I grew up on epic fantasy. Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry, Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, and (of course) J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings were my jam. I find it so rewarding to be pulled into a completely different world. Lately I’ve stayed away from lengthy series. Reading for pleasure has come at a premium due to my studies, so when I saw a book that promised “intricate world building with the depth, complexity, heart, and soul of a timelessly relevant classic” (Karen Marie Moning cover blurb), I couldn’t resist.

The Priory of the Orange Tree begins slowly, introducing a cast of characters spread across two continents. Carefully and artfully, Shannon revealed the historical, cultural, political, and religious factors that drove the plot. In an age of instant gratification page-turners, some people find this slow-burn frustrating. Not me. Like an epic EDM drop, I enjoy a well-paced gradual build-up.

When the action came, the pace was furious. If the first third of the book was crafted to be savored, the second two thirds were written to be devoured. This, oddly enough, was my main frustration with the book. This 800 page tome wasn’t long enough to reward the investment in Shannon’s world-building. Her world deserved at least a trilogy. When the pace of the plot increased, the characters felt less human as their being was reduced to function.

Samantha Shannon is an imaginative writer with a gift for creating strange worlds that feel completely normal. I hope she’ll return to this world someday.

Shannon, Samantha. The Priory of the Orange Tree. New York: Bloomsbury, 2019.