The Roots of Chaos
#1284.18 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Ongoing 2019–present Reading commitment Medium Samantha Shannon Last reviewed 2026-08-11
Overview
Samantha Shannon's Roots of Chaos is a dragon-and-queendom epic fantasy told across four interwoven point-of-view threads spanning three continents, notable for its major sapphic romance plotline. The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019), the flagship volume, is a doorstopper standalone imagining a world where the balance between fire-breathing wyrms and water-dwelling dragons shapes centuries of religious and political conflict across East and West. A Day of Fallen Night (2023), marketed as a "standalone prequel," is set centuries earlier in the same world and follows different protagonists confronting the first stirrings of the same threat. Among the Burning Flowers (2025) is a further, shorter entry in the same continuity. Shannon has described the sequence as a way to build an epic fantasy world that foregrounds women in roles traditionally given to men, and the books have been praised for their scale and for centering queer relationships without treating them as the story's central conflict.
Epic fantasy, Romantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
The Roots of Chaos Samantha Shannon
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Priory of the Orange Tree | 2019 | core | 4.16 (300,924 ratings) |
 | A Day of Fallen Night | 2023 | core | 4.31 (62,544 ratings) |
 | Among the Burning Flowers | 2025 | core | 4.06 (17,259 ratings) |
New author record. A dragon-and-queendom epic fantasy told across 4 POV threads, notable for its major sapphic romance plotline. The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019) is the flagship volume; A Day of Fallen Night (2023) is a marketed 'standalone prequel' set centuries earlier in the same world; Among the Burning Flowers (2025) is a further, shorter entry in the same continuity. All 3 are published; registered by publication year, not by the series' own internal prequel numbering (#0.1/#0.2), matching this project's standing preference for sourced publication order over an editorializing reading order. In progress -- Shannon has stated further Roots of Chaos work is possible but nothing further is dated.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Roots of Chaos? The Roots of Chaos's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for The Roots of Chaos? Publication order, starting with The Priory of the Orange Tree. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Roots of Chaos finished? Ongoing (2019–present).
- How much reading does The Roots of Chaos take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books).
- How is The Roots of Chaos ranked? #128 in this site's official ranking, based on 380,727 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #128?
Ranked #128 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.18 across 3 core books.
- Backed by 381k reader ratings.
- 0.01 behind #127, The Letter for the King.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 3 books · Ongoing · 381k ratings · Ranks #128 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length epic fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019)
- A Day of Fallen Night (2023)
- Among the Burning Flowers (2025)
Awards (verified)
- No Hugo/Nebula/World Fantasy/Locus/British Fantasy award found. The Priory of the Orange Tree's 2020 Lambda Literary Award finalist placement and 2019 Readers' Choice Award nomination are noted above but not registered as AWD rows here (nominee/finalist-level, single-sourced) -- see Research notes.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what The Roots of Chaos and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Lightbringer Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.33
- The Bloodsworn Saga Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.33
- The Rigante Epic fantasy / Historical fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.31
- Ash and Sand Grimdark / Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.30
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.18 across 380,727 ratings on 3 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Run 5: 3 admissions -- The Roots of Chaos, Legacy of Orisha, The Tide Child Trilogy accepted 2026-08-11
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-11
Rule: Core = the 3 published works (2019, 2023, 2025), registered by publication year rather than the series' own internal prequel numbering. In progress -- Shannon has stated further Roots of Chaos work is possible but nothing further is dated.