I will try to keep this as spoiler free as possible, and put a warning before spoilers when they're included.*** Through Tunuva we see the most siden magic, a magic of heat and day and fire. I have always adored the careful balance of this world's magic system and was delighted to see so much magic throughout the different perspectives. As much as I loved this book to death, I do think the side characters were its weakness. Many of the side characters were very developed, not to discount that, but some named characters didn’t have a huge impact on the plot, so when they died, it felt hard to sympathize with them. We know the long line of Berethnet queens from Priory, but there are very few who compare to Glorian. We even know a piece of Glorian's story, from the history of Priory, but there is still much that we do not know. Knowing this piece of her only draws tighter the chains that bind Glorian to her story, she grows evermore imprisoned as we read on and on. The role of queen is not one she desires, the eternal vine of Berethnets is not a destiny she wants to claim. I debated giving 4 or 5 stars for this review, because while I was absolutely enthralled by this book, I do feel like it's not quite as well-written or as strong of a story as The Priory. However, at the end of the day, the characters won me over, perhaps some of them even more so than the OG characters in The Priory. It's also still a better book than others I've previously given 5 stars to, so 5 stars it is!

If Priory of the Orange Tree is like a loaded potato, A Day of Fallen Night is like a Dodger Dog: Distinguished by its length, you can only eat so much before you run out of bun and condiments. In the end, you're just left with too much dog. Lastly, this book in particular illustrated so beautifully, that women are simply be the most fearless and forceful beings in this world and our world. In addition to that, A Day of Fallen Night is one of the most inclusive and diverse books I´ve read in a long time and it made me realise how desperately I needed a sapphic enemies to lover’s arch in my life right now. Another epic, sweeping fantasy from the mastermind behind The Priory of the Orange Tree and The Bone Season series. While Samantha Shannon already shined at creating strong, emotionally complex female leads in The Priory of the Orange Tree, the male characters were underdeveloped by comparison. In A Day of Fallen Night, Shannon avoids this problem by introducing Wulf, a young man from the North who becomes the fourth main protagonist in the second part of the book. Wulf strives to find his calling in a world that underestimates him, proving to be a multidimensional character every bit as compelling as the three female leads. His childhood friendship with Glorian slowly became one of my favourites. Although I cannot say too much about the plot of Wulf's story, know that it is enrapturing, never ceasing to elude and devour you.

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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.

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. Another major theme is power. Who deserves power, if anyone? Who is worthy of it? And how far will you go to obtain and hold it? There was an interesting pont where one character is politically outmanoeuvred. Ordinarily, the reader would then be treated to several chapters of them out scheming the opposition in turn. I love a good battle of wits but what Shannon did was more interesting IMO. She had her character reassess why she wanted power and whether she could do better elsewhere. Sometimes, choosing to surrender, even temporarily, in a bid to do the least amount of harm, is the best choice. Surrender is not necessarily to be conflated with weakness. In The South, we are introduced to Tunuva, a sister of the Priory. Tunuva is an older character with many established relationships and memories of the past. She's a brilliant character, kind and loyal to a fault, always there and ready to protect her family. Ultimately, this is Tunuva's weakness, her love and gentle heart. Although she is a great warrior, faultless with a spear as she fights alongside her ichneumon, Ninuru, her heart holds her family above all else. Esbar and Siyu, the child in her past, and all her family in the Priory mean everything to her.Dumai: clever and never quite believing she was enough, she’s not my favourite, but I love how she’s not afraid to stand up for herself. Samantha Shannon’s writing, as always, is incredible! The way she describes the world—I was completely immersed! A Day of Fallen Night is just as epic as The Priory of the Orange Tree but takes a while to get going. I can confirm these things about Priory to an extent (not fully, as Parts III and IV drag and Loth’s POV didn’t carry the same narrative weight as the others), but not this one. It hit one note for me, one flavor - just too much dog.

These three women are the heart of the book. They are what made A Day of Fallen Night genuinely excellent; not one POV was less compelling. Each of them had a unique story arc that was woven together by the fabric of Shannon’s universe. I’m reluctant to say more, for fear of spoilers, but the ways that their stories intersected and referenced one another absolutely thrilled me. Even the short scenes that were from other points of view provided the story with some of its best moments.Dumai is a godsinger, who has spent her life trying to wake the dragons from their eternal slumber. For me, A Day of Fallen Night was carried by three fundamental pillars: The Worldbuilding, The Inweaving of the plotlines and The Women & Diversity. Samantha Shannon has done it once again! I enjoyed A Day of Fallen Night even more than The Priory of the Orange Tree, it was such an incredible read. In a book with such an epic scope it's hard to find a place to start when reviewing, but I will nevertheless attempt explaining how infatuated I am with this book in my mere words. There’s this message I kept seeing throughout this book, these women trying to balance their relationships—be romantic or family—and the role the world has given them.