Published: September 2025 (Received an advanced copy)
Pages: 288
Summary
It has been centuries since the Draconic Army took wing, almost extinguishing humankind. Marosa Vetalda is a prisoner in her own home, controlled by her cold father, King Sigoso. Over the mountains, her betrothed, Aubrecht Lievelyn, rules Mentendon in all but name. Together, they intend to usher in a better world.
A better world seems impossibly distant to Estina Melaugo, who hunts the Draconic beasts that have slept across the world for centuries.
And now the great wyrm Fýredel is stirring, and Yscalin will be the first to fall . . .
My thoughts
I really enjoyed this book! The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night is one of my favourite series. If you’ve heard about them but the large page counts put you off, this book is a great place to start. Among the Burning Flowers is a short novel which ends where The Priory picks up. So if you enjoy this book you can move straight on to see the story continue to unfold.
For readers that have already read these books, this novel gives so much extra context to the history of our characters, the political alliances and the fragile nature of the situation. It’s good to know whether its 800 pages or 200 Samantha continues to rip out my heart and make me feel.
Easter eggs of some of our favourite characters
This story happens after A Day of Fallen Night and there are brief mentions of those characters in this book. For anyone that hasn’t read it, you probably won’t notice them, but I kicked my legs a little when I came across a few mentions and saw their legacy shine through.
I get so attached to characters so this was such a lovely touch to add and it helps pull all the stories together.
Shannon is a brilliant writer and we see this through her storytelling. She seamlessly weaves worldbuilding, history and character dialogue with such heavy tension. She plays on the readers emotions and in such a short amount of pages I felt intrigue, sadness, pity, anger, confusion.. It’s real talent to get the reader so involved and part of the story.
We also get familiar with characters that have previously only been mentioned by name. It was good to get a sense of them and see their interactions, who they are, how they carry themselves. This world is rich with lore and I love digging into it and building on what I already know.
I also loved to see more of our Priory main characters. I wasn’t a huge fan of Aubrecht but after this and seeing his passion and loyalty, I have been swayed. Also getting more context of Queen Sabran and what Marosa has been through. I ache more for her and the strength she’s shown.
More representation as expected from Samantha Shannon!
Shannon continuously adds representation to her books and this one is no different. Love comes in all forms and if you like your books with sapphic love, give this one a try!
‘A few years ago, an ancient compass came into my keeping. At some point in time, its needle had rusted in place,’ she said. ‘I was like that compass when you found me. I had finally established a safe place, a home, in Perunta. But the longer you remain still, the more rust starts to cover you, and underneath, you become fragile. And soon it hurts to move at all.’
I can tell so much thought has gone into this. Shannon has planned out these characters very well and when reading the Character Glossary to remind myself of a few points, Shannon has made note of characters in there from the very first book (in 2019) that she’s referred back to in this story. She has played the long game and its very smartly done, I love that.
Fantastic story rich with lore and tension
Reading order
There are two reading orders you could choose depending on whether you want to read chronologically or start with an easier introduction.
You can’t go wrong with either, my personal preference is the chronological order so that you experience the history at the same time as the characters. But if you want to start with Among the Burning Flowers that is also a good option!
Would I recommend?
Yes, absolutely! This is a fantastic series and if you’re daunted by the size, pick up this short novel. It is packed with emotion, high stakes and tension, and if you love it then you know you’ve got to move straight onto The Priory of the Orange Tree!