S
Samantha Shannon
British author of dystopian and fantasy fiction
A Day of Fallen Night
Synopsis
Five hundred years before Sabran the Ninth takes the Inysh throne, the Dreadmount erupts and unleashes a new age of terror: wyrms escape into the world, and the belief that the Berethnet line alone holds back the dark is thrown into doubt.
Tunuva Melim has spent fifty years as a sister of the Priory of the Orange Tree, training to kill wyrms in case the Nameless One ever wakes. Glorian, heir to Inys, dreads the marriage and the crown that are closing in on her just as an attack on her family forces her into a war she isn't ready for. And in the East, Dumai discovers she is the secret daughter of an emperor and is drawn into a plan to put her on a throne she never expected to inherit, one that means climbing a mountain to wake gods long asleep.
A prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree, following three women across different kingdoms as an old threat resurfaces and the foundations of their world start to crack.
Genres
Characters
Tunuva MelimProtagonist
A sister of the Priory of the Orange Tree in the South, who has spent fifty years training to fight wyrms that never came.
DumaiProtagonist
Raised in a temple high on Mount Ipyeda in Seiiki, a godsinger who seeks to wake the sleeping dragons and learns she is an emperor's secret daughter.
GlorianProtagonist
Heir to the queendom of Inys, daughter of Queen Sabran and King Bardholt, who dreads the marriage and the crown closing in on her.
Wulfert GlennProtagonist
A housecarl in the service of King Bardholt of Hroth, found as an abandoned baby beside the haithwood; the novel's fourth point-of-view character.
FyredelAntagonist
The high western wyrm who wakes when the Dreadmount erupts and leads the wyrms against the kingdoms of the world.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to read The Priory of the Orange Tree before this book?
You can read this book as a standalone entry point, though reading it first will prevent you from encountering minor spoilers for the events of the earlier published novel. Because the two books share the same world but are set centuries apart, they offer different perspectives on the same history and lore.
How does this book connect to the other stories in the Roots of Chaos cycle?
This novel functions as a prequel that explores the historical events known as the Great Sorrow, which are referenced as legend or myth in the other books of the cycle. It expands on the origins of the world's religions and political tensions while featuring an entirely new cast of characters.