A Day Of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

This is a prequel to THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE but can happily be devoured as a standalone.
The Priory has supplied the realm with fierce female warriors for generations but they have been idle til now. A great disturbance has awakened and with it comes wyrms and terrible monsters that slaughter the helpless villages leaving nothing in their wake. It will be up to the Queendoms and warriors of the Priory to stop the violence and send the Dreadmount back into hiding. This is a fantastic world where women are at the forefront of Queendoms, where women are free to love and marry the women they love and men the same. A world where women bear children and hand them off to men to care for them so they can go into battle, this unique female-centric fantasy has all the violence , adventure and political upheaval of GAME OF THRONES but with a lot of tenderness. Samantha Shannon has continued the world building and deep characters of the first book masterfully.  4 stars