“Hope was now a dying lamp, and hers only had a little more oil.”
“I am a wine-makers’ child – I will not waste the fruits of my labour by tipping them on to the ground.”
The Bone Season was my introduction to Samantha Shannon well over a decade ago. While I still love the Pale Dreamer and I will continue with the dystopian series (even though I have to start over since she rewrote the first four), the high fantasy Roots of Chaos series is something special. Among the Burning Flowers (Bloomsbury 2025), a short little prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree, was one of my 2025 most anticipated reads because of just how much I love that world. Among the Burning Flowers is considerably smaller, and compared to The Priory and A Day of Fallen Night, Among the Burning Flowers seems a bit more like a novella. (It was, in fact, a one-sitting read for me.)
The novel, while a good introduction to the Roots of Chaos world and a little less intimidating in size than the other two, seems to have been a gift to readers who already love the world and who wanted to see more of Donmata Marosa, a secondary but very intriguing character from The Priory. Among the Burning Flowers is her story – The story is one of a princess held hostage in her kingdom, a princess who is betrothed to a man who will be her escape from her father’s control, or would have been. The engagement is called off when the Draconic Army awakens, and Fyredel takes over the Kingdom of Yscalin, using Marosa’s father as his vessel.
I’m accustomed to the chunkers, so this seemed like a fragmented part of something larger. I wonder if we’re going to be seeing more of these – slim volumes that focus on a narrower cast of characters. I wouldn’t hate it, but I just love those sprawling, massive tomes.
A Girl Named Tommi 