she makes a living killing the dragonic beasts that are starting to wake after centuries. Fýredel is awake, and he is ready to take his revenge.

This book is a companion book that explains the state of Yscalin in the Priory of the Orange Tree, and it helps expand the beautiful world that Shannon has created. Once again, the characters are complex, morally flexible and sometimes horrific. It was created to read, to slip back into this world, almost like a cruel, warm, comfy hug where you are pulled along to see where the story will take you. A great addition!

4.5 ⭐️

I went into this book very excited, but also a bit wary of what story in this world could possibly fit in under 300 pages. I was pleasantly surprised by Samantha Shannon's pacing. She didn't try to stuff more into this book than the length could handle—it has 3 povs and isn't overly ambitious in its plot or themes.

ATBF reads like an extended prologue, and a very compelling one. We don't quite get to see follow-through to the end of the plot arc, and it leaves enough open to have me craving a Priory re-read. I can actually imagine this actually being a solid starting point for people just entering the series, although I'll always recommend publication order. I don't remember Priory well enough to know how many of my questions get direct answers, but I think this still sets up the conflict we see emerge in Priory really well.

Of the 3 perspectives, 2 are deeply intertwined, and one of them stands a bit alone. I found all of them very compelling, and was immediately invested in all of these characters. But in a 300 page book, there's only so much time to tie different threads together. This third perspective felt important, the only perspective not operating within a castle, and it showed an interesting perspective on the events taking place, but it doesn't necessarily connect in a way that makes it clear why this character's story was told alongside the other two. That being said, I still loved her and was glad she was there.

I honestly would have enjoyed another few hundred pages centered on these characters, but I really enjoyed getting to see what Samantha Shannon's shorter form writing looks like. Being so short, there's less room for the intricate plot and theme-exploration of the other 2 books, but I think this story does a really good job drawing the reader into this world and humanizing the history alluded to in Priory.

I went into this remembering very little about Priory of the Orange Tree and honestly I really think that this book stands well on its own. If anything I think that remembering less about the plot of Priory allowed me to enjoy some of the plotlines more because I didn't know how they would go. I would say that to get closure on a lot of the character arcs started in this book you do have to read Priory after though so this cant be treated as a true standalone in the way that Priory and Day of Fallen Night can be.

We follow the POVs of three secondary characters from Priory - Marosa (Princess of Yscalin), Melaugo (culler aka killer of monsters in Yscalin), and Aubrecht (Mentish Prince and Marosa's fiancé). Marosa's POV was definitely my favourite - her story was so sad but she was so determined and smart and when I reread Priory I just know that this novella will make me appreciate her character so much more. Marosa was also the character who got the most page space - the first half of the book is divided between Marosa and Melaugo whilst the last half is split between Marosa and Aubrecht. Although this sounds a little strange to not introduce one of the main POV characters until half way through the book I think that this worked quite well for each character's individual arc and for the overall plot of the story.

Also no Roots of Chaos book would be complete without a sapphic romance. The romance is pre-existing so we get some good angsty ex-girlfriend pining but given that this is a novella with two other POVs I'm really happen with the relationship development hat Samantha Shannon was able to fit in to such a short book.

I want more! This was such an interesting addition to the rest of the series, I didn't want to put it down. Also desperately need a copy of this with the illustrations!

Beauty still blooms in a realm torn apart by war and fire, but danger lurks in every petal. As dragons soar above scorched cities and ancient magic stirs beneath the ground, one woman uncovers a long-buried truth that could change everything. Her path leads through ruins, rebellion, and rising flame, as loyalty is tested and power redefined in a world where even the flowers burn with secrets. The scale of this story is huge, but it still feels personal. It's about fire and war, but also about what you carry with you when everything starts to burn. Intense in all the right ways.

The Roots of Choas series is my all time favourite, so I was overjoyed to learn we were getting another addition, this time set right before Priory takes place. As always, the world building is so vivid and rich, and the characters are all intricately complex. I can't fault a single element of this book besides wanting more of it!

Samantha Shannon has said a few times that this book being shorter will hopefully help those intimidated by the size of TPOTOT & ADOFN to enter the Roots of Chaos world, and it definitely will. I have friends who haven't picked Priory up despite my begging, just because of the size, and they now plan to start with this. Selfishly though, I wanted this to be longer, which comes as a surprise to no one. I'm so in love with this universe I'll never feel like it's enough.

Every time a name/place/reference came up to the events of the previous two books I was kicking my feet like i was in on a secret. I loved diving deeper into the fall of Yasclin, and seeing their decent into being under the nameless ones control. Seeing how Estina ended up on the Rose was something I didn't know I needed so badly, and now I've fallen so in love with her.

I'm super excited to pick Priory up again straight after this, and dive back into the world with all this extra info!! A no brainer 5 stars from me, and a top tier recommendation for anyone who likes high fantasy, well developed characters, and insanely good world building!!

#BBNI2025

I did not understand if this is the prequel, sequel, something in between...?
As always Shannon has a beautiful writing style and prose, but I was confused all the time

Although this is the weakest of the Priory-universe books, the old adage holds true: even a bad pizza is good. In this case, the character development and intrigue isn’t as strong (of COURSE there’s something dodgy going on with the extremely shifty king) and manouvering characters into where they need to be for the opening of Priory of the Orange Tree means that the ending feels rushed and abrupt. I did enjoy the world building- as I always do in these books- and you will find no finer writer for lush, vivid description. Worth a read but have Priory lined up for immediately after.

thank you bloomsbury publishing for this ARC

another incredible installment in the roots of chaos saga. set three years before priory of the orange tree and being only around 288 pages its the perfect introduction to the world. however, i would still recommend reading a day of fallen since its set before this book and there were some mentions of those characters in this book, the same can be said about the priory.

this book like the others in the saga is rich in worldbuilding but through the pov of tgree characters its broken down so can be understood and explored throughout the characters. reading this book made me even more aware and encapsulated by this world and i would love to reread priory at some point.

in terms of plot its quite similar to that of the other two books so if you love them you'll be sure to enjoy this book. personally i like these books for the rich worldbuilding and the addition of this book only builds to that for me but if your wanting something new maybe you might not want to pick this up. overall i really enjoyed returning to this world of fire-breathing dragons and ofc marosa vetalda.

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Another fantastic standalone installment to the roots of chaos saga. Set a few years prior to the events in Priory, we follow the fall of Yscalin as Fýredel wakes up from his sleep.

I loved Marosa and found her to be such a strong, resilient character.

This would be a good introduction to this world as it relatively short so not as intimidating as the other 2 novels.

Whilst it’s short it does pack a punch and fleshes out this world even further.

I love this series (and author) so much and can’t wait to read more!

As expected, this was beautifully written and I loved being back in the Roots of Chaos world again. I am, however, a little conflicted with this book.

On one side, I love that we got a whole back story for Marosa, who is such a compelling character that I loved from the first page. This series really has some of the best strong but soft female protagonists that I have ever read!

On the other side, I feel like this book would have been better served as a single POV telling her story, rather than peppering in a couple of chapters from Melaugo and Aubrecht as I felt a little underwhelmed by their stories and wanted more (though I appreciate their stories have to tie in with their appearances in The Priory of the Orange Tree). I kind of questioned why they were included at all because Marosa’s story was the clear focal point of the book.

That said, Among the Burning Flowers is a good taster for those who want to start the series but are intimidated by the size of the full length novels. I would still recommend A Day of Fallen Night as an entry point to the series, if people aren’t put off by the size of the novels, because it is such a magical read and the events and characters from that book are referenced a lot in this book. I personally enjoyed already having the context for when POV characters from A Day of Fallen Night were mentioned here.

Though I didn’t enjoy the three POVs equally, I still enjoyed the book overall and would recommend to those familiar with the series and those who just want to dip a toe into the Roots of Chaos world. I now need to re-read The Priory of the Orange Tree to see more of my girl Marosa!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for access to this eARC!

A massive thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy of Among the Burning Flowers by Samantha Shannon!

I read The Priory of the Orange Tree 2 years ago and I didn’t remember a thing when I started Among the Burning Flowers. I wondered if it was necessary to have read A Day of Fallen Night as I hadn’t, but you don’t.

It is sold as a standalone that you can read before The Priory of the Orange Tree and I agree. There are some characters that you’ll find in Priory that you’ve read about in this book so it makes Priory less daunting.

I also feel like it is a nice way to get into the world and understand what is at stake without starting a big book.

There are only 3 characters that you follow in the novel and the story is rather easy to follow.

It made me want to reread Priory as the world and intrigue are interesting and well-written!

As a huge fan of Samantha Shannon I was not disappointed! It’s everything I love about Priory of the Orange Tree but much shorter. The character and world are well developed and I didn’t want the book to end. Samantha Shannon please write a sequel to Priory!

Wow!

I admit I haven’t read the books for which this is the prequel. Despite being a prolific reader I am often put off by books more than around 600 pages - usually just because of the practicalities. (I much prefer a physical book where available). However, since reading this prequel I will not be waiting before I dive into them.

The world was like nothing I’ve read before, and the clear depiction of heart break, love, and suffering was a triumph. I was just lost in the world, and cannot wait to delve into the other books. Excellent.

Thank you Samantha Shannon, Bloomsbury Publishing & NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a shorter novel compared Samantha Shannon's other novels. I found it as an easier entrace to this series after being intimidated by Priory.

The writing is beautiful. The fall of Yscalin is so brilliantly wrought and filled with emotion and pathos. This book was exquisite. Rich and immersive worldbuilding, beautiful prose that strikes the perfect balance between flowery and accessible, and such emotional depth.

It's this level of world building that really sets Samantha Shannon apart as an epic fantasy author. To have so many characters have a developed backstory that was never used, just to give depth to the world is a commitment to detail and realism.

Overall, Among the Burning Flowers is a powerful, if bleak, addition to the Roots of Chaos universe!