Epic in scope . . . The heroes shine in their uniqueness, with diverse family dynamics interwoven throughout and representation ranging from queer lords and warriors to genderfluid alchemists . . . This is expansive, emotionally complex, and bound to suck you in.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“Shannon artfully builds on the world of The Priory of the Orange Tree with this masterful standalone prequel. … it's an expansive epic … Shannon skillfully grounds high-stakes fantasy action in human emotion and a mature exploration of duty, bodily autonomy, identity, and motherhood. Series fans and any reader looking for queernorm fantasy will be thrilled by this self-assured adventure.” —Publishers Weekly Starred Review
“This magnificent, Sapphic fantasy novel…is going to sweep you off your feet.” —Glamour
“The engrossing new story promises to deliver more character-driven, emotionally complex adventure and intrigue.” —Cosmopolitan
“A Day of Fallen Night, Samantha Shannon's sprawling, breathtaking prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree, soars as it expands her beautiful world of warrior nuns, queens and dragons with a new era of catastrophe and heroism ... demonstrates that Shannon's magnificent world contains a wealth of intriguing stories.” —Shelf Awareness, Starred Review
“[A] fantasy trilogy in one volume, allowing for deep exploration of each protagonist as they navigate a brutal cataclysm. This richly detailed epic roars to a satisfying conclusion; both Priory devotees and newcomers are in for a treat.” —Booklist, Starred Review
“A Day of Fallen Night is an absolutely stunning work of fantasy that takes place five hundred years before Samantha Shannon's The Priory of the Orange Tree. This book has it all - a vividly realized world, political intrigue, romance, and an array of incredibly strong female characters, each with their own unique voice and narrative that are seamlessly woven together. This book may be a beast, but it just sucks you in and doesn't let you go until the last word.” —Powell's Best Science Fiction/Fantasy 2023
“Fantasy fans, rejoice: The beloved Samantha Shannon is bringing readers back to the world of bestseller The Priory of the Orange Tree in this standalone prequel, A Day of Fallen Night. Set in the same universe as the feminist epic, steeped in dragonriders and intricate mythology, A Day of Fallen Night follows four women and the ways in which their choices shape Shannon's narrative forever.” —ELLE, 65 Best And Most Anticipated Books Of 2023!
“In this stunning epic fantasy, lush with detail and nuance, Shannon weaves a tale of three powerful women that intersect in the most thrilling ways. Huge in scope, rich with emotion, and gorgeously queer, A Day of Fallen Night is the Roots of Chaos book fans have been waiting for. Shannon is simply a master of the genre'” —C. S. Pacat, New York Times-bestselling author of Dark Rise
“Like a dragon in flight, Samantha Shannon takes you soaring through a tale full of fire and spirit. It is in that freefall that I fell utterly in love with these new characters. The novel draws strength from the power of a woman's choice, giving the characters a depth of fortitude that is masterful in its craft and execution. Shannon lays bare the intricacies of the world she's created with sublime skill, enrapturing the reader with political intrigue and momentous action, cleaved through with heart and passion. Simply put, Samantha Shannon hasn't just done it again, she's surpassed all that has come before and cemented herself as a legend of the genre.” —Saara El-Arifi, Internationally-bestselling author of The Final Strife
“Epic in scope, yet careful and tender in its depiction of personal grief, A Day of Fallen Night shows the heights of courage and depths of hope that people can find during terrifying, destruction chaos. A triumph of a book.” —Helen Corcoran, author of Queen of Coin and Whispers
““A Day of Fallen Night has what readers want in high fantasy: strong women, masterful worldbuilding and, of course, dragons. Samantha Shannon's prequel to her highly acclaimed The Priory of the Orange Tree, is a welcome return to the lands and skies of this mystical world.”” —Barnes & Noble “Poured Over” Podcast
“· “the Absolute Best Kind of Expansive Fantasy Epic … Shannon's immense and immersive worldbuilding [tells] a story that spans both kingdoms and generations … grounding sweeping, apocalyptic events in emotional, deeply human stories of connection, love, and agency … Like Priory before it, the world in A Day of Fallen Night is effortlessly diverse and inclusive … what makes [A Day of] Fallen Night sing is the way it uses its fantastical framework to explore complex issues of love and loss, sacrifice and duty, bodily autonomy, and motherhood. The rare fantasy epic where every page not only builds on what came before-but what comes after as well.”” —Paste Magazine
★ 10/31/2022
Shannon artfully builds on the world of The Priory of the Orange Tree with this masterful standalone prequel. Taking place centuries before the events of Priory, it’s an expansive epic that interweaves four connected story lines as the protagonists reckon with both personal conflicts and the cataclysmic resurgence of wyrmkind. Glorian Berethnet, teenage daughter to the queen of Inys, faces mounting pressure to conceive her own child and secure the line of succession. Wulfert Glenn, a foundling and housecarl sworn to Glorian’s father, the king of Hróth, struggles to cast off whispers of witchcraft that cling to him from his mysterious past. Meanwhile, Tunuva Melim, a warrior of the Priory, ventures into the outside world to pursue a runaway postulant whose relationship with an outsider puts their sanctuary at risk. And Dumai, raised in a secluded mountaintop temple, is thrown into a dangerous world of courtly intrigue when she learns she’s the firstborn daughter of Jorodu, Emperor of Seiiki. As roving monsters sow destruction throughout the realm, all must race to survive. Shannon skillfully grounds high-stakes fantasy action in human emotion and a mature exploration of duty, bodily autonomy, identity, and motherhood. Series fans and any reader looking for queernorm fantasy will be thrilled by this self-assured adventure. Agent: David Godwin, David Godwin Assoc. (Feb.)
★ 2023-01-12
Magic, dragons, and prophecy are welcome threads in a fantasy that extols the power of motherhood, friendship, and self-love to change the world.
This prequel to Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019) has a similar scope to that 800-page fantasy, but dragon lore is less important here than the stories of people and events that become catalysts for The Priory's tale. Each chapter is grounded by a cardinal direction, lest you lose your bearings, with the four corners of the world home to central characters whom readers will get to know intimately. In the West lives Glorian, heir to the queendom of Inys. Her rule is based on the sacred Berethnet bloodline, whose power originates from the knight Galian Berethnet's banishing of the Nameless One, a giant fire-breathing wyrm birthed from the world’s core. In the East, Dumai lives on a mountain peak and trains as a godsinger, someone who harbors a human connection to the dragons the East worship as gods. In the South, Tunuva is a warrior of the Priory, a sisterhood that worships the Mother who is seen as the true banisher of the Nameless One. Their beliefs are so different and their societies so distanced that they don't know of the others' existence. And yet, when the balance of nature starts to waver, bringing whispers of new fire-breathing threats like the Nameless One, these women find themselves united by a common cause to save their people and seek truth about the higher powers at war with one another. This story is epic in scope, but its density is the sort that pulls you in. The biggest pull comes from the humanity displayed by the central characters, whose hearts ache for their children and their futures in a world fraught with turmoil. The fire-breathers bring more than destruction in their wake; they also bring a plaguelike sickness that will elicit sharp parallels to the Covid-19 pandemic. The very real struggles these characters face, whether they ride dragons or bear the suffocating rules of monarchy, make this a consuming read. While some fantasy tropes feel like they've only been added to the story's surface, the pages keep turning because of the heart-wrenching reasons that characters are driven to action. The heroes shine in their uniqueness, with diverse family dynamics interwoven throughout and representation ranging from queer lords and warriors to genderfluid alchemists. This prequel stands on its own, but a word of warning to people who have read The Priory: You'll want to reread it in order to benefit from the deeper knowledge of what came before.
Prepare yourself for the long haul. This is expansive, emotionally complex, and bound to suck you in.
