Is 'The Priory Of The Orange Tree' A Standalone Novel?

Question

Saw this massive fantasy book at the bookstore; no "Book One" on the cover makes me hopeful it's a complete story within one volume.

Trisha Sharma · Answer

Yes, this novel is complete and independent and rather long for a single novel. I’ve only read a few other Fantasy series since and while they have attempted to make these Standalone Epic Novels, The witch and her wolf series is a complete, rather long, Romance, in a single volume, building to the full conclusion of the entire werewolf-pack politics and the central relationship, which is lovely because you get the full story, in one book.

Reid · Answer

This is a standalone novel with growth potential. While the main plot lines of The Priory of the Orange Tree (The conflicts of the East and West; the growing threat of the Nameless One; the politics of the Queendoms) are wrapped up neatly, Shannon leaves many aspects of the world unexplained (for now). These unexplained aspects of the world are explored in a prequel (A Day of Fallen Night), however, that is not necessary to read The Priory of the Orange Tree.

However, world-building is provided for several untold histories within the Queendoms and the East, which have since been explored in ‘A Day of Fallen Night’ by Shannon. This prequel is not necessary for reading ‘The Priory of the Orange Tree’, but expands upon the histories provided within. In a thick and immersive feminist fantasy, containing over 800 pages of detailed description, most would expect a sequel or two to fully explore all of the plot lines within. However, this is not the case for ‘The Priory of the Orange Tree’.

Jolene · Answer

I love ‘The Priory of the Orange Tree’ and its massive and wondrous epic fantasy world. It’s a stand-alone novel, written by Samantha Shannon as a complete story with a satisfying ending to follow the various plot lines of the many characters in the book, with much political intrigue and plenty of information about dragons, their history, etc.

But then I found out there’s also a prequel called ‘A Day of Fallen Night’ which is set centuries before ‘Priory’. While the original novel is a complete, self-contained story that has a satisfying ending, the prequel is quite interesting and adds to the universe that Shannon created. The original novel already has a massive scope but it’s great to know that there’s more to it and Shannon did decide to continue the story in the prequel. It’s like having a gourmet meal that’s so filling yet so interesting that you want to try other dishes by the same chef.

Delilah · Answer

Yes, The Priory of the Orange Tree is a standalone novel. It was always planned to be a single, large novel and thus has a complete and fully-resolved plot. The prequel, Masque of Red Death, is of interest to those looking for more background information on characters and the world, but there is no reason that anyone would need to read it in order to understand the main novel. The novel has a complete ending to it, with the dragons defeated and all the kingdoms at peace. It is a very large novel, and thus it is fully sufficient as a single, epic work and there is no sequel bait of any kind. It is a fully-polished novel.

Yara · Answer

This book can be considered to be a standalone novel but is part of a larger work of fiction. From a librarian’s perspective, all of the main plotlines of ‘The Priory of the Orange Tree’ have been wrapped up within the covers of the book and there are no loose ends that would necessitate a reader to seek out another book in order to gain closure on any of the main storylines, including the dragon wars and all of the romance subplots.

The prequel, ‘A Day of Fallen Night’, is also brilliant but not necessary to read. This supplements the lore of the world Shannon created but in the same way that Tolkien’s ‘The Silmarillion’ supplements his ‘The Hobbit’ – a really in-depth exploration of the same world which, again, is so deeply complex that you’ll want to return to it at some stage but the main story is a complete, and fabulous, read in itself.

tracieop888 · Answer

The book stands alone as a novel, with themes of overcoming prejudice and uniting against a common enemy. It goes from a woefully divided, fearful, dogmatic world to a fragile unity. That transformation would lose so much by being spread out over years and many books, with their own climactic endings, instead you get to witness the birth of this hard-won change within the confines of one novel. It isn’t teased out over years, you get to experience the hard-won change of politics and social shift within the novel itself.

Emmanuella Okponge · Answer

From a writer's perspective, a fantasy standalone of this size is a massive undertaking. Shannon had to introduce a unique and fully realized magic system, detail several complex political factions, write and fully develop multiple point-of-view characters, and create a satisfying conclusion to the story. Many questions are left unanswered, but that is because there are no sequels to answer them for. The book is a master class in economical yet extremely expansive storytelling. There are no non-essential “side quests” in this book, and aspiring fantasy authors would do well to study how Shannon was able to pack so much depth into her narrative while keeping the overall story efficient.

joan awyong · Answer

I loved how this worked as a single volume. Because the story is told from multiple point-of-view characters around the world, it felt huge and sprawling, like a epic story. But each point of view gave us a different chunk of information and they all came together in the end for a great conclusion. This is key to making a huge, epic story like this work as a single volume as opposed to being a multiple book series. If it were told from the point of view of one character, the scope of the world would have been too limited to fit in one book. But with multiple point of view characters, we got to experience the whole story from every angle and therefore felt that the story got the conclusion it deserved in a single volume.

Jean Olod · Answer

One of the things that is worth discussing is the ending of the book. Without giving away too many spoilers, it provides a clear resolution to the external threats to Westeros (the dragons and wars) and to the internal struggles of the main characters. There is a sense of a chapter ending and a new age beginning for Westeros and its characters. It’s not a “happily ever after” for all of the characters, but the resolution that they do receive is realistic given the state of the world at the end of the book. Most importantly, there are no last minute twists in order to set up a sequel. The final pages of the book are focused on wrapping up the story of the characters and providing them with the opportunity for reflection on their experiences before moving on to the next phase of their lives.

Luna Moon · Answer

The term ‘standalone’ is often used interchangeably with the term ‘self-contained story within a series’. Priory is a true standalone in that there are no plot threads left dangling with the intention that they will be picked up in a subsequent novel. Any loose ends are resolved in such a way that it is clear that life will continue for the characters but there is no indication that a specific villain is waiting in the wings for the next installment. The central conflict of the book – the return of the Nameless One – is resolved in Priory and that is how a true standalone should be. The prequel novel explores a completely different historical event and so does not continue the story of Priory in any way. It merely enriches the background of the ‘Priory’ world and that is a crucial distinction.

Sayyidat Isah · Answer

I hate starting a series of books that aren’t going to be finished. ‘Priory’ is a complete story. It begins, builds, climaxes and ends. All of the characters go through complete change. You will get to experience a complete journey when you close the book. Any longing for more will come from loving the world that has been created and wishing to return to it. But this is the best sort of feeling that can be gotten from a book and makes ‘Priory’ a wonderful prequel that can be read and enjoyed on its own and leave you completely content.

Emily Knapp · Answer

Reversing my earlier position on this, I think of Priory as the first book of a series rather than a standalone novel. Even though Priory is a standalone in that the main plot is resolved, it is now part of a larger universe that is continuing to grow with the companion novel A Day of Fallen Night being published as a prequel. I think that readers will now be naturally led to read ADON first as the primary way to experience Priory in chronological order. This would mean that for some readers, Priory is the first book of a series rather than a true standalone novel. I think of the core story of Priory as being complete but the rest of the universe is very much alive and continuing to expand.

connie58f · Answer

The book is structured in distinct parts – it almost reads like a play in sections. So while it feels like a compact series, all the major storylines of the characters are continued and brought to a close by the end of the book. So although the world is certainly large enough to hold many stories, the story of Tané, Ead, Loth and Sabran is told in full as a single, very long, very detailed story. It’s a standalone.

Is 'The Priory Of The Orange Tree' A Standalone Novel?

13 Answers

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