Review – The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Leave a commentAugust 2, 2019 by ceresbooksworld
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Standalone
Publisher : Bloomsbury
Publication date : Fébruary 26th, 2019
Source : Signed HardCover
Rating : 5 hearts
Synopsis
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.
Review
This book is a monster, not only is it huge but it is also fabulous. Most of the main characters are women, the LGBT community is very well represented.
After a millennium of peace, the nameless dragon is back. Legend has it that Galian Berethnet, wielding the mythical sword of Ascalon, succeeded in banishing the dragon from the earth but only for a limited time.
In this world, there are three empires on the brink of war, in the west the Berethnet house with Queen Sabran believes in divine power. She is the descendant of Galian, she must absolutely have a daughter to preserve the future of her people and according to legend avoid the return of the dragon.
In the South, a secret order of female magicians called the Priory worships the Mother. Ead Duryan is part of this society and is sent undercover as a lady of honor to the court of Sabran to protect the queen’s life.
In the East, where the most benevolent water dragons are revered as gods, the young Tané, a young dragon rider in formation, hesitates between the merciless ambition and the necessary caution when she meets a Western sailor at the borders and finally, unable to measure the dangers in one way or another, it is her nature that wins: Tané decides not to report him to the authorities and risks being suspected of carrying the draconian plague.
My favorite character is Ead, she has a secret mission to protect the queen, Sabran. It must be said that it is doing a very good job. She must hide her true nature and she will also have to make decisions that will change her life forever.
On the other side of the world, we find Tané who has annoyed me enough, she is haughty and unpleasant and I must admit that at one point I was quite happy with what was happening to her.
There’s also Niclays, so I don’t like him at all, let’s be honest I think he got what he deserves.
And finally Lord Arteloth, who is a charming and pleasant character. You will have understood that I like him.
Queen Sabran is particularly endearing, a lot happens to her and even if she is sometimes arrogant, we feel that her life has not been very simple and that she would just like to enjoy it. I like Sabran and Ead very much, they are really interesting.
I really loved this book even though it took me a while to read it. The events that occur are very well described without being boring. I loved the story, it was really detailed and the characters are endearing. They do not have strange or overly exaggerated reactions.
This is Samantha Shannon’s first book I’ve read and I’m extremely happy to have chosen this one to start.
Quick word: An exciting reading that will transport you to a world of Dragons and Magic.
Chronique
Ce livre est un monstre, non seulement il est énorme mais il est aussi fabuleux. La plupart des personnages principaux sont des femmes, la communauté LGBT est très bien représentée.
Après un millénaire de paix, le dragon sans nom est de retour. La légende raconte que Galian Berethnet, brandissant l’épée mythique d’Ascalon, réussit à bannir le dragon de la terre mais seulement pour une durée limitée.
Dans ce monde, il y a trois empires au bord de la guerre, à l’ouest la maison Berethnet avec la Reine Sabran crois en une puissance divine. Elle est la déscendante de Galian, elle doit absolument avoir une fille pour préserver l’avenir de son peuple et selon la légende éviter le retour du dragon.
Dans le Sud, un ordre secret de mages féminines appelé le Prieuré vénère la Mère. Ead Duryan fait partie de cette société et est envoyée sous couverture comme dame d’honneur à la cour de Sabran pour protéger la vie de la reine.
En Orient, où les dragons d’eau les plus bienveillants sont vénérés comme des dieux, la jeune Tané, cavalière dragon en formation, hésite entre l’ambition impitoyable et la prudence nécessaire lorsqu’elle rencontre un marin occidental aux frontières et finalement, incapable de mesurer les dangers dans un sens ou dans l’autre, c’est sa nature qui gagne : Tané décide de ne pas le dénoncer aux autorités et risque d’être soupçonnée d’être porteuse de la peste draconique.
Mon personnage préféré est Ead, elle a une mission secrète, celle de protéger la reine, Sabran. Il faut avouer qu’elle rempli très bien son rôle. Elle doit cacher sa vraie nature et elle va aussi devoir prendre des décisions qui changeront sa vie à jamais.
De l’autre côté du monde, on retrouve Tané qui elle m’a assez agacée, elle est hautaine et antipathique et j’avoue qu’à un moment j’étais assez contente de ce qui lui arrive.
Il y a aussi Niclays, alors lui je ne l’aime pas du tout, soyons honnête je pense qu’il n’a eu que ce qu’il mérite.
Et enfin Lord Arteloth, qui est un personnage charmant et agréable. Vous aurez compris que lui, je l’aime bien.
La reine Sabran est particulièrement attachante, il lui arrive énormément de choses et même si elle est parfois arrogante, on sent que sa vie n’a pas été toute simple et qu’elle aimerait juste profiter. J’aime beaucoup Sabran et Ead, elles sont vraiment intéressantes.
J’ai vraiment adoré ce livre même si j’ai mis un certain temps à le lire. Les évènements qui se produisent sont très bien décrits sans être ennuyant. J’ai adoré l’histoire, elle vraiment détaillée et les personnages sont attachants. Ils n’ont pas de réactions étranges ou trop exagérées.
C’est le premier livre de Samantha Shannon que je lis et je suis extrêmement heureuse d’avoir choisie celui-ci pour commencer.
En bref : Une lecture passionnante qui vous transportera dans un monde de Dragons et de Magie.
About the author
Samantha Shannon studied English Language and Literature at St. Anne’s College, Oxford. The Bone Season, the first in a seven-book series, was a New York Times bestseller and the inaugural Today Book Club selection.
Her next novel, The Priory of the Orange Tree, was published in February 2019 and became a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller. Her work has been translated into twenty-six languages. She lives in London.
Links
Goodreads : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29774026-the-priory-of-the-orange-tree?ac=1&from_search=true
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