The next Game of Thrones has arrived! Acclaimed British author Samantha Shannon is stunning fans across the globe with The Priory of the Orange Tree.
The internationally bestselling author of The Bone Season has produced a new story so epic that it’s already being compared to other timeless classics such as The Lord of the Rings.
The trailblazing standalone tale is about “a world on the brink of war with dragons – and the women who must lead the fight to save it”, with the story leaning on classic fantasy tropes while carving its own unique path.
Stylist has called it ‘gripping’, Daily Mail has labelled it ‘explosive’, and Hypable gave it a glowing five-star review and said it “establishes a dominant female voice in epic fantasy”.
Meanwhile, English actor and film director Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Planet of the Apes) has described it as “truly extraordinary and thrilling”, while Strange the Dreamer author Laini Taylor said it is a “tour de force” and her new favourite epic fantasy.
Shannon told Cinders Magazine last month prior to the novel’s release that the story was a culmination of “a few different ideas coming together over twenty years”.
“I can trace the thread of inspiration right the way back to my fifth birthday, when I first saw Dragonheart,” Shannon said.
“That film sparked a lifelong love of all things fire-breathing and scaly, and once I knew I wanted to be an author, I also knew I wanted to write my own dragon book one day.
“In 2014, I decided to do that by contesting and re-imagining the legends surrounding Saint George and the Dragon from a modern feminist perspective.
“I also wanted to write a novel that explored the different ways in which dragons are imagined across the world, had religious (mis)interpretation as a prominent theme, and intertwined mythology with some fascinating periods of history. Priory hatched out of all of this and more.”
Shannon also said she wanted to “write a feminist tale that allowed women from many backgrounds to control the fate of nations, eviscerated the damsel in distress trope, and wasn’t set in a violently misogynistic world”.
Supanova is excited to be giving away five copies of the book. You can watch the trailer for this epic story in the video below.
