Day of Fallen Night

by Samantha Shannon

880 pages

English language

Published 2023 by Bloomsbury Publishing USA.

ISBN:: 978-1-63557-792-1

(14 reviews)

Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms - but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose.

To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow - exactly where she wants to be.

The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother's past is coming to upend her fate.

When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.

Intricate and epic, A Day of Fallen Night sweeps …

When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.

Intricate and epic, A Day of Fallen Night sweeps readers back to the world of A Priory of the Orange Tree, showing us a course of events that shaped it for generations to come.

2 editions

KnittedMushroom reviewed Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon (The Roots of Chaos, #0)

Another one I couldn't put down!

5 stars

Content warning Minor vaugish spoilers for both Fallen Night and Priory of the Orange Tree

When I first heard that this was going to be a prequel I was so concerned I wasn't going to enjoy this book. I usually hate prequels because the author usually needs to spend time introducing characters that, if you read the "first" book to be released you're already familiar with. Shannon successfully dodges this by jumping multiple decades into her world's past, and introduces a new set of characters that have significant influence on the world.

It was an interesting experience at some points, however, where since I knew how the "story" was going to end because I read The Priory of the Orange Tree. I found myself demoralized and unwilling to continue to read these character's tales of struggle since I knew there was going to be another event of destruction far into the world's future. Despite that, I still continued on because I cared deeply for all these characters by that point and wanted to know how their tales ended.

As usual Shannon's done such an amazing job at both writing immaculately described scenery and cultures, while also writing such well developed characters that I feel like I'm friends and family with almost every character in the book. She also does a phenomenal job at inclusivity to where there are characters all over the rainbow that are just allowed to exist in the world. Several non-binary characters just exist, able to live their lives in the book with little drama from other characters over their identity. Everyone just accepts who everyone else is. There are more important things going on in the world than who we choose to love or how we want to be addressed.

Now I can't wait to see if there's another installment in this series!

Wild Woila reviewed A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon (The Roots of Chaos, #0)

A decent escapist holiday read

3 stars

A decent escapist holiday read, otherwise overly long. Well done gender reversals and critique of monarchy as a womb trap. Characters never quite gripped me, and climax is a bit of a deus ex machina let down.

Reading time 7 days, 121 pages/day

MazzaB1 reviewed Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon (The Roots of Chaos, #0)

Review of 'A Day of Fallen Night' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I love the Priory of the Orange Tree, I really was not sure what to expect but wow. A Day of Fallen night is beautiful. The world building is incredible, and the characters growth and arcs are amazing.

There are ALOT of characters though, that did confuse me at the start but wow just a beautiful and epic journey

patchworkbunny reviewed Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon (The Roots of Chaos, #0)

Review of 'A Day of Fallen Night' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

It's rare that I read such a beast of a book, but the 880 pages flew by. I had forgotten a lot of the details of The Priory of the Orange Tree and I was a bit distracted by trying to work out who or what I was meant to know about already. It's an entirely new cast except for some of the dragons, I think. Once all the new people are set out, it's a pacey and highly enjoyable tale, maybe a bit predictable in places, but perhaps that was info from the first book creeping through my subconscious.

Full review to follow.

altlovesbooks reviewed Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon (The Roots of Chaos, #0)

Review of 'A Day of Fallen Night' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

"to hold the risen fire at bay
until the night descends"

How do you make a sequel to something intended as a stand-alone novel? Fans of the series demanded a new book, but things were fairly contained within Priory of the Orange Tree, so how do you square the circle? I quite like the author’s approach here; rather than making a direct sequel to the events of the first book, she marched 500 years into the past and created another stand-alone. Fans get their sequel, there’s no expectations to live up to, and you can continue building out the (extensive) lore you introduced in the first book. A win all around, that I think the author knocked out of the park to boot.

There be spoilers here after this point.

Despite being an all-new cast of characters, there’s just enough familiarity here to hit the ground running with the (many) different viewpoints. Glorian, daughter of Sabran the Ambitious and King Bardholt of Hróth, is having a hard time finding her feet and her place within the role forced upon her. All her life she had her own ideas of how she wanted to live her life, but the older she grows, the more she realizes that duty comes before all else in the Queendom of Inys. Over at the Priory, we’re introduced to Tunuva and Esbar, sisters training to slay wyrms that haven’t appeared in generations. Discontent is rumbling through the Priory as some younger sisters start questioning why the Order still exists. When Siyu escapes the stifling confines of the Priory, Tunuva is sent to bring her home, but her return brings unwelcome change to the Priory. Finally, in Seiiki, Dumai of Ipyeda is a godsinger at the High Temple of Kwiriki, daughter of Unora of Afa, and heir of more than she knows. When her family comes knocking, she’s compelled to leave the mountain home she knows and loves in order to serve the kingdom. But as the world starts to tremble, it is her godsinger heritage that ultimately calls her to duty in service of the sea dragon Furtia.

The scope of this book is quite a bit larger than Priory of the Orange Tree I think. Lots more places, tons of minor characters and references, but not to the point where I felt overwhelmed and lost. I think reading Priory of the Orange Tree first gave me the structure I needed to be able to sort through everything thrown at me here. There’s quite a bit more politics in this one as well, particularly in the Inys sections, but I’m such a sucker for grand political fantasy that I loved it all. It has a bit of a slow start, and I was starting to wonder where things were headed initially, but about a third of the way through things start ramping up quickly and I had a hard time putting it down. The ending was incredibly satisfying as well, and while a lot was happening at once, it didn’t have the same frantic feel as I thought Priory of the Orange Tree had at the end.

I hope the author decides to do more stand-alone books within this universe, because I thought this one was fantastic. Everything had a purpose, the writing was excellent, and I loved basically everything about it. Great fantasy, great work.