Among the Burning Flowers

Themes& Sparks: queer high fantasy, companion novel, grief of a different kind, a doomed love, dragons and wyverns, sapphic love story, richly layered and emotional, incredibly atmospheric, small but incredibly nuanced cast of characters, sadness, grief, helplessness Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Among the Burning Flowers was both a wonderful companion novel for everyone who already lost their heart in the Roots of Chaos world, and a great entry point for everyone who wants to familiarise themselves with it before diving into The Priory of the Orange Tree. When opening this book, I was once again swept away into the richly and thoughtfully layered world, countries and cities, Samantha Shannon brought to life for the Roots of Chaos series. One could also tell that she spent so much time researching, no matter if it was cultures, architecture or clothing, which is something specific about the Roots of Chaos books, that has always warmed my heart as someone who is passionate about historical clothing. However, what truly took my breath away in this novel was the incredible atmosphere that was embedded within it. Every place and every character shone with its own atmosphere and colour, such as the vibrant red and orange of a city under a siege of flames with its people being burdened by helplessness, but who are still trying to ignite a silent rebellion from within. Or the dove grey of the city and people too far away and unable to help. Additionally, this book was brutal, merciless and cruel and spread the sadness, grief and trauma of its characters like thick ink across its pages. Along with that, Among the Burning Flowers burned brightly not only with its brilliantly lyrical prose but also with its impressive imagery, such as the one of a city that’s always burning. Furthermore, and this is such a characteristic skill of Samantha Shannon, I loved how the individual storylines intertwined over the course of the novel. It was also a wonderfully deeply layered story. And no matter if you are a new or old visitor of the Roots of Chaos world, this novel will find its way deeply into your heart with its small but incredibly nuanced cast of characters. Something that really stood out to me when looking at each character was how every character was plagued by their own unique suffering. There was gracious and kind-hearted Marosa, who was simultaneously such a profoundly sad character, as she was brutally caged both physically and by grief. There was Aubrecht, who carried so much love in his heart, the fear and terror that so often found their way into his life would never be able to extinguish it. And there were also the emotional parallels of grief and heartbreak between them and their doomed love, that went bone marrow deep. Lastly, there was Melaugo, who fought the world as fiercely as she loved and graced us with a wonderful sapphic love story about acceptance and finding each other as well as a true home. And I’m sure many of us have found a true home within Samantha Shannon’s novels and if anyone hasn’t, they will only have to open this novel in September and take the first step. Thank you so much to Bloomsbury for sending me an early copy of this novel. Originally posted as @thelibraryofsacredhearts on Instagram