Among the Burning Flowers is more of an extended prologue than a true prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree, and it is far less ambitious (and much shorter) than its door-stopper predecessors. The skeptic in me worried that this was Samantha Shannon making a cash grab with a quick new addition to the lineup of awesome dragon book covers — but alas, not so! This little book is just as strong as The Priory of the Orange Tree at its best.
Rather than telling a world-spanning epic, Shannon zooms in on the Kingdom of Yscalin and tells the story of its fall from the perspective of its heir, Princess Marosa Vetalda. Growing up under the control of her deeply unpleasant father, Marosa’s life is a sad one even before the great worm Fýredel and his army of draconic beasts emerge and lay waste to her kingdom. I love a good tragedy, and Marosa’s is a very compelling one. My favorite part of Shannon’s The Roots of Chaos books continues to be the mythology and world-building; she is skilled at saturating the settings and dialogue with references to the world’s different belief systems, even if many of them remain at the periphery of this particular story.
My biggest critique of this book (other than wanting more) is that, much like in The Priory of the Orange Tree, the point-of-view characters vary widely in quality. In this one, Estina’s story is enjoyable enough, but it feels disconnected from the main narrative. I would have preferred that Shannon leave it out entirely and focus solely on Marosa’s story — or give a few more chapters to Aubrecht to develop his connection to her.
Overall, Among the Burning Flowers is a good book and may serve as a solid entry point for readers curious about The Roots of Chaos but hesitant to commit to its larger installments. Shannon maintains that these books can be read in any order, and I think that’s largely true. On its own, Among the Burning Flowers may seem a bit bare-bones, but if it gets readers interested enough to dive into The Priory of the Orange Tree, then… mission accomplished.
The Once and Future Lit 