****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
***I will try to keep this as spoiler free as possible, and put a warning before spoilers when they're included.***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!What I loved:I adored Tuva, Glorian, and Wulf. I absolutely loved how their stories played out, and especially how a 50+ year old woman navigated personal life and conflicts with her fierce love and loyalty. It's rare to see any woman over 30 portrayed in fantasy, and while I myself am only in my early 30s, I could strongly relate to her. I didn't connect as much with Dumai, but I still enjoyed her story, even though I would have personally made far different decisions than she did. Honestly, I also really loved seeing more of the ichneumons as well - I'm a sucker for a good magical companion-animal, especially when they can speak.I felt that the conflicts were, for the most part, very well written. My main issue with The Priory is how the final conflict felt rushed and glossed over, but there were probably 10+ conflicts in Fallen Night and I thought the majority of them were believable and paced well. I also felt like the threat level in this novel was greater than the one in The Priory, and I think the way Glorian in particular handled the threat was extremely well done. She was a very believable ancestor to Sabran IX in her bearing and response to threats.I also highly enjoyed exploring more of the world of The Priory - we got to visit multiple new lands that we heard of but never saw in the first book, and they melded seamlessly into the overall story. Expanding a universe in a prequel novel is no easy task, as everything has to make sense for both the current and future (past) stories, and I think Shannon did an excellent job doing so. In particular, I enjoyed seeing Hroth, as I actually just went to Iceland and there were so many similarities in both the landscape and historical culture that it was easy to picture in my head.What I didn't love:The main issue I have is that, as a prequel, I ended up knowing 40% of the outcomes of the conflicts in the book, which takes away the element of surprise - my favorite part of reading well-crafted fantasy. I instead was thinking things like "hurry up" or "we know," instead of enjoying the story as it unfolded. The slow burn is lovely when you're first learning about the world, but I don't want to spent a large portion of a 900~ page book re-learning things I already know. I can't fault Shannon for it - it makes sense to include it, especially for those who do read this one first - but it just made this one slightly more of a drag to read than The Priory.Additionally, the pacing and prose are not as strong in Fallen Night as they are in The Priory. While the first book reads like a literary masterpiece, the prequel reads more like a traditional fantasy novel, with random bouts of literary prose. While this does make it technically easier to read, I missed the challenge on my reading comprehension that came with the first. The pacing also seemed scattered - my number one complaint (with all authors who use multiple POVs) is, is it *really* that hard to just include a timeline at the beginning of the chapter? Even within chapters, time jumps ranged from a few hours to a few months, with few context clues to realize any time had even passed at all from paragraph to paragraph.((SPOILERS)) As far as the story goes, the thing that irked me the most was the Canthe storyline. Her true identity was obvious from the beginning, and then it soon became obvious that ((MASSIVE SPOILER)) ((last warning)) Wulf was Tuva's son and Canthe had taken him to Inys. So, one of the few things that could have been a surprise in this novel was spoiled as well before the reveal, due to just plain deductive logic. But - why? We *sort of* get an explanation at the end, but it's weak at best. Canthe says, in nearly the same breath that she wanted to raise someone as her successor, that she doesn't think she can ever die. So why would she need a successor? Also, a successor to what? She has no kingdom, no land to rule other than the wood, nothing tangible to her name. Her motives throughout the book just don't add up to me. I just don't see why she needed to be a main character, other than the purpose of physically connecting other characters and acting as translator. ((SPOILERS OVER))I could nitpick more, but there's just no need to, because overall I think it is an engrossing, well-done prequel, with deep, flawed, relatable, lovable characters, all trying to survive and overcome trauma in their own ways. As with The Priory, I didn't want the book to end as I could continue reading about all of these wonderful characters. My only wish is that I had read this one first instead. I hope that Shannon plans on writing more novels in this universe, as I will gladly read anything I can in this beautiful world she's created! I've also included a photo of my special editions because those edges are just beautiful ❤️
