Uprooted by Naomi Novik is one of the best novels I’ve read in the past year. It has the emotional depth that adults enjoy along with the straightforward story of good vs. evil, magic vs. despair with great characters.
Author Novik sets Uprooted in the kingdom of Polnya, a standard late-medieval place threatened by the neighboring kingdom of Rosya on one side and the malevolent magic of the Wood on the other. The Dragon, foremost wizard of Polnya, lives in the tower in the Spindle Valley to guard against the encroachment of the Wood. When the Wood takes over people or animals they are corrupted, lost inside of themselves and a grave danger to everyone.
Characters
I loved Novik’s heroine, Agnieszka. She has internal strength that even she doesn’t realize and she’s not afraid to put her life on the line for people, especially her friends.
The growing love affair between Agnieszka and the Dragon feels real. When they work magic together they blend their hearts and work together intimately. Agnieszka can see beneath the Dragon’s scowls and snide comments and she knows he loves beauty, whether in people, or things or magic.
Agnieszka’s magic is very different from the Dragon’s. Hers is song and ad hoc, nothing formal while his is sharp, crisp, clean edged and powerful. They are stronger together than separate and the intimacy grows each time they combine magic.
I’m tired of books with girls who are strong in the sense of physically strong, or extra special strong in magic or whatever, standard kick-ass types. I like reading books about people who are strong because they have strong characters. Courage, determination, honor, love, cherishing people, generosity and stewardship are all qualities that make people strong, and Agnieszka and the Dragon have these.
Plot
The book begins when the Dragon selects Agnieszka to serve him for 10 years – but he forgets to tell her he selected her because she has magic. Agnieszka and everyone else assumes he will choose her best friend, Kasia, and she can’t fathom why he took her. After a couple days the Dragon begins teaching Agnieszka – but once more he doesn’t tell her that’s what he’s doing – and she hates it. Doing magic the Dragon’s way leaves her exhausted.
Agnieszka realizes her magic is valuable when her home village summons the Dragon to stop corrupted cattle and wolves, but he has left to attend another monster. She stumbles into the type of magic that she can do – ad hoc, more wandering and less of a highway – very powerful. She and the Dragon begin working together in earnest.
The plot is excellent, fast moving, with lots of intrigue and blind alleys along the way.
Mood
Uprooted is excellent at conveying mood. We feel Agnieszka’s fear and loathing early, then the ever-present threat of the Wood keeps a sense of worry and drives her and the Dragon to develop her skills. Novik does a great job with setting the Wood up as a dark, evil force that is just there, never goes away, never stops being a threat even when it is not overtly challenging. We feel Agnieszka’s terror when she fights off the wolves, when she rescues Kasia, when she flees the capital with the royal children, when she and the Dragon fight the Wood together.
Then the Wood turns and becomes more a normal forest, still a bit scary with dangerous, hate-filled creatures, but not the malevolent entity it had been. We feel lighter along with Agnieszka.
Uprooted isn’t all danger and fear. It has love and even quiet humor.
Other Thoughts
Like many novels with younger characters, Uprooted is classified as YA Fiction. It is not. It is a novel for adults, one that older teens will love, but one that we older people will find richer and deeper.
Be aware there are 2 sex scenes.
Overall this is 5 stars. Excellent book with deeply realistic characters and a memorable sense of mood and emotion.
Personal Note
Uprooted is going to stick with me a long, long time. It spoke to something important.
Something about the relationship between Agnieszka and the Dragon reminded me of something I read long ago but cannot recall, perhaps something by Patricia McKillip. I kept hearing an echo but cannot remember what it is an echo of, rather frustrating since I enjoyed whatever the earlier book was and would like to reread it.
Wonderful book! Already reading another book by the same author. Thanks for suggesting this novel!