This behemoth was my first read of 2024 and it took me most of January. It had been on my TBR list for a while, and it was honestly super intimidating to start.
Last year I was really focused on trying to reach a reading goal, and though I’m a fairly quick reader when I want to be, I knew that this 850+ page was going to take some time. Especially since it’s been a while since I read anything that was essentially solely fantasy. And once I’d cracked it open and begun, I knew it wasn’t going to go quickly.
But good golly, it was a breathtaking ride.
The Blurb
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.
To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Gloria, trails in their shadow–exactly where she wants to be.
The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the dogs from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother’s past is coming to upend her fate.
When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.
A Day of Fallen Night (inside cover flap) by Samantha Shannon
Things I Loved
The Characters
I have read many, many books. And a vast many of those books are character driven and I loved those characters. But at the end of the day, no matter how much I loved them, they were characters. Great ones, but still just characters.
The cast of A Day of Fallen Night, hit on such a phenomenally higher level.
They all felt so real.
They were daughters, they were mothers, they were lovers. All of them had their own clear and distinct motives, passions, fears and way of talking. No one character could be mistaken for another in my opinion. Even just using dialogue. They all had their unique thumb print. Even side characters.
And each of these MCs (main character) got a spot in the light, and we were able to read from their perspective. I know this isn’t the first book to have a larger cast, and to have the novel be split between them all. I will say this was the first book I personally have read, where there were so many MCs, where I never wanted to skip any of the sections.
No character was less important than the others. No character’s story and plot, was less compelling than the others. You know how you read some books and there tends to be that One character that you really don’t care about, so let’s skip or skim their chapters? Not the case for me with this one. They were all equally riveting and that made this beast of a novel such an utter joy.
The Story Weave
Now, I kind of bled into that above…I couldn’t help it.
But if you’ve been around my posts (or me) you know I love a story that weaves the story threads well.
Normally I read about a couple of MCs, and a cast of side characters, and I enjoy watching the weave of the two main MCs, be interwoven with each other and these side characters and of course the plot. But there are two distinctly larger threads.
Stick with me, I promise I’m getting to the point 😅
A Day of Fallen Night is five giant threads. And each of those giant threads is composed of many colors of each MCs story/plotline. And those five giant threads have been braided into the most beautiful and the strongest story.
And I LOVED it so much!!!
As the story progressed and deepened, watching those giant threads begin to touch and be braided gave me chills. Shannon is a master in my opinion.
Strongly written, strongly woven.
The Relationships
I won’t go into this topic too much to avoid spoilers, but I couldn’t not say anything.
The way Shannon writes these relationships between family members, between long-time lovers, between new found friends…just so stunning.
Like the characters being so individual and unique, so were the relationships throughout this book. I feel like anyone could pick up this book, and find a character and relationship, that truly resonates with them. Even if all the details may not be exactly the same, A Day of Fallen Night covers rebellious daughters, the strain of long-term relationships, and the hope of new found friends.
The Big Bad
I love me a good antagonist, and this book did not disappoint. But like “Relationships” I won’t be going into much detail because, spoilers.
At times, it almost felt like person v. nature. Just because of the broad presence of the antagonist. They were built into the story in such a way that you didn’t know when they were going to appear. But when they did you knew it wasn’t going to end well.
I also like, that though there was a clear antagonist, you may surmise that since we have several MCs, there may be other baddies in the story besides the big one. Because queendoms and priories and temples all can have issues and people that aren’t on your side.
How realistic right?
Things I Didn’t Love as Much
Slightly Slow Start
Now, it didn’t last terribly long. But at the beginning for me, it was slightly overwhelming. There were a lot of names dropped, places, alliances, histories etc. I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to keep it all straight. Plus, though the history was interesting, it did feel slightly like a history lesson. Which I get. This is a very well developed world with clear histories.
Luckily as the story progressed and the MCs took charge of their chapters, all the facts fell into place. But it was a little daunting for me at the start and I was worried about retention.
…
Is that really all I have for criticism? Yup, I think it is. It was just that good people.
In Conclusion
My first read of 2024 was a blockbuster hit!!
I loved this world so much, and not having read The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon yet, I have lots to look forward to reading.
Besides a slightly bogged down start, A Day of Fallen Night was stunning. Great stories, great characters, great relationships and drama and fighting. This was an epic fantasy novel that I would recommend to anyone who loves the genre. Even if you’re not a huge fantasy fan, this novel offers so much in characters, character development. Badass women fighting for everyone and everything alongside other badass women…I really could keep going.
Also, having one of the chunkiest books I own be my first read for 2024, really was like lifting a weight off my shoulders. No other book in my TBR (besides the Crescent City novels by Sarah J. Maas) rival this page count. And this wasn’t nearly as daunting once I had my claws into it and started devouring the pages.
I gave A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon
Until Next Time,
