Uprooted

Uprooted, Naomi Novik  

A friend at church recommended Novik’s books and when I saw they were also endorsed by Robin Hobb, I was even more keen to try them. Uprooted is a magic fairytale style story about a woman who is chosen to live alongside the Dragon (a wizard). Every 10 years the Dragon chooses a new woman to live in his castle, and not surprisingly rumours abound about what she is there for. All their lives Agnieszka and Kasia have been deep friends, even knowing that Kasia is likely to be chosen and taken away.

They live on the edge of the dark and menacing Wood, which malevolently grows wider each year, taking life and destroying lives with violent force.

When the day of the choosing comes, surprise abounds as gorgeous, talented Kasia is not chosen, but plain, dull, always getting into scrapes, Agnieszka is.

The Dragon turns out to be very different from rumour, as he alone seems to be stopping the Wood fully taking over the whole region. His spells and magic have kept things under control for hundreds of years. Now Agnieszka is drawn into his world.

The magic is creative and interesting, and the characters have depth and intrigue. The overall plot deals with pride, desire, and the results of previous errors and sin. There is enough magic and fantasy to interest fans of that genre, but with enough similarity to the knights and kings old English type of story to appeal to fans of historical fiction/legend. Both human folly and wisdom are displayed, making it a clever, captivating, insightful story. There is one mild love scene, and it would be suitable for young adults and up. Very good.