By Mattie Lugar
I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge fantasy lover, and out of all the fantasy books I’ve read over the years, “The Priory of the Orange Tree” by Samantha Shannon is hands down one of my absolute favorites. When it comes to fantasy books, I especially love high fantasy with complex plots, political intrigue, and meaningful characters.
This book follows three different perspectives: Sabran Berethnet, the current Queen of Inys; Ead Duryan, a lady-in-waiting that secretly belongs to an order of mages; and Tané, who lives far across the sea and has trained to be a dragon rider her entire life. All three perspectives are intertwined as the looming threat of The Nameless One, a powerful destructive Wyrm, hangs over everyone’s heads.
Sabran comes from a long line of women who have ruled over the small island kingdom of Inys. It is said that her ancestor, the Saint, was the one to banish the Wyrms almost 1,000 years ago, and that only his lineage would be able to keep them at bay. But some legends aren’t always founded in truth. The people in her kingdom are counting on her to produce an heir as quickly as she can to keep the chainmail of Virtuedom as strong as ever as the 1,000 years come to a close.
Ead is an outsider in a kingdom not her own. While under the guise as one of Sabran’s ladies-in-waiting, she was secretly sent there by the Priory of the Orange Tree to protect Sabran and keep a watchful eye on her. The Priory is a secret order of mages that battle wyrms and protect humankind in the name of the Mother: their founder, who once battled the Nameless One as well as guarded an unusual orange tree, whose fruit grants the eater power unlike any other.
Far east across the sea, Tané has trained to ride dragons her entire life. These dragons differ from the Wyrms that cause destruction, for these dragons come from the sea and are revered as gods in their own right. When she finally has the chance for her dreams to come true, everything seems to go wrong. She must overcome tragedy and disgrace if she is to save her own reputation, her dragon’s life, and the fate of her entire world.
While the East and West squabble and refuse to put aside their differences to come together, the Wyrms who answer to The Nameless One start to emerge from their slumber with the goal of setting the western world ablaze. It is up to Sabran, Ead, and Tané to put an end to this once and for all.
Now, this book may be daunting to tackle given that it has 848 pages, but I can promise you that it is absolutely worth it. This book is the first book in Shannon’s Roots of Chaos series with a full prequel “A Day of Fallen Night” that was released in 2023 and a prequel novella “Among the Burning Flowers” that was released in 2025.