I share my thoughts on the
newly released epic fantasy young adult novel by Naomi Novik, Uprooted, published by Tor UK and Del
Ray in the USA. It’s currently available to buy now.
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her
quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood
stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her
life.
Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.
The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows - everyone knows - that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn't, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.
But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.
Naomi Novik is the writer of
the Temeraire series and it’s
something that I’ve been meaning to catch up on for a while now, ever since I
really enjoyed reading the first book, His
Majesty’s Dragon. So when I saw Uprooted
show up on NetGalley recently I leapt at the chance and once I got stuck
into it, I quickly devoured it, finishing this spellbinding young adult novel
as quickly as I could. It’s just got everything you could want from a YA
Fantasy, a well developed world, some strong character focus, no boring, Chosen
One clichés, and enough awesomeness to keep you entertained right the way
through. If you love epic fantasy, then this is certainly something that you
should consider reading, because it’s certainly one of the stronger ones that
we’ve had this year.
Most stories take a while to
truly get into but that’s not the case with Uprooted
– you’re drawn in quickly from the start and Novik refuses to let you go,
weaving a compelling, entrancing storyline that focuses on the main female
character, Agniezeka, giving her some fantastic depth and making her the strong
focus of a character driven story. It’s refreshingly optimistic for a fantasy
novel as well, and will come as a breath of fresh air in a market where
grimdark fantasy rules. It’s a fairy tale for the modern era, and really
impresses in its delivery, serving up an excellently paced standalone novel
that leaves a lasting and memorable impression on the reader.
The characters are rich and
compelling. Agniezeka, a girl who lives on the border of the corrupt woods, is
someone who knows and understands that the Dragon, a cold, wise wizard, demands
a terrible price to keep the woods at bay, a young girl from the village that
she loves. Agniezeka, much like everyone else, expects the Dragon to take
Kaisa, a brave, graceful girl who’s her best friend, and has everything that
she doesn’t, serving as the most beautiful girl in the village. The Dragon
would be mad to take anyone else but her, right? Wrong. The Dragon’s choosing
spell lands on Agniezeka, and her life is changed forever, kickstarting the
plot for Uprooted as she finds
herself now in the service of the Dragon for the next ten years. However, she
has to be watchful, because the threat of the woods is ever present.
Novik uses a few clichés in Uprooted, primarily in the character
department, such as the elder mentor to the younger main character (Obi-Wan
Kenobi, Gandalf and Dumbledore all say hello), and the love interest to the
main protagonist who acts like a jerk. However, when clichés are written well
it doesn’t really matter that they’re clichés at all, and that’s very much the
case with this novel, with the characters feeling so real that they somehow
manage to feel fresh and exciting despite the fact that we’ve seen so many of
their kind before. It’s also helped that it’s not just the clichés that are
written well, everything is. The
magic system is well developed and the world building is fantastic, with the
plot having enough depth and moving along quickly enough to keep the reader
hooked.
Uprooted
is
an incredibly captivating read and is something that comes highly recommended for
not only fans of Novik’s Temeraire novels,
readers looking to try out her work for the first time, but also fans of
fantasy and young adult fiction in general. There’s an excellent depth to this
novel and it works incredibly well as a standalone, and this is probably
another read that’s going to end up on the ‘Best Of’ list come the year’s end.
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