Title: A Day of Fallen Night (The Roots of Chaos 0.1)
Author: Samantha Shannon
Genre: High Fantasy
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length:  866 pages

Read if you like: sapphic fantasy, dragons, multiple POVs, themes of motherhood and bodily autonomy, legacy, feminism and power

Rating: 

After reading The Priory of the Orange Tree, I was astounded by the world that Samantha Shannon had managed to craft. It was expansive, intricate, and had so much depth that it was difficult to wrap your mind around how someone can even conceive of something so vast. While I expected A Day of Fallen Night to be epic, I wasn’t sure how it could follow-up on such an instant classic. It’s mind boggling to me that somehow, this second book might be even better. 

A Day of Fallen Night adds even more to an already profound universe. It expands on stories that were presented as legends in the first instalment which enhance the weight of the stories in this book and the ones presented in the previous one. It’s a beast at over 800 pages, but I was completely hooked for every single moment of it.

I’m convinced that Shannon’s talent has no bounds. This was an instant all-time favourite for me.

The Book Synopsis: A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

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.

The Review

Samantha Shannon truly never misses. This book was somehow just as outstanding as Priory was.

I loved getting to see more of the Roots of Chaos world and some of the characters that had been mythic aspects of history in the original book. Glorian was such a contrast to her ancestors in the best way and I felt she added so much dimension to the Berethnet line. Dumai and her role in the history of the east was wonderfully illuminating as well, and an area I much appreciated because while the east was explored in book one, it did feel a little briefer than the depth explored in the west. In this book, the two perspectives felt much more balanced and I felt like through both characters, east and west were given so much more history and context. It somehow made both Priory and A Day of Fallen Night simultaneously feel even more epic. 

I particularly enjoyed the storyline associated with Tuva in this instalment as well. As a mother, so much of her journey felt so unbearably heart wrenching, yet she was also probably the strongest and wisest character of them all. Seeing Tuva move through the world and how she carried and evolved in her trauma and grief was powerful. She was strong and soft respectively as she needed to be. Centring her story around Canthe also added some significance to the story of the Witch of Inysca, once more layering in a level of detail and depth that resonated in reflection on both of the books in this series. 

Just as in Priory, I loved how gloriously feminist this story was, with so many phenomenally powerful and multifaceted women. I love how in this universe, the power of women is a given. There’s still oppression in these societies, but it seldom based on gender alone and when it is, it takes a different shape. It’s a refreshing take to see women designated as equivalent to their peers by nature.

I originally had really hoped to see a sequel to Priory before taking in more Roots of Chaos novels but honestly, this is the best prequel I’ve ever read and only strengthened my love for this universe. I loved this at least as much as I did Priory and would read a thousand different stories set in this world.