Books Like The Priory of the Orange Tree
Introduction: What Readers Mean by “Books Like The Priory of the Orange Tree”
When readers ask for books like The Priory of the Orange Tree, they are rarely asking for just any fantasy novel. They are asking for something more specific: an epic scale with multiple perspectives, dragons or magical beings at the center, and women holding the power and the decisions. The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019) has all three: a queen, a dragon rider and a mage in a world where the east and the west have different truths about the dragons; the war that comes when the truths collide; and the novel’s conviction that the women are the ones who must choose. The books that come closest are the ones that find their own way to the same combination.
This guide gathers the strongest readalikes, old and new, with honest content notes and a clear sense of what each book shares with Shannon’s novel and where it departs from it.
The Shannon Novels
The books that come closest to The Priory of the Orange Tree are the author’s own explorations of the same world.
A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon (2023) is the essential companion: the prequel set five hundred years before The Priory of the Orange Tree, in the novel of the first great dragon war and the women who faced it. It shares The Priory’s world, its depth and its women, deepening everything the first novel built. Content note: an epic fantasy dealing with war and violence; for readers from around age seventeen upward.
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon (2013) is the essential companion in different register: Paige, a clairvoyant in a dystopian London, in the novel of the rebellion against the ruling Rephaite. It shares The Priory’s epic scale and its woman at the center, with the dragons replaced by the clairvoyance. Content note: a dystopian fantasy with violence; for readers from around age seventeen upward.
The Epic Fantasies with Women
A second branch of the family is the novel about the epic scale and the women who hold the power.
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang (2018) is the essential companion in darker register: Rin, a war orphan who wins a place at an elite military academy, in the novel of the power that changes her and the world. It shares The Priory’s epic scale and its woman at the center, with the register hardened. Content note: an adult fantasy dealing with war and its horrors; for mature readers.
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (2020) is the essential companion about the women and the magic: three sisters in 1893 New Salem who reclaim the witchcraft their family lost. It shares The Priory’s women at the center, with the scale narrowed and the wonder kept. Content note: a fantasy novel dealing with suffrage and magic; for readers from around age sixteen upward.
The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty (2017) is the essential companion about the epic politics: Nahri, a con woman in eighteenth-century Cairo who accidentally summons a djinn, and the magical city of Daevabad. It shares The Priory’s epic politics, its magic and its depth, with the dragons replaced by the djinn. Content note: an adult fantasy dealing with war and politics; for readers from around age sixteen upward.
The Dragons and Their Lore
A third branch is the novel about the dragons and their lore - the beings at the center of the wonder.
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (1937) is the essential classic companion: Bilbo, a hobbit who joins a company of dwarves to reclaim their mountain from the dragon Smaug. It shares The Priory’s dragons and its epic journey, with the register gentler. Content note: a classic fantasy; for readers from around age twelve upward.
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (2013) is the essential companion about the lore: Lady Trent, a naturalist in a Victorian-inspired world who studies dragons scientifically, in the novel of the pursuit of knowledge. It shares The Priory’s dragons and its depth, with the war replaced by the study. Content note: a fantasy novel; for readers from around age fifteen upward.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien (1954) is the essential classic companion about the epic quest: the company that sets out to destroy the Ring, in the novel of the war to come. It shares The Priory’s epic scale and its quest, with the register deepened. Content note: a classic fantasy; for readers from around age fourteen upward.
Themes and Values That Hold the Readalikes Together
Once you have read a few of these books side by side, the shared themes become clear, and they are worth naming because they are what make the category cohere.
The women as the choosers runs through every one of them. The Priory’s central claim - that the queens, the riders and the mages are the ones who must decide - is the load-bearing structure of the whole family. The books are united by the conviction that the women hold the power, and that the choosing is the story.
The epic as the scale is the second shared shape. The family is united by the worlds at war, the multiple perspectives, the depth of the history - and by the conviction that the scale is part of the meaning. The books agree that the epic is the register of the stakes.
The dragon as the wonder is the third shared theme. The family is united by the dragons - the beings at the center of the lore - and by the conviction that the wonder is the point. The books agree that the dragon is the mystery, and that the mystery is the treasure.
What to Read Next Depends on Why You Loved It
If you loved the author, read A Day of Fallen Night and The Bone Season.
If you loved the epic with women, read The Poppy War and The City of Brass.
If you loved the women and the magic, read The Once and Future Witches.
If you loved the dragons, read The Hobbit and A Natural History of Dragons.
If you loved the epic quest, read The Fellowship of the Ring.
Content Notes: What These Books Contain
The Priory of the Orange Tree is an epic fantasy dealing with war and violence, usually recommended for readers from around age seventeen upward. A Day of Fallen Night is the prequel with similar content. The Bone Season is a dystopian fantasy with violence. The Poppy War deals with war and its horrors. The Once and Future Witches deals with suffrage and magic. The City of Brass deals with war and politics. The Hobbit is a classic fantasy. A Natural History of Dragons is a fantasy novel. The Fellowship of the Ring is a classic fantasy. None contain gratuitous content; the weight is epic and emotional. Our historical accuracy themes and notes and our family-friendly scholars and scientists offer related reading paths for the craft and the minds behind these books.
Why These Books Work as a Set
Read together, these readalikes form a coherent shelf rather than a random pile, and the coherence is worth naming for anyone building a reading list. They are bound by the conviction that the women hold the power and the choosing, that the epic is the register of the stakes, and that the dragon is the wonder. They are also bound by depth: nearly every title here builds its world with a history that makes the present war meaningful. That shared DNA means the shelf rewards reading in almost any order - the books talk to each other. A Day of Fallen Night grounds The Priory in its past; The City of Brass echoes the epic politics; The Hobbit carries the dragon to the classic shelf. For a reader working through the family, the pairings are as instructive as the individual titles, which is why the reading plan below suggests specific combinations rather than a single sequence.
A Reading Plan for Book Clubs
The Priory of the Orange Tree generates conversation on every level: the women, the epic, the question of what the choosing actually costs. Some of the best discussion questions come from pairing it with a book that shares or challenges it: read it with A Day of Fallen Night, and compare the two wars and the two choosings; read it with The Poppy War, and ask how the two registers differ; read it with The Hobbit, and discuss the two dragons and the two quests.
Conclusion: The Priory That Keeps Giving
The Priory of the Orange Tree endures because it is about something permanent: the conviction that the women hold the power and the choosing, that the epic is the register of the stakes, and that the dragon is the wonder. Every book on this list takes one piece of that - the women, the scale, the dragon - and builds its own account around it. The joy of reading them is the joy of watching the same choosing practiced in different worlds, different wars, different registers. Start with whichever part of the queens’ and riders’ story you loved most, and let the comparison teach you what the orange tree is really made of. For the full collection of reading paths, start at the Worlds section of our site.
