Waiting on Wednesday: The Priory of the Orange Tree

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The Priory of the Orange Tree

Written by Samantha Shannon

848 pages

Published by Bloomsbury

Publication date: 26th February 2019

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Summary (from Goodreads):
A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

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Why I can’t wait to read this:

• I don’t even know where to begin! I have been seeing snippets about this for months and every single tidbit of information makes me want to read it more.
• Firstly, I love the idea of having a queendom rather than a kingdom – why do fantasy worlds have to reflect reality in sexism or any other aspect? Why not have a world which doesn’t replicate the prejudices of our own? I am totally here for this!
• Magic! Ead already sounds like a fascinating character – a lady-in-waiting who is actually a secret mage? Brilliant!
• There are dragons in this – that is usually enough to make me pick up a book!
• The ‘forces of chaos are rising from their sleep’ reminds me of one of my favourite fantasy series when I was younger (Time Master and Daughter of Storms by Louise Cooper), where the Gods of Order and Chaos must maintain balance.
• I have heard Samantha Shannon speak about her writing process on a number of occasions (e.g. Folklore and Fantasy) and seen tweets she has shared about this book, all of which have made me want to read anything she has written. she seems to research everything so carefully and have string beliefs about the roles of both men and women in society that I am really excited to see what she will do in this fantasy world!
• Bonus – yet another gorgeous cover!

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What do you think?

Does this sound like the kind of book you would enjoy?

Will you be reading this or do you have any other anticipated releases you would recommend to me?

Let me know in the comments!

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See some other Waiting on Wednesday posts here: When the Mountains Roared, The Exact Opposite of Okay, To Kill a Kingdom, Starfish, The Gloaming, The Smoke Thieves, The Way You Make Me Feel, The Queens of Innis Lear, Legendary, Nyxia Unleashed, Bright Ruin, A Thousand Beginnings and Endings, Empress of All Seasons, Tempests and Slaughter, Grim Lovelies, The Glass of Lead and Gold, Storm Witch, The Way Past Winter, The Gilded Wolves, Fierce Fairytales, Descendant of the Crane. Dragon Pearl, Last of Her Name. The Familars. A Pinch of Magic, A Witch Come True, The Winter of the Witch. Once Upon a River, A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Shadowscent, Romanov. Echo North, The Wicked King.

While you’re here, why not check out my reviews of The Hazel Wood, Tangleweed and Brine, Sanctuary, The Pretender or The Gilded King?

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Thanks for reading!