 | The Priory of the Orange Tree is set in a secondary fantasy world where winged dragons of earth and fire terrorize the western lands, while serpentine dragons of air and water protect the East. The two regions are separated by a vast, deep ocean known as the Abyss, where the evil Nameless One resides. At over 800 pages, the novel is a door-stopper, but the author does an excellent job keeping all the moving pieces of the puzzle in play: all-too-human yet ultimately noble characters, intriguing magic systems, nefarious scheming, and layers of mysteries to discover as the story unfolds. One of the most enjoyable elements of the story are the clashing beliefs of the different cultures, each of whom believe they know the ultimate truth. |
In the West, they worship a knight-turned-god whom they believe defeated the draconic Nameless One in single combat. In the South, they believe this knight was a cad, and a brave woman defeated the Nameless dragon before founding the Priory of the Orange tree. Both groups distrust the East for making dragons into gods. In the East, they believe everyone else is riddled with dragon-plague and subhuman, and only they know the truth about binding and defeating the Nameless One.
The story is told from the perspective of four characters:
- Ead, a Southern mage-assassin serving the Queen of Inys, where all magic is forbidden;
- Tané, an Eastern would-be dragon-rider who makes a terrible mistake on the eave of her initiation;
- Niclays Roos, an alcoholic alchemist in exile after trying to swindle the Queen of Inys;
- Loth, a Western nobleman and close friend of both Ead and the Queen of Inys.
- Sabran, the Queen of Inys, who is being pressured to wed and produce an heir (West).
- Chassar uq-Ispad, an ambassador from the Priory of the Orange Tree who raised Ead and positioned her in Sabran’s court (South).
- Truyde utt Zeedeur who conspires to convince the East and West to cooperate with each other before the Nameless One returns (West).
- Nayimathun, a dragon who chooses Tané as her Dragonrider and offers her unconditional love and acceptance (East). “Her voice was a war conch and whale song and the distant rumble of a storm, all smoothed into words like glass shaped by the sea.”
 | Ead is the backbone of the story: she’s been sent to the court of Inys from the Priory of the Orange Tree. Ead is competent and smart, but someone keeps sending assassins to attack the queen and Ead is charged with protecting her—without blowing her cover (she is posing as a simple lady-in-waiting). As the story progresses, we watch her struggle to unravel the mystery of who is behind the assassins, and slowly come to respect and even fall in love with the queen she initially resents. |
 | Tané comes from a humble background, but her ambition drives her to become a revered Dragonrider. The scenes of her bonding with and riding her dragon are delightful. Unfortunately, her poor choices catch up with her (and her dragon), and Tané is banished to a small island. This is Tané dressing her own wound: “With clumsy fingers, she threaded the needle. She cleaned the cut as best she could … The needle pierced her skin.” |
 | Self-centered Niclays Roos is willing to do anything, and sacrifice anyone, to advance his position in the world. He mourns his lost love, a nobleman consumed by solving history’s riddles who died many years ago. Niclay’s terrible choices in the story cost others their lives, but in the end he is positioned, at long last, to redeem himself. |
 | Loth’s friendship with the Queen of Inys (and rumors of romance) puts him in the crosshairs of powerful enemies. He is exiled—without the queen’s knowledge—to almost certain death at the stronghold of the Nameless One’s minions, but manages to survive his ordeal with the help of very unlikely allies. |
The worldbuilding is a definite strength of the novel. Familiar elements are interspersed with words completely unique to this story world. Companionship is the term used for marriage, and spouses are called “companions.” An oakmouse is a squirrel; rose cold means "hay fever"; shellblood is a blue dye extracted from sea snails in the East; Sodden-witted means "drunk."
 | The author deftly uses food to ground the different cultures. Examples from the East: “The servants brought him bean curd, grilled loach, and barley tea to break his fast.” “...they dined on marbled beef and salt-pickled vegetables and sweetfish and sea lettuce and little cups of toasted seaweed, each bursting with roe.” “Peddlers grilled bladefish over their stoves, simmered bites of sweet pumpkin in broth, and handed out hot wine and tea to keep the chill at bay.” “Servants came to pour them tea and offer platters of food: dates soaked in red mountain-honey, sun pears, plum-leaved apples, steamed nuts, mounds of black rice. Each dish was covered with a square of silk embroidered with stars.” |
 | Cuisine of the West: “Black wine flowed, thick and heavy and sweet . . . On the tables, the bounty of the season filled copper-gilt platters. White peacock with a gold-leaf beak, roasted and soaked in a honey and onion sauce, then stitched back into its feathers, so it gave an impression of life. Damsons plumped in rosewater. Apple halves in a crimson jelly. Spiced blackberry pie with a fluted crust and tiny venison tartlets.” “Swan pie, woodcock, and roasted goose, baked venison in a rich clove sauce, burbot sprinkled with almond snowflakes and silver leaf, white cabbage and honey-glazed parsnip, mussels seethed in butter and red wine vinegar.” |
“Scents wafted from the open market . . . Gingerbread and sugared quinces. Pies to crack open with the flat of a knife, revealing the spiral of pear and cheese and cuts of hard-boiled egg inside. Pancakes drizzled with sugar-brandy.”
There was one passage in the very end of the book, Chapter 72, where the meaning of Loth’s dialogue, “He is dead” was unclear, since he’d just found his sister Margret beside her wounded lover’s cot in the field hospital. Using a name instead of the pronoun “he” would’ve easily fixed the problem.
Out of an 800-page book, this is a minor quibble. The Priory of the Orange Tree is a masterful novel with complexity and depth that will keep fantasy lovers turning pages.
Out of an 800-page book, this is a minor quibble. The Priory of the Orange Tree is a masterful novel with complexity and depth that will keep fantasy lovers turning pages.
For more epic fantasy novels read The Jasmine Throne, Memories of Ice, Fevered Star,
and A Taste of Gold and Iron. For more dragons read The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fischer.
and A Taste of Gold and Iron. For more dragons read The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fischer.
