Even though I enjoy everything I have read by Samantha Shannon and pre-ordered this as soon as I heard about it, I then waited till this past week to read it.
I think with this universe in particular, even though Shannon very much made these novels independent enough that they don’t require reading the others to get the story, I still worry about trying to remember and fit them in the larger context before I start reading. I really am overthinking it and creating my own barriers.
This is much more directly linked to The Priory of the Orange Tree with events taking place immediately beforehand and involving characters from that novel, it’s also something that can be read without that knowledge (she even says in the intro that readers can use it as an intro to the world or to get more background and context on characters they know depending on their reading order).
This novella is about the rise of the wyrms in Yscalin and how they rose and conquered the nation. Throughout the whole novella, we have Marosa’s perspective. Even before the evils rose, the palace was a cage for her due to her father’s controlling ways. Unwilling to let her go and unwilling to let her participate in government in her role as heir, she has languished, hoping for the day she can finally leave and marry her betrothed. We see how the palace fell, and the state of fear that takes hold in the occupied capital city.
We also get two other perspectives- in the first half or “Before,” the story switched between Marosa and Estina Melaugo, a young woman and fighter that serves as a stand in for the citizens of Yscalin and how the occupation came to them.
The later half or the “After,” shows us Aubrecht’s perspective alongside his betrothed Marosa’s and gives us an idea of what the outside world was able to learn with Yscalin cut off from the world.
This really was another great entry into the Roots of Chaos that gave more time to supporting characters, and captured the despair that enveloped the nation along with the small acts of defiance and resilience.
