By this point it’s impossible to avoid the hype surrounding The Priory of the Orange Tree - it’s everywhere! But happily, in this case the hype is well deserved. I mean, just look at the premise - LGBTA/feminist high fantasy with dragons!

It’d been awhile since I’d read true high fantasy, and had kind of forgotten how much concentration it takes to keep everything straight in my head. Priory is definitely not a book you can casually read - I usually read at least two books at a time, but I just couldn’t manage it in this case!

So besides the awesome premise, what makes this book so great? Well, the world building is absolutely insane. Religion, regions, customs, government structure… It’s all incredibly detailed which - while being one of the reasons I had to concentrate extra hard - also drew me into the story and wouldn’t let me go.

That awesome world building is perfectly complimented by Shannon’s well developed characters. Ead is hands down my favourite - I could read an entire book just about her. Her relationship with Queen Sabran is so multi-layered and complex, I found myself truly invested in the outcome of the relationship. Roos is pathetic and obnoxious, which meant reading his POV felt like an actual pain. His chapters also seemed to slow down the pacing of the plot; honestly, I think the book would have been just fine if he hadn’t been included. Happily that’s the only thing that bugged me - Priory is perfection otherwise.

But how can I not mention the dragons?! These are not your typical fantasy dragons - in Priory there are two very different species with distinct temperaments, physiology and social structure. I don’t think I can do them justice in this review, they’re just too wonderfully complex. So go read the book!

I think I need to read Priory again sometime soon. I know I likely missed things while flying through this brick of a book, and really I just want to jump back into that world again. It’s a standalone, which is refreshing. I get so tired of this trend for overly drawn out, multi-book series. Priory is definitely more suited to a one-and-done approach. BUT - I wouldn’t mind entering that world again! Yeah, I’m totally contradicting myself, but I don’t care - just go with it!