Bookish Thoughts: Uprooted by Noami Novik

Our Dragon doesn't eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. ~ Opening of Uprooted

Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Del Rey, 2015
Fantasy; 435 pgs
Source: Purchased for my own enjoyment.

Goodreads Summary:  

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.

I remember deciding this was a must read from the very first moment I heard about it. I was especially excited when one of you cast your vote for me to read this one in 2017. Finally, the push I needed to read it!

Every ten years, a girl from one of the villages is chosen by the Dragon, a powerful wizard named Sarkan, and taken to his tower. The villagers do not know what the Dragon wants with the girls, but at the end of their ten years with him, they always leave home to strike it on their own, leaving behind their families.

Agnieszka did not expect to be chosen by the Dragon, but when he sees in her the gift of magic, he realizes it is his duty to the kingdom to train her. She has no idea she has the ability to use magic, nor does he come right out and tell her. Agnieszka is young and a bit naive and yet she is also very curious and smart. I quite liked her. She wasn't the pretty one or the most skilled. She was a bit clumsy and could be rather impulsive at times. You can tell this bothers Sarkan at first. He appears to be very cold--he's very logical and likes things done his way. He has the weight of the world on his shoulders, keeping the  evil in the Woods back. As Agnieszka gets to know him better, so does the reader. I grew to quite like him. As time goes on, Agnieszka begins to realize how little she knows and her dislike for Sarkan grows into tolerance and eventually respect for her new mentor.

What didn't work for me especially was the romantic thread between Agnieszka and Sarkan. I imagine the kind of magic they were doing would bring them closer together; what they experienced is very intimate. And yet, he seems too old for her with her being barely an adult, and I just didn't see the romance. It seems more like a teacher/student type relationship, which, in essence, is what it was.

Agnieszka is definitely not the same person by the end of the novel that she started out as. Early in the novel, she has no idea of her abilities, and only longs to live the normal life of a villager. She grows and changes throughout because of her experiences and the more she learns about her own abilities. She is an out of the box thinker, her magic makes her so. Her way is the old way, the forgotten way. It makes her the only one who can really save the Woods in the end--if it can be saved.

Over the course of the novel, the reader, as well as Agnieszka, begins to understand the Woods better, and realize the threat to not only to the villages surround the Woods, but also to the entire kingdom and those beyond. Prince Marek's appearance and desire to free his mother, long lost to the Woods years before, takes an ugly turn and Agnieszka finds herself in unfamiliar territory, having to travel to the castle to beg the king for assistance. There we meet other wizards, including Alosha, a female sword-master, who I wish we could have spent more time with. There is also Solya, the Falcon, who she had met early on at Sarkan's. Agnieszka's, along with her friend Kasia, travels to the castle with her. I never was quite sure about him, but I could never bring myself to trust him.

I loved the world building in the novel--the drawing from folklore and the "old" feel of the story. The Woods with their darkness and their pain. I really liked how everything played out--and to go into detail would be too much of a spoiler. I have already said too much. The conflict between the Woods and the surrounding kingdoms isn't just a matter of good versus evil. Sometimes you have to uncover the root to find the cause. The question becomes, can it be healed or will it all have to be destroyed?

There are several stories within the bigger story in Uprooted, all connected--some in smaller ways than others. I appreciated the various nuances to the characters, the setting and the story.  I would not mind spending more time in the world Novik has created in Uprooted. I imagine there are many more stories are there worth telling.

To learn more about Noami Novik and her work, please visit the author's website. You can also find her on Twitter.

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